NPhoto Rating System

[Foolishcfo]

Can you please explain your rating system? How does a D600 score 5 stars and a D800 score only 4 stars? Why did the D800 score 5 stars in your original tests and now it's a four.?You seem to give too much weight to the cost of the camera and not the functionality of the camera. It demeans your test results. Also, why do you keep harping on the D90 (I know Angela owns one but shouldn't head of testing stay up with the times?) and excludes the D4? How about be becoming a big boy/girl magazine in year two and focus more on the high-end cameras. And please show consistency in your ratings. You embarrass yourself when you give a higher rating based on cost. What is the best quality??? I don't believe anyone seriously believes the D600 is a better camera than the D800.

[Rod Lawton]

Actually, that four-star rating for the D800 was a production error - apologies for that. If you check the comparison table on the following page (page 110, issue 15) you'll see that the D800 gets five stars in the comparison table.

That was our mistake, to be sure, but we can't agree with all of your other points. Do we give too much weight to price? That's a matter of opinion, and ours is that price is a very important factor for people choosing a camera.

Do we keep harping on about the D90? Nikon still makes it, people still buy it and it's still a good camera for the money, so it would be wrong to ignore it (though Angela has asked us to point out that she now uses a D600).

We don't talk much about the D4 because it's a professional camera through and through - its price puts it well outside the scope of amateurs and enthusiasts, and it's a highly-specialised tool with lower resolution that most photographers would accept and faster continuous shooting speeds than they need.

As for your final point – we're not saying the D600 is a better camera than the D800, but for many users it will be a better buy. That's the point of camera reviews – people can see straight away which camera is best, but what they really need to know is which camera they should buy given the money they've got, their level of technical understanding, and the features they're going to find most useful.

[Foolishcfo]

Hi Rod,

Thanks for the reply. I went back and saw the comparison had five stars.

I appreciate your response although its disappointing. It would be nice if you could break ratings into "affordability" and "if money is no object". I realize a large portion of your readers have ow-end cameras. However, how does one ever move up if they don't understand features of higher-end cameras as well? I have a D800 (two actually) and love it. Someday I'd love to move up to a D4(x or whatever). I imagine others that own a D600, D800, etc. dream of moving up to a higher-end camera. Hopefully NPhoto's editorial board will recognize that some day.

As for Angela, congrats on the D600! I know the D90 has been a great camera for you but its shelf life is close to expiring (I know its still available for retail although I understand Nikon no longer manufactures it). Hopefully we'll see more FX related articles in the future!

Overall I love your magazine. I subscribe to both digital and print versions (I hate waiting over one month to get the latest version in the States). British photo magazines are so much better than photo magazines in the U.S. Thanks to everyone who makes this magazine possible.