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Photographer and Reviewer Dustin Abbott takes a look back over the gear he reviewed in 2025 and hands out the "DA Awards" for the standout cameras, lenses, and brands. Thanks to all of you for your support in 2025!
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0:00
Well, it's that time of year once again
0:13
Welcome to the 2025 DA Awards. This is the third annual DA Awards of completely meaningless and entirely arbitrary awards that
0:25
I make up myself. When I look back over 2025 and the various things that I have reviewed over the course of the year
0:33
in fact, in this case, that's 119 different YouTube reviews that I have published in 2025
0:39
And as I look back over them, there are some things that stand out to me as being exceptional
0:44
And so I am here tonight to award those things. Thank you for joining me once again for our annual awards
0:51
Now there is basically just two criteria when it comes to these awards. First of all, it has to be something that I reviewed in 2025. And the second criteria is entirely subjective. It is how much that particular product impressed me and stood out from the competition
1:10
So let's jump into our first category, which is camera of the year. I had the opportunity to
1:15
review cameras from Canon, from Nikon, from Sony, and from Fujifilm in 2025, and there are a few that
1:23
stood out to me. I will give one caveat in that my review of the Sony a75 is still a review in
1:29
process. I just received it within the last 24 hours and have just started to review it
1:34
And so right now I am going more on what I'm aware of from a briefing and from what I've
1:41
seen from other reviewers, but it certainly stands out as one of the best camera releases
1:46
of 2025. However, just in terms of the specifications, doesn't stand out to me as much as another
1:53
camera that I'll get to in just a moment. But some definite standouts there, the ability to really function in a lot of ways, like an
2:00
A1 Mark II Lite with that great burst feed, blackout free viewfinder, and other great features
2:07
And so it's pretty awesome. I also really found the Nikon Z5 Mark II to be an incredibly impressive
2:13
camera for the price point. And I will note that it is competing at a lower price level than any of
2:19
these other cameras that I'm mentioning here. And so it is a great, great value camera, a really
2:24
awesome camera for the money. My winner, however, this year is the Canon R6 Mark III, a camera that
2:31
really stands out as one that has very few limitations. One of those limitations where the
2:38
a75 does surpass it is when it comes to a blackout free viewfinder. But outside of that, it has
2:43
tremendous capabilities, both as a stills and also as a video camera. And it's in the latter point
2:50
where I think it could be argued that it surpasses the Sony a75 and some of those areas with the
2:56
open gate video, the ability to shoot a huge variety of codecs and produce really high resolution
3:02
footage. It is a really fantastic camera. And what's more, I feel like it's a camera that feels
3:08
great in the hand. It just works really, really well. So kudos to Canon for continuing to raise
3:14
the bar of what is possible in the R6 series, which has been competitive from day one
3:19
second category is the zoom lens of the year and this was a really competitive category in 2025
3:26
there was a lot of great zooms that were released in 2025 and not just great zooms but also unique
3:33
zooms that whereas i feel like we're getting to a place of maturation in a lot of the various
3:40
lens makers and so it allows them to be a little bit more creative and we reap the benefits of that
3:44
as consumers. My honorable mentions for this year include a Sigma lens, the 300 to 600 millimeter
3:51
f4 sport, which is a fantastic lens. It's big and heavy and maybe beyond what most people are
3:57
looking for. And so I didn't get my top award here, but it is an amazingly good lens and one
4:03
that really is a strong value compared to the prime lenses that it really competes with. And so
4:09
a very, very impressive product from Sigma this year. Also, Tamron's 25-200mm f2.8-5.6 is a
4:17
fantastic travel zoom. Does just a lot of things really, really well, and it impressed me a lot
4:23
And from the response from the audience, there's a lot of you out there that are interested in that
4:27
