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The Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA), a community of 61 of the most respected international specialist CE magazines in over 30 countries, has published their Best Products 2021-2022 awards, and in the field of photography, 7 cameras from 4 brands get their top awards. Note that the time frame really covers from September 2020 to August 2021, since we are not even yet into 2022. What they are really saying is these are the cameras that would be available for you to buy during the 2021-2022 time frame (available for sale in at least 10 EISA member countries before 1st October 2021 and any pre-ordered products must be delivered to consumers by the 15th Oct 2021), not cameras that came out during 2022 (for they are not here yet).
No surprise here that the Sony Alpha 1 wins the Camera of the Year award and the Sony Alpha 7S III wins the Photo/Video Camera award. The Camera of the Year is, of necessity, also a Professional Camera, so that award could also have simply read, “Professional Camera 1st Place” or “Professional Camera of the Year.” You’ve come a long way, Sony, from the days you purchased Minolta, struggled to get the respect of professional and enthusiast photographers, to now being the top dog.
Canon and Nikon fans can expect later this year and the next (2022-2023, aka Sept 2021 – Aug 2022) Canon’s and Nikon’s response in the guise of the Canon EOS R3 (confirmed), EOS R1 (rumored) and Nikon Z9 (confirmed), their flagship answers to Sony’s A1. The battle has definitely moved away from the DSLR arena and is firmly in the mirrorless arena. However, Sony still holds the technology lead with a compact A1 versus Canon’s and Nikon’s behemoth (no different from their DSLRs: big, large, cumbersome and heavy) R1 and Z9. It is easy to put all kinds of technology inside a cavernous body as opposed to innovating and giving us what the mirrorless technology promises: smaller, more compact and lighter cameras.
For those looking for a Best Buy Camera, I don’t think anyone disagrees too much with their choices of the Nikon Z 5 (full-frame) and the Fujifilm X-S10 (APS-C).
- EISA Camera of the Year 2021-2022: Sony Alpha 1
- EISA Photo/Video Camera 2021-2022: Sony Alpha 7S III
- EISA Best Buy Camera (Full Frame) 2021-2022: Nikon Z 5
- EISA Best Buy Camera (APS-C) 2021-2022: Fujifilm X-S10
Where it gets tricky are the other awards. What is a “Professional Camera” or a “Premium Camera” or an “Advanced Camera”? These are, IMHO, just code words for “Medium-Frame,” “Professional Camera 2nd Place” and “Enthusiast Camera” respectively.
EISA Professional Camera 2021-2022: Fujifilm GFX 100S
EISA Premium Camera 2021-2022: Canon EOS R5
EISA Advanced Camera 2021-2022: Nikon Z 6II
Then, there are the lens and printer awards. We have left off the software awards, but you can see them on the EISA site.
EISA Lens of the Year 2021-2022: Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 Di III-A VC RXD
EISA Wide-Angle Lens 2021-2022: Sony FE 14mm F1.8 GM
EISA Wide-Angle Zoom Lens (Full Frame) 2021-2022: Sony FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM
EISA Wide-Angle Zoom Lens (APS-C) 2021-2022: Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 Di III-A RXD
EISA Telephoto Zoom Lens 2021-2022: Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.7 Di III VC VXD
EISA Standard Lens 2021-2022: Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM
EISA Professional Telephoto Zoom Lens 2021-2022: Nikon NIKKOR Z 70-200mm F2.8 VR S
EISA Portrait Lens 2021-2022: Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN | ART
EISA Macro Lens 2021-2022: Nikon NIKKOR Z MC 50mm F2.8
EISA Manual Lens 2021-2022: Laowa Argus 33mm F0.95 CF APO
EISA Special Purpose Lens 2021-2022: Laowa 15mm F4.5 ZERO-D Shift
EISA Lens Innovation 2021-2022: Canon RF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM
EISA Photo Printer 2021-2022: Epson Surecolor SC-P700
Visit the EISA Site
