July 2007 Consumer Reports...

[Tuffcookie]

Has an article about the best new digital cameras!

In the compact category they have the following cameras listed:

#1 Canon PowerShot S2 IS. This is my camera! I have had it for a year so I wouldn't call it "new" but I was so pleased to see it in #1 position!

#2 Sony Cybershot DSC-H2

#3 Fujifilm FinePix S5200

#4 Canon PowerShot A640

#5 Canon PowerShot A710 IS

#6 Panasonic Lumix DMC LX2

#7 Canon PowerShot A630

#8 Canon PowerShot S3 IS

#9 Olympus Stylus SP 510 UZ

#10 Fujifilm FinePix E900

There are alot of other cameras listed but I thought I would list the top 10 in the compact cameras.



I was thinking of getting a digital SLR (the Canon Digital Rebel Xti) but it was #5 on the list of SLRs.

#1 was the Canon EOS 30D Digital

#2 Nikon D80

#3 Sony alpha DSLR A100K

#4 Nikon D200

#5 Canon Digital Rebel Xti

#6 Nikon D40

#7 Pentax K10D

#8 Pentax K100D


TC

 

[jann1033]

it's still the second highest rated of the entry level dslr( sony would be first, and about the same price i think as the rebel) so i sure wouldn't change my mind due to that the others are at least a hundred - a few hundred more ( the more highly rated ones i mean, the d200 is basically double the price of the rebel)

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I like Consumer Reports. But they base their criteria on many different things - things which may or may not be important to any one consumer. I'd be happy to see my choice somewhere on the list, but it wouldn't completely drive my ultimate choice.

BTW, thanks for posting. If you can, can you also post the paragraph explaining what they based their choices on? I would suspect they chose the S2 as #1 because it has so many features but is kind of a "best buy" right now as the price has dropped (thanks to the S3 and now S5). Thanks!

 

[webshark3]

Not to bash any of the cameras, but there's no worse place to get reviews than Consumer reports.

You really want to get reviews from dpreview, steves-digicams, etc (and read them all). Consumer reports is too broad, and they never get to know a product in detail the way they should. Not choosing a dSLR just because it came in "5th" is a COMPLETELY wrong way to choose. (All the cameras aren't even in the same class)

a couple years ago, Consumer Reports rated my XP-30 DVD player. The player was widely regarded as the greatest player ever made (at that time) in the industry. It's quality was near HD. People in the know couldn't buy them up fast enough. I bought it at $350, and within a month, it was over $800 on ebay only.

Consumer Reports gave it their lowest rating (under all the generics) becasue it's "mirror-like finish left fingerprints". I haven't read CR since.

 

[Reminiscing_Cody]

I agree with webshark3. Get your reviews from photo specific sites, and ignore CR.

 

[jann1033]

personally anytime I've used ( or ignored) CR for rating something they have been pretty much on the money. they don't base it strictly on " photography " but that isn't bad to understand as well as the more photographically minded reviews. I'd say the worse place to base your decision on something is a site like epinions where you have people who post mainly if they have a problem and 1/2 the time have the problem cause they didn't bother to read the instructions . ( or any forum type places really). ( ie the washer/dryer i bought last yr was rated well on cr, "stunk" on epinions and when i had a repair man out( opps, someone left something in a pocket that jammed itself in the pump) he said my washer is the one that has the least service issues of all the ones he works on so they got that right, as they usually have with other stuff

 

[Anewman]

I was thinking of getting a digital SLR (the Canon Digital Rebel Xti) but it was #5 on the list of SLRs.

#1 was the Canon EOS 30D Digital

#2 Nikon D80

#3 Sony alpha DSLR A100K

#4 Nikon D200

#5 Canon Digital Rebel Xti

#6 Nikon D40

#7 Pentax K10D

#8 Pentax K100D


TC

Dont think it is a big surprise that some of those cameras are ranked above the REBEL, IMO it maybe more of a surprise that it is not ranked lower(#6).

The Rebel Line has never been considered the BEST DSLR, it has always been considered a good VALUE but never BEST DSLR.

While I dont bash CR for their efforts, no they are not photography experts but IMO their recommendations are pretty helpful to the average consumer. More techie type persons really should look at more techie type sources for reviews.

 

[woodlandsparty]

Do you have the criteria that they used for the ratings? I would love to see why they rated the D80 above the D200....especially before I go out an purchase the D200!

