Reactions to Gerald's S1Rii review

[Travis Butler]

I have the feeling that there are three main archetypes of camera users (and reviewers):

The Stat-Nerds: These users prioritize technical specifications and performance metrics…

The Artists: These users care less about specifications and more about the creative possibilities of their equipment…

The Status-Seekers: These users are primarily concerned with how their equipment reflects on their image or status…

Most camera users embody aspects of all three archetypes to varying degrees.

I also like this analysis.

While I do have a fair amount of stat-nerd in me, though, I also have a hell of a lot of hostility towards them, largely because of their hostility towards things I strongly believe. I might also consider adding a fourth category, distinct from The Artists:

The Usability Addicts: People who value the experience of shooting the camera - how much the camera contributes to joy in taking pictures - over everything else. I’d distinguish it from the artists because for Usabilists, having a camera that’s fun to shoot with outweighs the end result; they aren’t willing to put up with bad ergonomics even if a camera has great IQ. If it wasn’t obvious, I put myself in this category. ^^;; I’d also say the Sigma BF is aimed at this category, in addition to the status-seekers.

(Though I would argue that UX does contribute to the Artistic side, because it’s easier to be creative if the camera is working with you instead of fighting you. I’d still put it as a separate category, because I’ve seen a lot of Artists say that IQ is more important than anything, and will put up with a bad interface for good IQ; I’m the opposite, because while I like good IQ, as long as IQ meets a minimum standard, I’ll choose UX over IQ.)

I’ve noticed a lot of stat-nerds disregard anything that can’t be measured by numbers, and belittle - even outright attack - anyone who values those qualities. Which is why I’m hostile to that subset of them. (There’s a lot of bleedover there; I feel like I’ve been fighting these battles since the 80’s, with the GUI/CLI wars. Other notable skirmishes were the Palm V (thin/sealed all metal design vs replaceable batteries, which the BF also seems to echo) and the touchscreen-vs-keyboard smartphone fights in the late 00’s.) A favorite insult of those stat-nerds is accusing Artists and Usabilists of being Status-Seekers, just because they value qualities the stat-nerd can’t measure.

For myself, aside from being a UX geek, I’d count myself an Artist, because the IQ qualities I value most - color, contrast, tonality, apparent sharpness vs resolution, bokeh, 3D pop, etc. - are hard if not impossible to quantify. I do have some stats-nerd in me, because I love geeking out about technology, high FPS, and the like. And I‘m not happy with being called a status-seeker, both because I like cameras accused of being fashion items - GM5, Pen-F - for other reasons, and because I often like the weirdo unfashionable cameras (Sigma fp).

 

[GeorgeHudetz]

That's a fair point George. And I'm fine with Gerald or anyone finding defects and pointing them out, but isn't the level of rolling shutter just a specification rather than a defect? To be fair, I've not watched his review so maybe there were some other actual defects that he found?

No, it's more than a stat. It plays into IQ. Not in a traditional sense, but a slow sensor readout speed causes "jello" in videos, and warping/distortion in stills. For example, trees become slanted instead of vertical. I assume you know that but I point it out to possibly help others. Anyway, hist point is that he was seeing more jello in the S1RII videos than he sees in a high-end DJI (I think it was?) which used a similar, if not the same, sensor. So he thought Panasonic should be able to do better for the readout speed of the sensor.

Unfortunately his sarcastic spray doesn't really help his professional standing and the big melt-down he had over not being invited to the S9 launch last year diminished his standing and probably made him a magnet for trolls.

Yes, the sarcastic response wasn't exactly professional.

 

[Travis Butler]

Yes, the sarcastic response wasn't exactly professional.

Yeah, that's my overwhelming problem with him. I got my degree in journalism, so I hold reviewers to pretty high professional standards; I hate to think how some of my old professors would tear him apart.

 

[GeorgeHudetz]

I also like this analysis.

While I do have a fair amount of stat-nerd in me, though, I also have a hell of a lot of hostility towards them, largely because of their hostility towards things I strongly believe. I might also consider adding a fourth category, distinct from The Artists:

The Usability Addicts: People who value the experience of shooting the camera - how much the camera contributes to joy in taking pictures - over everything else. I’d distinguish it from the artists because for Usabilists, having a camera that’s fun to shoot with outweighs the end result; they aren’t willing to put up with bad ergonomics even if a camera has great IQ. If it wasn’t obvious, I put myself in this category. ^^;; I’d also say the Sigma BF is aimed at this category, in addition to the status-seekers.

(Though I would argue that UX does contribute to the Artistic side, because it’s easier to be creative if the camera is working with you instead of fighting you. I’d still put it as a separate category, because I’ve seen a lot of Artists say that IQ is more important than anything, and will put up with a bad interface for good IQ; I’m the opposite, because while I like good IQ, as long as IQ meets a minimum standard, I’ll choose UX over IQ.)

Yes, my venn diagram definitely overlaps onto the usability addict circle. And yes, I really want a BF. I've been massively blasted in the past (on the other forum) for saying that the nature of the tool can affect the output, but I believe it's true. Woodworking tools are another example. Of course, a dedicated craftsman can create regardless of the tools used (assuming they are sharp, anyway) but I personally am inspired by the tools I use. So perhaps I'm not a pure craftsman. But even James Krenov made his own handplanes, although he was more artisan than craftsman in my estimation anyway.

I’ve noticed a lot of stat-nerds disregard anything that can’t be measured by numbers, and belittle - even outright attack - anyone who values those qualities. Which is why I’m hostile to that subset of them. (There’s a lot of bleedover there; I feel like I’ve been fighting these battles since the 80’s, with the GUI/CLI wars. Other notable skirmishes were the Palm V (thin/sealed all metal design vs replaceable batteries, which the BF also seems to echo) and the touchscreen-vs-keyboard smartphone fights in the late 00’s.) A favorite insult of those stat-nerds is accusing Artists and Usabilists of being Status-Seekers, just because they value qualities the stat-nerd can’t measure.

For myself, aside from being a UX geek, I’d count myself an Artist, because the IQ qualities I value most - color, contrast, tonality, apparent sharpness vs resolution, bokeh, 3D pop, etc. - are hard if not impossible to quantify. I do have some stats-nerd in me, because I love geeking out about technology, high FPS, and the like. And I‘m not happy with being called a status-seeker, both because I like cameras accused of being fashion items - GM5, Pen-F - for other reasons, and because I often like the weirdo unfashionable cameras (Sigma fp).