where there’s smoke there’s fire

Thom Hogan published his end-of-year assessments of “The State of the ILC” after he used virtually every new camera released this year. Here is what he has to say:

Full frame

“Let me state right up front: the best all-around full frame camera you can buy at the end of 2018 is the Nikon D850. Still.

Yes, it’s larger and heavier than the mirrorless options. It’s also better at more things. While the D850 is nowhere near optimal at this, you can even shoot it silently if you need to. But in terms of all-around? Nothing tops it. You’ve got a state-of-the-art sensor, focus system, UI/ergonomics, viewfinder, feature set, and a biggish buffer on a fast card (XQD). If I were pressed to make a better camera than the D850, I’d be fixing or improving very small things.”

DX (APS-C)

“Our four best all-around contenders here end up as the Canon 7Dm2, Fujifilm X-T3, the Nikon D500, and the Sony A6500.

I don’t want to seem like a Nikon shill—anyone who knows me knows I’m not—but it’s another win for Nikon with the D500, though this game is closer than it used to be.”