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The process is bias by the fact that it’s a private event and they can choose who gets invited. Even if the reviewers who show up have no intention of being swayed by the travel and lodging, they can still exclude reviewers they feel won’t give a positive review. It is not equivalent to anyone purchasing the camera after release and reviewing it as they please. This, plus the beta product problem you discussed, makes me think maybe these events shouldn’t exist, at least not until the product is not “pre-production.”

I fear that because you are speaking out about this topic you feel that you are above reproach. Your jobs are to help manufacturers sell cameras. Yes, you do other things for photography, but once you make one review you have become a cog in the engine. You sell dreams that don’t always end as fairy tales. A lot of photographers pour money into gear that should be out of reach.

If it didn’t create positive spin the manufacturer wouldn’t do it. Plain and simple. Companies don’t spend money unless it has a payoff. I know. I have been in the pharmaceutical business for 35+ years. They mastered marketing games to an art form. They ask a physician who has a high dispense rate of their drug to speak at an engagement. They don’t care if other physicians in the audience are impressed and begin dispensing the drug. The purpose is to make the high dispensing physician feel even more beholden to them, and then he or she will dispense even more.

Great video as always. Y really trust you guys. The feeling of trust I had it before this video. As a viewer one can feel if the reviewer is bieng honest or not. I have always felt you guys are. Thank you

When I was trying to raise the issue for past years no one seemed to care, now since we already failed to make the law for it when it was happening, and new laws usually don't work back in time, people will work on older data sets even if future use is banned in some capacity. Probably even when I learned of it few years back it was already kinda late for some of this shit. But cat's out of the bag, and people will be happy unless AI will target their jobs specifically, totally lacking in imagination, I'm real saddened that the same lack of imagination was displayed by many "photographers", well maybe because they realized they don't live off of their photography but their internet persona, so they didn't feel like their job was at risk, so they will likely wait till AI will flood YT with billions of artificial youtubers, then they will also see the problem. If anyone is reading this, please think about why the F would someone give you something for free out of their free will? What someone will gain by giving you free access or whatnot. Should you trust people who run business in their word when they try to sell you the very thing in question, even if they are "experts" in the field? A random CEO of AI corpo comes out and says something like "I will make AI, so you don't have to work", and everyone is f'ing happy for loosing their jobs xD IDK I think I lost faith in humanity, everyone instead of thinking ahead can only deal with the outcome, this is beyond disappointing

I had an message from Facebook the other day saying that unless I formally objected to it they could use my content to train their AI. So I filled in a very short objection form and received an email saying they would honour my objection.

Great. I have recently acquired the Sony FE 20-70mm f/4 G lens. However, one thing is bothering me or rather I would like to clarify whether it is a general issue with this lens or whether it is a defect specifically with my lens. The lens makes a noise when focussing (with autofocus). By the way, the volume of the noise varies depending on the aperture setting. At f/4 the noise is very minimal, almost inaudible. From f/4.5, however, it is clearly audible. And the higher the aperture number (for example f/13), the longer it takes to focus and the longer the noise lasts. However, these differences are small. I am not yet familiar with focusing noises from lenses recently released by Sony. For example, the new Sony FE PZ 16-35mm f/4 G and the new Sony FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS II are 100% completely silent. The older Sony FE 18mm f/1.8 G, on the other hand, also makes the noise described above, if I remember correctly. Does your lens also make this noise? Many thanks in advance!

Companies would just pay off lawmakers to make some AI application legal for whatever app they are creating.

Do the pre-production review, then do a followup when relevent. Just means more quality content for us.

All reviewers are biased to some degree, whether they admit it or not. That is why I watch as many reviews of a product before I make my choice.

My friends who used rp for shooting (still photo) event changed to r8&r10 citing rp too slow and misfocus a lot.

It's just a corrupt practise - why is that so hard for these influencers to acknowledge? This consumerist manipulation of viewers makes me sick.

I know this is 7 years old but its funny even today 2024 photogs boast all these high camera specs but watch Tony as he nevigates theough the menu using the manual dials to select instead of the "touch screen"...just proves all these "selling features" are hardley evey used

It does need to change! I've gotta say that I've never seen a community of creatives be so uncreative when it comes to reviews. Mostly it's people sat in a dark studio talking through a spec sheet, at least the launch days give a viewer somthing newish. Although the ai language model needs updating that everyone seems to be using to script "deep dive" here's why/how, bore off!

When the corporations are super efficient with almost no people employed, I would love to ask the question of these executives "who are you going to sell their products to? and then where will your profits come from?" No one has any money from work, no economy, no government tax revenues.

Thank you for featuring my shot guys and all the feedback!

