V3 is tops in DP Review eval

The reviews are in, and the DSC-V3 gets the nod from DP Review over the G6. I have felt from the start that the V3 was an excellent camera which did not deserve all the negative posts that it received. Of course I'm just a novice photographer, so it's nice to read the review here.

To make such a one-sided statement you are obviously one of the premature V3 buyers.

The V3 does handle better and is faster but did you look at the G6 sample pictures.

They literally blow away the V3 pics and in the end picture quality is by far the largest piece of the puzzle.
If not to late, maybe you can send it back..?

Douglas Brown said:

The reviews are in, and the DSC-V3 gets the nod from DP Review over
the G6. I have felt from the start that the V3 was an excellent
camera which did not deserve all the negative posts that it
received. Of course I'm just a novice photographer, so it's nice
to read the review here.

Click to expand...

Canon will deign to offer a competitive autofocus in its compact cameras. Perhaps they feel by offering sub-par focus they can convince people to buy a drebel and hook family snapshooters on the lens-buying kick.

Until that happens, anyone who wants to get good "in the moment" photographs with a compact camera will be well served to avoid the Canon offerings and pick up a Sony V-series instead. Because it really doesn't matter how smooth and creamy the backgrounds are when the subject has run halfway out of the frame, or the focus is locked 20 yards behind your kid's face.

Obviously Phil has his priorities right for the buyer of this kind of camera. If one were to shoot only landscapes with a compact camera then your argument might hold up with the very slight advantage in image quality with the Canon G6.

--
my gallery: http://www.pbase.com/sdaconsulting/full_gallery

As a G6 owner for 2 months now I have to disagree with the "sub-par" comment of the focusing. Whether or not one camera is faster is not that relavent since both are fast enough for most needs. I have taken great pictures in all types of conditions with my G6 and the camera works great so don't you worry about it being sub-par.

Since I use RAW files quite a lot I couldn't have my camera locking up for 10-15 seconds at a time. Now I would really miss some shots if that were the case.

Because of the RAW performance of the G6 it is geared more to professionals than the V3. If you simply need to "point and click" then the V3 may be for you. For those of us used to RAW and Photoshop we certainly do need something more than jpgs.

For ease of carrying around and shooting great shots BOTH cameras will please folks. You really can't go wrong. If you are looking for something more in terms of processing and you get tired of carrying your DSLR around the G6 definitely has advantages.

Try shooting in RAW and see how "fast" your V3 really is.

Matthew Cromer said:

Canon will deign to offer a competitive autofocus in its compact
cameras. Perhaps they feel by offering sub-par focus they can
convince people to buy a drebel and hook family snapshooters on the
lens-buying kick.

Until that happens, anyone who wants to get good "in the moment"
photographs with a compact camera will be well served to avoid the
Canon offerings and pick up a Sony V-series instead. Because it
really doesn't matter how smooth and creamy the backgrounds are
when the subject has run halfway out of the frame, or the focus is
locked 20 yards behind your kid's face.

Obviously Phil has his priorities right for the buyer of this kind
of camera. If one were to shoot only landscapes with a compact
camera then your argument might hold up with the very slight
advantage in image quality with the Canon G6.

--
my gallery: http://www.pbase.com/sdaconsulting/full_gallery

Click to expand...

Dale Severson said:

The V3 does handle better and is faster but did you look at the G6
sample pictures.
They literally blow away the V3 pics and in the end picture quality
is by far the largest piece of the puzzle.

Click to expand...

If you only care about the technical aspects of photography, then you're absolutely correct. However, to me photography is more than just getting a flawless image. The content of the photo greatly outweighs the importance of technical merits.

I can use photoshop and other tools to fix (or at least tame) many of the flaws in a photograph. However, I'll never be able to recreate a scene that I missed by half a second. Well technically I could, but at that point I'd be sketching it from memory and that's not photogaphy anymore. (besides, I don't want all my memories to be recorded as stick figures I drew. hehe).

No, I don't own the V3.
No, I'm not a Sony fanboy - my primary camera is a 20D.

