The 2024 DA Awards: The Best Camera, Zoom Lens, Prime Lens, and more

[@stevepa999]

Wow! I cannot believe it! There is an actual photography channel that has its yearly awards at the end of the year and not at the beginning of December.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

LOL - good thing, too, as at least one of my winners was a very late arrival.

[@RandumbTech]

If I could look half as good as you in a tux, I'd never take it off. 🤣108 review videos in one year is insane!! Cannot express how much we all appreciate the work you put into these videos. Many cheers to 2025!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

LOL - thank you!

[@6gwilliams]

Thanks Dustin for all you do for all of us. Cheers and Happy Holidays

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure.

[@EmGa-p9l]

Merry Christmas and happy new year!!!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

The same to you! Thank you

[@paradox...]

Thanks for all the great content this year, DA! Also, looking real sharp 😁👍🏼

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thank you very much.

[@lionheart4424]

Great year Dustin! Thanks for your hard work. I am happy that you acknowledge the Chinese lens manufacturers getting into making AF lenses. Now, I hope Viltrox gets into releasing a supertelephoto prime for APS-C. We need a 3rd party option! Happy new year!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I would definitely take that from Viltrox. I can see longer telephotos being the next challenge they take on.

[@DustinFurlow]

Happy to see the Sigma 500mm 5.6 on here, i was extremely surprised with it and continue to enjoy it.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's great.

[@V-Lipz]

Thank you Dustin for all the great work you've done for us photographers!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure.

[@adamcwatts]

This was such a fun video to watch! ❤

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Glad to hear it!

[@GallaghersGrub]

Keep up the great content. Happy New Year!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Happy new year!

[@luissalazar2021]

I appreciate everything you do here Thank you for sharing

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure.

[@clearviewmarine]

Thank you for all the time and work you put into your extremely thorough and helpful reviews.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure.

[@julesc6215]

Love the reviews, keep the good work on and happy new year!!!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Happy new year!

[@larswara2124]

Thanks a lot for your excellent reviews in 2024, and happy new year! 😊

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Happy new year!

[@nomadictimbo9185]

Thanks for your excellent work Dustin! Your reviews are always a great combination of passion and professionalism and are always interesting to watch. My current camera and 3 lenses i currently own (X-T4, Fuji 70-300 + 90F2 and Tamron 17-70) were heavily influenced by your reviews and I'm more than happy with all of them. Can't wait to see you review the XF500 5.6. It'll be a while until I can afford it, but I'm still interested in seeing what you think about it. Have a great New Year and keep up your great work 👍

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure. I've asked to hold off on the XF 500mm until spring when I have more moving subjects. In our harsh winters here there isn't a lot of wildlife.

[@ratgirl13]

Looking snappy and crisp Dustin Abbott to match that sharp mind of yours, I enjoyed the video very much-you’re my go-to guy when I need to see a review on whatever camera and lens I’m interested in buying. Merry Christmas and a happy healthy and prosperous New Year to you and yours, thanks for your hard work on the videos that are fun and informative-see you in the new year.💙

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thank you very the very kind words!

[@momchilyordanov8190]

I'm going to watch the soundproofing video. Intentionally. And give it a like, even if it's not good! 😄

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

LOL - let's make it a cult favorite :)

[@petezenith]

Look like million bucks!!! Thank you Dustin for all your great work, it is good to have some one like you, who i can trust, and make my purchasing mistakes less frequent. Happy New Year with Best Wishes to you and your Family

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thank you for the kind words.

[@Edwin--]

Thanks for another year of great videos and reviews! It has been a pleasure watching them and always look forward to more. Wishing you a happy an healthy 2025 ahead!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure.

[@maxbolenkab]

Thanks for putting in all the work for these reviews. They are appreciated!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure.

[@TungstenOvergaard]

Thanks for this year, Dustin! All the best and all the light for 2025!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Happy new year!

[@michaelajoseph6856]

Thank you for a truly amazing work. You look great and the video was a joy to watch. Wishing you a blessed 2025!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thank you very much! Happy New Year!

