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Digital Camera Of The Year 2011

By Cliff Jones | 24 November 2011

Our shortlist for the Best Digital Cameras of 2011 included a wide variety of cameras including compacts, professional level DSLRs and the new entrant on the market, compact system cameras. We asked you to vote for your favourite, whether that was a camera you owned or one you simply wished you owned.

Having tallied your votes we whittled down the shortlist to three finalists: the Fujifilm X100, the Panasonic Lumix G3 and the Nikon D7000. The chosen finalists showed just how diverse the camera market is, indicating that consumers are getting ever more discerning about the cameras they buy.

Our panel of experts then got together to discuss and debate the merits of each camera getting a chance to put each through its paces and look at sample images from each, before casting their votes.

While the voting was very close, looking at the judges comments, it is clear that they felt the image quality of one camera could not be matched and although it was the most expensive in the final, offered superior build quality, design and features making it the Best Digital Camera of 2011.

Digital Camera Of The Year 2011 - the winners

 

Digital Camera Of The Year 2011

Winner - Nikon D7000

13 January 2011

{h2}Winner: Nikon D7000{/h2}

Pitched at enthusiasts and semi-pros, the D7000 is a solidly-built, highly-flexible DSLR that delivers fantastic image quality in a wide range of conditions - being particularly good in low-light situations. Very much a sum-of-all-its-parts camera, rather than one that excels in just one particular area, our judges scored it highly across the board being particularly impressed with the Nikon D7000’s build quality and design - a worthy winner of Best Digital Camera for 2011.

Read the full Nikon D7000 review

Our Rating

9/10

Runner up - Fujifilm Finepix X100

05 April 2011

{h2}Runner-up: Fujifilm X100{/h2}

The Fujifilm X100 is the most intriguing entry to this year’s list with its retro styling and cut-back functionality. A fixed 35mm lens means the Fujifilm X100 is not as flexible as the other finalists but its beautiful look combined with superb image quality from its large APS-C sensor makes it a compelling option for those looking for the best quality in the most compact package. While mostly a very basic camera in terms of operation, it does offer one unique technology in the form of its cutting-edge Hybrid viewfinder. However, at £1,000 our judges felt it was just a little too pricey to push for the top spot.

Read the full Fujifilm Finepix X100 review

Our rating:
9/10

3rd - Panasonic Lumix G3

24 May 2011

The Lumix G3 from Panasonic is certainly the leader of the compact system camera pack for 2011 and this is reflected by the judges who felt that the flexibility offered by the G3 was unsurpassed. The fully articulated rear LCD, superb ISO performance and a large range of digital effects filters and JPEG processing options make it an appealing option, but the judges felt that build quality let it down somewhat, meaning it just missed out on the top spot.

Read the full Panasonic Lumix G3 review

Our rating:
9/10
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