Is This the Best and Worst Camera Gear of 2021?

2021 brought a huge array of excellent gear. Here’s a roundup of the best and worst releases of the year, including a decision for the best stills camera that will take a lot of people by surprise.

DPReview’s Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake sit down for their annual assessment of the year’s best and worst cameras and lenses, helped by a festive amount of vodka to ensure some passionate discussion.

The list of incredible cameras released this year is a little terrifying, and B&H Photo has drawn up a top ten, which ties in very closely with DPReview’s verdict for best stills camera. The GFX 100S performs well on both lists, and by virtue of being medium format, it’s the camera that’s probably delivered the least noise over the last 12 months, despite being a remarkable effort from Fujifilm.

I’m with Drake when it comes to the choice for worst lens. You might have spotted this recent article about why you might want to choose glass for its character rather than its technical brilliance, and this is a lens that is capable of producing images that have a very distinctive look and feel to them.

What are your best and worst releases of the year? Let us know your opinions in the comments below.

Andy Day's picture

Andy Day is a British photographer and writer living in France. He began photographing parkour in 2003 and has been doing weird things in the city and elsewhere ever since. He's addicted to climbing and owns a fairly useless dog. He has an MA in Sociology & Photography which often makes him ponder what all of this really means.

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1 Comment

fuji's xs-10 and the sony A7c both proved you can have ibis in a compact body

if Canon updates its RP with stabilization for another 150-250, they'll have proven that bigger is not necessarily better, and like all electronic items, the 3rd generation reaps the benefit of cost reductions