Best cameras of 2012

Three South African tech experts give their views on the top camera of the year

December 31, 2012

The Nikon D600, Sony NEX-6 compact DSLR and Sony Cyber-shot RX1 were selected by a group of local tech experts as the top cameras of 2012.

Digital cameras are facing a serious challenge from high-end smartphones. It is not uncommon for a top smartphone’s photo quality to exceed the performance from an entry-level digital camera.

To stay ahead of the curve, companies such as Sony, Nikon, and Canon are improving their camera technology all the time, and it shows through developments in the digital camera market.

To find out which cameras impressed the most in 2012, MyBroadband asked three gadget and technology experts which cameras they would list as camera of the year. These experts are:

Toby Shapshak – Stuff editor and Tech on Tap presenter
Aki Anastasiou – Radio 702 Technobyte and Tech on Tap presenter
Jannie van Zyl – Vodacom executive and tech guru

South African tech experts

Nikon D600 (selected by Aki Anastasiou)

Nikon announced the Nikon D600 in September 2012 – punted as the first affordable full frame DSLR on the market. The new Nikon FX-format CMOS sensor features 24.3 effective megapixels, and the camera sports the EXPEED 3 image-processing engine – the same as used for the D4 and D800 series.

Nikon D600

Sony’s NEX-6 compact DSLR (selected by Toby Shapshak)

The Sony NEX-6 is a compact DSLR with all the power of a standard DSLR camera. It has a lightweight body, a great selection of interchangeable lenses and sports a 16.1MP APS-C sensor. It further offers up to 10 fps shooting, XGA OLED electronic viewfinder and built-in Wi-Fi.

Sony NEX-6

Sony Cyber-shot RX1 (selected by Jannie van Zyl)

Sony’s Cyber-shot RX1 lifts the bar as the world’s first fixed lens digital camera with a full-frame sensor. The camera features a 35mm full-frame 24.3MP Exmor CMOS sensor and a Carl Zeiss Sonnar T lens with 9 aperture blades.