It’s easy to subscribe to the theory that Canon or Nikon still lead the digital camera world but the truth is that Sony’s been the number 1 mirrorless camera maker now for four years.

 For the photographer on your gift list, what’s the best camera of the 2015 season? And perhaps you’ve been a good boy or girl and want to buy yourself a present? Well, to narrow it down to two choices – the’s a great pocket point and shoot, and a larger (and more expensive) full frame camera. Both are from Sony. 

If that’s not enough, Steven Rosenbaum from Forbes follows it up with

 Let’s start with the what I think is the best in pocket point-and-shoot camera, the Sony RX100 IV. 

More after the jump.

The fact that Forbes compares the RX100 IV to the iPhone 6x iPhone 6s is high praise for Apple but also for Sony in that he sees a compact camera thats powerful enough and user-friendly enough that would make you want to put arguably one of the best smartphones away in favor of it.

 This is the fourth-gen of the Sony RX100 series – and the pictures are fantastic. It will put your iPhone camera to shame, even the iPhone 6x. Yes it’s a bit expensive, but for people who care about image quality, but don’t always want a full DSLR in their bag – this compact wonder is the camera to beat. 

Of course the bigger body Sony A7s is no slouch either but perhaps more telling than the cameras ability to shoot great photos and videos is this.

 And a large and growing collection of Sony e-mount lenses really does make this camera a competitor for the DSLR’s from Canon and Nikon that are in the hands of most pro-photographers today. Be forewarned, it’s not cheap – with the Camera body alone $2,999 and a camera kit with gear and a lens a grand more. But if your shopping for the serious photographer – or hobbyist looking to step up – the Sony a7s Mark II is the flat out market winner. 

We’ve seen praise pour in time and time again from publications large and small for various Sony products, including their highly coveted Xperia Z4 Tablet which most don’t even know it exists. As Sony continues to improve its fortunes by finally turning a profit and make acquisitions of other companies (usually a healthy sign), let’s hope that they also learn to better market their products as well, especially when they’re praiseworthy.

Discuss:

Do you still shoot with a camera or have you mostly moved to mobile?

[Via Forbes]