Every year , comes New year Eve, some things are given like Fireworks, NY eve’s parties. In the Photo world the guaranteed occurrence is the proliferation of “best cameras of the year”. There is no denying the strong appeal of Top 5 -or Top 10 lists, but I see no need to add to this frenzy. When looking at such “best of the year” rankings , it is important to keep a few things in mind :

1./ A best camera of the year makes no sense if all categories are mixed. Someone who is hesitating between say a Nikon pro DSLR or its Canon counterpart  would have little interest in the new  “high end compact” from say Panasonic or Sony.

2/ If you look at enough magazines and sites, you will see that most, if not all, major products from each manufacturer is going to  make the list somewhere. Lots of big review sites or magazines are dependant on some advertising income from those same brands and in this case, it is very  understandable to know they are in  a peculiar situation. Let us not get confused. I am not saying that they would promote a clearly flawed camera but in today’s market , it is easy to focus on the positive sides of a given product.

3/ Most of the reviews sites do not keep the products for a long time and are influences by the equipment they work with. so I encourage you to take some of them with a grain of salt. Having a bias or strongly rooted preferences is normal. It is just important that you know which they are when you read a review.

While, I find it useless to make a list of best camera(s) of 2016, It might be useful to review the most significant camera introductions for each brand:

Speaking about biases, it is important to remember MINE 😉 . I do not consider pure video cameras, drone or specific use devices, only still cameras. (and no lenses either)

CANON :
Though they introduced several new products, I would not include any Canon bodies. Yes, Canon introduced its most serious mirrorless camera  yet with the Canon M5. It is arguably the first “serious” body in the M line and this may be a good choice for a dedicated canon user or a nice back-up body for an Eos DSLR user. However , I would NOT recommend it to anyone else outside these two categories because of the VERY limited lens line-up. The fact that Canon chose to introduce another entry level zoom with the introduction of the M5 speaks volume about Canon not being sure which target to aim at with its mirrorless line. [Read more…]