>I always thought the fact that they compare digital SLR's but do so >without using the same lens on the cameras under test made their image >quality assessments worse than useless. It's not as if there aren't >some well-regarded third-party lenses available in all the major lens >mounts to make this possible. >
Your point is well taken. However they are probably showing what the results will look like for a high percentage of the buyers of a given model, with standard lenses of that brand, ostensibly made to the highest quality standards to give the best possible photographic results (if you believe the mfrs.). The results would be equally ambiguous if you showed a person tests using a lens one never intended on purchasing. >Furthermore, their emphasis on JPEG over Raw in their image quality >assessments is completely outdated now. It might have made sense years >ago, when Raw shooters were a small niche in the digital market, but >they're not any more. In fact, amongst the people who really *care* >image quality, such as DP Review claimed to be testing, they're the >majority. They're still the overall minority if I'm not mistaken. However, there are RAW comparisons out there. See K10D. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxk10d/page21.asp Of course one can also make the valid argument that to display a RAW file it must be converted to a .jpg, and knowing the all the variables involved makes using the same RAW converter settings for each camera somewhat invalid. Whoops, but converting each one manually allows the human factor, in that introduces more variables to the equation. I think it's fair to say that no test will be completely valid for the specifc unique requirements of a given user, especially if they want to nitpick the results. The tests are designed to give the average user a general sense of the results that are achieved. >DP Review always took the position that the average user >shoots JPEG and prints pretty much what comes out of the camera, but >the irony is that nowhere is this kind of photographer less common that >amongst the users of DP Review, who tend to be pixel peepers who go to >great lengths to eke the most out of each shot (with varying degrees of >success). > How do we know how the majority of Dpreview users actually use the site? I don't. I think the average DSLR user does shoot .jpg. Unless one is *really* serious, the 'good enough' of .jpgs is pretty good for most people. I'd venture to say that most DSLR users still don't want take the time to post process their images like many here on this list do. Tom C. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
