Curiosity for Finding What’s New and Better: Best 5 digital cameras

Posted by Martina in Friday, January 13, 2012

Lori Grunin
Senior editor

As the name implies, here's where you find the best of the best, our top digital cameras across the board. To make it here, a camera really has to blow our socks off. That doesn't happen very often. If it did, our notion of "best" wouldn't mean much, would it? So check back periodically to see if any new models have left us barefoot and speechless.

Nikon D7000 (body only)

Best prosumer dSLR

An excellent dSLR for experienced shooters or Nikon professionals looking for a relatively cheap option, the Nikon D7000 delivers on almost all counts, including the company's best shooting design to date.

Price: $1,196.95 - $1,459.95 (check prices)

4 stars

Excellent

Canon EOS Rebel T3i (with 18-55mm IS II lens)

Best dSLR under $1000

For the money, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i is a great choice for dSLR videographers, and it's a solid choice for creative still shooters.

Price: $709.00 - $904.80 (check prices)

4 stars

Very good

Canon EOS Rebel T3i (with 18-55mm IS II lens)

Canon PowerShot S95

Best prosumer compact

Though we'd like it to perform better, dSLR shooters looking for a sidekick camera will find the Canon PowerShot S95's top-flight photos and a full manual feature set worth the tradeoff of its compact size.

Price: $329.00 - $399.99 (check prices)

4 stars

Excellent

Olympus PEN E-PL3 (Black, with 17mm lens)

Best interchangeable-lens compact

While it's not the best in any particular aspect, and you probably don't want to use it for video, the Olympus PEN E-PL3 offers an excellent balance of size, features, performance, and photo quality for the money.

Price: $637.98 - $699.99 (check prices)

4 stars

Excellent