[@craigcarlson4022]

Fun program. Always keen to hear what you think. Merry Christmas!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Merry Christmas to you as well.

[@GregoryDai]

love to see it!!!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thanks

[@blueridgestops3128]

I can wholeheartedly agree with Sigma’s best year award. This year I purchased my first Sigma lens: the 10-18mm for Sony, and it just performs flawlessly on the A6700. They say first impressions are everything: all I can say is my first Sigma lens isn’t even in Sigma’s art series, but I don’t know that my camera or portfolio cares: the images out of this small and lightweight, powerhouse of a lens are just corner to corner gorgeous with amazing saturation and virtually no CA. In my opinion, it doesn’t get better than this lens.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Sigma makes a lot of great products.

[@davidligon6088]

Interesting!! Way to go Voltrox. I’ve invested in quite a number of sony GM and G lenses. I’m at a point I want to expand a bit with some third party options. I hope you and your family had a great Christmas, and that continues through the year. Thank you for your, always straight forward, and excellent reviews.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

We have had a great Christmas. My two older children are home, so that makes it special!

[@ChaitanyaShukla2503]

For Wildlife/Sports photographers this year has been a great one with the launches of cameras and lenses centered around wildlife/sports. For Macro photographers its a shame we dont see options from 1st parties with regards to addressing 180/200mm focal length, high Mag ratio lens, even 3rd parties like Sigma and Tamron don't seem to care about long focal length macro. There is also confusing APS-C camera launches from Canon and Nikon who have neglected this market with only Fuji doing anything serious for the users of APS-C cameras.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Some fair points.

[@marknathan7744]

Cool Thanks Dustin looking forward to the 2025 releases some good stuff there Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Me too. Lenses keep getting better, and more and more companies have become competitive with their offerings.

[@leezheng8161]

Looking forward for you A1 II review!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Me too! I'm working on getting one right now.

[@OlivierStaiger]

Very nice to see you in tie and suit, Sir ! ... very classy ! I used to be a VIP limo driver and , well, this kind of suit reminds me of good times ;-) . Of course I enjoy my jeans and tshirts, too hahhaaha... anyway, Happy New Year to you, and thanks for your great reviews... I've bought quite a few lenses because of you ;-) Thank you , Sir. If you ever visit Switzerland please call, lunch is on me.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's very kind. Thank you!

[@ernstvandijk6342]

Happy new year 2025 to you, Dustin! I am looking forward to many more reviews!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Me too. So far I haven't burned out on doing this. It's still fun.

[@JackAwad-k4k]

Dustin is the new 007!!! Great video!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

LOL - thank you, Moneypenny.

[@knnroy]

Thank you to be such a good judge.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Tahnk you!

[@plutonium5156]

You deserve more subscribers

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

No argument from me

[@johnxanthoulis26]

merry Christmas and a happy new year all wishes from north Greece.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Happy New Year to you, too!

[@geopomelo1890]

Viltrox 135mm took great family portraits this Christmas. Looking forward to 85mm and 35mm Lab series for everyday use as I imagine they will be smaller and lighter than the 135mm.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Agreed. I can't wait!

[@sshapiro63]

I think my favorite video of the year is this one because you are wearing a tuxedo. 😀

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I enjoy it, too!

[@linhaixueyuan]

Thanks for the nice DA rewards/review. I think that there are many different categories of zooms, IMHO, Nikon 28-400mm is the top lens for travel, it's better than Tamron, even with more choices.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I look forward to spending some time with the 28-400mm. I don't really have a reliable source for Nikon loaners yet, so unfortunately my reviews will be sporatic.

[@linhaixueyuan]

@@DustinAbbottTWI Thanks Dustin !! No worries, I can't imagine myself contently keeping up with the rapid changes on photo and video hardware, and providing so many great reviews, not to mention this video as the Christmas bonus. Keep up the good work, thanks again!

[@Jwitherow1964]

Dustin your looking good brother, this was a fun video, so fun I am watching it again, and I we probably leave another comment., great job, on camera of the year your runner up should have be #(1)

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thanks for all of your support in 2024!

