[BarryE]

An observation - yesterday I was at the International Garden Photographer of the Year award ceremony at Kew Gardens, London and was shocked at the brands being used by the winners. I got bored counting, but the ratio I noticed of Canon to Nikon was nearly 4:1 in favour of Canon - massively more than the rest, which picked up the scraps: 4 Fuji, 4 Sony, 1 Hassy, 1 Linhof, 2 Olympus, 2 Panasonic and 4 of us (a k-3, 645z and two k-1s).

OK not that surprised, but so many more Canons than Nikons did surprise me. So few Sony too was not what I would have expected - I thought they were supposed to be more popular than Pentaxes at least.

I guess Nikon being trounced by Canon is being reflected by Nikon's recent sales drops and their rationalisation.

I don't see that massive Canon dominance elsewhere when I'm out and about, so it's curious why an international garden photography competition would be so far out of kilter. Or maybe I actually don't pay attention to these things ? Probably that's the reason I hadn't noticed their dominance ...

Perhaps should have added the link: https://igpoty.com/

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Last edited by BarryE; 02-10-2018 at 01:20 PM.

[ffking]

Interesting findings. I quite often do something similar in an informal sort of a way. I really don't know why Nikon have dropped so far against Canon - other than the simple fact that people often start by getting equipment that they see people they admire using, so there is a ratchet effect going on. I suspect, also that close-up lens options come into it in an area such as IGPOTY

[pentageek]

Probably even Canon was picking up scraps - I bet Apple and Samsung were most common 'cameras' at the ceremony.

[BarryE]

Probably even Canon was picking up scraps - I bet Apple and Samsung were most common 'cameras' at the ceremony.

These were the winners, so there were no toy 😉 cameras. I was just reading camera info from the photo notices and the book. Attendees were all winners (and a few press) and were taking snaps of themselves with iPhones etc. There was a limited special mobile category, but it was out on a limb.

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Last edited by BarryE; 02-10-2018 at 01:26 PM.

[biz-engineer]

OK not that surprised, but so many more Canons than Nikons did surprise me.

Canon's lagging behind in sensor test charts. I find Canon real life image rendering to be more pleasing to the eyes. Sony and Nikon add more saturate colors saturation/sharpening making images pop more and look better in test charts; but the final images look more artificial.

[BarryE]

Interesting findings. I quite often do something similar in an informal sort of a way. I really don't know why Nikon have dropped so far against Canon - other than the simple fact that people often start by getting equipment that they see people they admire using, so there is a ratchet effect going on. I suspect, also that close-up lens options come into it in an area such as IGPOTY

There's a good point about the lens. That might be worth a scan through the book, though a lot of IGPOTY winners are not close-up.

---------- Post added 02-10-18 at 08:17 PM ----------

Canon's lagging behind in sensor test charts. I find Canon real life image rendering to be more pleasing to the eyes. Sony and Nikon add more saturate colors saturation/sharpening making images pop more and look better in test charts; but the final images look more artificial.

I guess Sony/Nikon, and I assume Pentax, being more saturated is also down to lens coatings and pp style.

[UncleVanya]

Landscape shots I assume from the title? The dynamic range and iso differences likely are less of an issue although the dynamic range is maybe a factor so Canon might perform better in this arena than where high iso and is needed.

[Glen]

An observation - yesterday I was at the International Garden Photographer of the Year award ceremony at Kew Gardens, London and was shocked at the brands being used by the winners. I got bored counting, but the ratio I noticed of Canon to Nikon was nearly 4:1 in favour of Canon - massively more than the rest, which picked up the scraps: 4 Fuji, 4 Sony, 1 Hassy, 1 Linhof, 2 Olympus, 2 Panasonic and 4 of us (a k-3, 645z and two k-1s).

OK not that surprised, but so many more Canons than Nikons did surprise me. So few Sony too was not what I would have expected - I thought they were supposed to be more popular than Pentaxes at least.

I guess Nikon being trounced by Canon is being reflected by Nikon's recent sales drops and their rationalisation.

