My honest appraisal and thought:

Currently the best camera brand for both still photos *AND* video is Panasonic-Lumix.

Why? Let me explain:

1. Panasonic Lumix has been in the video game since the beginning

Their GH-series camera were the first choice use for vloggers and YouTubers. DeStorm Power (friend of mine and my other friend Jacob Patterson) used it early on when vlogging our time at ‘Girl Walks into a Bar’ and he spit some freestyle flow in front of Rosario Dawson. Because Panasonic has been in the game for so long, this means:

They had an insanely great head-start.

All the other brands are struggling to keep up. Sony is lame. Fujifilm is very bad for video. No other camera brand is good for video besides Panasonic-Lumix (Lumix is just the re-branding name-concept for Panasonic, just how Toyota owns Lexus which is their ‘luxury’ and aspirational brand).

2. How did Leica Camera enter the digital age?

Very simple: Panasonic Lumix helped Leica Camera to develop their digital cameras. Even as far back as the original Matrix Film … do you remember when Keanu Reeves (NEO) is sleeping? He is using Panasonic headphones.

We need guns … lots of guns …

3. What is a Leica Digital Camera anyways?

The Leica Q-camera is essentially a very nice Panasonic Lumix camera. The Leica compact cameras are re-branded Panasonic Lumix cameras. The only *true* digital Leica is probably the digital Leica M camera … but I am very certain that the digital Leica M was co-engineered with the smartest folks from Panasonic Lumix. Thus we should just see the digital Leica M camera as having the styling, aesthetics and soul of a Leica M Rangefinder … but with the brains and guts of a Panasonic Lumix sensor-technology-UI-UX. But never tell this to a Leica user or a Leica shooter … they feel salty about it. Very much if you tell a Porsche Boxter or Cayman user that it isn’t a ‘real’ Porsche (in these circles, the only legitimate Porsche car is a 911 Turbo; must be manual). But then again … even a Porsche 911 turbo is just a really nice and expensive VW beetle on steroids (just look at the styling and lines of the most modern Volkswagen Beetle Bug … looks like a more round and cute Porsche 911 Car).

And let us not forget, the VW Volkswagen Group owns Lamborghini, *AND* they also own Porsche!!!

Volkswagenag.com which is Volkswagen AG (AG stands for ‘Aktiengesellschaft‘).

4. Personal research: Why are Americans so obsessed with German products? (like Porsche cars, Lamborghini cars … ironically initially Italian style but now German) and also German tools (Leica Camera, etc).

What is ‘aktiengesellschaft’? It is a German word for a corporation limited by share ownership, in which the shares of the company are traded on the public market.

The German word ‘Aktiengesellschaft’ is comprised of two elements:

1. ‘Aktien’ (means ‘shares’)
2. Gesellschaft means ‘company or society’.

Similar is the notion of ‘GmbH‘ which stands for ‘Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung’ which means in Austria:

Gesellschafter (the word for ‘members’ or ‘owners)

Essentially it means ‘a company with limited liability’ (similar to what we in America have an ‘LLC’ which means ‘limited liability company-corporation’). The gist is that the owners of the company are not personally liable or culpable for the company’s debts (a form of self-preservation and protection for the individual). This means all the risk and the culpability goes to this abstract notion of a ‘company’ or ‘corporation’. In other words:

No individual needs to take responsibility if the company fucks up.

Or in other words:

As a CEO of an LLC or a AG or a GmbH … if my company goes bankrupt, I can still collect my $100M bonus and peace out of the company without having to pay anything back.