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Have Your Say: Best Gear of 2017

22 Dec

Have Your Say: Best Gear of 2017

For the past few weeks we’ve been running a series of polls to find out what you – our readers – think of the major product releases of 2017. For the first round of voting we made six initial polls covering lenses, compact cameras and interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs). Now that those polls have closed, we’re pleased to announce the winners. Thanks to everyone that voted!

But the voting isn’t (quite) over yet. You don’t get away that easily…

In this slideshow we’re announcing the winners and runners-up in each category, and kicking off a final poll, to determine which of the twelve individual winners from the first round should be crowned as your choice for overall best gear of 2017.

Best smartphone camera – Runner-up: Google Pixel 2

In terms of ‘pure’ photography (if that’s even a thing, anymore, in the age of smartphones) the Pixel 2 turns out some of the best images you’ll find from any curren smartphone, and at the moment holds the top spot in DxO’s Mobile rankings. Stills and video (up to 4K/30p) footage looks great, and future firmware updates promise further enhancements.

The Google Pixel 2 just edged out the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 to take the runner-up spot in this year’s readers’ choice poll for best smartphone camera.

Best smartphone camera – winner: Apple iPhone X

All screen, all the time (well, apart from that awkward notch). The Apple iPhone X is the company’s flagship handset and the most significant redesign of the iPhone’s 10-year history. As a photography device, the X delivers excellent still images, a useful Portrait mode, some fun lighting effects, and truly stunning 4K video. It’s not cheap, but it’s your pick for the best smartphone camera of 2017.

Best prime lens – Runner-up: Sigma 14mm F1.8 Art

One of the first new lenses we used in 2017 turned out to be one of the best. It’s a big piece of glass, but the Sigma 14mm F1.8 Art is a stunning lens, equally as useful for landscapes and cityscapes as it is for more specialist applications like astrophotography.

Clearly this fast, wide prime has impressed you too, earning (we think) a well-deserved runner-up spot in this year’s readers’ poll for best prime lens of 2017, just beating Sony’s FE 85mm F1.8.

Best prime lens – Winner: Sigma 135mm F1.8 Art

Sigma really cleaned up this year, taking both winner and runner-up spots in our readers’ poll for best prime lens. Just edging out the 14mm F1.8, Sigma’s 135mm F1.8 was your overall pick, and deservedly so. The combination of speed, sharpness and handling is hard to beat. We rate this lens very highly, and clearly so do you.

Best zoom lens – Runner-up: Tamron SP 70-200mm F2.8 G2

Plenty of great zoom lenses were released in 2017 from all of the major manufacturers, but Tamron’s two F2.8 G2 lenses were a hit with our readers. Taking the runner-up spot (just) is the 70-200mm F2.8 G2. We love this lens for its combination of compact build, excellent handling and effective image stabilization. Great image quality and a low price compared to big name competitors doesn’t hurt either.

Best zoom lens – Winner: Tamron SP 24-70mm F2.8 G2

And the winner, beating out some outstanding competition (including Sony’s pair of excellent wideangle zooms) is Tamron’s G2 24-70mm F2.8. An affordable alternative to offerings from Canon and Nikon, the Tamron 24-70mm F2.8 G2 performs well, handles well, and delivers solid image quality.

Third-party lenses are always popular with DPReview readers, and for good reason. The Tamron 24-70mm F2.8 G2 has clearly proven a hit with you this year.

Best high-end compact camera – Runner-up: Sony Cyber-shot RX10 IV

Yes, we know that the Sony Cyber-shot RX10 IV isn’t exactly ‘compact’ (thanks to the many people that pointed that out in the comments on these polls and the DPReview awards article) but technically, fixed-lens cameras of this type are classed as such, and we’re not very good at coming up with new names for things.

Sony are pretty good at naming things, but when all you have to do is just count upwards, it’s probably pretty easy. The fourth model in the company’s RX10-series, the Mark IV improves on the Mark III (which also came second, in last year’s DPReview readers’ poll for best compact) with the addition of phase-detection autofocus to its already very impressive feature set.

Best high-end compact camera – Winner: Fujifilm X100F

OK, now you have to admit that this one is pretty compact. The Fujifilm X100F is another fourth-generation camera, but compared to the Sony RX10 IV it’s a very different beast. There’s the larger, APS-C format sensor for one thing, and a fixed, fast 35mm equiv., prime lens, as well as a hybrid optical / electronic viewfinder.

Beyond the core specifications, the Fujifilm X100F offers an entirely different handling experience. More refined, more discreet, more traditional. And slightly more popular with you, our readers, apparently. The award for best high-end compact of 2017 goes to the Fujifilm X100F.

