We asked our readers to vote in The Readers’ Choice Awards, now returning after its popular debut last year, as it’s that time of year again when the AP Awards 2024 are announced. Below we share your choice of camera of the year, community of the year and exhibition of the year for 2024.
Readers’ Choice Camera of the Year: Nikon Z f
l £2300 l nikon.co.uk
Key features
- Handsome retro design
- Tactile control dials
- Excellent image quality
- Impressive subject detection AF
Nikon fans have long been crying out for a high-end mirrorless camera with classic film-era styling, and in 2023 their wish was granted with the seriously handsome Z f. While the firm’s previous efforts at producing retro-styled cameras haven’t been overwhelmingly successful, it seems that the Z f has struck a wider chord, judging from the result of our readers’ choice vote. It’s not hard to see why.
This camera’s big draw, of course, lies with its looks and shooting experience. Its robust-feeling metal body boasts chunky top-plate dials for shutter speed, ISO, and exposure compensation that click satisfyingly as they’re turned. There’s even a switch to select between colour and black & white shooting. Fold the fully articulated screen in against the camera’s back, and you might almost be able to convince yourself you’re shooting film.
Make no mistake, though, this is a thoroughly modern camera. It packs all the firm’s latest imaging technology, including an excellent subject recognition system which can be used for manual focus as well as autofocus. You get an ISO 100-64,000 standard sensitivity range, 7.8 fps continuous shooting, and 8 stops of in-body image stabilisation. It’s a very desirable camera indeed.
Read our in-depth review of the Nikon Zf here.
Community of the Year: SheClicks
Photography can provide a solitary escape from the world. But it can also be a vehicle to connect with other photographers, share experiences, ask advice, make friends, and collaborate.
Our Community of the Year Award celebrates the hundreds of photography communities and the hundreds of thousands of people who belong to them. The winning group is almost certainly the fastest-growing photography community in the UK. Founded in 2018 by former AP Technical Editor, Angela Nicholson, SheClicks is a female-only group with a membership that currently stands at 12,700.
SheClicks provides its members with free webinars, as well as meet-ups, coffee mornings and photo-walks around the country. It’s a space where women can get together to support each other, ask advice and chat about photography without the risk of being patronised or mansplained. One member described it as being like a family, while another simply said, ‘SheClicks is like coming home when you didn’t even realise you’d left.’
Readers’ Choice Exhibition of the Year: Living The Dream: The UK Black Female Photographers Group
Fujifilm House of Photography, curated by Dominique Nok
Hundreds of photography exhibitions are staged each year up and down the country, big and small, and almost all were represented in the votes that came in from AP readers for this category.
Narrowly missing a top three spot were Astro Photographer of the Year at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and Paul McCartney, Eyes of the Storm, at the National Portrait Gallery.
In third place was Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the Natural History Museum, while in second place was the Daido Moriyama retrospective at The Photographers’ Gallery.
The overwhelming winner, which received more votes than the second and third-placed exhibitions combined, is Living The Dream: The UK Black Female Photographers Group. This exhibition was held at the Fujifilm House of Photography, and then later continued to the Photo Frome Festival. Curated by Dominique Nok, Living the Dream is a vibrant celebration of Black British culture, creativity, and womanhood, as seen through the lenses of 51 group members.
Make sure you have a look at the other AP Award winners!
Tell us what you think on social media, using the hashtag #APAwards2024
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