DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS

The Definition of a Review

DPReview, along with Imaging-Resource and DCResource, today published a set of 'editorial definitions' to clearly lay out what readers should expect from articles titled 'preview' or 'review'. The goal is to help reduce confusion for those looking for qualified information when choosing a digital camera.

While these 'editorial definitions' were defined today, readers of our site will have noticed that the review and preview summaries that we provide here on Cameratown.com are preceded by these same definitions when the summary is for a preview or hands-on preview. We do this in order to help our readers know what to expect ahead of time.

You can read the complete story as written by DPReview below.

Editorial content below re-printed with permission from DPReview.com

March 8, 2006 -- As a result of numerous enquiries from dpreview visitors we have become aware that there is increasing confusion about what constitutes a 'review' and the differences between reviews and previews on this site and the Internet as a whole. This confusion doesn't help visitors looking for qualified information when choosing a camera, and the misuse of the word 'review' is beginning to tarnish the hard work put into reviews here and on other sites. After discussion with Dave at Imaging-Resource and Jeff at Digital Camera Resource Page we have jointly developed some standard 'editorial definitions' which clearly lay out what readers should expect from articles titled 'preview' or 'review'. This standard will be adhered to across all three sites (although in actual fact we three have been following these standards since the beginning).

Editorial definitions

Preview

• Product photography supplied by manufacturer
• May include some photos taken in-house
• Covered with as much detail as is available at launch
• All work carried out by our staff
• Includes
  • Photographs and description of camera
  • Detailed specifications

Hands-on Preview

• Based on a pre-production or production quality camera
• Camera must have been used at our office
• Product photography taken in our studio
• Some supplementary photos may be provided by manufacturer
• All work carried out by our staff
• Includes
  • Photographs and description of camera
  • Detailed specifications
  • May include a description of function and operation
  • May include screen / menu captures
  • May include preliminary timings and performance measures
  • May include a user report

Review

• Requires a production quality camera
• Camera ‘used in real life’ before testing commences
• Product photography taken in our studio
• Some supplementary photos may be provided by manufacturer
• All work carried out by our staff
• Includes
  • Photographs and description of camera
  • Detailed specifications
  • Description of function and operation (may include screen captures)
  • Timings and performance measures
  • Image quality measures
  • Competitive camera comparisons
  • Conclusion based on test results and experience with the camera
  • Samples gallery containing unmodified original images from the camera