DPR Posted their review
As expected, a lot of praise for the 5D Mark II.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5Dmarkii/
Do people still like DPR reviews? Let me know with some constructive criticism or praise.
cr
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They don’t mention the poor dispatching of the AF points in the conclusion ?!
Well I still like the reviews from DPreview. The forum is crap though.
They always have very extensive reviews of products, and they give a lot of technical information – more than other reviews. This, combined with other reviews where they test the camera more in the field, still makes it a good resource.
The site really does need a facelift though. Web 1.0 ftl.
What I like about DPR reviews is the high-ISO comparison between cameras, showing the image crops. After looking at those I turn to the conclusions, which are nicely comprehensive.
Now besides image quality, ergonomics is the second priority. In this respect the DPR review is lacking. A list of features doesn’t help me really. As most readers I own one DSLR and don’t spend too much time in stores playing around with other camers (none, really). I miss some hands-on information on handling a camera, as compared to other cameras. Two examples:
1.) My D40x annoys me by going back to default settings, sometimes when I take the next picture, sometimes when I switch the camera off and on.
2.) I read in the 5DII review something about a complicated mirror lock-up. This is an interesting feature. I would like to know more details on how different cameras do this.
DPR is one of my top references when it comes to evaluating cameras. As Nikkorian already said: The high-ISO image crops combined with the comparative noise graphs are very helpfull.
Interesting observation on the ergonomics part. What reviews website do you recommend over DPReview?
Thanks.
Well regarding ergonomics and quality I like http://www.cameralabs.com videos cause they really talk about how the camera feel in their hands. They have very good reviews on cameras.
I haven’t read the 5D review yet, but generally they are done reasonably well, and at least try to be consistent with previous models and competition. I own a 5DMK II so I am interested in finding out any issues that I can check for, but I’ve taken thousands of photos by now, so I know most of it already.
What they do well is to present the technical details and their measurements, and they tell you exactly how they did the tests. Every Digital camera I’ve owned showed the pluses and faults they found, so that part is reliable.
What is not so good is a better description of how the camera operates out of the lab. What about cold temperatures, rain, snow, etc. We have to rely on infor from others who may have a hidden agenda, or just don’t know what they are doing, and the information is very inconsistent.
The other thing that I’ve been caught on is what they don’t tell you. They don’t purposely leave out information, but, for example, I take tethered photos in the studio, and never hear reports as to how well a given camera works, or if it even works this way. I’ve yet to figure out if the G1, for example can be tethered live.
Use with Canon Flashes… They usually do not cover this, but I see quite a bit of under exposures with my 3 580 EX II flashes. Of course, I can compensate, but I’d like some confirmation of the situation done in a carefully controlled environment.
So, my take is that it is a piece of the puzzle, and a reliable one that is carefully done for the information presented.
Clean test as usual.
I love their reviews. It’s all technical (and yes: no ergonomics and real life) but it’s deep and everything you want to know about the specs is here. You have Hi-res pictures, high ISO test….
If the image quality is there I’ll work around the little odds about ergonomic.
Their lens test are too few but I really like their charts for resolution.
Since Dpreview is owned by a store, Amazon, you cannot really have a lot of confidence in their conclusions, neither their ratings, like “Recommended” or “Highly Recommended”. Besides, Dpreview acts in fact like the officious website of Canon Inc: the receive extensive and exclusive information about products and new presentations in exclusive too, weeks before other press media. Fair play from Canon part is not really the word here, so results and opinion about the brand really smell.
Otherwise, content, procedures, protocols, etc. are rather nice, and there is a lot of work behind each review. Not the previews, that are mostly a copy/paste of press releases.
Best
Emil
Thats funny – most people believe that DPR is “nikon sponsored” more so than Canon…they never did review the 1D3’s and the lens reviews have been staggered toward Nikon as well.
The problem with any site is that the reviewers are always going to have a personal preference unless they are not photographers and are doing everything from a purely technical/scientific standpoint which unfortunately does not always “speak” to real photographers. “Feel” is a very important component in the use of and Slr – feel to me encompasses the ergonomics and the ease of use of the menus and the build as well. These are all things that are impossible to fairly compare as it is just preference…
DPreview for me is the best in-depth review material for digital cameras. No other source goes so far in comparing and testing image quality. Some of the stuff is just to detailed but hey you don’t have to read it all. And DPreview also should not be your sole source.
Of course they get previews and pre-info under non-disclosure. That’s what all brands do with press and opinionleaders. Since this is the web-age press doesn’t mean only hardcopy anymore.
Did I say “hardcopy”?
