Does anybody think that the convenience of firmware upgrades (from manufacturer's point of view) has any impact on testing before a product is released ?
Possibly.
Is marketing and competition for who brings out first the x Mp camera pushing quality tests aside ?
Possibly, but I think it's more probable that it's a matter of keeping cost down.
Imagine if all those cameras needed to be returned to Canon service centres to be checked and fixed for whatever the firmware is fixing. It would cost them WAY too much money,resources, plus it would knock customer confidence if they had to send 2-3 times a year their camera away for 'upgrades' and fixes.
Would Canon in such a case be more careful with what they're releasing ? Ok,they're not as bad as other manufacturers, but starting to post f/ware updates so soon after the release... i don't know...
We used to get all grumpy when film bodies came up with a flaw - are we now more tolerable ?
Firstly, the firmware in a digital SLR is vastly more complex than anything that was in a film SLR.
Sure you can have "perfect" firmware, but would you pay for it? Would you buy a 20D for, say, $3000? $4000? And not just that, have to wait another year for it?
-- - Marius
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