[Mirton]

I was reading the review of Pentax K3 on the new issue of Popular Photography, The cover page was dedicated to Sony Alpha 7R which the Camera of the Year award for its groundbreaking tech (Runner Up was Canon 70D)

In a magazine that's flush with ads from Sony, Canon and Nikon i'm surprised they took the time to published their half-assed review

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Last edited by Mirton; 07-22-2014 at 05:58 AM.

[cali92rs]

I was reading the review of Pentax K3 on the new issue of Popular Photography, The cover page was dedicated to Sony Alpha 7R which the Camera of the Year award for its groundbreaking tech (Runner Up was Canon 70D)

In a magazine that's flush with ads from Sony, Canon and Nikon i'm surprised they took the time to published their half-assed review

It's not their fault that Ricoh doesnt pay to advertise in their magazine. Who would turn down money to show their advertisement?
What was half-assed about it?

[normhead]

IN our auto-focus speed test, the K-3 did particularly well, in brighter light, beating the D7100 from EV12 to EV 4

Yessssssssssss !

But the Nikon has slightly better AF tracking

Booooooooo !

Seems like a fair review….

[Mirton]

The review states that AF on Pentax K3 is more responsive, thus better (in good light, in fact it commends Pentax for pushing the system up to -2-3 EV) then Nikon D7100, Nikon seems to have better tracking, but i don't think that makes the whole Nikon system better. Canon 70D, the runner up mind you for 2013 camera of the year, has an articulated screen, and better video shooting (quote)(Pentax K3 doesn't hold a candle to Canon 70D) Attaching the little bar graphs on the side (and the arbitrary ISO noise measurements which you get much explanation on, what part of that review seemed thorough and professional to you, please let me hear it.

As far as advertising goes, maybe Ricoh and Pentax are investing more money on their products and less on fanfare, just a thought..

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Last edited by Mirton; 12-10-2013 at 12:55 PM.

[civiletti]

In the old days, I found Modern more reliable than Popular. Most mags are influenced by advertising. Follow the money, honey.

[normhead]

I'll take "particularly well" over "slightly better" any day.

[Mirton]

Since i can't really make out any sense of their info graphs i made this comparative image of their past and current reviews on Sony alpha 7R, Pentax K3 and K5

Attached Images

 

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Last edited by Mirton; 12-10-2013 at 01:01 PM.

[RonHendriks1966]

Looks good to me.

[monochrome]

I recently read on a thread here that in the USA Nikon and Canon combined approach 90% of the non-compact camera market, leaving the rest for m4/3, Sony, Pentax and Fuji. If that is even CLOSE to the truth then every periodical and web review site that accepts camera ads will perforce be a total slave to the big two when assigning rating NUMBERS to cameras. The text can say anything they want - good about the new guy or twisted to make the kings look kingly - but the ratings MUST place Canon or Nikon on the top.

[filoxophy]

If that is even CLOSE to the truth then every periodical and web review site that accepts camera ads will perforce be a total slave to the big two when assigning rating NUMBERS to cameras. The text can say anything they want - good about the new guy or twisted to make the kings look kingly - but the ratings MUST place Canon or Nikon on the top.

And I thought I was a cynic. I'm under no illusions that Pop Photo is an unbiased source, but they do get some money from subscribers too... Anyway, I always saw it the other way around--their numbers are not unreliable, but the text is as milquetoast as you can get when it comes to a verdict. "Canon Rebel T5i: Recommended for Canon shooters who want the best Rebel yet!!!". Well, no kidding...

My 2 cents, IMHO, YMMV, etc etc.

Edit: Ah, I see you were talking about numbers with respect to rating the cameras.

[drugal]

I actually like reading Pop Photo and enjoyed their review of the K-3.

I'm just slightly annoyed that they mention taking lots of shots at the NY marathon and I didn't see any K-3 sample photos on their web site just now.

[Uluru]

That their awards and judgment are senseless comes from the cover story: "Sony Alpha 7R Camera of the Year award for its groundbreaking tech". What is groundbreaking there? A jittery EVF that causes nausea? A big sensor in a mirrorless body that Olympus is making for years and has helped made for Sony?
Canon's new dual pixel sensor and Pentax AA simulator are only really groundbreaking tech this year. Everything else is packaging; and if packaging is to be judged, perhaps Nikon Df and Pentax K-3 may be considered, and Ricoh GR and Nikon Coolpix A as well.