360Photography

Vote now for Best Product of 2015!

Late last year we asked you to vote on the outstanding products of 2015. We created four polls, covering lenses and cameras, including more than 50 products in total. With thousands of votes cast, and plenty of ‘discussion’ in the comments, we’re ready to announce the winners! Click through this slideshow to see the results, and read a little about the products that you voted for. 

And the fun isn’t over just yet – now is your chance to vote on the winners and runners-up from each of the four categories, to determine the readers’ choice award for best overall product of 2015.

Runner-up – Best High-end Compact: Sony Cyber-shot RX1R II

The Sony RX1R II features the same high resolution 42.4 MP sensor and BIONZ X processor from the a7R II along with a large aperture, fixed focal length ZEISS Sonnar T* 35mm F2 lens, which have been fine-tuned to optimize performance together. The camera’s sensor features 399 phase-detection AF points that cover about 45% of the image area, and a retractable high-resolution electronic viewfinder.

We’ve really enjoyed using the RX1R II, and obviously it’s impressed you too, taking runner-up spot in our poll for best high-end compact.

Winner – Best High-end Compact: Sony Cyber-shot RX100 IV

The RX1R II just missed out on the top spot to another Sony high-achiever, the Cyber-shot RX100 IV. The DSC-RX100 IV is the fourth generation of a popular and critically-acclaimed series of enthusiast compacts. This iteration brings with it a new 1″ type 20MP stacked CMOS Exmor RS sensor. Its stacked design frees up more space for high speed circuitry allowing for more sophisticated functions, and is a next generation of the familiar backside illuminated (BSI) design.

The RX100 IV is capable of 4K video recording (with clips limited to a 5 minute maximum), slow motion 40x video recording with 960 fps capture and up to 16 fps continuous shooting. Like its predecessor the RX100 IV offers a 24-70mm equivalent F1.8-2.8 lens and continues the tradition of a pop-up electronic viewfinder, upgrading the OLED panel to a 2.35 million dot resolution.

Runner-up – Best Consumer ILC: Nikon D7200

Taking the runner-up spot in our poll for best consumer ILC was the Nikon D7200. This poll covered a pretty broad range of products but you were obviously impressed by the D7200, which proved itself very capable in our testing. An updated version of the venerable D7100 the D7200’s design and build quality remains the same but it gains a faster processor, much larger buffer for continuous shooting, improved low light autofocus performance, and Wi-Fi with NFC.

The D7200 is built around a 24.2MP CMOS sensor with no optical low-pass filter, which maximizes resolution. It has an ISO range of 100-25600 that expands up to 102400 in black & white only. The autofocus system remains 51-points with 15 cross-type sensors but all of those points can focus down to -3EV. 

Winner – Best Consumer ILC: Olympus OM-D E-M5 II

Your vote for the best consumer ILC of 2015 went to Olympus’s very capable OM-D E-M5 II. Compared to the original E-M5, the control points of the Mark II have been reworked allowing for quick, direct access to exposure settings and the construction made impressively solid. 

One stand-out feature on the Olympus is a 40 megapixel option for stills shooters, which uses the sensor-shift stabilization system to combine multiple exposures into one higher-resolution image. The camera can also capture up to 1080/60p and 5-axis IS makes it a pleasure to use hand-held. We greatly enjoyed using the OM-D E-M5 II in 2015 and we’re glad that clearly you did too.

Runner-up – Best High-end ILC: Canon EOS 5DS/R

Your choice for runner-up in our Best High-end ILC category was Canon’s enthusiast flagship the EOS 5DS / R. We bundled both the 5DS and 5DSR in together since they’re so similar, and we enjoyed shooting with both in 2015. The Canon EOS 5DS and 5DS R are the highest resolution DSLRs currently on the market, boasting 50MP stills. With more than double the resolution of the 5D Mark III, the 5DS has an optical low pass filter, while the 5DS R has a self-canceling filter.

The autofocus system has a total of 61 points (in a ‘high density reticular array’), 41 of which are cross-type. It uses the same 150,000 pixel RGB+IR metering system as the EOS 7D II with a scene detection system. The metering system also has an anti-flicker function for shooting under sodium vapor lights. The ISO range on the camera is 100-6400, expandable to 12800.

Winner – Best High-end ILC: Sony a7R II

Sony was on a winning streak throughout 2015 it seemed, and this is reflected in your votes across all of our end-of-year polls. The clear winner in our poll to find your favorite high-end ILC of last year was the a7R II – also one of our all-time standout cameras. We’re not going to lie – the a7R II was a huge pain to review, but that’s because of the sheer amount of technology that Sony packed into it, all of which required careful testing. 

The Sony a7R II is the world’s first camera to use a full-frame Backside Illuminated (BSI) sensor (which is stabilized) boasting 399 phase detect AF points. Electronic first curtain and fully electronic (silent) shutter modes ensure wonderfully detailed files with no risk of the shutter shock issues that plagued the original a7R, while internal 4K/30p recording is newly available in both full sensor and APS-C (Super35) modes. Impressive stuff indeed, and it obviously impressed you too.

Runner-up – Best Lens: Canon EF 11-24mm F4 L

Easy to dismiss as an expensive ‘stunt’ lens at first sight, Canon’s ambitious 11-24mm F4 L turned out to be an exceptionally capable piece of glass, and quickly became one of our favorite lenses last year on both Canon and Sony A-mount bodies. The 11-24mm offers the widest angle of view of any rectilinear full-frame Digital SLR lens, and has a close-focus distance of just 11 inches. An absolute pleasure to use for shooting landscapes, weddings, concerts and photojournalism, this lens is sharp across the entire frame and well-constructed.

Winner – Best Lens: Zeiss Batis 85mm F1.8

The clear winner in our poll to find your favorite lens of 2015 was the very lovely Zeiss Batis 85mm F1.8. Zeiss is well-known for making some excellent glass and the Zeiss Batis 85mm F1.8 is no exception. Available in Sony E-mount, this lens is weather and dust sealed, image stabilized and coated in Zeiss’ T* anti-reflective coating. It features a digital OLED focus depth display, making it incredibly easy to manually focus.

Linear motors ensure fast and silent AF, while pairing with an a7R II’s AF system guarantees the most accurate focus you’ll ever experience from any 85mm prime, period. If that’s not enough, a floating element design helps to reduce chromatic aberration and ghosting. It took the winning spot by a considerable margin – thanks to everyone that voted!

So there you have it. Four category winners, and four runners-up. But which of these winning products is the overall best product of last year? Vote now in our final readers’ poll and remember that as before, you can rank up to three choices. Voting will run through the end of this month and winners will be announced in the first week of February. 

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)