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Comment by cag_ii | Hacker News Reader

Neat list, but What exactly does "Most Commonly Used Camera-Lens Combinations" mean in this context? I find it highly suspect the the most common camera/lens combo is the $3000 US EOS 5D Mk III kit; I'd expect the more affordable D3200/EOS t5 camera range to be more commonly used. Some more information about the methodology used would be helpful.

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Probably photos published on "enthusiast" sites where camera/lens info is readily available, as opposed to stock photo agencies or major commercial publishers.

The number of photos taken using phones would no doubt dwarf the data used here, dedicated camera/lens combos are becoming something of a niche market, albeit still a sizeable one.

I use the Olympus EM-1, way down on the list. Nonetheless I found it interesting that the most commonly cited lenses used were the 12-40mm f/2.8, and the 40-150mm f/2.8. These are both excellent quality lenses, but relatively massive and quite expensive, at about $1000 and $1500 respectively.

Saying goes the merit of a photograph depends much more on the person using the camera than the camera being used.

There's probably a little bit of bias in relationship to the fact that more serious photographers probably shoot a lot more.

And that they're more inclined to post to sites that tend to be associated with photo enthusiasts.

It does in fact appear that the Canon 5D iii and the 6D are the two most common DSLRs on Flickr based on the number of photos posted. https://www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/

(The leading smartphones are still more popular in terms of total numbers.)

> And that they're more inclined to post to sites that tend to be associated with photo enthusiasts.

This. Of my friends, most people seem to have a bottom- or mid-range APS-size sensor DSLR from Canon or Nikon. But the two of my friends who actually have a 5D iii and a 6D, respectively, are the only ones who a) shoot photos that are interesting to people outside their immediate friends/family and who b) post those photos on flickr.

(While I'm the geek with the superzoom, or the '72 Nikon Nikkormat loaded with Tri-X when I'm feeling analog.)

Also note the near total absence of pro gear - no Nikon D3/D4 entries, for instance, still I would expect those cameras _on average_ sees a lot more use than your average D3100, for instance.

(Also, chances are they'd skew the lens numbers significantly - while kit lenses come and go, pro glass tend to live much longer before being upgraded. (The 24-70mm f/2.8 which you often see around single-digit Nikon bodies, for instance, was the standard zoom for 8-9 years before being given an upgrade last year)

I had the same thought. Unless I missed it, the site doesn't give the source of the data. I find it very suspect (as in not representative of broader use) that the top two cameras are late model Canon prosumer+ full-frame bodies.

[ADDED: It actually appears that this does align with Flickr stats--which is, of course, not what you'd find on Facebook or other more mass market sites.]

All I could find is "11,495,995 photos from year 2016 which have been posted on an assortment of websites, including Flickr, 500px and Pixabay, with ExifTool technology."

https://explorecams.com/stats/global

If you look at the source for the images it's public repo's for images (500px.com, flickr...). They usually publish the exif which contains this data.

My guess is that it's based on frequency. What is unknown is whether the sample takes more prolific photographers into account when calculating "common". 5000 people may all own same camera and take single public image as oppose to single photographer who takes 5000 images.

Very cool but would love more details on how they are defining their criteria.

I would assume it's based on the number of uploaded photos taken with those cameras. I'm not sure the Flickr API, for example, even gives you a good way to look at it per user. (You'd basically need to iterate over users and only count a camera model once per user.)

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