Originally posted by Big G The level of over-analysis, pixel peeping and whining that has come out of that DPR review is begger's belief. At the end of the day, these camera bodies produce excellent images REGARDLESS of what the review says. Why do you all care so much?
While I strongly disagree with tagging Pentax users with this any more than others and disagree with other points made in this post, I do agree that we all get sucked in over differences that are inconsequential in about 99% of the uses of a camera, but they sell reviews and cameras. The fact is that equipment has gotten damn good--better than the vast majority of the users are capable of distinguishing in practice, and better than a lot of testers are capbable of distinguishing accurately and consistently.
Some things do make a big difference in anyone's photography. Significant improvements in high-ISO, AF, SR, ergonomics, etc. show up fairly quickly. Resolution differences between good lenses under optimum conditions visible only at 100% (or more) crops are another matter.
I get why someone would praise the DA55-300 beyond its MTF scores. This is the biggest lens bargain I've seen in many years. I've not encountered a shot where its resolution got in the way of an excellent shot--even on 135 film. I have had only a few occasions where the performance of the less-favored DA50-200 was any impediment. On the Canon side, I shot an event with a co-photographer who used the Canon 18-135, which received less-than-stellar reviews. I used some excellent primes. Her shots were beautiful, and the difference performance of the lenses was not an issue unless you wanted to enlarge a crop of a corner.
IMHO, both the reviewers and those who read the reviews tend to obsess about a lot of things that aren't going to matter much in the vast majority of photography.
Last edited by GeneV; 11-15-2010 at 07:44 AM.
Reason: typo