Camera Ratings - Part 1

2006.03.15

Digital camera ratings, on any site, are both relative and temporal.

Relative because they are compared to other cameras, existing cameras and previously reviewed cameras. This is evident by terms like above or below average, low noise, etc. These are not measurements, they are relative to some average or expectation. Even when something like battery life is measured according the CIPA standard, the conclusion is often relative. Above average battery life is a quantification which is measured based on a subset of currently available cameras.

Temporal because expectations greatly depend on when a camera is reviewed. Each digital camera reviewed sets expectations for the next cameras to be reviewed. Some aspects such as battery-life have improved significantly in the last year, while others such as noise have not. The faster something improves, the faster a conclusion on it becomes outdated.

Now, lets think of why people read reviews. Most often, it is to make a decision about what to purchase or when to upgrade. In both these cases, it is important to know the relative performance of each camera. Which one is better? An absolute number would only be usefull in this case if we knew how every camera measured. Otherwise, how would be know wether a 63 is good or bad? You see, a relative rating can serve well. The problem is that relative ratings are temporal. They are each published at a specific date and are representative of cameras reviewed by the publisher up to that date only.

At neocamera, we just updated the ratings of every camera in our model pages. The results are ratings that are still temporal but less outdated and sometimes surprising. Surprising because not all models had to be demoted by the same amount. Image-noise, for example, is a major issue that has not improved much lately, while speed-of-operation has. Hence cameras with an advantage in noise-levels were demoted less compared to cameras with an advantage in speed.

All the demotions included some previously excellent cameras. That does not make then any less good or any less suitable for photography. It simply means that there are now cameras that do better. After all, the ratings are relative.

To be continued...

Part 2 will say more about the relativity of camera ratings.

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