Unfair & biased Group test

[deadlydave]

Hello all, I bought my 2nd edition of Digital Camera Magazine in about a year, I was on a Sun holiday wanted something to read, saw the Best Slr's for sports & action headline and was hooked, ironically as well as being the 2nd edition I'd bought, this one also had another Sony A580 bashing group test, you know what I mean vastly more expensive camera's with lesser Raw Buffer capacity as opposed to D5100 vs A580 vs 600d vs Kx, no this group test pitted the A580 against the D7000, 7D, K5, 60D & D300s, correct me if I'm wrong but that would be like pitting the D3100 & 1100D against the A65 & A77= no contest.

1. The 10fps Sony A55 is widely regarded as being faster than the A580, why was the faster Sony not in the group test ?.

2. Is your verdict of the A580 in the buyers guide listing incorrect given how pathetic it would seem to be at fast action ?.

3. When the A65 & A77 have been released will you be conducting a similar test.

4. Given the A580's general ability to take excellent photo's, it's features, buffer capacity, excellent noise control and it's rock bottom price, is the rating of 2 stars fair?.

Yes I agree in this group the A580 isn't the best, however put it up against similar priced camera's and let me know how it fairs.

The A580 is a vast improvement over my A500 and yet get's slated in a vastly unfair & greatly biased group test. My A500 football shots taken with a 20+ year old Minolta 70-210 (f/3.5-f/4.5) are always very good (far better than D90 shots I've seen).

Any chance of a fair / less one sided group test please, or how about putting the A55 up against the very cost effective action camera's ;-).

[thefonz78]

If you don't want a Canon forget any reviews in DC mag.

[deadlydave]

In other words buy another unbiased Magazine, it would also answer a long open question about Photoradars' ratings of non Canon/Nikon products.

What a pity apart from the blatant biase I find the actual photographic content etc very good, so much for thinking about subscribing.

[jimmyosram]

Hang on a sec though ...... If you're reading the mag for opinions, how can't they be biased? Opinions by their very nature are biased.

[deadlydave]

I'm looking for a fair and balanced opinion, which should be the staple of any unbiased professional magazine ?..

I'm looking forward to a reply from the Mag's editor, as to why the Faster but still hugely cheaper A55 wasn't featured, if the group test (7d vs A580 was fair), and if we're ever likely to see an A65 vs 1100d test, or would that be just stupid ;-).

Wdc conducted a similar action test which was more diverse and a lot fairer, compacts, bridge camera's & d-slrs were included, in the d-slr category the 60d, D7000, Lumix GH2, K5 & quite rightly for a "action test" the A55, they tested at a golf course & horse racing track, it's verdict: if you're looking for a dslr purely to shot action (and Digital Camera mag was), then it has to be the Sony A55 etc,etc. "Focus is quick & really comes into it's own when tracking subjects - it does'nt miss a beat.

Strange though don't you think that niether mag used similar priced Nikon & Canon products (D5100, 600D).

[Carly Drew]

I'm not part of the Digital Camera team, nor do I know much about Sony cameras, but I always thought that the Sony A55 wasn't considered a DSLR? Because of it's smaller size and SLT design, I thought it was more of a step up from a compact camera, as opposed to a big heavy-hitter in the semi pro sports DSLR market.

As far as I'm aware, the Sony A580 is considered a DSLR in the traditional sense, which is probably why it was included in the test instead.

I could be wrong though, so I wouldn't take my word as gospel until the testing team give their official verdict!

[donoreo]

Carly is right from my understanding. The A55 is NOT and SLR and that is what was being tested.

It could be argued that the original poster is biased towards Sony since they own one. As Jimmy says, opinions by their very nature are biased.

DCM does do a decent job of testing. If you flip to the pages before the test, they explain how they do that.

I suspect that Carly may left Angela know about this and she may come in to address the issue in more detail.

[thefonz78]

I think my post was a little provocative it was slightly in jest. But i have to agree with deadly dave the a580 is in the d5100 and 600d price bracket and yes we all know technically the a55/a77 are not slrs but they are an evolution of one aims solely for slr users not a step up from a compact as Carly suggested and don't think they were left out for this reason. Infact this evolutionary step is to increase frames per second exactly what this test is all about.

Why do you produce a mag specially for Canon but no one else?

[Carly Drew]

Originally Posted by thefonz78

Why do you produce a mag specially for Canon but no one else?

When PhotoPlus was originally created (around 4 years ago), there was a massive demand for a Canon-specific magazine. Market research showed that there wasn't as high a demand for other 'camera brand specific' magazines.

This has probably changed quite significantly over the years, but it takes a fair while (considering things like the previously mentioned market research, costs, staffing, content creation, licensing, rights, etc) to start up a new magazine and get it right, so you'll just have to see if something appears in the future!

[deadlydave]

Don't waste your time Fonz, I don't know what's worse; a Magazine that is about as biased as it gets or for readers to accept that it's fully jusitifyable to compare a £500 camera with a £1100 one :-( when there are others of equal value available for "opinion".

The Slt is an evolution of the Slr, it is lighter, much quicker and cheaper, the fact that the A580 was'nt pitted against similar priced Canon and Nikon's speaks for itself, as does the fact that the A55, which canon users; is faster than the A580 and at half the price of the 7d represents far better value in these hard financial times, the A55 is almost twice as fast as the 60D.

The Slt's have been such a success that Sony looks like adopting the technology for good, with the A65 & A77 out or coming out very soon I have no doubt that the dinosaurs of yester year will jump on the band wagon (as they probably will do with a Nex clone), after all if you can get an Aps-c size 24mp camera capable of 12 fps imagine a full frame 1d with the same tech ?.

Regarding th A580's peers e.g 600d, this is why the mag had to pick the much more expensive Canon models;

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cam.../(brand2)/Sony

That and of course the very high burst rate that the 600d has, lol. Don't forget ther A580 is the cheaper and slower model.

Some A580/A55 Canon 60D bashing ;-)
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Pub...takes-the-lead