lens. My runner-up, however, is a lens that in some ways kind of flew a bit under the radar
4:32
And that was the Schneider Cruzenauts and LK Samyang 14-24mm f2.8. Right now LK Samyang doesn seem to have quite the momentum that they had a few years back but that should not dissuade you from looking at this lens it is a really impressive zoom lens that you know for example i tell you that the
4:54
best kind of reward that i can get it is i'm traveling preparing to travel tomorrow and so
5:00
i'm putting together what needs to be a very compact kit for this trip one of the lenses that
5:04
absolutely had to go in there was the 14 to 24 millimeter f 2.8 it is so versatile it does so
5:10
many things well and it's nice and compact and so I really really love it however the winner this
5:16
year is more of a high-end zoom lens that is one that a lot of people would consider their zoom of
5:23
the year and that is the Sony 50 to 150 millimeter f2g master lens it's heavy it's expensive but it
5:33
is amazingly versatile and amazingly sharp the fact that they nailed this formula in a lens that
5:39
is just so versatile in its focal length makes it a really really impressive lens and for those that
5:44
shoot events shoot weddings shoot portrait photography it is a lens that is going to
5:50
appeal to a lot of people and it's got the speed even with an f2 aperture to be an amazing like
5:56
short distance sports lens as well and paired with one of sony's better sports bodies it can do
6:02
amazing things in that metric so it is my zoom lens of the year the third category that i want
6:09
to dive into is the budget APS-C prime lens. And so I define budget as being under $600 as the
6:16
threshold that I use for that. There are a couple of lenses that were runner-ups for me. One of those
6:21
is Sigma's 12 millimeter F1.4. It really advanced this series in terms of the feature set and the
6:28
focus motor. And also it's just a really, really good lens optically at F1.4. And so if you're
6:33
looking for a wide angle prime for APS-C, it is pretty impressive. Also, the Viltrox Pro AF 56mm
6:41
f1.2 is a fantastic lens. It adds the combination of focal length and 56mm and maximum aperture f1.2
6:49
that wasn't available on Sony and Nikon, and of course goes head-to-head with the Fuji's own 56mm
6:56
f1.2, and I did a video that compared those two and showed just how much the Viltrox gave the far
7:02
more expensive lens a run for the money. And so both of those are impressive runner-ups, but my
7:08
winner this year actually goes to a budget lens, and that is the Viltrox Air 9mm f2.8. It is a lens
7:15
that I found to be very, very good, not only on Sony, but it really impressed me on Fuji X-Mount
7:23
where I reviewed it on Fuji's extremely demanding 40 megapixel sensor. And I was really, really
7:29
impressed by just how sharp that lens was even on that sensor. It is as sharp as any wide angle lens
7:36
that I've seen on Fuji period. And so it was a really, really impressive lens. And the fact that
7:41
you can get it for under 200 bucks is just a bargain. And so I was very, very impressed by that
7:48
Moving on to category number four, let's talk about my budget full frame prime lens under $600
7:53
of the year. Again, a couple of runner-ups. And in this case, I got three runner-ups because
8:00
Viltrox killed it in this category this year. The Viltrox Pro AF 85mm f1.4 is a lens that has sold
8:08
a lot of portrait photographers because it has beautiful rendering, beautiful sharpness
8:13
and an amazing price. The Viltrox Air 14mm f4 is really the full frame equivalent of that 9mm f2.8
8:21
that I just praise so highly. And I actually, in some ways, like the full frame 14 millimeter better
8:26
And the fact that you can get such a wide angle of view, the ability to use filters
8:31
and have such a strong optical performance and a lens that cost less than 200 bucks
8:37
Likewise, the Viltrox Air 50 millimeter F2 was every bit as sharp as the Sony 50 millimeter F1.4 G Master
8:44
that I'm filming on right now. And yet again, it's another lens that can be had for under 200 bucks
8:49
But my winner this year has to go to yet another Viltrox lens, and that is the Viltrox Evo 85mm F2
8:58
This is a lens that launched a whole new series for Viltrox and did so in such impressive fashion
9:05
It's so good optically. It has great autofocus, and despite being small and compact, it has a great feature set
9:13