Best entry-level ILC – Runner-up: Panasonic Lumix DC-GX850

Designed to be as small as possible, the DC-GX850 comes kitted with a slimline collapsible lens and a stripped-down control interface which makes heavy use of a tilting touch-sensitive LCD screen. There are better cameras out there for beginners wanting to learn about the practice of adjusting exposure, but few which can fit as comfortably into a handbag or jacket pocket.

The DC-GX850 is evidently a hit with our readers, earning the runner-up spot in our poll to find the best entry-level ILC of 2017.

Best entry-level ILC – Winner: Olympus OM-D E-M10 III

We’ve really enjoyed testing and using the Olympus OM-D E-M10 III since it was released this summer. Despite being absolutely tiny, it offers full manual control, in-depth custom options and a great feature set. Yes, this is an entry-level camera, but features like 5-axis in-body stabilization, a high-quality electronic viewfinder and 4K video make it one of the most versatile models in its class.

We selected the OM-D E-M10 III as our choice for the best entry-level ILC of 2017 recently, and it’s obvious that you agree.

Best midrange ILC – Runner-up: Fujifilm X-E3

We loved the X-E2/S but with the launch of the X-T10 and X-T20, we didn’t really expect to see it superseded. We were pleasantly surprised, therefore, when the X-E3 arrived on the scene. The X-E3’s combination of classic handling and excellent image quality is hard to argue with, and clearly it’s popular with you, our readers too. The X-E3 took the runner-up spot in this year’s midrange ILC poll, with 14.8% of the total vote.

Best midrange ILC – Joint-winner: Fujifilm X-T20

There were a lot of tight polls this year, but none was tighter, for longer, than the contest for best midrange ILC. In the end, with only 0.2% of the total vote separating the two front-runners, it’s only fair that we call them joint winners.

First up is the Fujifilm X-T20 – one of Fujifilm’s new generation of mirrorless ILCs, featuring a 24MP sensor and DSLR-style ergonomics, plus a high-resolution, tilting touch-screen. The X-T20 is a fantastic performer, and in our opinion, one of the most likable cameras in its class. Obviously you agree.

Best midrange ILC – Joint-winner: Nikon D7500

Joint-winner of our 2017 Readers’ choice award for best midrange ILC is a very different, but still very likable camera. The Nikon D7500 is a powerful DSLR that inherits a lot of its core features from the professional D500.

Capable of shooting at up to 8 fps with a 51-point AF system borrowed from Nikon’s previous-generation flagship DSLRs, the D7500 is a fast and capable camera. Since its release earlier this year we’ve been hugely impressed by the D7500, and apparently so have you.

Best high-end / professional ILC – Runner-up: Sony a9

This poll was so tight that we issued a last-minute request for more votes to break a tie between four cameras – two runners-up and two front-runners. A handful of last-minute votes just (and we do mean just) nudged the Sony a9 ahead of the Fujifilm GFX 50S to claim the runner-up spot in our readers’ choice poll for best high-end ILC of 2017.

The Sony a9 is one of the most technologically advanced cameras we’ve ever seen, capable of reliable high-speed capture in the kind of demanding environments that professionals need to work in. It impressed us in our full review, and obviously it has impressed you too.

Best high-end / professional ILC – Joint-winner: Nikon D850

With 0.4% of the total vote separating the two front-runners, this was another extremely tight poll and one in which (again) we’ve opted to award two cameras the winning position. The Nikon D850 is one of our favorite DSLRs of recent years, and was joint-winner (with the Sony a7R III) of our DPReview Award for best high-end camera, and runner-up for product of the year when DPReview staff voted internally earlier this month.

Clearly, some of our readers are having the same arguments that we did, because the results of this poll basically match our own opinions after testing this year’s crop of high-end ILCs. With 27.3% of the total vote, the Nikon D850 is joint winner of this year’s readers poll for best high-end ILC, alongside… you guessed it…

Best high-end / professional ILC – Joint-winner: Nikon D850

The Hasselblad Lunar! Just kidding, that would be ridiculous. There was only really one more contender for best high-end ILC of 2017, and that was the Sony a7R III. Announced towards the end of the year, the a7R III rewrote the rules for mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras, providing high resolution capture without compromising on speed, and a solid hybrid stills/video feature set.

It seems like there’s not much that the a7R III can’t do. Some people will still prefer an optical viewfinder and more conventional DSLR ergonomics (clearly – since the D850 was joint-winner in this poll) but the a7R III closes the gap between DSLR and mirrorless technology more convincingly than any previous camera in its class. After a nail-biting poll, the a7R III is a well-deserved joint winner of this years’ readers’ choice award for best high-end ILC.

