Perhaps I'm just "old school" but I think cameras and lenses ought to be judged on how they perform and not how they look. There have been a number of threads recently where I have taken the position that some people are just too critical about their gear. They do endless test to ascertain sharpness, they worry that there are small specks of dust inside the lens or that the tiny blemish on the front element will affect the len's resale value. They pixel peep 100% crops and then complain about sharpness and auto focus.
My cameras and lenses are tools. I expect them to get dusty and grimy from time to time, and if that happens I clean them up. I take reasonable precautions to keep my sensor clean and when I notice dust in my photos, I blow it off or clean it with a sensor wipe. I take care of my gear, but I use it in various conditions and sometimes it gets dings and scratches and blemishes. As long as they don't affect the image quality, I don't worry about it.
I get CLA's when I feel the camera needs it, but I've never had to have a lens "calibrated" nor have I ever returned a lens because of a perceived problem. What's wrong with me? Am I not critical enough? How do the rest of you feel? Are you more concerned with the resale value of your gear than the photographs you get, or do you take risks with your gear in hopes of getting a great shot? Do you test each lens with charts and graphs and batteries and send it back two or three times before you're satsifed, or do you use it in the real world and base your decision on those results? What's your criteria for a good lens/camera?
Mark