It's got an aperture ring that you can click or de-click. it's got the AFMF it's got the function button on it and it is beautifully made and can be had for
9:24
around 270 bucks what an amazing value for a lens that is just really really good and by the way it another lens that going into my travel kit I wanted a short telephoto to bring along and it is so compact and so good It made the cut and
9:39
it's coming with me on the trip. So kudos to Viltrox for, as I said, cleaning up in that
9:44
category. This is, I think the space that Viltrox as a company really, really thrives. And I don't
9:50
know that anybody is doing it better than them in the sub $600 prime category. The fifth category
9:56
is premium prime lens. And there were a number of great lenses that cost more than 600 US dollars
10:02
that fell into this category that I want to praise today. A couple of runner-ups include Sigma's
10:08
135 millimeter f1.4. A lot of you love that lens as do I. It's amazing the combination of that
10:15
large maximum aperture and that focal length provides images that are just pretty uniquely
10:21
special. Also the Viltrox Lab 35mm f1.2 is another in that category, just another one of their high
10:29
end Lab series lenses that now has come out on Z mount as well and on both Sony and Z mount. It is
10:35
impressively good and competes with the very best on both of those platforms. Also we have the Sigma
10:42
200mm f2 Sport, another amazing high end lens that I really have to praise. My winner however this year
10:49
comes from Sony and it's Sony's 100 millimeter f2.8 GM macro lens. It is a lens that is pretty
10:57
rare and that it's a macro lens at a traditional focal length that managed to push the bar of what
11:03
was possible. It is optically better than pretty much any macro that I've tested before, but the
11:08
ability to use teleconverters with it and increase that magnification up and the flexibility of how
11:14
you can use the lens really set it in a different category. I also love the clutch mechanism that
11:21
Sony has managed to design that gives you more of a true manual focus experience with hard stops
11:27
It kind of gives you all of the best when it comes to macro experience and it is probably my next
11:32
personal lens purchase and so I give them kudos for that. It's the lens that out of all the releases
11:38
in 2025, I think is the most impressive for a prime lens for me. One of the categories that I
11:44
added last year was the company that had the best year. And so my runner up this year is Viltrox
11:51
Viltrox has been just growing year by year. They get stronger. It seems like every year
11:56
and it feels like the day is coming very shortly where they're going to win in this category
12:00
Every release in 2025 was pretty much a hit. I liked all of the air series lenses
12:05
all of the pro series lenses the lab series lenses and they launched the new evo category that just
12:12
won an award right here very impressive work by viltrox but my winner for the second year in a row
12:17
has to be sigma sigma is they had a killer year releasing one hit after another and that includes
12:25
creative zooms like the 17 to 40 millimeter f1.8 which again was one of the best aps-c lenses of
12:33
the year and already is proving very popular on all of the platforms that it's sold for
12:38
I've already mentioned their 300 to 600 millimeter f4 sport, which is a, just a kind of a groundbreaking
12:45
zoom that comes at a price that is about half of what the competing prime lenses are, even though
12:53
it covers all of those focal links. So great job on that front. Their 20 to 200 millimeter travel
12:58
zoom is one that a lot of people are buying and loving because it stretched that focal length down
13:04
to 20 millimeters, allowing you to get more in frame than any of these travel zooms before
13:09
for full frame. Also, they released some fantastic primes, all of which I've mentioned
13:14
including the 200 millimeter F2 Sport, 135 millimeter F1.4 arc. One that I didn't mention
13:20
was their 35 millimeter F1.2 Mark II, a really well-rounded high-end prime lens that is pretty
13:27
special. And then the 12 millimeter F1.4 for APS-C we mentioned previously. All of those are
13:32
fantastic lenses. Lenses that I think could have competed for lens of the year in all of their
13:38
categories. So kudos to Sigma. They continue to do a fantastic job of releasing lenses that are
13:45
very desirable and often stretch the limits of what's possible at the focal length and aperture
