Cameras Ranked

How we rank

Every pick and take on Cameras Ranked is computed from the specifications shown on its page, with the weights listed below. The weights are our editorial choice, not a measurement of what matters most, and nobody can pay to change them or the order of anything.

Where the facts come from

Many values are read from the makers' own specification pages and manuals by our own language model, running on our own machines. For each value the model must quote the words on the page that state it; code keeps the value only when those words are on the page and carry the number, and refuses it otherwise.

Other values come from the open databases listed below, as they publish them, and some are read from a product's own name (a line on each page says which).

Some pages restate a maker's own words in plain words (what a message means and what to do about it, for example). Those lines are written by our model; code checks only that each is short and doesn't copy the source's sentence, not that it says the same thing. Those pages say so and list the source.

All of this is automated. No person checks each page before it goes live. On comparison and single entry pages each value a source states links to where it was published. Every comparison, entry, compatibility and message page lists its sources with the date we checked them; this page lists every source the site draws on. A value no source states and the product's name doesn't give is shown as not stated, never as zero or no.

Before a page is released, code checks every value it shows against the captured page or database entry it links, and our local model reads the makers' pages it cites and lists what they state that the page leaves out or says otherwise; code keeps an item of that list only when its quote is on the maker's page. A page that fails either check is held back.

How a pick is made

A difference counts only when both values are known and the gap clears that row's own threshold, listed with each weight below (a fixed amount, or a share of the smaller value); a smaller gap is too close to call, and a comparison page says which rows it counted as the same for that reason.

A pick between two adds up the weights of the real differences each one wins, and the page states both sums. When neither side leads by at least the margin listed below, we say there is no overall pick and that it depends on what you need. With the weights, thresholds and margin below, anyone can redo a pick by hand from the page's own table.

A take on one entry compares it with its peers, the entries of the same class as its section defines them, on every axis weighted 1 or more. Lighter weights never drive a take. When a take suggests another entry, it names only one with its own page here that keeps what the first one is for, and of those the one the weights favor most.

Our weights: Cameras

  • Crop factor: importance 2, lower is better; a gap counts from 0.2x; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Resolution: importance 2, higher is better; a gap counts from 20% of the smaller value; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Viewfinder: importance 1.5, having it is better; having it or not always counts.
  • In-body stabilization: importance 1, having it is better; having it or not always counts.
  • Weight: importance 1, lower is better; a gap counts from 12% of the smaller value; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Fastest 4K frame rate: importance 1, higher is better; a gap counts from 30% of the smaller value; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Fastest burst: importance 1, higher is better; a gap counts from 25% of the smaller value; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Rated shots per charge: importance 1, higher is better; a gap counts from 15% of the smaller value; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Tilting or flip-out screen: importance 0.5, having it is better; having it or not always counts.
  • Autofocus areas: importance 0.5, higher is better; a gap counts from 25% of the smaller value; a smaller gap is too close to call; compared only between cameras of one maker.
  • A pick needs a lead of at least 1.

Our weights: Lenses

  • Widest aperture: importance 3, lower is better; a gap counts from 0.3; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Weight: importance 2, lower is better; a gap counts from 12% of the smaller value; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Focal length (longest): importance 2, higher is better; a gap counts from 15% of the smaller value; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Focal length (widest): importance 2, lower is better; a gap counts from 2 mm; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • Optical stabilization: importance 1, having it is better; having it or not always counts.
  • Closest focus, wide end: importance 1, lower is better; a gap counts from 15% of the smaller value; a smaller gap is too close to call; compared only between lenses of the same focal length (widest).
  • Filter thread: importance 0.5, lower is better; a gap counts from 5 mm; a smaller gap is too close to call.
  • A pick needs a lead of at least 1.

Rank is never for sale

Nobody pays to be listed, to change a pick, a take or the order of anything. Shop links, where a page has them, are added after the answer is computed and never change it.

Sources and licenses