Three cameras make Time’s 200 Best Inventions of 2023 list

Two cameras from Sony and one from Canon represent some of the best new technology of the year, according to Time.

Every year, Time magazine puts together a list of hits 200 best inventions. It probably doesn't have the reach or generate the noise that it's Person of the Year award does, but it's an influential little list all the same.

It of course has its oddities and specialities (only four of Roland’s 50th Anniversary Concept Piano have been made, for iinstance), but our attention was snagged by the fact that three cameras have made it onto the list; two from Sony, and one from Canon.

First is the Sony Alpha 7R V, which seems to get the nod more for its dedicated AI processing unit than it does for its 61-megapixel sensor; Time recognises that once you hit those resolutions, maintaining focus can be a bit of a challenge, especially on fast moving objects.

Canon’s MS-500, the company's first SPAD sensor camera also makes the cut. “Even if a count of 3.2 megapixels per 1-in. single-­photon avalanche diode image sensor means nothing to you, you can appreciate that combined with a super-telephoto broadcast lens, Canon’s new MS-500 camera captures sharp videos from some six miles away—even at night,” writes the magazine.

That, of course, costs $25,000; so Time’s next camera is markedly different, its award going to the Sony FX3. We've written about this recently, director Gareth Edwards used it on The Creator, and the idea of a prosumer camera that retails for under $4000 and can shoot a high-end successful movie is still a fairly mind-bending one. 

“The FX3 is light and compact, but its real superpower is a dramatically high ISO (the sensitivity of the camera’s ability to capture light), which allowed Edwards to capture difficult night shots without the need for extra lighting. As the director said while promoting the movie, “You can basically film in moonlight.”,” writes Time.

Other things to make the list include the Sonos Era 300 speakers that we wrote about back in August, the LG Signature OLED M 97-Inch Television (4K without the cables, or only one of them at least), Adobe’s generative AI in Photoshop, and the forthcoming Thunderbolt 5. 

It's a fun list. Have a look at The Best Inventions Of 2023 and thanks to PetaPixel for the head’s up.