ePHOTOzine's Best Camera Of The Year Awards 2014

This year has turned into another exciting year in the digital camera and photographic market, not only thanks to new and better cameras, but also by the introduction of new camera types, including the first full-frame mirrorless camera (excluding digital rangefinders), the first waterproof interchangeable lens camera, the first large sensor bridge zoom camera, and many more firsts.

Here we have awarded what we believe to be the best of the best, the best in the range, offering not only excellent image quality, but also a full range of features, excellent handling, and great value for money. If you were to buy any of these cameras you would not be disappointed.
 

Best Budget Camera under £100

Samsung WB30F - The Samsung WB30F offers a 10x optical zoom lens, a 3inch screen, built-in Wi-Fi, all in a compact body available in a number of colours, for just £89. It's amazing what you can get for your money, and the camera can share images straight to Facebook. 

"The Samsung WB30F offers excellent value for money for a compact camera with 10x optical zoom lens, a 3 inch screen, and built-in Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi sharing on this camera is about as easy as it gets, letting you share images on public Wi-Fi, straight to Facebook or other social network sites."

Samsung WB30F Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Budget Cameras 2014.

Best Waterproof Tough Camera

Panasonic Lumix FT5 - The FT5 is our waterproof camera of the year, packed with useful features including GPS and Wi-Fi, it's available for £250 and offers a tough body that is shockproof from 2m, waterproof up to 13m, and is also dust and freeze-proof. Available in a number of colours it offers full HD video recording and a wide-angle 4.6x optical zoom lens. 

"The FT5 is a steady improvement on the FT4, we said that an improved screen would be a significant improvement and Panasonic has introduced a 3 inch screen on the new model. You can go deeper underwater to 13m, the GPS appears to activate quicker and the new model also has built-in Wi-Fi. "

Panasonic Lumix FT5 Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Waterproof Cameras 2014.

Best Travel Zoom Camera

Panasonic Lumix TZ60 - The Panasonic Lumix TZ60 is the perfect travel zoom camera, with GPS and Wi-Fi built-in and a massive 30x optical zoom lens, this camera is compact enough to fit in your pocket and delivers good image quality as well as full HD video. The Panasonic Lumix TZ60 is available for £289.

"The TZ60 has all the features you'd want from a travel camera and doesn't disappoint in terms of its image quality. The LVF is a handy extra that you don't see on many compact cameras and its addition will appeal to many."

Panasonic Lumix TZ60 Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Pocket Zoom Cameras 2014.

Best Ultra Zoom Camera

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 - The FZ1000 offers a large 1inch sensor, a Leica 16x optical zoom lens, with a bright f/2.8-4.0 aperture, full manual controls, as well as 4K video recording, a large electronic viewfinder, and delivers excellent image quality. The Panasonic Lumix FZ72 is available for £749.

"The Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 is one of the cheapest 4K video recording devices available, and offers an array of impressive video features. However, if you don't want to record 4K video, and just want a camera capable of taking excellent photos, with a good zoom lens, then the Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 certainly delivers here as well. With a relatively large 1inch 20 megapixel sensor, a bright Leica 16x optical zoom lens with f/2.8-4.0 aperture, and full manual controls, the camera is capable of producing excellent image quality."

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Ultra Zoom Cameras 2014.

Best Serious Compact Camera

Panasonic Lumix LX100 - The Panasonic Lumix LX100 has a bright f/1.7-2.8 wide angle 24-75mm equivalent optical zoom lens, a large 1.33inch sensor, along with an excellent electronic viewfinder, and 4K video recording. The camera is quick, has an excellent 3inch screen, built-in Wi-Fi, and with numerous manual controls is great to use. The Panasonic Lumix LX100 is available for £699.

"The Panasonic Lumix LX100 gives good noise performance, with good results up to ISO1600, and the camera is capable of resolving excellent levels of detail, producing very good images. The Panasonic Lumix LX100 offers an impressive range of features including 4K video recording, a bright f/1.7-2.8 Leica lens, great external controls, and packs it all into a stylish and good to use metal body."

Panasonic Lumix LX100 Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Serious Compact Cameras 2014.

Best Compact Mirrorless Camera

Olympus OM-D E-M10 - The Olympus OM-D E-M10 is a compact version of the highly acclaimed E-M5, offering the image quality of the E-M5, built-in anti-shake sensor, 3inch tilting touch screen, electronic viewfinder, and has access to an excellent range of Micro Four Thirds lenses. The Olympus OM-D E-M10 is available for £599 with pancake zoom lens. 

"Image quality is impressive with bright saturated colours and excellent levels of detail. Built-in image stabilisation helps get good shots in low light, as well as steadying videos recorded with the camera. This also works with any other lens you might want to use with the camera, and there are a growing number of Micro Four Thirds lenses to choose from."

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Mirrorless Cameras 2014.

Best DSLR-Style Mirrorless Camera

Panasonic Lumix GH4 - The cameras has a 16 megapixel sensor, 3inch vari-angle screen, Wi-Fi, 12fps continuous shooting, built-in mic socket and 4K video recording. Using the Micro Four Thirds lens mount there is access to a wide range of lenses. The Panasonic Lumix GH4 is available for £1175 body only.

