Best Digital SLR Camera

Canon Nikon Olympus Panasonic Pentax Samsung Sony DSLRs Compared

Jun 26, 2008

The major manufacturers all make good DSLRs. However, the different brands do have subtle yet significant differences.

This article concentrates on the more permanent characteristics of each brand, not features that may change from model to model.

Full Professional System

Only Nikon and Canon make the full range of equipment (especially lenses) that is required by professionals.

This will not be important for the majority of photography enthusiasts. "Professional" doesn't have to mean better. Some professionals like big, heavy, fast, tough cameras which a more sensible photographer would leave at home.

Advantage: Canon, Nikon.

Size and Weight

Olympus, Panasonic and Samsung use the Four Thirds (4/3) camera standard with a 2x crop factor compared to traditional film cameras. Other brands have 1x, 1.5x and 1.6x crop factors.

The 2x crop factor means that a 300mm f2.8 lens is equivalent to a 600mm f2.8 lens on a "four thirds" camera (only 300mm, 450mm or 480mm on the other brands). With these super telephoto lenses weighing a few kilograms, this gives 4/3 a big weight advantage.

Lighter standard-zooms will show a smaller (sometimes zero) weight advantage.

Advantage: Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung.

Image Stabilization

Olympus, Pentax, Samsung and Sony has stabilization built into the camera body (except for some budget models) - image stabilization is available for all the lenses.

Canon, Nikon and Panasonic (despite being 4/3 like Olympus) put the stabilization into the lens. The problem is that they might not put it into some lenses. For example the Canon and Nikon 50mm f1.4 autofocus lenses are not stabilized.

Advantage: Olympus, Pentax, Samsung, Sony.

High-ISO Performance

The larger the image sensor, the better the high-ISO performance (less noise).

Full frame cameras (1x crop factor) have the largest image sensors and the best low-light performance but are targeted at professionals and cost thousands of dollars (Canon, Nikon, Sony). Canon also has 1.3x cameras.
1.5x (Nikon, Pentax, Sony) and 1.6x (Canon) are the most popular crop factors, with average low-light performance. The sensor size is half the size of the 1x DSLRs, meaning that for the same number of megapixels, ISO 400 on a 1.5x will look like ISO 800 on a 1x.
The smaller 2x 4/3 image sensors are at a disadvantage in low-light situations, but give comparable performance in bright light. The sensor size is half the size of the 1.5x DSLRs, meaning that for the same number of megapixels, ISO 400 on a 4/3 will look like ISO 800 on a 1.5x, ISO 1600 on a 1x.

Advantage: Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony.

Ergonomics

The layout of the controls can greatly affect not just the enjoyment of using the camera but also the speed at which settings can be changed. This can mean the difference between getting and missing a shot.

Obviously this is a subjective characteristic and no objective recommendation can be made. Ergonomics can also vary greatly within a manufacturer's range of camera models.

Market Share

While more popular doesn't have to mean better, a larger market share does mean:

More support from third-party lens and accessory makers, websites (forums, how-to and equipment review articles)
Easier sharing of lenses with friends and family
Possibly higher resale value

Advantage: Canon, Nikon.

Canon vs Nikon vs Olympus vs Panasonic vs Pentax vs Samsung vs Sony DSLRs

In today's competitive market, no inferior DSLR brand can survive. Any DSLR from a major manufacturer will give excellent results. That having been said, here are some recommendations:

General photography, expandable to full professional system: Canon, Nikon.
Available-light photography, sharpness limited by camera-shake. Example is photojournalism where the camera is hand-held (need stabilization with prime lenses): Olympus, Pentax, Samsung, Sony.
Available-light photography, sharpness limited by subject movement. Example is sports photography which requires high shutter speeds (need 1x full frame, low noise high-ISO image sensor): Canon, Nikon, Sony.
Lightweight travel, unobtrusive photojournalism, wildlife photography (need small lens, large 2x crop factor magnification): Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung.

Resources

Canon versus Nikon Digital SLRs.
Best Nikon Digital SLR Camera, all models compared
Full Frame Versus Cropped Digital SLR Cameras
Your Camera Doesn't Matter, by Ken Rockwell
Your Camera Does Matter, a rebuttal by Michael Reichmann

The copyright of the article Best Digital SLR Camera in Digital Photography is owned by Yuen Kit Mun. Permission to republish Best Digital SLR Camera in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.