Well, they appreciate some of the features of the K-5 II, but how on earth can the Nikon D7100 score better in "build quality" and "ergonomics"?
How on earth can in-body image stabilisation be not be one of the "Pros" in the conclusion?
How on earth can they miss to mention the f/2.8 AF area of the AF system and the fact that it at last cures all the low-light front-focusing issues that lesser designs are plagued with?
One explanation is that -- whether justifiable or not -- the Nikon D7100 must come out with 5% ahead in the overall score.
I've presented my viewpoint in a
post to the review discussion thread.
In the past DPReview staff have partially acknowledged shortcomings of their reviews but only corrected spelling mistakes, not factual mistakes. They also have a history of simply ignoring valid arguments.
It is sad, that a site as important as DPreview is not the reliable, impartial source of information it could be.
Pentax is already disadvantaged in terms of exposure. They don't really need unfair reviewing on top of it.
P.S.: I just noticed that the DPreview staff honestly appear to believe that their SD card door troubles can be generalized. They write as part of the
"Body & Design" description:
The battery door has a tendency to open during normal operation. Taping it shut when working in wet conditions might be prudent.
What a joke!
Note that while DPreview showed an image of the SD card door, they wrote about the "
battery door" opening on its own. I copied the above quoted text from their page without even realizing the mismatch. This prooves that they do edit reviews to correct mistakes like this, but apparently have no intention to correct unfair assessment or respond to questions regarding the latter. Disappointing.
EDIT: I'm delighted to being able to report that -- based on my suggestion -- Shawn Barnett has added the following bullet point to the
"Pros" of the K-5 II review Conclusions:
"Built-in sensor-shift shake reduction effectively stabilizes all mountable lenses"
Kudos to Shawn! If he could respond to the other points I've raised, I'll be floored.