--
Joe

I am guessing they are both great cameras. I would probably pick the one that takes the best motion/sports shots. Other than that, they are two cameras that take beautiful and sometimes professional quality for their size. I might take a look at both of them. I have the V1, and no one is yanking that one away from me. Its such true color, none of the phony pre-processed looking perfect image colors. What you see is what you get in the shot. If the V3 and the G6 have that, then they both will be keepers. If the V3 is anything near the quality of the V1, then I am sure it will please alot of people.

Both have professional abilities. But the one that also turns out great photos for the masses is what I think wins the cake.
--



http://netgarden.smugmug.com/
DSC V1 Sony, Mavica FD88, Fuji s5000

Matthew Cromer said:

Canon will deign to offer a competitive autofocus in its compact
cameras. Perhaps they feel by offering sub-par focus they can
convince people to buy a drebel and hook family snapshooters on the
lens-buying kick.

Until that happens, anyone who wants to get good "in the moment"
photographs with a compact camera will be well served to avoid the
Canon offerings and pick up a Sony V-series instead. Because it
really doesn't matter how smooth and creamy the backgrounds are
when the subject has run halfway out of the frame, or the focus is
locked 20 yards behind your kid's face.

Click to expand...

Matthew, you are absolutely correct on this.

A little background:

I own six Canon SLR's (three film and two digital) and I just purchased an A95 this week. My other digital cam is an almost three year old Sony S75.

I bought the A95 so that I could give the S75 to my son and utilize my CF memory and rechargable NiMH's. My wife prefers the smaller and simpler cameras and I thought it would be nice to have one on hand.

I spent the requisite time studying the reviews etc. and had high expectations that the A95 would make a nice addition to my collection .

Well, after two days I've decided the A95 just does not cut it-period. I haven't compared it side by side with the S75 but it feels SLOWER. AF and shutter both. Not only that but my own 'sample pics' just don't do anything for me. Not bad, but ehh? No big deal.

The lag you describe is EXACTLY the type of lag that's driving me nuts. Compose a nice candid shot of two friends sitting at a table playing cards (we aren't talking ACTION SHOTS here)-great expression, laughing, etc.-half press-focus lock-..........flash........ CLICK . Oh well that moments gone. I know I'm spoiled by the performance of my slr's but come on. I've used manual focus, pre-focus, no flash, whatever. I honestly don't think I should have to.

As far as the post mentioning RAW. If you're that serious about RAW performance-buy an slr. We're talking about a P&S and 'pro-sumer' cams here. I've no intention of shooting RAW with this type of camera. G6 a pro camera? I don't know about that, maybe. But for my usage, RAW on this type of cam is overkill and unnecessary.

As Matthew said-What good is image quality if the camera can't GET THE IMAGE in the first place? 1GB of RAW worth of missed moments is worthless to me.

I'm perfectly happy to sacrifice a subjective loss of image quality if it means I get a camera with minimal shutter lag and accurate fast focus. If someone considers it blasphemy-so be it.

--

Just think, if every key-stroke was a shutter-press we would all be pros by now...

On this kind of camera, I would take faster, better focussing over a marginal improvement in image quality anytime.

Mongrel said:

Matthew Cromer said:

Canon will deign to offer a competitive autofocus in its compact
cameras. Perhaps they feel by offering sub-par focus they can
convince people to buy a drebel and hook family snapshooters on the
lens-buying kick.

Until that happens, anyone who wants to get good "in the moment"
photographs with a compact camera will be well served to avoid the
Canon offerings and pick up a Sony V-series instead. Because it
really doesn't matter how smooth and creamy the backgrounds are
when the subject has run halfway out of the frame, or the focus is
locked 20 yards behind your kid's face.

Click to expand...

Matthew, you are absolutely correct on this.

A little background:

I own six Canon SLR's (three film and two digital) and I just
purchased an A95 this week. My other digital cam is an almost
three year old Sony S75.

I bought the A95 so that I could give the S75 to my son and utilize
my CF memory and rechargable NiMH's. My wife prefers the smaller
and simpler cameras and I thought it would be nice to have one on
hand.

