Camera Comparison

[Manfred M]

Honestly IMO they are of little/no use.

Agree 100% Dan. It's really all about the features one requires and the price one is willing to pay for those features.

The problem that I find is that every camera and lens manufacturer turns out excellent products. They would not be in business if they did not and there is a long list of companies that have failed that back up my claim! It's not that they necessarily made bad products, but rather they made products that people were not interested in buying.

My main complaint about the review sites is that some of the reviewers have issues understanding the difference between opinion and facts and can have a tendency to present what is clearly their opinion as being a "fact".

[NorthernFocus]

...My main complaint about the review sites is that some of the reviewers have issues understanding the difference between opinion and facts and can have a tendency to present what is clearly their opinion as being a "fact".

Plus what you mentioned previously in that people fail to recognize the differences in what is important based on subject matter. We are all guilty of that to some degree. There have been many "discussions" here on CiC that get rather animated simply because people(myself included) have a hard time considering things in context beyond their own experience. But hey, more power to the bloggers/reviewers who are making a fine living publishing what many people apparently want to see/read.

I'd say the most important thing about deciding which ones to pay attention to is to find a reviewer/blogger who shoots similar subject matter as oneself and seems to be as consistently unbiased as possible. Essentially learn how to interpret what they publish.

[zen]

With the closing of the last real brick and mortar camera shop [selling all brands!] in the WNY area a year ago, we no longer can go to a store and handle several brands in making a buying choice. Nor is there anyone who has real depth of knowledge about the features of the various brands. One store calls itself a camera store, but all they sell is Nikon, so as a Canon shooter, I MUST go to the B&H types. In this situation, I depend on the seller, e.g., B&H, Adorama, etc for their description of the product I'm interested in. The videos DO add some knowledge, albeit only a little. What's more difficult, however, is that if I make a wrong decision, I must depend on the seller's willingness to exchange or take the return. B&H has been terrific in that area, but the shipping back and forth is a pain. So, we must depend on all the info we can get, no matter from what source, about the item we're looking at.

So do videos help? I'd say yes, to a small degree. But if we still had a real camera store, with all the services offered, I'd say no, not at all.

Zen

[Shadowman]

Hi Zen,

When I made my first camera purchase I was at first armed with a flyer from the Sunday circular, I then did the typical search online but I didn't bother with the videos, in fact fifteen years ago there weren't as many how to and camera comparison videos; at least I don't remember them. I remember at one time there was an annoying Ashton Kutcher video that would play whenever you searched for Nikon cameras. My first go around in researching cameras involved a pen and paper and a list of 3 different models (Pentax, Nikon, and Canon), I crossed Pentax off because they didn't have enough lenses, I crossed Canon off because I didn't like the white lenses, and eventually settled on Nikon, Canon might've made the final list if it weren't for those white lenses.

[NorthernFocus]

...I crossed Canon off because I didn't like the white lenses....

I guess when comparing Nikon and Canon that's as good a reason as any

Regardless of the content I simply don't have the patience and/or time to sit through a 20 minute video 90 percent of which I could care less about. I do read a review or two. At least then I can just skip over the parts that I don't care about. There are two or three review writers who shoot Nikon and similar subject matter that I do and write relatively level headed reviews. No doubt there are always one or two nuggets in every review that are interesting/useful. But I can honestly say I've never purchased a camera or lens because of their opinions. On the contrary I have refrained from buying based on things I've read about technical problems with new equipment. That is usually what I look for online. Info about any known or suspected issues with a given camera/lens.

[Shadowman]

I guess when comparing Nikon and Canon that's as good a reason as any

Regardless of the content I simply don't have the patience and/or time to sit through a 20 minute video 90 percent of which I could care less about. I do read a review or two. At least then I can just skip over the parts that I don't care about. There are two or three review writers who shoot Nikon and similar subject matter that I do and write relatively level headed reviews. No doubt there are always one or two nuggets in every review that are interesting/useful. But I can honestly say I've never purchased a camera or lens because of their opinions. On the contrary I have refrained from buying based on things I've read about technical problems with new equipment. That is usually what I look for online. Info about any known or suspected issues with a given camera/lens.

Dan,

Adding to the comments I made in post #24, when I was first researching digital cameras I believe the written word was the format of choice when doing my research, I believe Thom Hogan and Ken Rockwell were the most popular camera gurus of the time and of course magazines like Popular Photography and ShutterBug.

[Manfred M]

I believe Thom Hogan and Ken Rockwell were the most popular camera gurus of the time

These two individuals came to mind when I wrote my comment in #21.

[rpcrowe]

Zen mentioned...

"With the closing of the last real brick and mortar camera shop [selling all brands!] in the WNY area a year ago, we no longer can go to a store and handle several brands in making a buying choice."

The only store that I have ever visited that has a selection to equal that which is found on the Internet is B&H in New York City.

Most brick and mortar stores are limited in the assortment of cameras which they can have in stock. Naturally, the tendency of most stores would be to direct perspective buyers towards the items which they have in stock. This is not wrong, it is just pure business sense.

I also do not necessarily trust either the expertise or the motivation of the clerks (or owners) for that matter.