"Image quality of both stills and video is impressive, with the camera delivering very good noise performance, as well as pleasing colour reproduction, and numerous options to keep the professional photographer and videographer extremely happy. In fact we'd go so far as to say that this is a videographers dream camera, with more settings, controls and options than ever before seen on a digital camera like this. "

Panasonic Lumix GH4 Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Mirrorless Cameras 2014.

Best Advanced Mirrorless Camera

Fujifilm X-T1 - The Fujifilm X-T1 is the first Fujifilm X series CSC to feature a weather-sealed body and Digital SLR styling, with a larger electronic viewfinder, numerous external controls, the camera feels great to use, and offers excellent image quality. Built-in Wi-Fi and a tilting screen are excellent features as well. The Fujifilm X-T1 is available for £939 body only.

"The Fujifilm X-T1 is a stylish looking camera, if you like classic SLR styling, and with an abundance of external controls, it is a stylish mix of new and old styling. The compact size, available thanks to the mirrorless sensor and lens mount design, makes it an appealing camera, and with the ever growing choice of high quality lenses, Fujifilm has a winning formula on their hands."

Fujifilm X-T1 Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Mirrorless Cameras 2014.

Best Innovation of 2014

Samsung NX1 - The Samsung NX1 is the World's first APS-C sensor camera to feature a backlit CMOS sensor, as well as the World's highest resolution APS-C sensor, with a 28 megapixel sensor, giving high resolution and good noise performance. In addition to this, it also shoots at an impressive 15fps with continuous AF, features a high resolution electronic viewfinder, has a 3inch tilting touch-screen and records 4K video. The Samsung NX1 is available for £1299.

"The Samsung NX1 is currently the highest resolution APS-C camera available offering a 28.2 megapixel sensor, and in order to give good noise performance, the camera is the World's first to feature a backlit APS-C CMOS sensor, instead of a standard CMOS sensor. The camera is also capable of shooting at an extremely impressive 15fps at full resolution with continuous AF active."

Samsung NX1 Review

Best DSLR Entry Level Camera

Nikon D3300 - The Nikon D3300 is one of our top choices for an entry level Digital SLR - it's an extremely capable Digital SLR and comes with a compact 18-55mm kit lens with VR (Vibration Reduction). The D3300 has a high-resolution 24 megapixel APS-C sensor, full HD video, and the camera produces excellent images with bright saturated colour and very good detail. The Nikon D3300 is available for £399.

"The 24 megapixel sensor now features no optical low pass filter, which will give improved image quality when shooting with high quality lenses, and we would recommend using prime lenses to get the best out of the camera, although saying that the provided kit lens performs well. The camera is quick in operation with quick focus, shutter response, and a decent 5fps continuous shooting."

Nikon D3300 Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best DSLRs For Beginners 2014.

Best DSLR Mid-range (APS-C) Camera

Sony Alpha A77-II - The Sony Alpha A77 Mark II features a 24 megapixel sensor, a new 79 point focus system, weather sealed body, a large electronic viewfinder, high speed 12fps shooting and a 3inch tilting screen. The Sony Alpha A77 II is available for £849 body only.

"The A77 II delivers impressive image quality with very good colour and detailed images, that are noticeably sharper than its predecessor the A77. Focus performance is very fast, and when you shoot with the camera it is impressive how much of the frame is covered by the 79 point focus system. Focus tracking is also very good. Built-in Wi-Fi connectivity makes it possible to remotely shoot with the camera, or send images to a compatible smartphone."

Sony Alpha A77-II DSLR Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Digital SLRs 2014.

Best DSLR - Full-Frame Camera

Nikon D810 - The D810 takes the best from the Nikon D800 and D800E and combines them into the best full-frame Digital SLR money can buy. The D810 is extremely desirable and image quality is stunning with a 36.3 megapixel full-frame sensor. The D810 is available for £2399 body only.

"The Nikon D810 updates the already excellent Nikon D800 and D800E with improved image quality and enhanced features making it the best DSLR currently available. To get the best results, as with the D800 and D800E, you will need to use the best lenses available."

Nikon D810 Digital SLR Review

For more details have a look at our Top 10 Best Digital SLRs 2014.

And ePHOTOzine's Overall Camera Of The Year 2014:

Fujifilm X-T1 - The Fujifilm X-T1 is the first Fujifilm X series CSC to feature a weather-sealed body and Digital SLR styling, and makes the most of the excellent Fujifilm X series lenses available. The X-T1 offers a more compact camera system compared to Digital SLRs, and with a larger electronic viewfinder, numerous external controls, the camera feels great to use, and offers excellent image quality, challenging the status quo of what is needed to deliver excellent images. The Fujifilm X-T1 is available for £930 body only.

"The Fujifilm X-T1 does an excellent job of providing direct access to physical controls on the camera body, and this makes it an enjoyable camera to use, particularly for those who miss the aperture ring, and other direct controls, from SLR film days. The X-T1 produces excellent photos and there is a wide range of quality prime and zoom lenses available, and when additional weather-sealed lenses are released this could provide an excellent, and compact weather-sealed camera."

Fujifilm X-T1 Review

Found your perfect camera? Don't forget to pick up a bag for it to protect it - have a look at our complete guide to bags. If you want a memory card for your camera, have a look at our complete guide to memory cards.