I spent the requisite time studying the reviews etc. and had high
expectations that the A95 would make a nice addition to my
collection .

Well, after two days I've decided the A95 just does not cut
it-period. I haven't compared it side by side with the S75 but it
feels SLOWER. AF and shutter both. Not only that but my own
'sample pics' just don't do anything for me. Not bad, but ehh?
No big deal.

The lag you describe is EXACTLY the type of lag that's driving me
nuts. Compose a nice candid shot of two friends sitting at a table
playing cards (we aren't talking ACTION SHOTS here)-great
expression, laughing, etc.-half press-focus
lock-..........flash........ CLICK . Oh well that moments gone. I
know I'm spoiled by the performance of my slr's but come on. I've
used manual focus, pre-focus, no flash, whatever. I honestly don't
think I should have to.

As far as the post mentioning RAW. If you're that serious about
RAW performance-buy an slr. We're talking about a P&S and
'pro-sumer' cams here. I've no intention of shooting RAW with this
type of camera. G6 a pro camera? I don't know about that,
maybe. But for my usage, RAW on this type of cam is overkill and
unnecessary.

As Matthew said-What good is image quality if the camera can't GET
THE IMAGE in the first place? 1GB of RAW worth of missed moments
is worthless to me.

I'm perfectly happy to sacrifice a subjective loss of image
quality if it means I get a camera with minimal shutter lag and
accurate fast focus. If someone considers it blasphemy-so be it.

--
Just think, if every key-stroke was a shutter-press we would all be
pros by now...

Click to expand...

--
Regards,
DaveMart
Please see profile for equipment

.

Matthew Cromer said:

Canon will deign to offer a competitive autofocus in its compact
cameras. Perhaps they feel by offering sub-par focus they can
convince people to buy a drebel and hook family snapshooters on the
lens-buying kick.

Until that happens, anyone who wants to get good "in the moment"
photographs with a compact camera will be well served to avoid the
Canon offerings and pick up a Sony V-series instead. Because it
really doesn't matter how smooth and creamy the backgrounds are
when the subject has run halfway out of the frame, or the focus is
locked 20 yards behind your kid's face.

Obviously Phil has his priorities right for the buyer of this kind
of camera. If one were to shoot only landscapes with a compact
camera then your argument might hold up with the very slight
advantage in image quality with the Canon G6.

--
my gallery: http://www.pbase.com/sdaconsulting/full_gallery

Click to expand...

Looks like a good camera and I have tried it in the store.

It is like the v1 on steroids...

I have been getting camera fever for a V1 replacement. Perhaps smaller, more zoom, more pixels. I use the V1 more than any camera. I have the D70 now, am trying to sell my 8700 that is virtually as new, and I have an A2.

Bottom line is that I can't seem to find anything much improved over the V1...

I have eyeballed the Pentax 750 and the E550--but nothing knocks my socks off. I had hoped the V3 would be somewhat smaller...

Anyway, suggestions welcome. It's just been hard to beat the V1!

Linda

Douglas Brown said:

The reviews are in, and the DSC-V3 gets the nod from DP Review over
the G6. I have felt from the start that the V3 was an excellent
camera which did not deserve all the negative posts that it
received. Of course I'm just a novice photographer, so it's nice
to read the review here.

Click to expand...

What exactly was so one-sided about my statement? I didn't knock any other camera. I simply stated an opinion that the V3 is an excellent camera.

Dale Severson said:

Douglas Brown said:

The reviews are in, and the DSC-V3 gets the nod from DP Review over
the G6. I have felt from the start that the V3 was an excellent
camera which did not deserve all the negative posts that it
received. Of course I'm just a novice photographer, so it's nice
to read the review here.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Dale Severson said:

Douglas Brown said:

The reviews are in, and the DSC-V3 gets the nod from DP Review over
the G6. I have felt from the start that the V3 was an excellent
camera which did not deserve all the negative posts that it
received. Of course I'm just a novice photographer, so it's nice
to read the review here.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I wouldn't exactly call your statement even-handed - "...blow away the V3 pics"? Come on - with two cameras at this level of quality and features, the differences are subtle at best. Besides, image quality is only as good as the ability to capture the picture in the first place. If you can't focus in time or get the next shot off when needed, a "quality" picture of someone's backside doesn't do a whole lot of good. The whole package is what matters, not one component.

