CAMERAS IN 2010-LET DOWN OR A THUMB UP?

The year 2010 has been a very good year for cameras, however, some people will agree that in terms of expectations and innovations,it has been a disappointing year.

What would you say to the holding back of Nikon D700 replacement or to Canon 60D not meeting the expectations and yearnings of numerous customer. Canon 60D was indeed a disappointment in-spite of its good quality as a video camera. Samsung NX10,NX100 and Sony NEX cameras were not too interesting. The sony NEx promised so much with the APS-C sensor and the ability to change lenses. In theory, it could have given the Micro Four-Thirds cameras a swift kick in the sensor; Sony ended up giving themselves a bit of a kick in the sensitive area by introducing lenses that were hardly worthy of the sensor. The 16mm pancake's performance seemed like it was rushed to the market, with Sony putting some chrome-shiny bits round to make it look the part. 

It has not been a totally disappointing year as come cameras stunned the wolrd with some great innovations.

The Canon 550D. It's got great video capabilities and the image quality is really just as good as anything you'd get from a 7D (although they are two totally different breeds of cameras). Despite the blip of the 60D, Canon has been pumping out the usual (add your own words here, Nikon fans) from its fun factory - good stuff, that is. They introduced the S95, which is probably the best pocketable compact camera out there right now, and the G12, which is probably the best non-pocketable compact camera out there right now.

another interesting innovation is the  Leica X1. t's a light camera, lighter than the GF1 and E-P1, but has an APS-C sensor with 24mm Elmarit lens, giving it plenty of performance clout despite its diminutive size. but don't expect to be shooting any fast moving objects with it.

 However,  the Nikon D7000 is a better of a DSLR. Low noise performance; more "pro-like" in its features compared to the D90; good video mode; part metal body; higher continuous burst rate; 100% accurate viewfinder and generally more va-va-voom. I'd have this as a 2nd choice, coupled with the expensive, but better than good Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 G. The performance of the lens was superb on full-frame and, although a bit wasted on crop, it will function as a fast effective-fov 35mm - a useful single focal length to have.