Just don't call those early videos reviews. Call them previews, spend quality time with the final product and then release a review. I can't take any short term review seriously, no one should.

Both are expensive. The autofocus is much better on the Sony and its sharper edge to edge. The re-sell value of the Sony is also much higher. Horrible advice to recommend the Sigma. A typical Tony «unbiased» review.

Nah I don't think camera events are going to produce biased reviews, the reviewers I've followed had all pointed out very clearly all the flaws of the new S9, and how useless (or limited) the pancake lens is. Think it is just Gerald being salty of not being invited, and Panasonic being petty about his previous comments.

i don´t recommend Canon RP,

5:17 video on launch day =/= more views. Your video is most certainly gonna drown in everyone releasing at the same time. This is the state of the things right now, releasing couple days later might be even better. Another thing Gerald said about this is that you typically need to rush the videos to get them done on embargo lift, which means they might miss something because when you do things fsat you sacrifice some quality.

Cool vid.... Cool topic.... My opinions.... It could easily have been 10 years since I have seen a true review.with true pros and cons. It could easily be that I am using the wrong search terms or choosing the wrong standard. Because there are so many marketing dollars going to the CZcams influencers, I wish there could be a better term than 'reviews'. Right now, all I see are 'advertisements' , 'product demonstrations/demos', or shorts as part of the 'marketing campaign' for gear. They go over the specs and say if they like the camera or not. I know that sounds cheezy as many would think that is what a review is. My thing? There is no such thing as a perfect product or perfect camera. So right tool for the right project...I get that.... Classic....not logical to criticize a portrait lense for not being the best landscape lense one has ever used. Buuuuuuut for me..... When I am watching a review....I hear the specs...I hear the routine concerns such as overheating or not.... But I am also looking for....Tell me about a unique festure that I did not know I needed. For example, this new camera can wirelessly tether to 4 cellphones and I can still use the eyecup to shoot. Niiiiice! Ooooor tell me about a feature that I would have to dig to find out about, but it was something important to u so u wanted to share. For example, it seems basic, but if u r using the Sony 90mm macro lense, do not put the lense in Infinity mode or u will not get the portrait shots that u r looking for... Probably, not the best example of a bad feature.... But my points are.... I can live with the good features. I am looking at the camera/gear review outside of the gear manufacturer because I have already done enough research to determine that it is the right camera. Sooooo....I am looking to learn more about deal breakers or the feature I did not know I needed or or hey if u need this camera for this feature, it does not work as intended. I said all of that to say.... I am older now so there is time that I can not get back.... So I have to be careful on the reviews that I choose to watch and not waste my time on a review that just lists specs with a smile and some minor criticisms that have no bite because the reviewer does not want to get banned. Sooooo....those that do 'reviews'? As soon as they open with specs and I check the length of the video, I am thinking short video equals this is an advertisement and there will be no information in this video beyond specs or what I already know and I hope they enjoyed their trip. If they open with specs and the video is long, then I will likely stick around as long as they are providing good content. That being the case.... I want to introduce a new term!!!! Lol.... I call it a 'House Review, MD'. It is named for the television show, House, MD. The purpose of the review style is simply.... Even if the camera or gear scores a 10 out of 10 on your best product list or gear u reviewed, it is mandatory to say something bad about it!!!! I don't mean anything farfetched or tacky. Or if u r this type of user, blah, blah, blah.... I mean keeping with my belief that there is no such thing as a perfect product and only a product perfect for u/the reviewer reviewing the product....And I am not referring to additional features or wish lists or even being a grouch for the sake of or being hard to please or even a balance review. If a product is perfect in someone's eyes... My logic is that the strengths are so great that the weaknesses are so surpassed that the weaknesses do not take away from the strengths. It is doing what it is designed to do and does it well. That being the case. Still tell me about those weaknesses and let me determine if they are deal breakers. Tell me about the worse of those weaknesses and the worse case scenario and if I can live with that crazy scenario, then I will pull the trigger on the purchase! Annnnnnnd now, u can see why it is called a 'House Review, M.D.'!!!! If u know House or of the show, u know that puzzle is a wild ride, but it does eventually have a happy ending or just being it is what it is type moments. Welp... That's enough rambling for one night.... I should have named the new review after me, but I am not wild enough. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I like the 'My thoughts after using the camera for a year' videos. I've never bought a camera as soon as it's released.