 

[ukcatfan]

I personally do not trust a CR review as far as I can throw it. I always find them very biased towards certain brands for absolutely no logical reason. To be fair, I gave up on them years ago, so they could have become better. Have you ever heard the phrase, "Jack of all trades and master of none"? That pretty much sums them up. I guess my judgement is across the board b/c I own the best p&s , but the worst DSLR Oh well, at least I am happy.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

Consumer Reports is pretty much good for lining bird cages and wrapping fish in my opinion (and has been that way long before I've seen anything they've done on cameras.) The theory is sound, the execution is horrendous as they so often get things completely wrong. (Don't get me started on their car reviews, even though they do usually love Subarus and so do I - that doesn't excuse them!)

a couple years ago, Consumer Reports rated my XP-30 DVD player. The player was widely regarded as the greatest player ever made (at that time) in the industry. It's quality was near HD.

Gotta question this line. There's not a DVD player made that produces "near HD" quality, unless you're comparing it to very subpar HD material. You can post-process 720x480 all you want, it's still nowhere close to 1920x1080 or even 1280x720.

 

[webshark3]

Consumer Reports is pretty much good for lining bird cages and wrapping fish in my opinion (and has been that way long before I've seen anything they've done on cameras.) The theory is sound, the execution is horrendous as they so often get things completely wrong. (Don't get me started on their car reviews, even though they do usually love Subarus and so do I - that doesn't excuse them!)


Gotta question this line. There's not a DVD player made that produces "near HD" quality, unless you're comparing it to very subpar HD material. You can post-process 720x480 all you want, it's still nowhere close to 1920x1080 or even 1280x720.

You need to see to beleive. Keep in mind too, that they were calibrated to CRT RPTVs using Component. Tests used superior DVD material (Superbit edition of "Fifth Element"). I remember flipping back and forth between the HD on Directv and the DVD. Really hard to tell, but yes, if you thought about it, you could tell the difference. But still a LOT better than other dvd players.

The secret was in the chip's processing, not the resolution.

Either way, more than 25% of the score was on aesthetics! I guess it's "ok" for an average consumers who needs something pretty also, but come on CR....

 

[Cricket2]

I remember flipping back and forth between the HD on Directv and the DVD.

Directv is "HD lite". The compression and artifacts are so bad that many don't consider it HD at all.

 

[webshark3]

Directv is "HD lite". The compression and artifacts are so bad that many don't consider it HD at all.

Not when it was first introduced. It was so clean and beautiful. Now... you're right... Everyone uses HD-Lite. It doesn't even compare to the old days...

When I first got HD, I could stand 3 inches from the screen and fail to see artifacts. Now I see them from 8 feet away.

 

[Reminiscing_Cody]

edit: nevermind my comment, too off-topic

 

[webshark3]

edit: nevermind my comment, too off-topic

But on topic we are demonstrating many values that CR doesn't take into account. So while CR "can" be used for a 10000 foot in the air perspective, buyers should look more in depth on the products they're buying.

 

[Groucho]

I've watched a ton of HD from a variety of sources on my ~100" screen (8' wide, around 2:1 aspect ratio), and it all runs off a PC, which gives some of the highest quality output possible due to all the processing power it can use for processing the image... and even with my 720p display, the difference between HD and DVD is stark. Compare the very best DVD to the very worst HD, and maybe it's not that obvious, but nice high-bandwidth HD just murders DVD every time. I'm pretty much at the point of not buying any DVDs any more because I know I'll just have to buy them again in HD. The difference may not be as great on a smaller display, but ultimately - 720x480 vs 1920x1080. You can interpolate that all day long but you can't make new pixels where none existed before.

Unfortunately, my everyday TV is still a little 27" Sony so high-def is only for those special occasions when I can drag the wife down to the basement.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

My experience with CR is that they have no expertise with most of what they test. It'd be like getting a lot of people who know very little about cameras to muck about with them for a while. For simple stuff like lawn mowers and washing machines, they do a great job. For anything complicated, like cameras, I don't find them very reliable.

The other problem is that they oversimplify. How can you possible give a straight ranking to cameras when there are so many different performance criteria.

I am pleased that they ranked a lot of Canon stuff highly. I guess that's what the testers are used to using. I'm hoping that it helps the stock price.

 

[Anewman]

My experience with CR is that they have no expertise with most of what they test. It'd be like getting a lot of people who know very little about cameras to muck about with them for a while.

But isnt that the target market?
You know the average consumer...

 

[ukcatfan]

But isnt that the target market?
You know the average consumer...

Yes, but if there is not some logical reviewing and criticism, then we would all be using 50MP cameras with 1/2.5" sensors!

Kevin

 

[MarkBarbieri]

But isnt that the target market?
You know the average consumer...

Yes, but is that the best way to create a review for that market? If I knew nothing about a subject, I'd rather have an expert in the subject write a review geared towards a novice than having a novice try to do the review.