Have Your Say

You’ve seen the results from our six polls, so now’s the time to pick an overall winner. You can vote for up to three of the products in this poll, and voting closes at midnight (PT) on January 4th, 2018. We’ll announce the overall winner and runner-up early in the new year. And before you know it, it’ll be time to round up the best product of 2018! How time flies…

As always, thanks for voting, and for contributing to DPReview over the past year. We couldn’t do any of this without you and we don’t take it for granted. Happy holidays from all of us, to all of you.

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Have your say

$ (document).ready(function() { Poll({“pollId”:”9228925404″,”openForVoting”:true,”mainElementId”:”poll0″,”slot”:null,”isSingleChoicePoll”:false,”minNumberOfChoices”:1,”maxNumberOfChoices”:3}); })

Have your say: Best product of 2017

Apple iPhone X

Fujifilm X100F

Fujifilm X-E3

Fujifilm X-T20

Google Pixel 2

Nikon D850

Nikon D7500

Olympus OM-D E-M10 III

Panasonic Lumix DC-GX850

Sigma 14mm F1.8 Art

Sigma 135mm F1.8 Art

Sony a9

Sony a7R III

Sony Cyber-shot RX10 IV

Tamron SP 70-200mm F2.8 G2

Tamron SP 24-70mm F2.8 G2

Voting is easy – you pick your favorite products by dragging and dropping. You can pick up to three, and rank them in order of priority.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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2017 in review: a look back at March

22 Dec

Among the many things reported on in March of 2017 was this probably-not-delicious, plump-breasted pigeon. With a camera. The pigeon is probably not named Speckled Jim.

We’re looking back on the photographic world in 2017, and we kicked off March with a look at the CP+ trade show that had taken place the previous month in Yokohama, Japan. One of my favorite snippets of show coverage was a cameo made by the Michel Pigeon Camera. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like, and no, it (and the pigeon) thankfully wasn’t included in a late-February roundup of things we’d found at CP+ that had been cut in half.

Overall camera news was a little on the slow side, as we’d expect for the month following a major photography trade show. Olympus finally drove the nails into the coffin of the legacy Four Thirds system, and CIPA – the standards organization behind claims that your camera’s battery doesn’t last long enough – reported that compact digital camera sales were lower than ever before.

The industry said a solemn goodbye to Popular Photography magazine and PopPhoto.com

And of course, the industry also said a solemn goodbye to Popular Photography magazine and PopPhoto.com, an institution that was shuttered after eighty years in the business. One of our own, Dan Bracagalia, got his career started at the publication, so the announcement hit very close to home for all of us at DPReview.

On the lighter side, we had our first chance to shoot with the Fujifilm GFX 50S since it was announced at Photokina the previous autumn, and by-and-large, we were very impressed with what it’s capable of. We tagged along with a couple of photojournalists with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and we also went into some detail on the concept of subject tracking with autofocus systems, why it matters to us, and why it should matter to you.

Last, and almost certainly least, there was the announcement of a miniature drone called the AirSelfie. Because you can do absolutely spectacular, breathtaking, magnificent things with drones, and of course, that should include taking selfies.

Tune in tomorrow to see how April of 2017 shaped up.

Click here to see all March 2017 content

Photo Gear News tells you how to pronounce ‘Bokeh’

Finally, we know.

Farewell to Popular Photography

Popular Photography magazine will be very sorely missed. The magazine was heavily focused on photographic technique, and helped make the craft more accessible to the public. Our own Dan Bracaglia got his start there, and we deeply lament the loss of another publication in our industry.

Read the full article here

Walking the streets of Japan with the Fujifilm GFX 50S

Dan was fortunate enough to get access to a Fujifilm GFX 50S and accompanying 63mm F2.8 lens after the conclusion of the CP+ show. He shared some of his first impressions, as well as some really lovely images.

Click to read our writeup

Go behind the scenes with Seattle photojournalists

Get a glimpse into the world of professional local photojournalism with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Grant Hindsley and Genna Martin.

Read the full article

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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2017 in review: a look back at January

22 Dec

Perhaps the biggest product to be launched in January was the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5, which offered amazing 4K video capabilities and a solid stills photography feature set.

A lot of things happened this year, both in the photography industry and the world in general. And like every year, 2017 seems to have flown by. As December draws to a close, we wanted to take stock. Over the next 12 days, we’ll be looking back at the major product launches and photography events which took place in each month of the year, starting today with January.