Do whatever you want, however you want. Don't get sucked into the "conspiratorial thinking" where "every company has a Dr. Evil leading it and is trying to hurt the common man" and feel the need to cater to it. Those people have serious mental issues and don't deserve a 2nd thought. After 30 years of being a photographer, no new camera, lens, etc. is "bad" and all of them are phenomenal. The level we are at, everything has basically stalled in "huge updates" and is more focused on refining around the edges and improving video capture and output. 15 years ago, that couldn't be said - there were some real tangible differences out there since the tech was new and companies didn't have equal access to the tech (sensor consolidation to Sony) and updated manufacturing that they do now. The 15 years before that, the end days of film, we didn't see huge changes where development stalled, and refinements were all there was. Right now, feels similar to then. The difference we see now between say a Nikon vs Pentax, was almost the same type of difference when digital first came out between every brand, every release and between brands lenses. The companies that stay current now, there really isn't that much difference. If one is primarily video focused, there is some great improvements but that is still a relativity small group that actually takes advantage of it, but they are obnoxiously vocal on comments. People rarely switch brands and the skyrocketing costs with lenses will just entrench this. The investment is so large and the difference between brands is so small, a change is not viable or reasonable to most. The only questions everyone has is "Are they making improvements in the direction I want to see" or "can I buy a cheaper model for my b-roll/2nd camera and get by" or is there some new fun camera to use outside of my primary one.

I feel like claiming a problem with a camera at a press event is because it’s a preproduction unit is just a way to cover up any issues that people may have missed when testing the camera before the press event. I know that firmware can fix issues with an update before the official release and honestly that’s one of the reasons for prerelease press events but it seems a bit dishonest. It’s because the person that is reviewing the prerelease model of a camera really has no way to verify if the camera really is a test model or a release in reality. That’s why I don’t like to watch or read prerelease reviews on products that I am considering buying. I want to know what the camera will be like when or if actually buy it. So I wait for reviews after the official product launch. I have been using my Samsung NX1 and my Samsung NX500 sense 2019 because I knew that these 2014 cameras while a little older, would never change and never be updated. I did add the custom firmware update but that doesn’t change the final firmware but rather it added features like changing video bitrate. My point is that I was 100% fully aware of what camera and lens system I was buying into and I’m really happy with the cameras and the quality of photos and videos that I can capture with them. I am planning to buy a 60mm NX lens in the near future as well as a 18mm to 200mm NX lens and I will have a pretty close to complete set of lenses. I will have all the lenses that I want for my cameras. I’m really tired of incomplete products like phones and cameras and video games being released to the public with a promise of it will get better with future firmware updates. It’s because a company can promise a firmware update that may never come. So on that knowledge you have to take the camera or whatever product you buy for what it is at the time when you buy it. Coming back to Samsung I can say that the NX1 and NX500 and two of the best cameras I have ever used and I highly recommend them.

Why Undone jumped so hard on the S9? I lived in the town which he (I guess, he still lives in) in the late ‘60s. I also pushed my first daughter around the streets. It has two great streets Richmond and Dundas and it seems his camera shop (Canada Camera) is Located on. To the point, I hope he has time to watch your video to understand how cameras are sold in an industry which is slowly going away….

7:17 Man, as a photographer watching camera reviews I never used to think about this, big camera companies just felt like faceless corporations. But now as an engineer, I can totally relate to how difficult that is to see your product get ripped apart. However, that kind of brutally honest feedback is the most important information you can get so that you can iterate on the design and fix issues. I have made so many design oversights that I wouldn't have figured out to change if I didn't get feedback (albeit sometimes harsh) from the end users. So not only are those reviews important for consumers to make informed purchasing decisions, but they're also important to the design process. So hopefully those engineers don't take it too personally.

I definitely think you need to help the public out and do reviews, however whoever the company getting you to do these reviews should give you the best gear and possibly an expert to help you get the settings correct for the event you are covering.

5:20 - as an incredibly cynical viewer, I tend to just ignore the videos that people put out right at launch. I only watch a few of the videos that people make at those big events. And mostly, just because I like watching those people talk. So, that would include you two, Jared Polan, Gerald Undone (Is that really his last name?), and the dudes who used to be on DP review, but I cannot remember their names. Oh, and Jason Vong, he's fucking hilarious! Mostly, I just wait until a camera's been out several months, if not a whole freaking year before I pay any attention to the reviews at all. I mean, hell, I didn't buy my Sony A7R2 until 2020 for crying out loud.

Can we have an official "100% USDA Organic" label equivalent created for affixing to pictures,videos and art we share on social media to indicate that no AI was used in the production of the art? I'm not sure how that could be enforced and be genuine or if it would make any difference, but I sure would like to know when the art I'm looking at is purely human made.

Great video guys 🙌

Love the gear, but I need to know what sunglasses she has on. Photo composition scores an incomplete, but your style gets an A+, plus bonus points!

Where can I get that longhorn hat? Hook ‘em!