I don't see that massive Canon dominance elsewhere when I'm out and about, so it's curious why an international garden photography competition would be so far out of kilter. Or maybe I actually don't pay attention to these things ? Probably that's the reason I hadn't noticed their dominance ...

Perhaps should have added the link: IGPOTY home - International Garden Photographer of the Year

Canon is huge and their advertising costs are massive. Being the biggest is not a guaranty of long term success. At one time Microsoft was the king of everything software related but not so much anymore. Apple is now treading water as it tries to keep up with the competition. Even Google's revenues are flat. The way things are going, I still think that the future is Fuji and Olympus, although I wouldn't be surprised about any outcome in the future as everything is changing so fast. Likely the camera company that will be on top is the one that collaborates with a smart phone company to take the superior software from the phone and add it to the superior lens and sensors from the camera to make a device that is indeed 21st century special.

[BrianR]

Canon equipment is just soooo good that other brands can't compete. All the non-Canon winners or placements are just pity awards handed out to make owners of inferior equipment feel better about themselves and give small hope to other sad equipment owners.


A little more seriously, I'd be interested to see the usage distribution across the entries (not just winners) and how it compares with ratios of camera out 'in the wild' (however we plan to objectively measure that). If it's vastly different, I'd be interested to see where the contest was advertised (ie in magazines catering to one brand or another), or what the prizes are (win a canon lens!), and whatever reason caused one brand or another to be favoured to enter.

[mikesbike]

It might be a matter of who shows up. Going to a sports event with many photographers shooting bursts with fast-tracking AF, etc, and you might find Nikon predominant over Canon, but again- who did show up? In a circumstance where a good flash setup is an issue, who might likely predominate? there are many factors.

I can certainly see good reasoning for a Pentax presence in the kind of affair described in this thread. There are, however, simply more Canon and Nikon DSLRs sold and in use than other brands. I do not believe the results obtained were due to the brand used. Any advanced model of the different brands noted could have done as well, in the capable hands of those who created those images.

[biz-engineer]

I guess Sony/Nikon, and I assume Pentax, being more saturated is also down to lens coatings and pp style.

even when the same tamron lens is used?

[BarryE]

even when the same tamron lens is used?

Then I concede, probably not, if true

---------- Post added 02-11-18 at 08:14 AM ----------

Canon equipment is just soooo good that other brands can't compete. All the non-Canon winners or placements are just pity awards handed out to make owners of inferior equipment feel better about themselves and give small hope to other sad equipment owners.

I feel much better now with just a placement. I now know I'd have done better if I'd had a soooo good Canon. Thanks.

[beholder3]

I don't see that massive Canon dominance elsewhere when I'm out and about, so it's curious why an international garden photography competition would be so far out of kilter. Or maybe I actually don't pay attention to these things ? Probably that's the reason I hadn't noticed their dominance ...

There is only Canon as a major player left in the market. The others all are minor players.
People get hyped by blog posts.
Did you read Sony's latest figures?
Blogs don't spend a lot of time reporting that their camera sensor sales are actually collapsing faster than they downsize the business. They do live from smartphones.
They don't mention shrinking Sony's shrinking camera unit sales either.

Basically you can say Canon is #1 and Fuji/Sony/Nikon all sit on #4 fighting it out in the dinosaur ILC niche, while Samsung, LG, HTC, Apple, Huawei really rule the world.

[normhead]

Basically you can say Canon is #1 and Fuji/Sony/Nikon all sit on #4 fighting it out in the dinosaur ILC niche, while Samsung, LG, HTC, Apple, Huawei really rule the world.

Flickr: Camera Finder

Apple, Canon, Nikon, Samsung,Sony, Fuji. Motorola, Olympus. Panasonic, LG, HTC, Pentax, Ricoh, Kodak, Nokia for your top 15 on Flickr

[BrianR]

I feel much better now with just a placement. I now know I'd have done better if I'd had a soooo good Canon. Thanks.

I found your image, very lovely. Congratulations on the placement Barry.