Can we please get a minimum of objectivity???

[bahandi]

Personally, it would be nice to read responses like, "what kind of photography are you into?" a lot more.

I agree with deudeu, in fact, my thread "Brandname Fanboys/girls" in the Beginner forum was targeted towards the Caniknonians... (lol.. a term I learned on this Forum).

Objectivity, to me, would entail a more technical aspect in advice. For example, "the size of sensors means you can do this. Canons and Nikons have this sensor, so does X brand... but Olympus uses 4/3..." or whatever that means.. hahaha.

Another example, probably already stated, "so you want to do X type of photography? these lense(s) are crucial... brand(s) so and so offer compatibility for them, these brands don't."

It is true that people have opinions, be they subjective, and they have the right to express it. I understand full well that people will always recommend what they are familiar with.

I agree that people that come here taking every bit of 'advice' as gold, should be faulted. But that's just it... people like ME who JUMP into this hobby ARE dumb and easily swayed. I'm only thankful that the salesperson I bought my camera from wasn't as subjective, and allowed me the 'freedom' to go with my Olympus. Then again, he was probably on commission... a sale is a sale, after all... lol :lmao:

Keep in mind... forums are FULL of people looking for quick answers, not willing to do their own research and comparisons. Fortunately, I've done enough to realize that when it comes to the tools of the trade, I really need to know what I want to do and equip myself with what i need... not what someone else 'recommends'.

(*sigh* another novel by me... apologies)

 

[Antithesis]

I think people recommend Nikon or Canon for multiple reasons. I think they hold more of the market share, meaning more profit to go towards growth and development. The end result is going to be new technology that counts, so I have no problem recommending them. Also, I don't have much experience with other brands, so my answer usually looks like this:

"Why don't you also look at this [insert Nikon or Canon in persons price range] with similar features, that tend to be cheap as hell if you pick them up used."

 

[Village Idiot]

Well if you think my camera takes good pictures... Wait til you taste the meals my oven cooks...
:hail:

Except that cameras are starting to make a difference in the quality that they can produce.

 

[skieur]

I partially agree with the OP. You need to understand that when giving advice relating to the purchase of cameras that not everyone is interested in following up a camera purchase with a number of $1,000 plus lenses, flashes, remotes and other accessories that make up a system.
Not even all pros get into a D3 or Mark III.

So, I would expect that some are just looking for a well designed, user-friendly camera that they can learn how to use fairly quickly, so the "Pick Canon or Nikon?" is indeed rather LIMITED advice. A Leica or Sony with Zeiss lenses would even fit the needs of many pros. Pentax, Samsung, and even Olympus would be great for amateurs and enthusiasts. It really depends on what kind of shooting you do, how much, and at what level.

skieur

 

[Jedo_03]

Originally Posted by Jedo_03
Well if you think my camera takes good pictures... Wait til you taste the meals my oven cooks...
:hail:

[Quote Village Idiot
Except that cameras are starting to make a difference in the quality that they can produce.]

VI - That's uphill logic... In an experienced photographer's hands, a good quality camera WILL make a difference... Doesn't say that a novice WILL take a quality image with the same camera...
An experienced photographer can take a GREAT image with a cheap P&S (I've read many accounts of that...)
Another angle on "quality that they can produce" is related not to the camera body but to the lens - what quality would you expect from a top of the range Cakkon or Ninon with a $90 lens on the front??

My daughter has a range-oven that cost over $4000 (Aud) and she still ruins a good roast...

Jedo

 

[Bifurcator]

Pentax, has had the largest increase in marketshare in Japan last year. This is true because...

Hi, I was just searching for all messages with the word "Japan" in it as I live there (here) - it's my home. I read what you said about objectivity and it's no concern to me. If a noob buys on the advice of people in a forum they don't even know and not mostly from self research it will either be a good objective lesson for them giving them more e-bay experience or they'll have gotten lucky and got the one that suits them best - for however long. "Life is like a box of chocolates my mama always used to say." - F.G.

What did catch my attention was your Pentax comment. If I sell one camera in 2007 and 30 cameras in 2008 I will likely be "the largest growing" dealership and being in Japan, the largest growing in Japan! I mean it means nothing. Very few Japanese buy Pentax - relatively speaking. I don't know where they place but I would guess fairly low in terms of popularity overall. Want a shocker? A camera that is a hit and will likely become a mega-hit (in Japan) is the Ricoh. I know, Ricoh??? Hehehe. For DSLRs? There's Nikon, there's Nikon, and Nikon and there's Canon, canon and canon. Pentax? If they are getting popular here then everyone including the users are keeping it a big secret and the camera shops are keeping them a brown-bag back-door business. It doesn't mean it's not a good camera - I owned the *ist D for awhile and a few of their compacts too. I just wanted to say that "fastest growing" doesn't mean much usually.

 

[JIP]

I highly doubt anyone here is getting paid by any manuf to boost sales.
That being said, In My Honest Opinion, it seems you are asking people to hold back on their personal opinions and experience. Which really defeats the purpose of forums.
Granted, everyone asking a question needs to take the answers/reply as an Opinion and Not fact.

This is how a forum works.

Not Knockin, just my Opinion.

Well there is/was one person who was getting paid to promote a certain camera line he would come on and sing the praises of Pentax up and dow all day long for quite some time never mentioning he was pretty much a Pentax employee. I gues that part is not totally true but he was sponsored by Pentax and paid by them to use their gear profesionally and promote it. This is do think is a very ihonest way to go and this person should have disclosed with mabye a sig that he was being paid to say the things he so earnetly said. But I digress I am a strong supporter of using Nikon but I can forgive people for using Canon. I have his opinion because those are the 2 companies that have never gotten out of the SLR or DSLR market only to come back when the market was hot and I think that should stand for alot.

 

[ryan7783]

What should annoy you more is the people that come here, or any photo forum, and ask what kind of what camera they should buy without doing any sort of research first.

"I'm too lazy to figure anything out on my own but I know I want to take some killer shots. I know if I buy an expensive camera I can get some really nice photos but I need someone to tell me which camera takes the best pictures so I can run out and throw thousands down on a piece of equipment I won't bother learning to use either."

If they want to be dumb enough to let someone else tell them what kind of camera to buy, then I say bombard them with opinions until they eventually get fed up with not learning anything and try to educate themselves by actually doing the legwork.

 

[deudeu]

What should annoy you more is the people that come here, or any photo forum, and ask what kind of what camera they should buy without doing any sort of research first.

"I'm too lazy to figure anything out on my own but I know I want to take some killer shots. I know if I buy an expensive camera I can get some really nice photos but I need someone to tell me which camera takes the best pictures so I can run out and throw thousands down on a piece of equipment I won't bother learning to use either."

If they want to be dumb enough to let someone else tell them what kind of camera to buy, then I say bombard them with opinions until they eventually get fed up with not learning anything and try to educate themselves by actually doing the legwork.

Amen to that!