How To Pick The Best Brand Of Camera

If ever there was a controversial question amongst the hordes of digital camera enthusiasts, it has to be “What is the best digital camera brand?”. Sometimes referred to as “What is the best brand of digital camera to buy?”, but not to be confused with “What is the best camera to buy?”.

Because everyone knows that regular (film) cameras are far superior to digital cameras. Hang on a sec, or was that the other way around? Who can keep track these days? Now before I digress too far from the topic, lets take a look at that age old battle, and see if we can determine which brand is best.

There are a few photographers that stick with one brand, but their mostly professional or semi professional photographers. The average digital camera consumer these days, is pretty much brand blind. Generally, I think they look more at features and price.

If you were to choose a camera solely on popularity of brand, it would seem Canon is the choice of many. Many, meaning both consumers and critics alike. They seem to crowd the top critic pick lists everywhere I like. I think it’s pretty much impossible to find a top ten camera list tdoay, that doesn’t have at least two or three from the Canon Powershot line.

The other strange thing I’ve noticed about some of the broader lists, is the inclusion of video cameras. Specifically the Flip Video brand of cameras. I find that a little strange, since they really only do video semi-decently, and most other still cameras do video at least as well. Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, and even Kodak seem to make a few top spots, but not like Canon does.

Sure, sure, sure, Canon seems to sell more cameras than anyone else. But, are they really that much better? And so what if they are, maybe I don’t want to follow the crowd. I like following my own drummer afterall But hey, while were analyzing things, lets take a look at what a few other analysts have to say. There may be some consensus amongst that group.

One popular camera review site under their top 103 cameras showed 46 Canon cameras, 21 Sony cameras, 20 Nikon cameras, 5 Pentax cameras, 3 Fuji cameras, 2 Samsung cameras, 2 Panasonic cameras, 2 Kodak cameras, 1 Konica camera, and 1 Casio camera. Another top camera review site under their 5 star category, show 39 Canon cameras, 18 Sony cameras, 17 Nikon cameras, 6 Fuji cameras, 5 Olympus cameras, 5 Panasonic cameras, 3 Pentax cameras, and 1 Konica camera. If you total all that up, the top 3 end up being Canon with 85, Sony a distant second with 39, and Nikon a very close third with 37. Everyone else had less than 10 top rated cameras.

Well, if you go by the numbers, it does seem to make a convincing argument for Canon. Big sales, and big critical reviews seem to keep them rolling in the money. A lot of that probably has to do with the fact, that they just offer so many models that cater to so many different people. I wouldn’t discount any of the other brands, and not just Nikon and Sony either. I still make my camera buying decisions on features and price.