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Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Bridging Tech and Creative Photography
Features

Can One Camera System Truly Do it All for Photographers?

Chris Gampat
No Comments
12/09/2016
5 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Canon EOS Elan 7 product images (1 of 12)ISO 4001-50 sec at f - 4.0

Obviously, all camera systems these days have become very mature and capable of doing almost everything that a photographer needs or wants. They’re all good and can help image makers in many ways. Working photographers these days need to be able to do a variety of things though not including just photography, but also things like video. Some photographers need to have access to a fully working flash system and find features like WiFi integration to be critical. Plus, they need tough gear that can take abuse in rough weather and do most of what they need to get done easily.

Considering that we’ve used every camera system, we’ve put together an analysis.

Canon

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The number one camera manufacturer in the market boasts loads of capabilities and options. The system has loads of cameras that are full frame and APS-C in addition to mirrorless cameras. There are tons of lens options not only from Canon themselves but also from third parties like Sigma, Tamron, Zeiss, etc. Additionally, Canon is tied with Sony with arguably being the most advanced system when it comes to flashes. Canon has their own radio transmitter with flashes that have a receiver built in. If you feel you want more, lots of third party companies make offerings.

Many of their good DSLRs and cameras have WiFi built in, and these cameras have very good build quality overall.

Then there’s video: lots of Canon’s cameras have microphone and headphone jacks for video. Plus they can shoot 4K. For many years, Canon was the standard until Alexa, Sony and Panasonic started pushing back really hard. Plus, Canon has the fastest autofocus due to Dual Pixel AF when it comes to video. And it’s pretty glorious.

Rating

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Unless you want a really solid mirrorless camera system with loads of lenses, you’re really not going to have a big problem here. Canon’s cameras are expensive though: but cameras in general are pretty much luxury items.

Nikon

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Nikon has been around for years and years now and have created an excellent camera system. Like Canon, they have loads of lenses that are both first party and third party. Their cameras are built tough and there are lots of options for a variety of photographers. When it comes to a flash system, Nikon used to have the most advanced system but that’s since changed. However manufacturers like Profoto, Phottix, Flashpoint and Impact make flashes for the brand. Then there are the loads and loads of Chinese brands on the market.

Nikon was pretty popular with videographers for a minute, and then they just weren’t. Sure, you can shoot video with Nikon cameras. It’s just that most folks don’t. However, their KeyMission cameras are pretty tough and durable. They may just become more and more popular with photographers as time goes on.

Nikon’s cameras have Wifi or need a dongle to be connected. But then there are others that connect to a mobile device using low powered Bluetooth. Bluetooth is faster in my opinion and sometimes better.

Rating

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Nikon is better for still photographers, arguably so. But there are place that it can go when it comes to video. Still though, there aren’t a whole ton of Nikon videographers out there. Though if you’re going for some of the best stills on the market, there’s Nikon.

Sony

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The recent darling of so many photographers out there has lots of options available when it comes to cameras. The company is mostly vested in mirrorless camera technology, though their brand new a99 II is also pretty exceptional. Their sensors have always been fantastic and their autofocus is also pretty good overall. Plus there are a lot of lenses available not only from Sony but also from third party manufacturers. When it comes to lighting you’ve got Sony’s own flash system with a radio transmitter and receiver. You’ve also got offerings from third parties like Godox, Impact, Flashpoint, Yongnuo, etc.

Sony has established itself as a leader when it comes to video. They’ve got loads of dedicated video cameras (as does Canon) and there is also the a7s series. Lots of their cameras have both headphone and microphone jacks too. That means that for the working photojournalist, they’ll have a lighter kit option overall.

Rating

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Sony has pretty much everything that you could possibly need. Now if only they’d make batteries that suck a lot less…

Fujifilm

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When it comes to pure ergonomics, Fujifilm is arguably my absolute favorite company out there. They simply understand things that Canon, Nikon and Sony don’t. Their image quality is really top notch as they’re making arguably the best APS-C sensors on the market right now. Lots of photojournalists use their products for stills. Fujifilm has a lot of great options for classic focal lengths and have Zeiss, Rokinon and others to give third party support. For what it’s worth though, that department is still sort of lacking for Fujifilm.

Then there’s the company’s flash system: which is honestly not so great. They have popular flashes that are small and designed to be in the hot shoe for street photographers, but otherwise not so much at all.

Finally, they’re only now getting into video seriously. If you’re a photographer that doesn’t care, then that’s fine. But if you want Fujifilm to be your all in one system, then you’ll need access to a headphone jack and microphone jack. For what it’s worth, Fujifilm is a tad unconventional here and requires you to buy the grip for their X-T2 to take full advantage for video. However, it should be said that you’ve got a new medium format system and the company’s excellent film profiles built right into the camera for a better and truer cinematic experience to film.

Fujifilm is also the newest system on this list though, and I’ve got confidence in them.

Rating

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I just have to be fair here. Fujifilm needs to work on their flashes, extending third party support more, and their video. They’ll get there, but not yet.

Micro Four Thirds

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Last on the list is the system that lots of photographers look down on for no good reason. The modern equivalent to 110 film in terms of sensor size delivers very tough cameras, exceptional autofocus, the most lenses of any system you could possibly ask for, WiFi, good image quality, a small enough size, etc. Their only now starting to ramp up their flash systems though as Panasonic is working with Elinchom and PocketWizard. But Olympus still hasn’t moved forward on any of that in any serious way.

Then you’ll consider video: Panasonic. Have we talked about how amazing Panasonic is here? Panasonic takes the cake when it comes to video though Olympus arguably does better when it comes to still image.s

Rating

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If you can get over your ego about the Four Thirds sensor and realize that the images are only as good as you make them (not the camera) then you’ll have no issues.

camera canon flash fujifilm lenses lighting micro four thirds nikon olympus panasonic sony system third-party video
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Written by

Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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