13:51
combination. Keep up the good work Sigma. I have no idea what you have coming next, but
13:56
I can't wait to see it. How about the lens or the camera that most surprised me in 2025
14:03
That has to be the Viltrox Air 50 millimeter F2. The Air series to that point had been lenses that
14:10
I had largely considered to be good, but not necessarily great. They kind of, their strength
14:15
have been in their APS lenses and the fact that they released a sub 50mm f2 that had the kind of sharpness that that lens has It really kind of blew my mind how good it really was Even when I tested on a 61 megapixel
14:30
sensor, it had no problem resolving from corner to corner. It is a really impressive little prime
14:36
lens, easy to bring along, easy to love and easy to afford. So it is the one that surprised me the
14:43
most, my most disappointing lens or camera this year was the Fujifilm X half. And I recognize that
14:49
I'm probably not the right market for that camera at all. But frankly, I found the camera to just
14:56
I didn't hardly get it. I'll be honest. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around it. And I
15:01
recognize it's more of a hipster product that will appeal to a certain kind of person, but
15:05
there wasn't much about it that I enjoyed from autofocus to image quality, uh, to the ergonomics
15:12
of it. It just did not press the right buttons for me. And so I would say it was my biggest
15:17
disappointment of 2025. What was my most popular review of 2025? Ironically, it was part two of
15:26
what was the most popular review of 2024. In 2024, I did a three-way comparison between
15:33
the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 on Fuji, and then the 16-55mm f2.8, and then the 18-55mm OS lens there
15:48
And so that was my most popular 2024. I came back and revisited that in 2025, putting the Sigma 18-50mm
15:55
f2.8 up against the newly released 16 to 55 millimeter mark two and the 16 to 50 millimeter
16:03
f2.8 to f4.8. And people were really interested in seeing how all of those lenses compared on that
16:09
demanding 40 megapixel Fuji sensor. And it was the most popular review of 2025. Now the flip side
16:17
of that was what was my least popular review of 2025? It was the Hohem iSteady M7 Mobile Gimbal
16:26
a motorized gimbal design for phones. It had only 679 views and it was released early on
16:34
in 2025. The only upside compared to 2024's least popular reviews is that while I gained
16:41
not one subscriber over that review. I didn't lose any, whereas the least popular of 2024
16:47
I lost six subscribers over that video alone. So progress folks, at least I'm not turning you off
16:54
by the reviews that you don't like. Finally, we're going to look at the reader's choice awards. Over
17:00
the last three or four weeks, I have been polling you, the audience, to see what is your top camera
17:07
Your top camera of 2025 is the Sony a75 and tied in second place are the R6 Mark III from Canon
17:16
and the Z5 Mark II from Nikon. Both of those got 25% of your votes, but the Sony got over 40%
17:28
And so it was your most popular camera. What was your top zoom lens of 2025? It was the same as
17:35
mine the sony 50 to 150 millimeter f2 in second place was the sigma 300 to 600 millimeter f4
17:43
sport your top prime lens by your votes was the sigma 135 millimeter f1.4 and you picked that
17:52
over the second place of the sony 100 millimeter macro gm my findings swap those two results but
17:59
we're both in the same ballpark your top aps-c lens of the year and in this case there really
18:05
is even hardly a second place. You picked the Sigma 17 to 40 millimeter F1.8 by a landslide
18:12
Over 80% of the votes went to the Sigma, making it easily the most popular APS-C lens to you
18:20
the audience of 2025. I want to conclude by saying a big thank you to each and every one of you for
18:27
your support in 2025. I thank you for continued growth on this channel, for being so supportive
18:34
so loyal and so kind in your comments. You are a well-educated audience. You always push me to
18:41
grow and be a little bit more careful always in my review process. And I really, really appreciate
18:47
you. To all of you, I wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and hopefully 2026 is our best
18:54
year yet. As always, thanks for watching. Have a great day. And remember, let the light in
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