[@careylymanjones]

I came within a hair of buying the A7CR, recently, but B&H had $500 off of the A7RV AND 24 month 0%, which made the price difference only about $20/month. I ended up going with the A7RV, and I'm delighted with it. But I would have thoroughly enjoyed the A7CR, if I'd gone that way.

[@hikertrashfilms]

That CR camera is terrible…it doesn’t have an on-axis tilt screen. Totally defeats the purpose of having a 61MP sensor

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

You won't regret owning the a7RV. It's a great camera.

[@zyxyuv1650]

hey Dustin I'm surprised to see the Meike 85mm f/1.4 FF STM somehow got very high scores on LensTip's MTF50 image resolution test...and it has near perfect bokeh in the bokeh test, and various other good parameters. I think it's worth a review, but I'm skeptical of Meike in general, and of Meike's QC and sample variation. I.e. Chris Frost's review doesn't seem to align with LensTip's results. Meike needs constructive criticism, and I might be underestimating them, but I don't think they can improve to be like Viltrox. But I could be totally wrong, maybe Meike's on the brink of greatness. More reviews could only help kick off their little AF lens business.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I only award lenses I've actually reviewed. I had a few negative Meike experiences, so I haven't been really motivated to cover their stuff. I have so much demand for reviews that I can't cover everything.

[@zyxyuv1650]

@@DustinAbbottTWI I did not mean to say the Meike deserves any award. Just the MTF50 scores reaching 90 lp/mm is actually quite rare and only a few lenses have ever reached that level...It exceeds the Sony 85 GM II. So I became curious about the Meike. But I totally understand not being motivated to test Meike, as I myself am too skeptical of Meike to buy one.

[@justneoh8253]

First to comment, after hitting the "like" 😀. Bow tie and suit (not sure about trousers though), acting very professionally in Award "ceremony" 😆

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

[@kkim9669]

2024 reviewer Award : DA 😂

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thank you. That is kind of you to say.

[@frankluo230]

I think Canon budget offering is more compelling in terms of price and performance ratio. The 200-800 is a fantastic lens and so as RF28-70f2.8 and RF28mmf2.8 One thing I never get it is why the number of choices are rated so highly? It is almost irrelevant to the silent majority. No matter you look at the budget 1-3 lens setup, mid priced 3 to 5 setup, or money no object full pro setup, Canon Nikon or Sony are all more or less covered their bases. None offers significantly better value. Yes E mount has the most number of lenses to choose from but the end result of value is about the same. Are you really seeing things differently? Given a certain budget, Sony or Nikon can equip a mlre capable setup while Canon can not because of lack of competition? Please light me i really dont see it.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Hi Frank, I'm sure you are primarily (maybe exclusively) a Canon shooter, but as someone who has a chance to use and review gear across five different brands, my perspective is going to be different. Sure, there are good lenses on Canon RF, but often they aren't superior in price or performance to what's available on other brands, and essentially all other brands have third party options available.

[@agent9727]

Yeah, let's crush Canon with its ridiculous pricey lenses. Thank you for that and Merry Christmas 🎉

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I don't want to crush Canon, but I sure do want them to wake up to reality.

[@muhammedmujde]

🇹🇷🇹🇷📽️..

[@powerlurker]

old reader come to thumb up

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thank you!

[@BearInDespair]

Really nice. I watched the RF 35 L review and don't remember as negative feedback as it was presented here. Thou I would not buy it, hopefully the 1.2 L photo centric series will come as well.

[@janvirtanen9110]

Propably will come, but will for sure cost 85mm 1.2 L money 😅

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's because there are a lot of good things about the lens. It was my most disappointing lens not because it was the worst (not even close), but because it underwhelmed my expectations in some key areas.

[@jonasweiss5817]

Third Party lenses suck. AFSlow,IS bad.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

LOL - you clearly have not spent time with some modern third party lenses.

[@Mattrossphoto]

Thank you for all your hard work DA! 🫡

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure.