J.D. Power's 2007 Digital Camera Ratings

08/30/2007 04:03:47 PM · #1

A quick search didn't reveal a previous posting, so here is a head's up that they posted the results of the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Digital Camera Usage and Satisfaction Study.

Four market segments: Ultra-Slim, Point-and-Shoot, Premium Point-and-Shoot and DSLR -- each rated on four catagories; Picture Quality, Performance, Operation and Appearance. (Appearance!? -- does it matter what the camera looks like?)

For those who don't want to click the winners are:
-------------------------------------------------
Ultra-Slim ... Casio Exilim Zoom Series
Point-and-Shoot ... Fujifilm FinePix F Series
Premium Point-and-Shoot ... Canon PowerShot SD Series
DSLR ... Nikon D Series

More detailed results linked from the article.

David

08/30/2007 04:09:02 PM · #2

It's probably worth noting that it is a user survey rather than any sort of review/ ratings

The study asks consumers who bought digital cameras about picture quality, performance, operation, and appearance, as well as other questions about how and why they purchased their camera, their research and shopping experiences, and other aspects of photo taking and photo making. Based on consumer survey responses, picture quality is the most important factor driving satisfaction and camera appearance is the least important factor�but don�t tell that to the highest-ranking camera maker in our first segment.

Canon EOS (the entire range I suppose ?) scored a '2'

and the Nikon D range (again all of the cameras lumped together?) scored a '5'

That's informative right there.

Message edited by author 2007-08-30 16:10:42.

dacrazyrn

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

08/30/2007 06:16:14 PM · #3

Well, you can't please all the Canon users, all of the time.
Just a survey, that holds no weight (cuz Canon was not #1)...of customers who own the product...and use them. Just like political surveys and approval ratings. hehehehe

wavelength

08/30/2007 06:32:51 PM · #4

This is a study on how much average joes liked their new DSLR's, not a study on what we camera ~~geeks~~ aficionado's think are the merits of any system.

Does tell ya wonders about how well the d40, d40x, and d80 are doing in the regular consumer class though. As much as we all whined about lens support in the d40 series, does any dude/ette at Best Buy or Circuit City really care? Not likely.

zxaar

08/30/2007 06:33:49 PM · #5

Originally posted by Gordon:

It's probably worth noting that it is a user survey rather than any sort of review/ ratings

I always give weight to what users (we the people) feel about something than what a reviewer thinks (ex at dpreview).
Its interesting though.

08/30/2007 06:34:50 PM · #6

Originally posted by dacrazyrn:

Not so much that Canon isn't #1 or not, just comments like 'this type of camera used to cost around $3,500 just a few years ago, but now there are �pro-sumer� models starting at around $1,500' on the DSLR category doesn't give me a lot of hope that the people doing the survey have a clue either.

The 5's in every category for nikon and 2s or 3s in every category for Canon seems slightly suspect though. Nikon's look 3 points better than Canon? Don't they look pretty much identical ? :)

Reminds me of those Fortune magazine 'best 100 companies to work for' surveys where the winning company is the one with the HR dept that pays the most.

Message edited by author 2007-08-30 18:43:41.

wavelength

Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited AF

08/30/2007 06:43:31 PM · #7

Originally posted by Gordon:

Originally posted by dacrazyrn:
Well, you can't please all the Canon users, all of the time.
Just a survey, that holds no weight (cuz Canon was not #1)...of customers who own the product...and use them. Just like political surveys and approval ratings. hehehehe

Not so much that Canon isn't #1 or not, just comments like 'this type of camera used to cost around $3,500 just a few years ago, but now there are �pro-sumer� models starting at around $1,500' on the DSLR category doesn't give me a lot of hope that the people doing the survey have a clue either.

The 5's in every category for nikon and 2s or 3s in every category for Canon seems slightly suspect though. Nikon's look 3 points better than Canon? Don't they look pretty much identical ? :)

Yeah, that can't be a representative sample. Especially the image quality marks. WTH?

eamurdock

Pentax KP

08/30/2007 07:02:19 PM · #8

Perhaps Canon (and Pentax) users are just more discriminating in our tastes, and more demanding of our cameras, thus less satisfied.

Except that Pentax users seem to think our cameras look really cool, despite the fact that they all look the same.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

08/30/2007 07:11:34 PM · #9

Originally posted by eamurdock:

I can totally see the 3 point difference, particularly on a scale from 2-5

Message edited by author 2007-08-30 19:33:34.

hsolakidis

Nikon D50

08/30/2007 07:31:42 PM · #10

I always felt that nikon SLRs "feel" better to hold,more engineered than their canon counterparts (I'm talking low end here). I still remember those horrible tiny buttons on the 300D...

On the other hand, nikon can't do point and shoots like canon. Not even close.

I 've heard the above from many people and I fully support it (although I have't touched the latest crop of cameras). It seems that others think the same.

The score gap, though, in this case, is a bit too much.

Message edited by author 2007-08-30 19:37:40.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70 f2.8 L IS

08/30/2007 07:31:50 PM · #11

Oh good lord. That "survey" is complete hogwash. Not only are they clueless on the state of the DSLR market, there's absolutely NO WAY that there is that much difference between *any* current brand of DSLR. Order of rankings notwithstanding the "data" they present absolutely *reeks* of bias. In reality, the DSLR market is a very competitive one, and I'd fully expect that to be reflected in a very tight race amongst manufacturers.

08/30/2007 07:34:37 PM · #12

Originally posted by kirbic:

You are just a sore loser.

MelonMusketeer

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

08/30/2007 07:46:29 PM · #13

Originally posted by Gordon:

Originally posted by eamurdock:
Perhaps Canon (and Pentax) users are just more discriminating in our tastes, and more demanding of our cameras, thus less satisfied.

Except that Pentax users seem to think our cameras look really cool, despite the fact that they all look the same.

I can totally see the 3 point difference, particularly on a scale from 2-5

It's the little red wedge in the Nikon handle cover. It's gotta be worth at least 1.5 points in any survey. It is there to help newbies remember which way to point the camera, resulting in more good images.. : )
I am happy they like Fuji P&S, as I have a little Fuji A360 that just kicks butt. I like my S3's too.

David.C

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

08/30/2007 08:40:56 PM · #14

As soon as I saw Nikon on top I knew there would be a few who would get a kick out of it. :D

I would say these two comments, taken together, tell the story fairly well.

Originally posted by wavelength:

This is a study on how much average joes liked their new DSLR's, not a study on what we camera ~~geeks~~ aficionado's think are the merits of any system. ...

Originally posted by eamurdock:

Perhaps Canon (and Pentax) users are just more discriminating in our tastes, and more demanding of our cameras, thus less satisfied. ...

The survey is of/for the 'average' user, based on 'the-camera-I-have-is-the-best' opinions of current users. The only really suprising thing is that there wasn't a fifth category -- cell phone cameras. Most of the people I know don't see a need to purchase a camera since one came on their phone. :(

As has been pointed out many times before, the only survey worth anything is the one a potential buyer does when he goes into a store picks up a few different cameras, clicks the shutter a few times and sees what develops. The rest are just for laughs.

David

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

08/30/2007 08:48:07 PM · #15

I suspect some Nikon sponsorship money in there somewhere.

Or it was Nikon users trying the other cameras so of course they didn't feel/look right.

Message edited by author 2007-08-30 20:50:20.

Intelli