Best I can tell, most online camera reviews are written by
technophile hobbyists that spend their time posting to
forums and viewing the corners of photos of brick walls at
100% magnification, not actual photographers out making
striking photos. For example, compare this review of the Olympus E-3 by a
working photographer with this one on a major review site and
this one of the Leica M8 by an Iraq war
correspondent with this one by the same review site. Note
that the photographers focus on how the camera does
(or doesn’t) deliver the goods under challenging
conditions and time pressure while the hobbyist reviewers present pages of
specifications, 100% crops of test images that nobody
in their right mind would realistically photograph,
and sample images I’d be embarrassed to associate with
my name. Would you seriously take advice from a
photographer willing to admit taking such uniformly
awful photos?
Another example is that same site’s review of the Nikon’s 70–200 f/2.8 VR,
in which they slam its performance on FX sensors due
to soft corners. I photographed two weddings with a
borrowed copy of this lens on my D700 before I could
track down and purchase my own copy. I then shot well
over 2500 frames with it in the subsequent month. I’m
happy to say that it performs like a champ in
real-world photographic situations. Other than my
Speed Graphic, it's the most solidly built piece of
camera equipment I've ever owned and it has incredibly
fast, silent AF with instant manual override. The VR
works like a charm, it's fine at f/2.8, sharpens up
even more when stopped down, and delivers buttery
smooth backgrounds. Yes, the corners turn to mush, but
I don’t compose images with critical details in the
corners and they’re out of focus anyway, so it’s of no
practical concern. Yes, the soft corners are a problem
when shooting landscapes off a tripod, but then you
should be using a more suitable lens (Nikon’s 70–300
f/4.5–5.6 VR works great and is easier to carry) or a
large-format camera. Or just crop off the
objectionable portions. You're likely do this anyway
to print 2:3 aspect frames on standard paper sizes
like 16x20.
Who is worth reading for DSLR reviews? People that make
pictures you admire and aren’t paid to push some
manufacturer's stuff.
Back