PC WORLD reviews DSLR's

[LithiumNitrate]

This "review" contrasts interestingly with the D80 vs XTi shootout CNET had awhile back.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123929;page,1/article.html

[Pete-eos]

Xt for the win :)

[Lani Kai]

After playing around with the D40 today, I've realized how wonderful the little sensor under the XTi viewfinder is. With the D40, the display doesn't go away until you half-press the shutter button. Then, when you move it away from your face, it doesn't come on until you hit the "info" button.

[pradeep1]

XT beat the 30D? and XTi? I find reviews in consumer electronics media to be not that useful. They seem to pump whomever pays them the most for the plug. I read a Consumer Reports digicam review, and some of Canon's top selling models were not even listed, but the likes of Panasonic and Olympus were touted more.

[Pete-eos]

Its simply a case of they have sold more XT, pluss its compared with value for money and is consumer based. I doubt Canon paid for them to rate the XT higher than the 30D!

[gjl711]

$799 for the XT. Heck, I'll sell mine got $750 to the first taker. :) I'll even toss in shipping.

[Faithless]

that article is so wrong on many levels.

[sapearl]

I read the PCWorld reviews a lot.... as just ONE source of info. Some of their "conclusions" are interesting to say the least, and often differ from my usage habits.

Best or "superior" ratings often take in more intangible factors that don't seem to make it to their test bench. Don't get me wrong, the info is somewhat helpful...you just have to draw your OWN conclusions based on how you actually use the product.

[gjl711]

...value for money ...
If you pull up the cameras in the side by side comparison they for all intents are identical except in price. size and weight. All things being equal at 1/2 the cost and you got the winner. I don't think these guys are going to delve into the handful of differences between the models.

[mebailey]

;) I guess they are all better than the 1Ds mkII!!;)

[LithiumNitrate]

in all PC World reviews, price is heavily factored and their "winners" usually offer the most bang-for-buck, hence the XT beating the 30D.

[basroil]

wait... the optical zoom on the xt with 18-55mm lens is 3.1x but the 30d with a 18-55mm lens is only 3.0x zoom? am i missing something or do the laws of physics not exist on the xt?

[Fureinku]

XTi lacks a status screen? i think it has the largest status screen of all of the cameras.. wthell

[joegolf68]

Worthless piece of journalism.

[cloose]

I love how the XT receives a higher score for features............Do they even look at any products let alone understand them?

[ScottE]

I put as much faith in a computer magazine's review of cameras as I put in a photography magazine's review of computers.

Come to think of it, I am often skeptical of photography magazine reviews of cameras.

[Kadman]

Many of you are missing the point. In the grand scheme of consumer electronics, the features and quality for $$ provided by the XTi is certainly hard to argue against. The very nature of a forum like this is going to drive up the willingness to pay extra money for specific features that the average consumer will not. Just as soon as you say "well the 30D should be a clear winner" there are people who would think that you are throwing your money away if you get anything less than a 1D. It's no different in any other area of consumer electronics. You would have to be pretty dim-witted not to recognize that.

[BTBeilke]

Even with Consumer Reports, I have always wished that they would list results for 1) the best product and 2) the best value. They also seem to factor price so heavily into their results that it is hard to pick out the best product without regard to price.

[Glenn NK]

If we assume that the scores actually mean something, then let's examine them again:

The top score is 84/100, the bottom score is 83/100.

This is not exactly significant by anyone's measuring system - at least I hope it's not.

They basically all tied for first place, but because from a journalistic point of view they had to "rate" them.

LIthiumNitrate's comment about the XT beating the 30D is well put - the "law of diminishing returns" comes into play as the level of quality and/or sophistication increases, each dollar invested in increasingly higher priced objects, buys less and less in value.

The 1D and 5D series would also similarly score even lower - they are better, but cost MUCH more.