The Most Popular Cameras on Flickr

Flickr is celebrating its 22nd birthday, a remarkable achievement. To mark the occasion, Flickr shared some interesting data and insights into how photographers use Flickr, which cameras they own, and what types of shots they like to share the most.

“Since our last birthday, you’ve been busy. Uploading, tagging, sharing, connecting. Every photo tells us something about how you see the world, and this year, the story you told was uniquely yours. We also noticed some interesting trends emerging that are already shaping the year ahead,” Flickr says.

As expected, the most-used tag last year was “2025.” However, moving beyond the expected, “red” was the second-most popular tag. Then “green,” “nature,” “sport,” “art,” and “travel.” The first camera brand to appear was “Nikon” in eighth, and the first country was “France,” right after Nikon. “Canon” rounded out the top 10.

As Flickr notes, red and green were both big risers compared to 2024. The use of the red tag increased 25% year over year, while green “exploded into second place with a 45% surge.”

“Look through Explore on any given day and you’ll see why: sun-drenched forests, neon-lit streets, jewel-toned macros of dewdrops on leaves. Between our Explore takeovers, the energy of challenge groups, and photographers simply capturing the vibrant world around them, there’s a clear shift happening. With the momentum “green” has been showing, we wouldn’t be surprised if it takes the lead in year 22,” Flickr explains.

Alongside the tags that Flickr users assign to their photos, Flickr also provides a lot of insight into camera metadata. While it would be very interesting to see how Flickr’s metadata compares to other online image platforms, like Instagram, it is still notable to see what cameras photographers on Flickr use. While Nikon is a generally popular camera brand, it is fascinating that on Flickr, it is the most popular of all. Flickr says Canon made up some serious ground in 2025, but Nikon still has the overall edge.

That said, the most popular individual camera model last year was the Canon EOS R6 Mark II, followed by the Sony a7 II, Apple iPhone 16 Pro, and then the Nikon Z6 II. The Z6 II was actually Nikon’s only appearance in the top 10. The company must have its overall lead thanks to a ton of depth, since it doesn’t have one superstar on its Flickr roster.

The top 10 most-used cameras on Flickr are an interesting mix of dedicated, high-end cameras and smartphones. Notably, there are as many Micro Four Thirds models on the list as there are full-frame cameras, and only a single APS-C camera, the Fujifilm X-T5.

Then again, when considering the most popular photography genres on Flickr in 2025, Micro Four Thirds cameras make a lot of sense. Photographers love nature, travel, landscape, and street photography the most, all situations where a compact, lightweight camera can be very beneficial. Portraiture, architecture, and wildlife are next up.

Flickr also has access to interesting data about people’s capture and upload behavior. May 17, 2025, was the day when photographers captured the largest number of shots uploaded to Flickr, while October 21 was the busiest day for actually uploading shots all year.

“Here’s to 22 years of moments captured, stories shared, and a community that continues to inspire us every single day. Thank you for being here. Thank you for creating. Most of all, thank you for making Flickr what it is: not just a platform, but a community,” Flickr says.

Image credits: Flickr