The Age Old Question: Which Camera Brand Is Best?

It isn't a new question and the answer is ever-changing, but periodically, it's worth looking at each brand from an objective point of view to see the state of play. Which brand is currently the best for each type of photographer?

When I started photography, I was loyal to Canon, but I realized after a few years, that was a thankless stance. Now, nearly 15 years after buying my first camera, I can confidently say I have no "loyalty" to any brand. Instead, I assess each brand for quality and what they're best at. As I write this, I use three different manufacturers' cameras every week: Sony, Fujifilm, and Panasonic. On top of those, I have lots of other cameras from other brands that fill gaps here and there. So, it's safe to say, I am anything but a disciple to a single brand.

The question of which brand is best isn't a sensible one without more parameters. Fujifilm has some of the best APS-C bodies on the market, but they wouldn't be suitable for high-end studio photography for advertising when compared to a Phase One. When assessing which brand is best, you need to look at which brand is best for you. When looking at which brand is doing the best overall, you need to create categories such as "technology", "sensor performance", "accessibility", and so on.

Why did you choose the camera you did?

Rob Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

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10 Comments

I think it’s relevant for anyone looking to buy into a brand and while Im not a huge fan of them, they are still people who regularly work with and test every brand of camera which hardly suggests they are unqualified to speak on the subject.

According to them Nikon is bankrupt a few years ago so no, they are misleading customers and are not trustworthy.

I mean, Im a Nikon user and I thought the same was likely then too. It feels like a miracle that Nikon survived given their financial numbers over the last decade.

Source? The video that I've seen does not state that.

Correction: The age old click-bait.

For 90% of users, 90% of the time, any camera manufacturer today can meet your needs. Whichever brand resonates with you personally, is the best. Beyond that, we're getting into fairly niche considerations.

Agree. Put energy into creating instead of arguing.