The best cameras to pick in 2014

Cameras are becoming more and more of a usual object for all of us, whether we are young or old. Gone the time where expensive cameras were the norm and taking pictures a luxury. Nowadays, everyone has a digital camera with which to take hundreds of pictures, then choose the best, then share it on …

Cameras are becoming more and more of a usual object for all of us, whether we are young or old.

Gone the time where expensive cameras were the norm and taking pictures a luxury.

Nowadays, everyone has a digital camera with which to take hundreds of pictures, then choose the best, then share it on social networks.

As our world becomes more interconnected, we want to share everything with our loved ones, even if they are far away.

With the advent of digital cameras, taking shots has even become easier and it is now a rare sight to see someone not taking a picture of friends/gathering/dishes…

But how to choose the best cameras out there, particularly with the numerous choices that present themselves?

Here’s a guide on how to choose which digital cameras will suits you better to take your best shots!

For those of you that just want to point and shoot and think of nothing else, the compact cameras end of the market is very diverse and possess some pretty cool gadgets.

Some of those even boast of WiFi and GPS!

The best compact camera on the market now is the one by Nikon, the Coolpix S2800, costing around £80.

Classic in its design, the Coolpix S2800 is good for beginners because it produces very nice results without the photographer having to think too much about it.

12 creative filters, 20 million pixel sensor, 5x optical zoom lens, this won’t give you large room to do artistic pictures but it does the job well enough.

Very thin and light, the Coolpix can easily fit into a small bag or a pocket (though, do not forget is there at the risk of crushing it when sitting!).

For those of you that know how to shoot a nice pic and find the compact cameras a bit short in options but do not want the massive bag of a D-SLR to carry around, there is an alternative: interchangeable-lens digital camera.

The cameras offer full manual features, power and flexibility as you may find them on D-SLR but without the massive size.

Features as WiFi and NFC are normal on those type of cameras whereas image quality, noise suppression, AF speed are of high quality.

Their range prices start at £400 usually but can easily go up to more than £2,000, the price depending on options, camera lenses…

The Sony Alpha NEX-6 is one of the best on the market: great design, impressive image and video quality make it a very interesting camera to buy.

Costing between £479 and more than £700 (kit included), it takes great photos and shoot quality videos; its design is also to be noted, classic but of quality.

Another category to look for when you want to equip yourself with a better camera than a compact is the category of the “super zooms”.

The super zoom category is this in-between category that lets you shoot wide angle pictures and extreme telephoto images without having to change lenses every time and with the added quality that they usually are smaller than their DSL-R counterparts and cheaper!

The Olympus Stylus SP-100 is the best in its category and offers some interesting options: with its 50x zoom comes the “dot sight”, a feature that allows you to easily locate and track the subject of your picture, particularly when using the camera at full lens.

That means that you don’t have to play with the focus every time the subject of your pic moves: the “dot sight” feature allows you to follow it and makes the adjustment automatically.

Priced at £400, it isn’t the best camera on the market compared to DSL-R qualities ones and lacks WiFi but the quality of images shot is surprisingly good.

Finally, we can get down to the DSL-R cameras, the best cameras ever, used by professionals worldwide to take glossy images.

Expensive, particularly if you wish to buy the full kit, and big to roam around with, no camera has been able to beat them, yet.

Those particular cameras work by using a mirror to direct light from the lens to the viewfinder (what you look through and see at the end) and you can also swap lenses to get a better shot.

In 2014, one the most interesting DSL-R on the market is the Pentax K-3, costing £879, basic.

Pentax is a lightweight on the DSL-R market, having just arrived onto to this segment but the K-3 has a lot to offer and notably a new 23.2MP sensor.

Robust, resistant to all kind of shocks and weather-compliant, the Pentax k-3 is the direct line of Pentax products: of good quality.

Able to produce very high quality pictures, even in high ISO shootings, coupled with a very reliable autofocus system and an impressive burst shooting mode, the Pentax K-3 is a very desirable DSL-R.

We can regret the absence of a WiFi feature but will forgive Pentax for this shortcoming, given that all the features of the Pentax K-3 are amazingly easy to use!

Now, it is your turn to choose, good luck!