I remember when I was looking for my first digital telephoto lens. Canon had come out with a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS lens but, that lens seemed to have problems when using the Image Stabilization at between 200mm and 300mm in the portrait configuration. This was all over the Internet!

My brick and mortar (It was a Calumet Camera store) salesperson stated that there was absolutely no problem with that lens. They had about five in stock. I finally decided one day to purchase the lens at Calumet. When I visited the store, there were no lenses of that type to be had.

Canon had recalled all of the lenses to fix the problem.

Anyhow, it was to my benefit. Before Canon cleared up the 70-300mm problem, they introduced the 70-200mm f/4L IS lens which I snapped up immediately but, not from the brick and mortar store

I have been shooting with this lens since it was introduced and it is still my absolute favorite Canon glass...

BTW: I never put much stock in the opinions of Hogan and Rockwell...

Additionally: IMO when looking at image shot by the various cameras that are posted on websites, often the more expensive "professional" cameras will have better images displayed. Not necessarily because they are that much better but, because the more expensive cameras are often used by photographers with more experience. While experience doesn't necessarily equate to skill, the more experienced photographer "should" be able to produce better images...

[zen]

Hi John,

I too begin with a list of features and benefits I want, then begin the search. Since I went with Canon so many years ago, I've become accustomed to the placement of buttons and controls, how the glass performs, etc., and have a stack of EF lenses, so I'm wedded to Canon. And the ergonomics fit me, too. At the since closed store, one of the salesmen was himself a semi-professional photographer, who at the time, was a Canon shooter. So I had the benefit of his experience with Canon gear. He had formerly been a Nikon shooter, switched to Canon, and about a year ago, went to the Oly 4/3 system.

Since the local store closing, I must rely on info I can gather from on-line sellers, my handy-dandy photography journals, and of course, THIS site. Recommendations made here are usually quite good, and if there is a question concerning a particular item, someone on one of the CiC threads will have the answer.

Zen

[Shadowman]

Hi John,

I too begin with a list of features and benefits I want, then begin the search. Since I went with Canon so many years ago, I've become accustomed to the placement of buttons and controls, how the glass performs, etc., and have a stack of EF lenses, so I'm wedded to Canon. And the ergonomics fit me, too. At the since closed store, one of the salesmen was himself a semi-professional photographer, who at the time, was a Canon shooter. So I had the benefit of his experience with Canon gear. He had formerly been a Nikon shooter, switched to Canon, and about a year ago, went to the Oly 4/3 system.

Since the local store closing, I must rely on info I can gather from on-line sellers, my handy-dandy photography journals, and of course, THIS site. Recommendations made here are usually quite good, and if there is a question concerning a particular item, someone on one of the CiC threads will have the answer.

Zen

Hi Zen,

My main items requiring recommendations these days are lenses, I've learned enough about cameras that I'm not so easily intrigued by splashy features, in fact since my last camera purchase I'm still getting familiar with the system but am more confident with using and apply that information to my older models. Besides lenses, external flash is important, thankfully there isn't too much Brand A is better than Brand B when it comes to flash units, the comments are usually this brand has a failure rate or this brand can't do this; so regarding lenses and flashes the information is more relevant and useful.

[rpcrowe]

As per John's comments on brands of flash equipment.

Up to the previous year, I have always used Canon flash equipment with my various Canon DSLR cameras. However, I have begun using the Godox-Flashpoint (and a couple of other brand names) flash equipment.

I really like this stuff. The radio (R2) control is great and the price-point is very reasonable. The accessories are also priced quite reasonably and are readily available - in one or the other of the brand names this gear sells under. All the gear of the different brands interfaces with each other quite well.

I got a good deal on an "open box" Flashpoint AD360 TTL unit and have followed it up with some accessories. The AD360 is a pretty powerful (but easily transportable) unit which I am using for outdoor off camera work with models. It works great with the X1 Tranceiver. I combined the AD360 with the S7 folding softbox/octabox which only cost $30 USD, along with a few other goodies such as an umbrella holder/reflector that only cost $12 USD and a dome diffuser which cost less than $18 USD. These are ridiculously low prices for flash accessories of this caliber.

I bought the radio transceiver and also purchased three X1 receivers from a friend for twenty USD each. These will let me use some of my non radio equipped Canon flash units.

The Godox/Flashpoint line also has some very nice hotshoe flashes with built-in radio control and which start at $65 for manual models...

[Shadowman]

Richard,

Your comments about external flash are interesting as I've viewed a few YouTube videos where it was stated that 3rd party flashes are incompatible electrically/electronically and that the flash could ruin your camera. I know my camera manual warns against using flash units other than those recommended as negative or voltages over 250V could damage the camera system. I have used a Yongnuo external flash and at the very least I never remove the flash until the camera has been shut down, hopefully that's enough to prevent any voltage issues. Also, one difference between using 3rd party lenses and flashes is I don't have to worry about any firmware updates for the flash as I would for the lens, I do upgrade the camera but I've never seen an upgrade specific to flash use; but I have had camera upgrades for specific focus and metering modes.