Cameras

If ever there was a disputable question amidst the hordes of digital camera enthusiasts, it has to be “What is the best digital camera brand?”. Sometimes referred to as “What is the best brand of digital camera to buy?”, but not to be confused with “What is the best camera to buy?”. Because everyone knows that regular (film) cameras are far superior to digital cameras. Hang on a sec, or was that the other way around? Who may keep track these days? Now before I digress too far from the topic, lets take a look at that age old battle, and see if we may determine which brand is best.

First things first, in the spirit of full disclosure, I need to announce that I do in fact own assorted cameras. They represent a potpourri of brands. I have two Canons, a Fuji, and a Kodak. I will have to confess, that I am more or less partial to Canon, but I’ll try not to let that cloud any editorial remarks I may subsequently make.

If digital camera sales were any indication of what the best brand was, then according to Amazon.com Canon would be a clear winner. As I write this, Canon manufactures 18 of the top 25 bestselling cameras on their best vendor list. In addition, Canon holds 9 of the top 10 spots, with the top 3 being the PowerShot A570 IS, the PowerShot SD1000 Digital Elph, and the PowerShot SD850. Sharing the top 11 spots with Canon are 2 of the Pure Video fabricated Flip Video cameras. Nikon has 2 cameras in the top 25 including the Nikon D40, and the Nikon D300. Panasonic sneaks in with a couple of their Lumix models, distinctively the DMC-TZ3K and the DMC-TZ3A. And finishing in a strong 25th spot, that old stalwart Kodak with the Easyshare Z812IS.

Of course being popular, or the best vendor does not the best brand make. It merely means you have the best salesmanship. In that world, Canon seems to be having the most success. How incisively would we determine the best brand? Best service, best design, best features, best client support, best images, and best user experience are all valid traits. Perhaps a critical / scientific /empirical examination of all cameras models by manufacturer would be in order. Let’s see if we may aggregate a lot of the work already done by a couple of camera review web sites who take the above traits into consideration.

A perusal of one top camera review website under their 5 star category, show 39 Canon cameras, 18 Sony cameras, 17 Nikon cameras, 6 Fuji cameras, 5 Olympus cameras, 5 Panasonic cameras, 3 Pentax cameras, and 1 Konica camera. A second camera review internetsite beneath their top 103 cameras showed 46 Canon cameras, 21 Sony cameras, 20 Nikon cameras, 5 Pentax cameras, 3 Fuji cameras, 2 Samsung cameras, 2 Panasonic cameras, 2 Kodak cameras, 1 Konica camera, and 1 Casio camera. If you total all that up, the top 3 end up being Canon with 85, Sony a distant second with 39, and Nikon a very close third with 37. Everyone else had less than 10 top rated cameras.

Cameras

Nikon Coolpix L22 12MP Digital Camera (Red)

Make memories and portion joy with Nikon’s new high-resolution Coolpix L22 and it is 12.0 effective megapixels, 3.6x zoom and huge, bright 3.0-inch LCD. Nikon’s 3-way VR Image Stabilization System mechanically detects subject motion and adjusts the shutter speed and ISO to remunerate for camera shake and minimize effigy blur. The camera’s Easy Auto Mode with Scene Auto Selector simplifies your picture-taking experience by letting camera mechanically select the best setting to get great pictures. Nikon’s Smart Portrait System will; fix red-eye, detect faces, fire the shutter when your subject smiles and warn you if they blink, to get you outstanding portraits.

Nikon’s exclusive Smart Portrait System
Automatically detecting as galore as 12 faces in the shot, Face-priority AF helps formulate satisfying portraits by adjusting focus and exposure. Smart Portrait Mode^* helps to in a faithful manner record precious moments by mechanically freeing the shutter when the subject smiles. Blink Warning displays an alert when it suspects that a subject has blinked. In-Camera Red-Eye Fix mechanically corrects sensed red-eye effect before saving the effigy to memory.
_{*The Smart Portrait Mode function for the Coolpix L22, L22 and L21 operates in the same fashion as the Smile Mode function for other models.}

Nikon Coolpix L22 Other Features

• Macro shooting from as close as 5 cm (2 in.)
• ISO 1600
• 16 scene modes for optimized shooting in respective settings
• D-Lighting
• Two movie modes with sound
• Approx. 19 MB of internal memory

What’s in the Box

• LR6/L40 (AA-size) alkaline batteries x2
• UC-E6 USB Cable
• AN-CP19 Strap
• Coolpix Software Suite CD-ROM