Flickr over the weekend released data detailing the most popular camera rankings of 2014 for the online photo sharing service. With 100 million users uploading 10 billion photos last year, the usual standouts of Canon and Nikon edged out most of the competition, but most interesting was Apple moving past Nikon to take second place in the rankings (via The Next Web).
Focusing solely on the top 5 camera brands used on the service last year, Canon took first place with 13.4 percent, followed by Apple with 9.6 percent and Nikon with 9.3 percent. Samsung and Sony round out the other top spots.
Individual iPhone models have long registered as the most popular camera devices on Flickr, but in looking at overall brand performance, major traditional camera manufacturers Canon and Nikon with as many as several hundred different models on the market long held down the top spots until Apple's entry in 2014.
Flickr also looked at the top mobile device cameras used on Flickr, where Apple unsurprisingly dominated the top ten list. In first through fourth were the iPhone 5 (10.6 percent), iPhone 4s (7.0 percent), iPhone 4 (4.3 percent), and the iPhone 5c (2.0 percent). The iPhone 6, iPad, and iPad mini also placed in the top ten. It is unclear why the iPhone 5s is not included on Flickr's year-end lists, as it has been registering as the most popular camera overall for a number of months now.
Though Flickr's data can't exactly be used to specifically track the rise or fall of full-fledged DSLR and professional cameras, as Flickr is used by both paid professionals and everyday amateurs, it's still interesting to see Apple's own hardware slowly edge out such big brands in the photography space.
Top Rated Comments
Hardly. The optics still suck, lack of zoom (crop is not zoom) and high compression on phone cams will still limit their usefulness.
Yes, phones are great for quick snaps, and catching something on the run but for capturing family moments nothing beats a proper camera.
MacRumors is linking to the same stupid site that was linked to on reddit yesterday.
The same site that lists the original iPad as a more popular camera than the iPhone 5S.
For picture quality, yes. But everything else, no. You need to remember to bring your camera everywhere, and keep it ON your person. For most occasions, things happen spontaneously where you can't run back to the car/the house to grab your camera.
If you're PLANNING to take a picture, then yes, a regular camera is better.
You still need a proper camera for longer-range issues.