Nathan, I've been around these forums since 2001 so understand your suggestion. Personally, I'm a 5D shooterbut I'm looking for a small P & S for my brother and sister in law who don't give much of a hoot for IQ (it seems to me LOL), but like the size of my husband's Fuji F30 and I'm trying to quickly find some others to suggestin that size with reasonable IQ and features. AndI didn't want to spend a lot of time going through the reviews, so thought I would start this way..
Thanks for the link..
DianeDiane Bhttp://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleries..
A little bit bigger than the F30 but very versatile is the Panny TZ3. Wide angle (28mm) and long zoom (10x for 280mm). Great for travel with that range. Good user interface, good screen. No manual controls but invest a little time and very easy to control exposure with EV (direct simple access) and live histogram. Got a recommended rating but one that is selling well. Simon had nice things to say about it in the review.terryhttp://tbanet.zenfolio.com/..
TEBnewyork wrote:.
A little bit bigger than the F30 but very versatile is the Panny TZ3.Wide angle (28mm) and long zoom (10x for 280mm). Great for travelwith that range. Good user interface, good screen. No manual controlsbut invest a little time and very easy to control exposure with EV(direct simple access) and live histogram. Got a recommended ratingbut one that is selling well. Simon had nice things to say about itin the review.terryhttp://tbanet.zenfolio.com/.
Thanks, I've thought I might like that one myself if I ever buy a P & S, but my brother finally decided on an F31 FD. I expect it will stay in auto LOL..
Thanks to both of you for your suggestions.Diane Bhttp://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleries..
I woudlnt' put the highly recommended tag to be the ones you think are best. Most reviews on here are mild and how can every camera be recommended? How can there never be a best in class review on here?.
These are cream puff reviews that leave it really for the reader to interpret. And since Amazon bought this site, all the reviews will stay cream puffy and even get weaker sine amazon wants to sell everything...
RedFox88 wrote:.
I woudlnt' put the highly recommended tag to be the ones you thinkare best. Most reviews on here are mild and how can every camera berecommended? How can there never be a best in class review on here?.
These are cream puff reviews that leave it really for the reader tointerpret. And since Amazon bought this site, all the reviews willstay cream puffy and even get weaker sine amazon wants to selleverything..
It may seem so, but when you actually ask for the ratings, there aren't all that many highly recommended for P & S (which is what I was interested infor my brotherwho has bought a Fuji F31 FDmy recommendation to begin with for his needs)..
There aren't many cameras now adays that couldn't be recommendedbut there are a number on here (when I checked ratings) that are just 'above average'not recommended and certainly not highly recommended..
Personallyhaving been on this site since 2001I don't see much change in the reviewsbut the cameras have generally improved a great deal. Still some of the P & S (which I don't pay any attention to) that don't deserve anything above averagebut most of the DSLRsare generally quite good AFAIK/can determine. I could be happy with most any DSLR aroundthough I love the 5Dlike/lovea bit different, but I bet if I was forced to shoot with something else, I could easily adapt these days..
DianeDiane Bhttp://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleries..
I strongly disagree with you.Can you show any shred of evidence of how reviews have changed since Amazon?.
There are many more cameras introduced than are ever reviewed on this site. Did you ever consider that many cameras don't make it to review because it isn't worth the time compared to other better models. Yes, that will skew the ratings but means nothing in terms of how tough this site is on cameras..
I opwn a lot of cameras many of which did not get highly recommended. You know what the reviews all pointed out the good points and the issues very correctly..
The one thing I would categorically say is that they do not "go easy" or do "powder puff" reviews..
RedFox88 wrote:.
I woudlnt' put the highly recommended tag to be the ones you thinkare best. Most reviews on here are mild and how can every camera berecommended? How can there never be a best in class review on here?.
These are cream puff reviews that leave it really for the reader tointerpret. And since Amazon bought this site, all the reviews willstay cream puffy and even get weaker sine amazon wants to selleverything..
Terryhttp://tbanet.zenfolio.com/..
I don't think Amazon has significantly changed the reviews here, but I've long thought the reviews have been light. Particularly recently:.
Leica M8 review:.
ZERO mention of the IR issues (as if putting a filter on all of your lenses magically fixed the problem).
Raving about lack of anti-aliasing making pictures sharper, yet zero examples of the ill-effects of it, such as moire and jaggedy edges.
I know it's a "Leica", but the $5000 price tag is excessive. Casio releasing their foray into the digital rangefinder business could not do it at $5000 and get a recommended rating.
Canon S3 review:.
Offers minimal improvements over the previous S3 model. So don't say this camera is the "pick of the litter" and "recommend" it! For the vast majority of users (anyone who doesn't need a hotshoe), the S3 which does everything the S5 does for $100 less should be the recommendation!.
Nikon D40x review:.
A camera which is the EXACT same as the $200 cheaper D40, but 10MP instead of 6MP. For all DPReview trumps as a crusader against high megapixel accounts, the review glossed over it (not even a direct comparison against the D40!), and ended up endorsing the uselessly higher megapixel model that costs $200 more. And this is not to even mention how both reviews made the lack of non-AF-S autofocus support a non-issue..
