Aaron Hockley |
| Top Camera & Photo Bestsellers: May 2012 Posted: 01 May 2012 07:30 AM PDT It’s May Day, so here’s my monthly look at the bestselling camera & photography items as calculated by Amazon.com.
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– Canon’s Digital Rebel series has long been a mainstay in the entry-level DSLR market, and this package of the T3 combined with the 18-55 kit lens is a great deal at less than $500. While it’s an entry level camera, it supports a wide range of controls that make it ideal for someone learning photography – they can start out in the more automatic modes and then move into more manual controls as they learn to better control their imagery. Highly recommended for someone wanting to jump to their first DSLR.
– This looks like a good little compact camera at quite an affordable price (around $130 at the time this article is written). Panasonic isn’t mentioned as often as Canon and Nikon, but they have some good compact cameras and this one is rated very well.
– The GoPro units have become quite popular in the last year or so. The cameras not only offer an easy way to record interesting video, but it will do so in a durable, waterproof way. Last month I had an opportunity to travel to Alaska with GoPro; it was great to learn about these cameras. See a bit of my 
– Same camera as the previous item, but slightly different mounting options. If you’re curious, click through and compare the two. It’s impressive that two versions of it are here in respectable positions on the bestseller list.
– The superzoom form factor is a popular one. It’s not a DSLR, but it starts to approach the DSLR size factor. My wife once had a similar unit and it performed very well. The big advantage to this type of a camera is the extreme zoom capability of the lens. The SX40 has been on the bestseller list pretty consistently lately – folks seem to like it.
– Canon offers two high-end compact cameras; the S100 is the smaller of the bunch. A better-than-typical image sensor in this unit allows for excellent images even in low-light situations, and the samll size means that the camera fits easily into a jeans (or jacket) pocket. I have a previous model in this series (the S90), it’s a solid camera that allows for quality photos. I’m actually heading out on a day trip to Seattle today and bringing my S90 due to its nice compact size and great quality.
– this highly-rated Nikon compact camera provides big images (16 megapixels) in a metallic red package. For the fashion-conscious casual photographer.
– the D5100 is one step up from Nikon’s entry-level DSLR, offering a nice feature set in a package that comes with a lens for under $700. This camera is positioned in an interesting place as it has a few nicer features than the entry-level 3000-series cameras, but it’s definitely lacking in several areas (such as image quality and autofocus system) when compared with its big brother the 
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– Nikon’s entry level DSLR, the D3100 is a decent camera especially given the price. The only downside in my mind is that the body doesn’t have an autofocus motor. As long as you use Nikon’s AF-S lenses that include an autofocus motor, you’re fine, but some older/cheaper lenses don’t and that will limit you to manual focus. Like the Canon T3 at the top of this list, this is a great starter unit for someone who isn’t sure if they want to dive all the way into a big SLR system.
– The T3i is an improved version of the T3, in exchange for a couple hundred extra dollars you’ll get a bigger (and flip-out) screen, 1080p video, a bit more dynamic range, a self-cleaning sensor, and slightly faster continuous shooting. Recommended.| You are subscribed to email updates from Aaron B. Hockley To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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