What Were the Best and Worst Cameras of the Last Decade?

While sales have fallen off a cliff, innovation continued apace during the twenty-tens (tenners? Tennies? Tenties? Your suggestions below, please), and Kai Wong has kindly put together a list of the best and worst of the decade — both in terms of specific cameras but also technological developments — with the help of his candid cohort, Lok Cheung.

There are a few items on this list that will come as no great surprise, and general consensus seems to be that the worst camera of the entire decade is the Yashica Y35. This crowdfunded retro digital camera featured removable digital “film” cartridges and raised over $100,000 within four hours of its launch. The campaign promised something unexpected, part of which was no doubt some of the blurb on its Kickstarter page. “And you may have noticed, there is never a narrator, nor is it necessary,” it explained. Perhaps there was no narrator, but there were definitely reviews, and they were not gentle. “Like a webcam with an Instagram filter,” said one.

Be assured: just because Wong is wearing a Pentax hat does not mean that he and Cheung will be kind to the Japanese manufacturer. Brace yourselves.

What are your thoughts? And will wearable cameras ever have a place in the world of photography? Leave a comment 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.

Log in or register to post comments
3 Comments

When I first looked a Kai's videos, I wasn't a fan. But the more I watched, the more I enjoyed his style. That's a good video; no pretense, just good fun!

Love this guys reviews. Easy to watch. Fun.

lol @ 5:55 i thought Lok said beaverless. But he said mirrorless. I had to go back and re-listen to it again XD