--
Ram

Sony DSC-S85/V3

RamR wrote:
....

RamR said:

I wouldn't exactly call your statement even-handed - "...blow away
the V3 pics"? Come on - with two cameras at this level of quality
and features, the differences are subtle at best. Besides, image

Click to expand...

....

I agree, the differences are extremely small. I would give the edge in quality to the G6, but I went and bought the V3 anyway. I want the camera to be fast so I don't feel like it's in the way. I think usability means a lot. I really could use that F2.0 lens tho....

--
Gary W.

Actually if you read Phils conclusion youll see that Phil states that the image quality of the G6 is better than the V3.I think that that is the most important aspect of camera performance.

Douglas Brown said:

The reviews are in, and the DSC-V3 gets the nod from DP Review over
the G6. I have felt from the start that the V3 was an excellent
camera which did not deserve all the negative posts that it
received. Of course I'm just a novice photographer, so it's nice
to read the review here.

Click to expand...

halpren said:

Actually if you read Phils conclusion youll see that Phil states
that the image quality of the G6 is better than the V3.I think that
that is the most important aspect of camera performance.

Click to expand...

If you read Phils conclusion on the G6 you'll see this line:
"the Sony DSC-V3 (our pick of the bunch)"

Don't you understand the meaning of 'pick of the bunch'? What you think is totally irrelevant for Phil in reaching his conclusion.
So, V3 is tops in DPreview evaluation, WITH it's flaws!
--

• Michiel de Brieder -

In my mind, it IS real



See profile for equipment!
http://www.pbase.com/giel/portfolio

Would rather have a blurry, OOF shot with the subject halfway out of the frame as long as that blur didn't show any image noise.

--
my gallery: http://www.pbase.com/sdaconsulting/full_gallery

True halpren...but if you read Phil's conclusion, you'll also note that the V3 "is our pick of the bunch", despite Canon's edge in overall picture quality. So that would seem to indicate that Phil, and probably many other people, consider the overall performance in many areas to be a more important aspect of camera performance.

halpren said:

Actually if you read Phils conclusion youll see that Phil states
that the image quality of the G6 is better than the V3.I think that
that is the most important aspect of camera performance.

Click to expand...

(TO EVERYONE) By the way, the original post seemed to just be announcing the fact of the review and 5-way comparison - that the Sony V3 was dpreview's overall winner - not expressing an opinion that the Canon or any other competitor stunk. In fact, all the original poster said was that the V3 was an excellent camera, didn't deserve lots of negative posts, and it was nice to see. Never were comparison statements made with the G6 about image quality, speed, style, price, or any other category.

So the second post, which came back with strong defense of the Canon G6 (which wasn't being attacked by the original poster to begin with) in the form of harsh insults against the V3 (Noone, including Phil, concluded that the G6 images 'blew away' the V3 images...they were better overall, but the V3 still received excellent ratings), was the one that started this thread headed off into a comparison of two great cameras.

If you are loyal to Canon, buy the G6 - it's great, and you'll love it, and you'll think it is better than the V3. If you are loyal to Sony, buy the V3 - it's great, and you'll love it, and you'll think it is better than the G6. If you are not a brand loyalist, then choose the G6 or the V3 after weighing the overall performance of the two - Phil's review may help you decide if the jpg shooting and writing speed edge of the V3 is more important, or the slight edge in image quality and RAW writing speed of the G6 is more important. And if you just want a good camera - you'll do fine with the Canon G6 or the Sony V3, both excellent cameras with very few faults. The Casio isn't too bad a choice either, according to this review.

