Five Best Digital Single Lens Reflex Cameras SLR

If you have read my other camera hubs, you will know I am a big Nikon fan. But, even I have to admit that there are other great Digital SLRs on the market. The Nikon D3 is top of my list as the best digital camera, but Canon, Olympus, Leica, Fuji, and even *spits* Sony, make a comparable SLR. They all have their pros and cons.

This is the top-of-the-line we are talking here. No, mid price, compact, half measures here. These are the best digital cameras money can buy and aimed squarely at the professional photographer (or wannabe with lots of cash).

So, what are the best five digital single lens reflex cameras on the market at the moment?

Call me biased if you will, but Nikon make arguably the best cameras and lenses. They rarely turn out a lemon, and the Nikon D3 does everything you could ask of a pro-quality digital camera. Fast doesn’t even come close. This thing will have fired itself up, taken 200 frames, emailed them to your editor and sent the invoice out before you even realized there was a photo op.

I am just kidding, but it’s fast – faster than you are, and that’s the point. I won’t bother going into the specifications – it’s been done before. Incredible color saturation, insane ISO range, eleven frames a second and more accessories than enough thank you. All for a lousy five grand. What are you waiting for?

And a very, very close number two. The Canon EOS pro camera features a 21.1 megapixel sensor. I will say it again. Twenty one point one MP. That’s insane. Big. A little slower than the Nikon, but that’s what you get when you go this big. A stunning $8,700 – body only. If you are a Canon fan, which I gather there are a few of – this is the one for you. Nikons are for press photographers, Canons are for sports photographers, Olympus…. We’ll get to Olympus.

• 5 fps at shutter speeds 1/500 second or faster (for bursts of up to 45 Large/Fine JPEGs or 15 RAW images)
• sRAW mode; 35-zone metering system; 45-point AF; integrated Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit
• Powered by LP-E4 lithium-ion battery pack; stores images on CF, SD, or some SDHC memory cards

This thing rocks. If only it said Nikon on the front. Oh well, you can’t have everything. Nice, solid camera though.

If Canons are for sports and Nikons are for Press photographers - Olympus are for fashion photographers. I like Olympus cameras – mainly for the lens characteristics. A little softer and perfect for fashion. Olympus have tried to make their pro D-SLR a little tougher and more rugged than previous models, but it just isn’t. It feels a little less solid than the others. Having said that, it takes incredible photos and you would be hard pushed to see any difference in quality between any of these cameras. Once again, fantastic specifications that have been reproduced all over the ‘net. And much, much cheaper than its competition. Usually available for around $1,700 – big difference.

This is Sony’s first real attempt at the pro DSLR market. But, really, it’s an amateur camera rather than a professional quality one. The price point ( around $1,500 with lens) brings it into competition with the major manufacturers second string models such as the Nikon D300 DSLR. Which makes for too much choice. Sony hooked up with Minolta/Konica to make this one and, whilst it’s a reasonable camera, I would opt for a Nikon D300 instead. It’s on this list because – even though I don’t particularly like the idea of a Sony still camera, they have a good reputation and it’s a pretty damn fine camera. Too many other choices at this price to really make it stand out from the crowd though, and the alpha DSLRA350 may turn out to be a better bet.

Wait a minute – this is not a DSLR. No, it’s not, but you can’t have a list of the five best digital SLRs without throwing in a Leica. Leica are different, no question, but the usability and quality of this camera put it firmly alongside the other on this list. It’s incredible. Nikon-Press, Canon-Sports, Olympus-Fashion, Sony-Amateur, Leica – Different – Simple, superb quality, analogue lenses and an extremely small package. And it’s upgradeable. As new technology becomes available, Leica will upgrade your camera. How to describe the Leica M8? Sophisticated and discrete. Pocket sized. Leica-Candid. Take a look at Tim Ashley’s website. Then come back here and buy it ☺

Too many choices, my head is going to explode. Really, there are two that are head a shoulders above the rest and it also depends on what sort of photographer you are. The Leica is very interesting, because it dares to be different. I very much doubt either your eyesight or mine is good enough to be able to tell the difference in quality between any of these cameras. Go to a shop, pick them all up, handle them and then come back here and buy the one that you like the most. For my money, they are all good buys and whichever one you choose, with the possible exception of the Sony – You will never need to buy another camera ever again. Think of these as the last camera you will ever buy – it puts the prices more into context. Here is an example of the sort of quality you can get from the M8. Of course, the guy with his eye to the viewfinder may have some bearing on the end result also.