Why Buy? Why Bye?

We often her the phrase " deal-breaker " when someone reviews new equipment - it's intended to express discontent with something in the design. We should be fair - there is also the "deal-maker " feature as well. Manufacturers hope that every aspect of their new cameras, lenses, or accessories will be attractive. In some cases they are - and that can come from as early in the manufacturing timeline as the design department or the technical developers. Further input can come from the accountancy people and the marketing bureau. When everyone works together well, the customers sit up and take notice. What happens when one part don't work? Well, the traction that the new product was meant to have starts to slip. Two departments miss their targets and the goods start to fade away. You might only see a brief mention of them, and then something else sweeps the general attention away. So what do you, as a potential customer, do? How can you do yourself good when new products are announced. Herewith a brief guide: a. Read the net every day. DP Review is slowing down a bit these days and can go off on some awful tangents, but they have the gravity to attract equipment and programs from even the largest producers. They can back up what they say with their own studio tests. Plus their cheif reviewrs are from Calgary, and that makes a difference... b. Read the net with one eye firmly fixed on the page and one tongue firmly in your cheek. Ken Rockwell has a vast set of pages dedicated to equipment reviews and they are very well-organised. He also has some ideas, to say the least, but they are pretty obvious so you need not trip over them if you have any knowledge of the world. Use his pages as accurate specification reference. I do - and it saves no end of footling about on manufacturer's websites. c. Explore YouTube to see if any of the people who use your brand of camera know more about it than you do. I've found Chris Lee and Omar Gonzales for the Fujifilm system and they're a lot of fun - there are likely to be similar presenters for the other brands. YouTube has the problem that the people who know sometimes can't speak, and the people who can speak don't know. And you get a lot of ads, unless you have a special premium service. Slog on and you'll generally get something helpful. d. Come to the equipment display and introduction nights at Camera Electronic. Parking after shop hours is free and the industry reps and professional shooters that give the talks really do know what they are saying. If you have sensible questions, write them down and ask them. Sometimes your answer helps everyone. e. Come to PhotoLive. It's all the fun of the fair and you can spend money like mad. And you get to see all the competitive gear in one place. f. Come down to CE when it isn't lunch or closing time and spend a while handling and familiarizing yourself with a prospective purchase. Love it or hate it, you'll do yourself good by having it in hand. Bring a card and take sample pictures away and study them for yourself. If you do what you do and are happy with what you've done, you have answered the most important questions. g. Rent the gear for a weekend and find out if it can do what you want out in the great world. The price you pay can sometimes be applied to a purchase - but it is a good investment anyway. Keep an eye out for the dreaded deal-breaker and then analyse why it is so - for you - it wasn't for the factory, and it might not be for 99% of the rest of the people. Is there a possibility that you are looking at it cock-eyed? Also remember that every fabulous new feature that you don't think you'll ever need can often be turned down to the level that you're familiar with. Then you'll find that you want to do a bit more...and you turn up the wick. Be careful if you sleep a lot - remember there is no wick for the rested...