Updated Digital Test

I added some classified ads so people can judge detail, too. I also think this exposure is better than the last one. I want to make these as accurate and consistent as possible. So I'm trying to develop a method that will be pretty easy to match every time. I have two big hot lights and I put the camera on spot meter (Olympus 5060), zoomed in, and metered off a gray card. That should be pretty easy to replicate with any camera.

The final photos will be uploaded at full resolution to the Digital Cameras Gallery. I'll post links to the photos on a page so that all of the tests are easy to find. The first camera I'll do a complete test with will be the Pentax *ist D.

Anything else I can do to make this better?

John,
all these cameras made to perform well in ideal conditions. What makes a test more interesting and useful is to having the camera struggle with bad things like 11 stops of dynamic range, for instance, or mixed lighting, or low-key shot with a guzziloon shades of black. Another situation where digicams usually choke is mixed lighting on automatic WB.
Irakly

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Originally Posted by Photo-John

I added some classified ads so people can judge detail, too. I also think this exposure is better than the last one. I want to make these as accurate and consistent as possible. So I'm trying to develop a method that will be pretty easy to match every time. I have two big hot lights and I put the camera on spot meter (Olympus 5060), zoomed in, and metered off a gray card. That should be pretty easy to replicate with any camera.

The final photos will be uploaded at full resolution to the Digital Cameras Gallery. I'll post links to the photos on a page so that all of the tests are easy to find. The first camera I'll do a complete test with will be the Pentax *ist D.

Anything else I can do to make this better?

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Sure. But I don't want to do definitive tests. I'll let the other guys do that. I'm going to do the same test with every camera - this one. I'll also use cameras as I normally would, and post those photos, as I've been doing with the Olympus 5060 and the Pentax *ist D. The other thing I'm going to do is create a new section for these tests, so that everything is organized and easy to find. But aside from these target photos, my testing will remain pretty informal. It will be in the form of message board posts, but everything will be kept together, so it's easy to search and find the cameras you're interested in comparing.

what I REALLy have been wanting to see...one constant(still life set up) and different variables(cameras)....Thanks for having the brain to think of it....it helps people like me who need it kept VERY simple but easy to understand

thanks...fearless leader :D

Just finished shooting at all ISOs, with the *ist D. I'm still working on figuring out an exact process. But I think I'm pretty settled on how to do this. Now I just have to start working on a page.