Best professional digital SLR cameras

For Nikon devotees looking for the fastest body available, the D4 delivers.

While it's not a no-brainer upgrade over the Mark II, the Canon EOS 5D Mark III is worth the price premium if better performance and configurability matter to you.

An unsurprisingly great camera that's worth every penny of its higher price for its target market of professional nonsports photographers, the Nikon D800 should definitely please those who've been waiting patiently to replace their older Nikon equipment.

An excellent midrange dSLR, the Canon EOS 7D delivers for the money.

The Sony Alpha SLT-A99V is a generally great camera that's equally adept at both stills and video, but with a few caveats.

The Nikon D600 is a really good camera for the money, as long as you're willing to shell out for the lenses that can do it justice.

A great follow-up to the 5D and top-flight full-frame camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark II delivers the fluid shooting experience and fine photos you expect from a professional model.

The Nikon D300s is a great camera, especially if you need the burst speed or slightly improved low-light focus, but if you don't care about video you might consider looking for a really good deal on a D300 and using what you save to splurge on a good lens.

The photo quality you get from the EOS 6D makes it well worth the upgrade over a consumer APS-C model, but between this and comparable or higher-end models it's a less obvious choice.