| If ever there was a controversial question amongst | | | | Lumix models, specifically the DMC-TZ3K and the |
| the hordes of digital camera enthusiasts, it has to be | | | | DMC-TZ3A. And finishing in a strong 25th spot, that old |
| "What is the best digital camera brand?". Sometimes | | | | stalwart Kodak with the Easyshare Z812IS. |
| referred to as "What is the best brand of digital | | | | Of course being popular, or the best seller does not |
| camera to buy?", but not to be confused with "What is | | | | the best brand make. It simply means you have the |
| the best camera to buy?". Because everyone knows | | | | best salesmanship. In that world, Canon seems to be |
| that regular (film) cameras are far superior to digital | | | | having the most success. How exactly would we |
| cameras. Hang on a sec, or was that the other way | | | | determine the best brand? Best service, best design, |
| around? Who can keep track these days? Now | | | | best features, best customer support, best images, |
| before I digress too far from the topic, lets take a look | | | | and best user experience are all valid traits. Perhaps a |
| at that age old battle, and see if we can determine | | | | critical / scientific /empirical examination of all cameras |
| which brand is best. | | | | models by manufacturer would be in order. Let's see if |
| First things first, in the spirit of full disclosure, I need to | | | | we can aggregate a lot of the work already done by |
| declare that I do in fact own several cameras. They | | | | a couple of camera review sites who take the above |
| represent a variety of brands. I have two Canons, a | | | | traits into consideration. |
| Fuji, and a Kodak. I must confess, that I am somewhat | | | | A perusal of one top camera review site under their 5 |
| partial to Canon, but I'll try not to let that cloud any | | | | star category, show 39 Canon cameras, 18 Sony |
| editorial comments I may subsequently make. | | | | cameras, 17 Nikon cameras, 6 Fuji cameras, 5 |
| If digital camera sales were any indication of what the | | | | Olympus cameras, 5 Panasonic cameras, 3 Pentax |
| best brand was, then according to Canon would be a | | | | cameras, and 1 Konica camera. A second camera |
| clear winner. As I write this, Canon manufactures 18 of | | | | review site under their top 103 cameras showed 46 |
| the top 25 bestselling cameras on their best seller list. In | | | | Canon cameras, 21 Sony cameras, 20 Nikon cameras, |
| addition, Canon holds 9 of the top 10 spots, with the | | | | 5 Pentax cameras, 3 Fuji cameras, 2 Samsung |
| top 3 being the PowerShot A570 IS, the PowerShot | | | | cameras, 2 Panasonic cameras, 2 Kodak cameras, 1 |
| SD1000 Digital Elph, and the PowerShot SD850. | | | | Konica camera, and 1 Casio camera. If you total all that |
| Sharing the top 11 spots with Canon are 2 of the Pure | | | | up, the top 3 end up being Canon with 85, Sony a |
| Video manufactured Flip Video cameras. Nikon has 2 | | | | distant second with 39, and Nikon a very close third |
| cameras in the top 25 including the Nikon D40, and the | | | | with 37. Everyone else had less than 10 top rated |
| Nikon D300. Panasonic sneaks in with a couple of their | | | | cameras. |