The only camera that stood out as distictly disadvantaged in this comparison was the Pentax (cheaper build, slower speed, focus issues, image quality), while the Olympus still did well but was not quite up to the other three (low light focus issues, variable image quality, purple fringing, battery life).

Why is it that people cannot accept a strong finish regardless of the conclusion of the actual winner? Both Canon and Sony loyalists tend to be so sensitive about 1st versus 2nd place - this comparo was a virtual dead heat with two excellent performances standing out of 5. This review stated the V3 as their overall pick. Another review might also achieve a near-tie, but choose the G6 by a nose. They're both excellent, people!

--
Justin

HI Linda,

I've been thinking about buying a D70 now that I can get one for $1,050 after the Nikon $100 rebate.
How does your D70 fit in with your other cameras?

I have a couple of P&S cams and didn't want to buy the D70 just to have it end up sitting around collecting dust after a month or two.
For what and how often do you use your D70?
How do you like it?

Thanks,
Dale

lharris said:

It is like the v1 on steroids...

I have been getting camera fever for a V1 replacement. Perhaps
smaller, more zoom, more pixels. I use the V1 more than any camera.
I have the D70 now, am trying to sell my 8700 that is virtually as
new, and I have an A2.

Bottom line is that I can't seem to find anything much improved
over the V1...

I have eyeballed the Pentax 750 and the E550--but nothing knocks my
socks off. I had hoped the V3 would be somewhat smaller...

Anyway, suggestions welcome. It's just been hard to beat the V1!

Linda

Douglas Brown said:

The reviews are in, and the DSC-V3 gets the nod from DP Review over
the G6. I have felt from the start that the V3 was an excellent
camera which did not deserve all the negative posts that it
received. Of course I'm just a novice photographer, so it's nice
to read the review here.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

RamR - you've got the posts mixed up. Douglas was the one with the original post that just mentioned a fact of the dpreview review - that the V3 was chosen as 'the pick of the bunch'. He never insulted any other camera - he simply pointed out the fact of the review, and expressed his opinion that the V3 was indeed a pretty good camera and doesn't deserve a bashing.

It was Dale Severson who made the highly one-sided, defensive, and off-base bashing of the V3, ignoring the intent of the original post and the conclusion of dpreview because of his obvious brand-loyalty to Canon which has unfortunately caused him to hate any competitor, and lash out when a Canon is not picked #1 in any and all reviews - even if the review admits a near-tie, and mentions all the excellent aspects of both the V3 and Canon, both of which scored excellent ratings in ALL categories of the review, but each with a slight edge in a particular area (Sony = speed, Canon = Image quality).

Just thought I'd clear that up...since this whole thread seems to be either jumping to defensive conclusions or misunderstanding or midreading posts!

You are right - the whole package is most important to most people - and the Canon G6 or Sony V3 will both deliver on all accounts.

RamR said:

I wouldn't exactly call your statement even-handed - "...blow away
the V3 pics"? Come on - with two cameras at this level of quality
and features, the differences are subtle at best. Besides, image
quality is only as good as the ability to capture the picture in
the first place. If you can't focus in time or get the next shot
off when needed, a "quality" picture of someone's backside doesn't
do a whole lot of good. The whole package is what matters, not one
component.

--
Ram

Click to expand...

--
Justin

halpren said:

Actually if you read Phils conclusion youll see that Phil states
that the image quality of the G6 is better than the V3.I think that
that is the most important aspect of camera performance.

Click to expand...

Of course image quality is the most important aspect of camera performance. I believe I even saw a post from Phil where he stated that image quality was the most heavily weighted factor when assigning a rating to a camera (and the post was made in reference to the V3/G6 reviews).

What he stated in his review was the the G6 has SLIGHTLY better image quality than the V3. Obviously this slight edge in image quality was not enough to overcome all of the areas in which the G6 came up short to the V3 in Phil's mind.

Phil has reviewed a lot of cameras, I'm sure he knows what he is doing. I'm sure he considered every possible factor before he chose his "pick of the bunch."

All in all it seems kind of pointless to debate which camera is better. Obviously both are clearly very good.
--
-Matt