Phones aren’t winning yet – Flickr’s top 25 photos of 2017 dominated by DSLRs and mirrorless
Dec 9, 2017
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Despite 54% of all photos uploaded to Flickr being shot with iPhones, those at the top of the pile seem to be shot by DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. Flickr has determined its users’ top 25 photos of 2017, based on various metrics. Number of views, shares, and favourites created a shortlist which was then checked and judged by real-life humans.
The top spot goes to Say Goodbye, by Iwona Podlasinska, created with a Sony A7RII and Sony Sonnar T* 135mm f/1.8 ZA lens.
For his shot, Light of Glory, Icemanphotos used the Canon 5D Mark III with the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM.
Big and Bigger by Chris Frank was shot with the “obsolete” Canon 5D Mark II and 70-300mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens. It really illustrates that you don’t need the very best gear to get amazing shots.
They weren’t all full frame cameras, though. This one, Braving the Weather by Max Gor, was shot with the Micro Four Thirds Olympus PEN-F and M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8 lens.
It’s a great set of images, and you can check out the complete top 25 on Flickr. And while smartphones might dominate the numbers in sheer uploads, it looks likes like they still have some catching up to do when it comes to quality. Or, perhaps it’s just the people using them.
Do you agree with their list? What have you seen on Flickr this year that should’ve had a mention?
[via FastCompany / Title image by Loïc Lagarde used under Creative Commons license]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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14 responses to “Phones aren’t winning yet – Flickr’s top 25 photos of 2017 dominated by DSLRs and mirrorless”
One possibility is smartphone users aren’t all Flickr users
First line of the article. :)
Thanks but that doesn’t mean the same thing as many smartphone users are not on Flickr. There are significantly more smartphone users in the world than dslr and mirror less users. Definitely more 54 percent
But by the same argument, many DSLR and mirrorless users are also not on Flickr. :)
That’s true but in order for Flickr to reflect the real world then the ratio must be similar. So in the current scenario smartphone are under represented on flicker hence the weighting (statistically speaking) is baised towards non smartphones to begin with. Similarly if you looked at instagram photos non smartphone captures would be a much smaller proportion compared to Flickr. Having said that, many smartphone users are not really photography hobbyist
It’s spelled ‘Flickr’
Most, if not all these photos appear heavily post-processed. The cameras used had little to do with the final image. Article should have been titled Top 25 Photos Dominated by Photoshop.
Exactly what I thought…
Okay, I’m not the only one who sees that. Plus, there are groups dedicated to mobile photography.
Yes , those images are photoshoped,Mostly Manipulating & shadow effect
> Flickr
> Photography Relevant
> Smartphones
Choose one.
Is Flickr still a thing?!
I guess to add my perspective 1) I’ve always seen Flickr as a proper photography page (clunky interface but high storage capacity at 1tb), with Instagram being much more phone-friendly 2) Reckon with recent handsets adding RAW support and with iPhone’s new portrait mode, phones will continue to edge in on the traditional photography market
Flickr is just not for “Generation Smartphone”. One should look at other platforms (at least in addition) for a better analysis.