Some of us photographers, particularly those of us who create content of any description, have worked our way through a lot of cameras, both owned and tested. One photographer has used nearly 90 cameras since 2016, and decided to rank them all.
This is, of course, one man’s opinion. If your camera is ranked last but you love it, it makes no difference whatsoever. But the idea of ranking all the cameras you’ve tried is an interesting one. After seeing this video, I went through a lot of the cameras I’ve used over the last decade or so, and made a mental note of the ones that I liked and then why. This is more valuable than it might seem at first. Here’s how.
Once you have a shortlist of some of your favorite cameras, and you have picked apart why exactly they are on your list, see if you can identify any similarities. For example, two cameras that jumped to my mind right away were the Fujifilm GFX 100 and the Leica M10 (linked to the M10-R for reference). These cameras are completely different systems, for completely different purposes, but they are each undoubtedly in my top 5. One is a mammoth, medium format system, weighing a lot and rewarding a slow working style. The other is a rangefinder camera that’s full frame, but light and easy to have on your person. So, where are the similarities for me? The shooting experience. With both cameras, I enjoyed taking pictures and I loved the results. The whole process felt closer to photography as a passion than many other, highly capable cameras I have used. To me, some cameras feel like workhorses that do the job I want, and some feel like paintbrushes.
What would your top 5 cameras be that you have used in the last 5 to 10 years?