huemax wrote:
It is true to say that CAMERAS never take photos, but YOU do. However; YOU must have a camera to do your job.
We used to have over dozens of camera brands in last century (over 30 years ago), but today my choice is 4 or 5?
I would like to know how today's photographers favor which brand is the best. We must consider all those factors; what is capability of the equipment and system, pricing, reliability, service availability, and user friendly design.
I came up with four major names; SONY, FUJI. CANON, and NIKON. There were OLYMPUS, PENTAX, LEICA and PANASONIC a decade ago, what happened with them, are they still with us?
It is true to say that CAMERAS never take photos, ... (
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When it comes to digital cameras, Canon has been the #1 seller worldwide for around 20 years. Last year Canon had a larger share of market than the next three or four combined (#2 Sony, #3 Nikon, #4 Fuji, #5 Panasonic).
However it should be noted that camera sales have plummeted across all brands. Today more and more people simply use the camera built into their phone. This has especially decimated the "point n shoot" style of camera.
- Canon currently offers full frame and APS-C DSLRs, full frame and APS-C mirrorless cameras, as well as video and cinema cameras, and various point-n-shoot cameras ranging from ultra compact to fairly advanced. Canon is gradually phasing out their DSLR system as well as an older mirrorless (M-series) system. They are rapidly growing their nearly 4 year old R-series mirrorless system.
- Sony currently offers full frame and APS-C mirrorless cameras, video and cinema cameras, various point-n-shoot from ultra compact to advanced. Sony has recently discontinued their older "a-mount" DSLRs.
- Nikon currently offers full frame and APS-C DSLRs, full frame and APS-C mirrorless cameras, as well as a variety of point-n-shoot from ultra compact to advanced. Nikon is gradually phasing out their DSLRs while rapidly growing their nearly 4 year old Z-series mirrorless system.
- Fuji currently offers APS-C and medium format mirrorless cameras. They also offer various point-n-shoot digital and instant film cameras.
All four of the other brands you mentioned are alive and well...
- Olympus has recently changed ownership. The new brand is OM Systems, who have recently introduced their first interchangeable lens camera. There are also still plenty of OM-D and Pen cameras. All these are mirrorless now and all use the same Micro 4/3 format (slightly smaller than APS-C). They share this mount with Panasonic.
- Pentax is now owned by Ricoh, a diverse corporation which Rivals Canon and Sony in size. Pentax has committed to continue offering DSLRs going forward (they briefly offered a mirrorless system some years ago). They make both APS-C, full frame and medium format DSLRs. A variety of point-n-shoot cameras are sold under the Ricoh brand name.
- Leica continues to make cameras for doctors, dentists and other extremely wealthy people!
Most interchangeable-lens Leica are now mirrorless, in both full frame and APS-C formats. They also still offer 35mm film cameras as well as a medium format DSLR system. And they offer digital point-n-shoot cameras, ranging from compact to advanced.
- Panasonic is another very large, diverse corporation. They offer Micro 4/3 and full frame mirrorless cameras (under the Lumix brand name), as well as video and digital cinema cameras, plus point-n-shoot ranging from compact to advanced (also under the Lumix brand name).
- You didn't ask, but Hasselblad is also alive and well, selling medium format digital cameras and backs.
- Polaroid, Kodak, Vivitar and Minolta are still around, selling cheap point-n-shoot digital or instant film cameras made by other people.
A big name that appears to have quietly disappeared in the last few years is Mamiya. For a while they were offering medium format digital cameras, based upon the 645 film system they had offered in the past. Mamiya worked closely with Phase One, who initially supplied digital backs for use on the Mamiya cameras but eventually reached a point where the cameras were branded Phase One. I really don't know if these are still being made.