World's Best Cameras?

[Mike Farley]

Mike Johnston at his "The Online Photographer" blog is running a rolling post about the cameras he thinks are the top ten you can buy at the moment. So far, he has listed cameras ranke from 7 to 10. It is worth looking at as MJ's thoughts are usually well considered.

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.co ... meras.html

I find it interesting that the Leica S is on the list. In 2012 I had a couple of opportunities to shoot its predecessor, the S2, when Leica was selling ex-demo bodies at half price. That was still an eye watering £8k, mind, and the lens was extra. A while previously on a TV programme I had seen Rankin using a S2 as a point and shoot and that was the way I shot with the camera. There are only relatively minor differences between the two models, so my experience is comparable to using its successor.

The image quality was fabulous, even with the lenses wide open*, but I discovered a couple of things. The first was similar to what people have observed with the Nikon D800/810 models, that any camera shake was magnified by the high resolution. With the standard Summarit 70mm lens attached, a shutter speed of less than 1/250 was likely to result in a blurred image. If I was really careful, 1/125 was a possibility, but could not be guaranteed. Despite looking like a large DSLR, this is one camera which needs a tripod. I also found that the AF on one of the bodies I used appeared to be slightly out. No doubt it could have been adjusted, but it was disconcerting on such an expensive item.

For a variety of reasons, the cost of entry being just one of them unsurprsingly, I passed on the opportunity. It was a well thought out camera and a joy to use, but ultimately not for me.

* With the cheapest lens for the system being in excess of £3k, that should be a given. If I had been really serious about a purchase, Leica did indicate that it would do a deal, but it never got that far.

[Mike Farley]

The Canon 7DII has now been added to the list. Johnston makes the point which I have been thinking, which is that Canon has essentially made a crop sensor version of the flagship 1DX because this is the pinnacle of DSLR technology. Canon is preparing to move on and the marketing ploy of omitting or downgrading features so that there will be something for the next iteration is not necessary.

One other point is that unlike the recent review by the LuLa team to which I linked, Johnston does not actually own any of the cameras about which he has written. I expect that will change as he reaches the conclusion and that the highest rated will be those he shoots himself or the next one he will buy; there does seem to be a fairly constant churn at TOP. His current cameras so far as I am aware are the Fuji X-T1 and Olympus E-M1.

[Mike Farley]

An oddity as the list is completed. The Fuji X-T1 is listed as the author's favourite camera, but is ranked three places lower than the Olympus E-M1.