The 5D markII review was very weak, did not make a mention of the problems it has encountered so far. Although it’s not meant to be a 1-series camera, we need more gutsier reviews which are willing to bare out all the cons (e.g. black dots, crappy AF performance) as well as the pros of the cameras. We also need the reviews to deliver the results in a more relevant format, leave all the graphs to the scientists, just show us more image examples to illustrate cameras/lenses performances
Amazon did buy DPR, and this allowed additional staff and reviews of lenses. However, I have not seen any change in the tone of the reviews since they were acquired by Amazon, except that they seem to be more complete. As to the 1D III, Canon tried to punish them for a poor rating on one of their cameras by witholding samples and information. They did not review the camera as a result.
Now, with Amazon Backing, Canon, Nikon, or anyone else stands to lose too much to play those games, and the manufacturers are lining up to get reviews and the exposure it brings by being on Amazon. Amazon benefits by more traffic to their site due to accurate information about the products instead of user reviews by clueless people.
When they gave a merely “recommended” review to the Canon G10, there was lots of howling, but they merely let the test data tell the story, which is what we want.
Actually, I really don’t care what their final set of numbers says, I read each test, how it was done, and decide what that means to the way I use a camera. After all, it can be fantastic for Wedding Photos but too slow for sports, or have low light sensitivity if I value that. Few cameras can do it all, at least for a low price.
I like DPR but I use it in conjunction with other reviews. The other one I rely for interesting perspective and inputs is the-digital-picture.com where there are loads of lens reviews. He also has accessories and 3rd party canon-mount lens reviews.
I also go to SLRgear.com and fredandmiranda.com for the comments/reviews by owners.
And finally I ask the good folks at Henrys when I go to purchase. I usually have my preference but I’ll ask them for opinions on it and the other top 2 choices I had.
hagen
Frankly, over the past couple of years I have felt a definite bias pro Nikon and against Canon. Their subjective conclussions on the data that they presnet has a tendency to be more “forgiving” towards the Nikon (or even Panasonic, as of late) product and, when compared one against the other, most of the times they will give more importaance to the areas where the Canon is somewhat weaker, just to change the order of importance on the next review of a Nikon or Panasonic product, A perfect example was the G10 review.
I read their reviews and web site for the depth of info, But I always suggest to skip the conclussion.
I suggest the Luminous Landscape for reviews.
DPR offers a thorough review of the camera as it is in a lab setting, which is great for what it is. They can’t rightly test each camera on location for the week that would be required to find all the nuances. That’s what forums are for. Too bad the DPR forums are a troll haven.
I’d been sitting on the fence for a year before buying a 5D2 and though I’ve had Nikon equipment in the past I never felt that DPR was biased. Nearly every DSLR from the big brands gets a ‘Highly Recommended”.
The G10 review was skewed because they felt it was a poor value, if it cost $75 less they would have given it full marks. You must admit at the 800+ISO images were noisy for that $$. If the images were cleaner I would have bought one myself.
What’s not to like? I find their reviews to be relatively unbias, and give more information than most owners manuals. Are they the no. 1 reason for my photo gear purchases? No, but they’re very informative before I make up my mind.
You are assuming that the copy of the 5DMK2 had that fault. As for “crappy AF performance”, I don’t have any problems.
I like to look at the Dynamic Range measurements, just to find out if finally they learnt what DR is, and how to measure it.
Unfortunately with the 5D MKII they insist in crazy figures:
– Constant DR from ISO100 up to ISO1600 of 8.4EV
– Higher DR at ISO3200! of 8.6EV
Maybe one day they learn that: Dynamic Range = Noise.
Regards.
I like DPR but for beginners like my wife, she finds the reviews at asia.cnet.com easier to digest. They tend to simplify terms and sprinkle examples to go along with it. Their reviews may not be in depth, but at least the reviewer knows what he is writing about. Read on his blog that he used to be a photographer and is taking some time off now.
Again, it all depends on what your priorities are. As far as resolution goes, no compact in the market can touch the G10, and for that, you need the whole 15 MB it offers. As for the noise figures of the Pan LX3 (a great camera in itself) at ISO 800, its superiority over the G10 is, at best, subjective. And that is the ONLY reason why the G10 did not get a highly recommended rating. At 100 ISO, Luminous Landscape went as far as comparing the G10 to a medium format state-of-the-art US$40,000 camera. And you do not get a Highly Recommended rating? So you might say, what about the photographers who want to shoot at High ISO? And I say, what the photographers who need the resolution at low ISO? In everything photographic, there is a compromise, from lenses to bodies. The best at something should be recognized as such.
I don’t think it is useful at all. All they talk about is gear and engineering. Where is the actual photography? The forums are full of measurebators who complain about black dots on their highlights at max magnification rather than if anybody gives a shit about the pictures they take.