Nikon Z 9 named best camera at the Creative Bloq Awards 2022

Nikon's Z 9 was the clear winner for best camera overall. There are other strong professional full-frame mirrorless cameras on the market, but the judges agreed that the Z 9 was the release of the last year. While it's still difficult to get hold of, it's already proving to be a game changer thanks to its super-fast high speed shooting and autofocus. The judges particularly noted its strength for hybrid use, both video and stills.

The Nikon Z 9 was the victor as best camera for video too, and that probably won't come as much of as surprise since it's perhaps the first full-frame mirrorless stills camera to truly nail 8K video recording. Our panel liked the clear, quick separation of video from stills mode and the control over who settings carry over from stills to video. The judges noted that video quality was superb across multiple uses, with the autofocus again doing extremely well in fast-moving scenes.

For streaming, the combination of public nominations and our expert panel's verdict gave the award to the GoPro, that stalwart of action video. It won praise for its compact, user friendly design, durability and its versatilty for a wide range of use cases, from webcam recording to streaming on the move.

Read our GoPro HERO 10 Black review.

The best camera for artists award went to Fujifilm's medium-format GFX 50S II. It's more portable than a full-frame camera, which the judges saw as making it more convenient and practical for artists, and it's more affordable too. It was also praised for its ergonomic design and the stellar image quality that comes through the combination of a brilliant sensor and Fujinon glass. The 6.5 stops of image stabilisation were also commended.

This one might be a surprise for some, but the Google Pixel 6 Pro beat the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the iPhone 13 Pro to scoop the award for best camera phone. The judges praised it as one of the best value of the premium camera phones out there, while noting that the big sensor dealt with low-light conditions well, and the telephoto and ultra-wide lenses offered a versatile setup. Google's AI scene optimisation and Magic Eraser were also highly rated.

The best camera for beginners award went to Sony's nifty A6000. Although it's now getting fairly old, the judges believed its performance, portability, and most notably value, make it still the best camera for beginners today. It was originally competing with mid-range cameras, but its price now offers great performance for those looking for an entry-level shooter.

 Read our Sony A6000 review

Finally, the best analogue camera award went to a revamped old school classic. Judges praised the Polaroid Now+ for the sharpness of its full-size instant photographs as well as its sharp vintage design and new range of lens filters, which make it much more than a mere point-and-shoot camera.

Read our Polaroid Now+ review