The part I enjoy the most about those pre production reviews is sometimes the the prospective the specific reviewer brings to that product helps drive my initial hype and follow through. If it was not for those reviews I would stumble upon the next model rather then anticipate a specific fix or advancement I have come to settle for in an older version or model.

2:45 really shouldn't be somethin you have to do but rather something you do because it's the right thing to do. In my very strong opinion on the matter anyway.

Hasselblad was used on the moon .

"This camera is aimed at the TikTok crowd"? Computational photography? Tony is completely missing what this camera is and what it is meant for. I'm asking myself is he doing it intentionally? To make a more controversial video? I like most of Tony and Chelsea's other videos enough, but this video is unhinged.

Why does Tony always get older and Chelsea gets younger every year? Is it a camera trick!! 😁

When I see more than one photographer releasing videos on any piece of gear at the same time, I skip them all.

The cameras are so good the only skill you have to have as a photographer is be the beneficiary of a trust fund... 😜

What a nice. Thank you sir!!

I don't know how good it is but a very quick way of finding out how the latest cameras compare to the one you own is a website called Camera Decision where you put in the model of your camera against a new one and it gives an instant technical comparison as well as an opinion as to how good it is for specific types of photography. I aways look at comments on CZcams videos and Amazon to get owners opinions too. Never relying on a single source of truth is perhaps the best way of making up your mind.

"We don't want to be gloom and doom... yes we do... there's something fun about it... " AI can't do that... Stay awesome! Ahhh, a AI ad followed your podcast yeah... we are all doomed.

Nikon Z5 😊

If not conscious, it's unconscious bias for sure! How can you give negative feedback after a five star treatment from such nice people? And you get extra views on top of that!? I really miss those reviews from Popular Photography back in the days when they disassembled the cameras and used optical benches! I wish the reviews were done by engineers, especially given the insane cost of cameras nowadays. Gerald U. is actually trying to do a bit of that.

Thank you! Finally a clear, detailed enough review of the different options to choose from. Great info!

Find the discussion interesting. BUT, some major points made by Gerald Undone were not adequately addressed. The first is that not all camera companies respond to reviews the same way. For example, Sony, it was pointed out, have always been open to negative review; they seem to use these negative reviews as a way of learning and improving the product. Panasonic, on the other hand, seems to "cherry pick" the influencers that they ask out. Granted - there are certain influencers whose size of reach gives them the ability to be critical (e.g., the content creators at PetaPixel and Three Blind Men and an Elephant); these will, as a rule, be invited. Such reviewers also have the ability to be "critical" (see the PetaPixel review on the recently announced Panasonic S9). However, there are others who have a sizable audience but who have not yet reached this same status. What the issue that was raised is that when a camera company cherrypicks its reviewers (i.e., invites influencers who have been positively inclined to a company's products in the past), can we really trust the resulting reviews? To me, this issue cannot be addressed by simply acknowledging that a specific influencer/reviewer took advantage of a company paid trip. This was one of the issues raised by Gerald Undone. This issue makes the review of the new Panasonic S9 so problematic. This product introduction is a major event for Panasonic (as noted by the rumors that preceded its formal introduction); Panasonic probably has a great deal tied up in this product and its success. When I looked at this camera and its features, I was confused. While it offers some great features (e.g., a full frame sensitive taken from the SII), it also lacks certain features (e.g., a view finder - point commented on by some of the other reviewers such as Chris Nickels from PetaPixel). It offers some confusing features (e.g., LUTS). At the end, the S9 left me cold - I would not buy it. [BTW, I am a Panasonic shooter, with the S1, S5, and S5 II - I love the layout and feel of the camera and I am happy with the L-mount alliance). Yet, if you fly out reviewers/influencers who have done past positive reviews, then isn't there is the chance that you are hoping to positively seed the reviews?? I have looked at some of the recent reviews from people who were flown out and who, in my mind, are not as well known, and - guess what - they are positive - surprise, surprise, surprise. This is important because most camera buyers have now turned to the Internet and to CZcams for information to shape their buying decisions. The process of selecting such reviewers for these company-paid trips is opaque and not well-understood - maybe, the camera companies should describe in advance the process and factors used in selecting the invited reviewers? It is for these points that I feel that this discussion by Chelsea and Tony Northrup, while good, may not have been adequate.

this is a great topic and i did notice with panasonic s9 release how not critical the reviews were. i mean that camera should not exist, it’s just weird and bad

Well here's the problem, just because a person is brutality honest hardly means that they are Right. So a honest review isn't necessarily a good review. For it to be a Good review, that person would first have to be Qualified to make such qualifications. I highly doubt most are, regardless of how long they have been doing photography.

No one cares about privacy till it's too late.