DPReview's new lens reviews

Martin_Doudoroff · #1 01-29-2008, 10:59 AM

DPReview.com has launched a new lens review program. They only have four lens reviews so far, and none of the current batch are likely to be of acute interest to this group, but the documentation is pretty extensive (at least on the surface) and the presentation is remarkably "fancy".

What role do reviews of this sort really play? Do they actually form a foundation for lens purchases? How seriously do you take this sort of analysis?

Dennis_Vied · #2 01-29-2008, 11:35 AM

My view is "it couldn't hoit." I think the more information available on a piece of gear that's likely to be expensive, the more an informed purchase can be made. Yes, I think they could form a foundation for a purchase decision. I'm likely to check more than one source, but based on their past track record, I think a person would find a detailed analysis of the product useful.

We have also learned that lens quality can be spotty, and to evaluate a lens carefully when received, so the lens analysis could be subject to the same variation, but an informed purchaser should know that.

I welcome more information.

Ronald Garrett · #3 02-22-2008, 01:10 PM

I think a smart photographer, especially one that does a variety of types of imagery, must keep up with what is out there to aid him in his labors. What better way than the internet? If one lives out in the country as I do, a visit to a photographic supply business is a fairly rare thing. I order my ink over the internet, I can have it delivered to the studio door cheaper than I can fetch it by driving 70 miles, same with cameras, paper, printers, etc.

When I am contemplating buying a product, I search out every review, remark, question, etc. I can find so I can try and make an informed decision that the article will be useful. One can usually sort out one or two different descriptions about this or that feature in the varied reviews. I never go by just one persons opinion as that will usually lead to disaster, {for me anyway}.

Despite all this info I have made a few "bloopers", but I shutter to think what my track record would have been if I had not done the research.

I fully concur with what Dennis said that more information can't "hoit"!

jeffcable · #4 03-04-2008, 09:41 AM

The additional information may well expose an issue that had not been considered by the buyer before making a choice.

I think that the value to professional photgraphers is going to be far less than may be supposed... judging from first appearances of the in-depth reviews of lenses provided (by DP Review) which look likely to lean towards consumer/prosumer oriented glass... from the DP Review site's own perspective, for they do not exist to serve the needs of the professionals.

Perhaps the reason that DP Review can test so much kit is just because the manufacturers are aware of the esteem in which the site is held by the digital camera buying public. After all is said and done, it is the perfect shop window/test bed for consumer kit and consumer feedback.

Whether a third party test of a piece of kit is the ideal way to shift stuff into the kit bags of professionals, remains to be seen. I think not for a variety of reasons... in the first place the average professional does not buy according to the latest fashion but has to use tools that always get the job done and that do it in a reliable and predictable way.

I could not care less whether a lens sports a gold, red or green stripe around the barrel and nor do I care for the name on it because I only use the lenses that come from the camera manufacturer. I am concerned to put the kit in my bag that suits the job I am doing. I don't buy the kit unless I need it and a good review of a Nikon lens is not going to make me sell my Canon kit or try and get an adapter made that will let me place a Nikon kit lens onto a Canon camera. Religion aside, if I needed a lens that only Olympus can produce, then I will need the camera that goes with that lens too, for they must have been designed to work together in a way that is optimal.

In the final analysis, I want to use a piece of glass in the real-world situation so that I can feel how it works and come to understand whether it will deliver what I need, in the working conditions and situations that I intend to place it under. It is for this reason that pros can easily hire an exotic lens for a week or two to see how we can best make use of its attributes and capabilities. I suspect that John or Jane Doe has a harder time trying to hire an expensive piece of glass in the first place.

Given the foregoing, I don't see that DP Review's view of a piece of glass will change my way of decision making, especially since I am, currently, only in the market for Canon glass and that glass has to perform to professional standards and usually means that it cannot be limited to the tiny maximum (often variable) apertures that are the hallmark of consumer zoom lenses.

I very much prefer to use prime lenses to zooms and although strides have been made in getting usable and clean high ISO performance with the latest camera bodies, I buy my own bodies and they must have a reasonable working life before I consider replacing them with the very latest development.

Ronald Garrett · #5 03-05-2008, 06:30 AM

Well, everyone to their own way to do things I guess. The only Nikon lens I have bought, and then ultimately sold, I did not do very much research on. I stumbled on a deal for a new one and just could not resist. It turned out to be the most under performing Nikon lens I owned. Luckily, I sold it for about the same I paid for it.

If one reads enough reviews, one can get a feel for if it's merely an advertisment for the manufacturer. Some of the reviewers are dead honest in their opinion. For instance, how many thousands of people were spared when the Canon 1DMark lll was reviewed? I would hate to think I spent that kind of money on a supposedly "pro" item to find out it did not perform accordingly.

As for me, I'll welcome all reviews, especially of "pro" rated items.

David_Buzzard · #6 03-05-2008, 04:21 PM

I think it's great they're doing lens reviews. I very much enjoy their camera reviews, although I usually just skip to the conclusions and sample pages. It would be nice to see what they have to say about the new Nikon 14-24 and 24-70 lenses.

David Buzzard's Technical Blog

Noel_Carboni · #7 03-06-2008, 10:49 PM

Looks to me like they're pretty thorough. You have to admit the little animated charts are slick.

If I were looking to buy a lens and they had reviewed it, you can be sure I'd at least read the review.

I especially like the possibility that they might find a gold nugget or two for folks not utterly swimming in money... For example, the Canon 18-55 with IS is rated as quite good, especially with the integrated DPP aberration correction capability.

-Noel