Nikon has had a good streak in recent years, with their cameras proving how they built on their user’s feedback. Canon, too, hasn’t been far behind, with their latest releases becoming quite the talk of the town. While the Nikon Z8, Nikon Zf, and the Nikon Z9 proved to be powerhouses, Canon still seems to lag behind. However, despite the differences, both recently took home the top honors at the DGP Imaging Awards in Japan. Wondering what they are? Scroll below.
Which Nikon and Canon Products Won?
Hosted by the DGP Executive Committee, the DGP Imaging Awards 2024 honor the best photographic cameras and accessories released that year. The judging committee includes photographers and mass retailers from Japan. From the 900 products submitted by 60 companies, Canon and Nikon proved they are still reigning the company.
This year, Nikon’s Z6 III and Canon’s EOS R5 Mk II both won the Overall Gold Award and the Technology/Planning Award. The honors also extend to lenses, with Nikon’s Z 50mm f1.4 and Sigma’s 15mm f1.4 DG DN Diagonal Fisheye | Art winning the Special Award, respectively. The jury chose Sigma’s 28-105mm F2.8 DG DN | Art for the best lens award.
The judges said the Canon R5 Mk II won because of the ‘Action Priority’ AF and in-camera upscaling features. As for Nikon, the jury applauded the company’s first partially stacked CMOS sensor, its EVF, and its video capabilities. The Nikon 50mm lens was chosen for its sharp image quality and unique design, as it weighs only 420g and measures 86.5mm.
The award also honored Sony for its a9 III, the first photography-centric camera with a global shutter. Pentax won for reviving film photography with the Pentax 17. OM System also got a shout-out for E-M1 Mark III ASTRO, while Panasonic was applauded for its video capabilities in GH7 and S9.
Could the Products Become Better?
The award aims to honor the best devices of the year, which clearly includes a recently launched camera. However, the choices for the cameras are strange. In our review of the Nikon Z6 III, we noted that the camera only offers a higher megapixel count. But that is about it. “Honestly, it’s just a Nikon camera. That’s not to say that that’s a great thing or a bad thing. It’s just a thing in the same way that someone might buy a Toyota Corolla and put a spoiler on it to seem cool. It doesn’t do quite a lot to excite me. And truly, I wish that it had more megapixels for shooting in crop modes,” we wrote.
The same goes for the Canon R5 Mk II, which is not exactly a major upgrade over the R5. In fact, we suggest people get the older model rather than purchasing the R5 II. Why? The autofocus is slightly better, while the Eye Control Autofocus is simply bad, especially for people with glasses. The larger pixel count doesn’t make much of a difference for LCD and EVF viewing, while the 8.5 Stops of image stabilization correction remind us that we still get good tripods.
Perhaps the cameras we truly enjoyed were the a9 III and Pentax 17. Both devices proved how much they cater to photographers. Fujifilm’s absence was felt. This year, they released the GFX 100S II and the X100VI, both of which were not essential upgrades from their predecessors.
As a result, it is safe to say that the camera industry needs to access its priorities and offer cameras that are worth talking about. Comparing the results over the years, one notices a slow decline, as many companies are unsure how to provide more to photographers. That is the sad truth, which we hope changes in the near future.