Discover the best DSLR cameras for luxury shoppers seeking a premium unit in our buying guide to the top DSLR models.
Nikon D90
Street Price: $1100
The Nikon D90 is ample proof that one no longer need drop immense gobs of money for a truly great quasi-professional digital camera. At a hair above the $1000 mark, it has received more accolades than the vast majority of the cameras currently available and will handle most everything that demanding photographers could want, except “full frame” duties (more on that in a moment).
Check out our Nikon D90 Review.
Canon Eos 7D
Street Price: $1900
Excellence is not a rarity at the sub-$2000 price point, and Canon’s EOS 7D is a big part of the reason why. Simply, it does everything any other camera in this wrap-up can do better. Few of us need to spend this sort of money on a camera, but if you have the funds and the desire to take this photography thing far beyond the casual stage, the 7D will deliver the goods.
Check out our Canon EOS 7D Review.
Nikon D300s
Street Price: $2000
Canon or Nikon? The age-old question remains even today, and doesn’t let up even at the two grand price point. Our advice? Take your time, do your research, and without question get a ton of hands-on time before you buy. The D300s is pro-grade stuff, and should be treated as such.
Sony A850
Street Price: $2000
We complete this list with two SLRs in the “full frame” category. The term “full frame” is a nod to old school 35mm film days and alludes to the size of the camera sensor, which in the case of full frame is larger yet than that of typical SLRs (which in turn are larger than the sensors in compact cameras). In short, full frame cameras offer the largest sensors of all, and thusly deliver the finest image quality – particularly in low-light situations – and are superb for ultra-wide angle landscape and architectural shots. They’re comparatively bulky though, and very pricey. Having said that, this model, the Sony A850, broke new ground for full frame thriftiness when it was released in late ’09 and is on virtually every camera critic’s “best of” list.
Check out our Sony alpha DSLR-A850 Review.
Canon EOS 5D Mk II
Street Price: $2500
We’ve put a $2500 cap on our roundup, because we figure anyone looking at cameras above that price point doesn’t need an article such as this. Nonetheless, at the very top of our list is one of the most praised cameras currently available and the successor to 2005′s critically acclaimed EOS 5D, the Canon EOS 5D Mk II. Like the Sony A850 above, the 5D Mk II is a “full frame” design and as such is comparatively heavy and most definitely expensive. Yet if low-light environments, wide-angle photography, and sublime image quality are truly important to you, you’d do yourself a disservice by avoiding it. You can spend more than this on a camera (much more, actually), but only an infinitesimally small percentage of the general population will ever, ever need to do so.
Check out our Canon EOS 5D Mark II Review.
Also check out our picks for the Best Budget DSLR Cameras.