And that's just a select few from the previous few months..
TEBnewyork wrote:.
I strongly disagree with you.Can you show any shred of evidence of how reviews have changed sinceAmazon?There are many more cameras introduced than are ever reviewed on thissite. Did you ever consider that many cameras don't make it to reviewbecause it isn't worth the time compared to other better models. Yes,that will skew the ratings but means nothing in terms of how toughthis site is on cameras.I opwn a lot of cameras many of which did not get highly recommended.You know what the reviews all pointed out the good points and theissues very correctly.The one thing I would categorically say is that they do not "go easy"or do "powder puff" reviews...
Nathan Yan wrote:.
I don't think Amazon has significantly changed the reviews here, butI've long thought the reviews have been light. Particularly recently:.
Leica M8 review:ZERO mention of the IR issues (as if putting a filter on all of yourlenses magically fixed the problem)Raving about lack of anti-aliasing making pictures sharper, yet zeroexamples of the ill-effects of it, such as moire and jaggedy edgesI know it's a "Leica", but the $5000 price tag is excessive. Casioreleasing their foray into the digital rangefinder business could notdo it at $5000 and get a recommended rating.
Go back an reread the M8 review.Here are quotes about the AA filter....from two spots.
The disadvantage of course is an increase in the potential visibility of moire in high contrast, high detail areas (which can be seen in some of the crops above) although frankly it's not distracting and is a trade-off I personally don't mind making..
From bottom of page 12:.
See above for my previous comments on the internal JPEG engine and Capture One with it's Noise Suppression option. As you can see moire becomes an issue for the internal JPEG engine above 2400 LPH, and even more so for Capture One from around 2000 LPH. Frankly the default output here from C1 is pretty nasty with some color fringing on high contrast edges. Capture One with Noise Suppression off and also Adobe Camera RAW deliver plenty of detail beyond 'absolute resolution', however the C1 image still shows some moire..
It's clear that with the right RAW conversion engine (or the right settings) you can get extremely good levels of resolution out of the M8, but it also appears that the built-in JPEG engine is applying some kind of software anti-alias filter (as the M8 doesn't have a physical AA filter)..
Now on to filters....see page 15.
Fairly early in our testing of the M8 (October 2006) we noticed the by now fairly well publicized IR/UV sensitivity issue. My first exposure to this was a shot of my son in his purple buggy, except in real life the buggy wasn't purple it was dark gray. At first I had no idea what I was seeing just that the M8 had a color cast issue (with man-made fabrics) in certain light, after a while it became obvious that this was being caused by Infrared light (as it was strongest in bright daylight or direct incandescent light)..
Essentially the M8's sensor (because of the thinness of the glass layer over the sensor) is more sensitivity to IR/UV light than most other cameras, Leica's solution to this (publicized here) was to provide screw-on UV/IR lens filters for M series lenses, two free with every M8. Despite the slightly clunky solution this approach does actually work and once in place you pretty much forget about the 'issue'..
To demonstrate the difference between the M8 with and without this filter and also versus other cameras we created a simple test scene lit by 800W tungsten lamps (which of course produce lots of Infrared). Sufficient to say that if you value color you will want to use a filter..
Terryhttp://tbanet.zenfolio.com/..
I stand corrected on the UV/IR issue. Strange, I though I read through the entire thing, but somehow I completely missed that entire page..
As for AA and moire, it shows up in the res charts, but I didn't catch much mention of it at all (nor real-world examples), and I think moire is something that has a potentially devastating effect on images, which should have a place somewhere in photographic tests that highlights it...
I just realized I'm in the beginners forumI could have sworn I posted in the news forum. No wonder I got a beginners answer..
Againthough I didn't state it forcefully, I don't feel the reviews have changed since it was bought. I may not agree with all the reviews (and I only read the DSLR reviews admitted), but generally the pros and cons are well takenwhether I agree with the final recommendation or not. Also-not having shot with all of themthere could be things missed that, as an owner, I may have taken exception to, but I still prefer to come here for reviews rather most anywhere else..
DianeDiane Bhttp://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleries..
Ouch....
Diane B wrote:.
I just realized I'm in the beginners forumI could have sworn Iposted in the news forum. No wonder I got a beginners answer..
Againthough I didn't state it forcefully, I don't feel the reviewshave changed since it was bought. I may not agree with all thereviews (and I only read the DSLR reviews admitted), but generallythe pros and cons are well takenwhether I agree with the finalrecommendation or not. Also-not having shot with all of themtherecould be things missed that, as an owner, I may have taken exceptionto, but I still prefer to come here for reviews rather most anywhereelse..
DianeDiane Bhttp://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleries.
Terryhttp://tbanet.zenfolio.com/..
If you have been reading the DSLR reviews, then you do know that great cameras may not get the highly recommended rating. Since this is the case, why limit your search to just the highly recommended?..