INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY & IMAGING AWARDS 2022

THE SMART PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2022

2022 turned out to be as tormenting a year as 2021. The Covid pandemic was a still unfolding saga impacting all segments of the world economy. Add to that supply chain issues, especially with regard to chips, and the picture is complete. In spite of all the negative factors, 2021 saw the launch of:

• 21 new cameras overall

• 1 new D-SLR ( from Pentax)

• I new compact camera ( from Ricoh )

• 2 medium format cameras

• 5 full-frame mirrorless cameras

• 4 APS-C mirrorless cameras

• 2 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless cameras .

New lenses were launched at a feverish pace. Nearly 70 new lenses were announced in the mirrorless space. On the other hand, 60 D-SLR lenses were discontinued.

Sony said goodbye to Minolta's Alpha mount and Canon announced that there would be no new D-SLRs from their stable. Meanwhile, the Minolta brand has been relaunched in the US through a licensing arrangement with Elite Brands Inc. Finally, OM Digital sprung a pleasant surprise by announcing the brand new OM-1.

As usual, the SP Awards are awarded only to products that have been reviewed by the magazine and we are grateful to manufacturers for reaching out to us in difficult times. As in the previous year, the jury team was limited to the editorial team in view of the limitations posed by the pandemic.

Outlined below are winners of the awards in previous years from 2006 to 2020.

ACCESSORY OF THE YEAR

AND THE WINNER IS...

SENNHEISER MKE400

This camera-mounted shotgun microphone offers a clean sound pickup with a super-cardioid pick-up pattern and simple noise cut off options.

NOMINATIONS

DJI OM 5

Sennheiser XS Lav USB-C Mobile Kit

PHOTOGRAPHY MONITOR OF THE YEAR