2017 kicked off with the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Traditionally a showcase for new consumer audio/visual technologies, in recent years CES has also seen the launch of several major cameras. This year, the biggest announcements were the Fujifilm X100F and Panasonic’s flagship ‘hybrid’ camera, the Lumix DC-GH5.

Meanwhile, Ricoh released the Pentax KP, which inherited a lot of features from the flagship K-1, in a smaller-format body. Leica’s M10 – also released in January – was a flagship of a very different kind.

The USA got a new president in January and Pete Souza, the outgoing White House photographer, was there to capture Obama’s last day

In local news, the USA got a new president in January (not sure if you heard). Pete Souza, the outgoing White House photographer, was there to capture Obama’s last day. Cue much wailing and gnashing of hashtags. On the other side of the (same) country, a bunch of Canadian filmmakers pleaded guilty to trampling all over Grand Prismatic spring in the Yellowstone National Park. Silly billies.

In even more local news, and speaking of silly billies, our writer Carey Rose took one of our favorite lenses of 2016, the Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm F1.2 Pro to Thailand, to see what it would be like to shoot his entire trip at a single focal length.

Tomorrow – February! Because that’s how this is going to work.

See all January 2017 content

CES 2017: Full show coverage

The CES show in Las Vegas back in January was the usual combination of the weird and wonderful, showcasing everything from a fish-finding underwater drone to Panasonic’s flagship DC-GH5. DPReview was all over it.

Complete CES 2017 show report content

Ultimate travel kit – Thailand with Olympus’ E-M1 II & 25mm prime lens

Thailand has incredible landscapes, delicious food and warm and friendly locals. DPR staffer Carey Rose came to realize that documenting a trip like this equipped with only a 50mm equivalent lens was a lot more difficult than he anticipated.

Read the full article

Filmmakers who walked on Grand Prismatic in Yellowstone get jail time and fines

Last year, four Canadian filmmakers were arrested after photos and a video were published showing them walking on off-limits geothermal features in Yellowstone National Park. Three of them pleaded guilty and will receive fines, community service and a little jail time.

Read the full article

Pete Souza captures Obama’s last day in the White House

Pete Souza, the official photographer for President Obama, posted a series of photos on his Instagram account showing the Obamas’ final departure from The White House.

Read the full article

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Blog Project: Your Best Photos From 2017

22 Dec

It’s that time of year again and if you’re a regular JMG-Galleries reader that means one thing…
it is time to kick off the 11th annual best photos of the year blog project. This is by far my most popular blog project with hundreds of photographers taking part last year (see Best Photos of 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007). It’s great to see the community of photographers that have developed around this blog project. As always I hope the exercise of picking your best photos helps improve your photography (10 Ways to Top Your Best 20xx Photographs).

So without any further delay here is how you take part to submit your best photos of 2016.

How to Participate (Read Carefully)

Review & select your best photos from 2017.
Note: Photo edit carefully narrowing down your results to your best 10 or 5 photos. Reference Pro Tips: Photo Editing with Gary Crabbe for pointers.
Create a blog post on your website or a Flickr/500px set containing your best photos from 2017.
Complete the form below by Tuesday JANUARY 2rd at 11:59PM PST to take part. The following Tuesday, or thereabout, I’ll post a link to all submitted sites and photos on my blog. Throughout the week I’ll also share the results across all my social media accounts.

Spread the Word!
Feel free to spread the word of this project on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, photo forums you frequent and/or your blogs. All who are interested in taking part are invited.

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The post Blog Project: Your Best Photos From 2017 appeared first on JMG-Galleries – Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography.

JMG-Galleries – Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography

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2017 in review: a look back at February

21 Dec

Nikon announced the demise of its DL compacts on the eve of Valentine’s Day, because love is pain.

We learned a lot of fun facts in February: people don’t really like looking at selfies, it’s possible to make a camera out of drinking straws, and Google’s AI-powered image detail enhancement technology is getting creepy good.

February is also when we tend to see winners revealed from year-end photo competitions. True to form, we were not disappointed by the top images in SkyPixel’s aerial photo competition and the 2017 Underwater Photographer of the year. But one photo will probably be remembered before all others – the photo of a slain Russian ambassador was announced as the winner of the 60th World Press Photo award.

Their impressive spec sheets got our hearts all a-flutter, but thanks to unexpectedly high production costs, they were never to be

In gear news, Nikon fans woke up to the equivalent of a break-up text the day before Valentine’s Day – the company was ditching its previously-announced-but-never-realized DL compact cameras. The DLs were meant to be a series of enticing-looking 1″ sensor compacts. Their impressive spec sheets got our hearts all a-flutter, but thanks to unexpectedly high production costs, they were never to be.

It wasn’t all bad news though – CP+ would cheer us all up later in the month with announcements of lovely new lenses like the Sigma 14mm F1.8 Art. It was also the first opportunity for us to do some shooting with the Fujifilm GFX 50S, which was announced at Photokina in late 2016.

See all February content

2016 Challenge of Challenges winners announced

In February, we announced the winner of our annual Challenge of Challenges competition. DPR member cand1d’s image of a glowing sunset in Bagan, Myanmar took top honors in the 2016 Challenge of Challenges competition. The photo is one of almost 1000 challenge-winning entries from the year, which we whittled down to a more manageable shortlist of 25 before DPReview readers voted on a final winner.

See the 2016 Challenge of Challenges Winners

Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art samples

The Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art made its debut at CP+, and it got the low light shooters on our staff all excited. We jumped all over the chance to take a pre-production version of the lens out for a spin in Yokohama during the show, and later updated our gallery with many more samples from a production-ready unit.

See our Sigma 14mm F1.8 sample gallery

Things we found at CP+ 2017 which had been cut in half

It’s not a photo tradeshow until you’ve seen a lot of things cut in half, and CP+ 2017 was no exception. Take a look at what’s going on inside of some very nice gear.

See all of the things we found at CP+ which had been cut in half

CP+ 2017: Full show coverage

DPReview was at the CP+ show in February, over in Yokohama Japan. As usual, it was a great show for new gear, weird sights, and plenty of hot vending machine coffee.

Read our full CP+ coverage

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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2017 Readers’ choice polls: High-end ILC of the year – break the tie!

21 Dec

For the past few weeks we’ve been running six polls, to find out what you, our readers think was the best gear of 2017. Several of the polls are pretty close, but one is still too close to call, with literally only a handful of votes between the two front-runners and the two runners-up.

With only six hours left to vote, we need your help to break the tie! Or we could just give everyone a prize, like school sports day. Your choice.

Click here to view all six polls
(voting ends at midnight PT)

Have your say

$ (document).ready(function() { Poll({“pollId”:”1348290628″,”openForVoting”:true,”mainElementId”:”poll0″,”slot”:null,”isSingleChoicePoll”:false,”minNumberOfChoices”:1,”maxNumberOfChoices”:3}); })

Have your say: Best high-end ILC of 2017

Fujifilm GFX 50S

Leica M10

Nikon D850

Panasonic Lumix DC-G9

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5

Sony Alpha a7R III

Sony Alpha a9

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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2017 Buying Guide: Best cameras for landscapes

20 Dec

Landscape photography isn’t as simple as just showing up in front of a beautiful view and taking a couple of pictures. Landscape shooters have a unique set of needs and requirements for their gear, and we’ve selected some of our favorites in this buying guide.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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2017 Buying Guide: Best cameras for students

19 Dec

If you’re looking to learn more about photography there are some great cameras available. We’ve chosen a handful of models that offer an affordable way into photography, but give you plenty of scope to grow as you develop your skills.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Struggling owl takes home top prize in 2017 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

19 Dec

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After showing off 40 chuckle-inducing finalists early last week, the 2017 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have revealed their overall winners in each category. The results were unveiled last Thursday, but a Monday evening seems like the best possible time to share some photos that’ll make you smile.

The overall winner is a photo of an owl struggling to stay on a branch, part of a sequence of four shots by photographer Tibor Kercz that he aptly titled “Help.” Meanwhile, the category prizes—On the Land, In the Air, and Under the Sea—went to Andrea Zampatti, John Threlfall, and Troy Mayne, respectively. You can see all 7 winning photos in the gallery above.

Of course, these 7 are far from the only images worth a laugh. So in addition to naming its winners, the CWPAs also named 10 Highly Commended images, which we’ve included in the gallery below. You’re welcome…

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In addition to making us smile once a year, The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards also works with The Born Free Foundation, which “works locally, nationally and internationally to end wild animal cruelty and suffering, and protect threatened wildlife.” To that end, they’ve put together a photo book of comical photos submitted to the CWPAs over the years, which helps to raise funds for the Foundation.

If you like what you see above, consider purchasing the book and supporting the Foundation. And if you want to learn more about the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards head over to the CWPA website where you’ll find all of the finalists and winners from the past three years—a little inspiration for your entry to next year’s competition, perhaps?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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2017 Buying Guide: Best cameras for parents

18 Dec

Quick. Unpredictable. Unwilling to sit still. Kids really are the ultimate test for a camera’s autofocus system. We’ve compiled a short list of what we think are the best options for parents trying to keep up with young kids, and narrowed it down to one best all-rounder.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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