Camera Face-Off Reorganised

Attentive readers might have noticed that we reorganised our digital camera face-off a few days ago. This should help make the various test shots easier to decipher and easier to compare. It should also make the face-off easier to use, in spite of the large number of shots in our new test procedure.

The main thing we've changed is the order of the test shots in the drop-down list. All the different-sized versions of one same 'detail' (i.e. a given section of the test scene) are now grouped together, so you can easily move from the 4" x 6" frame to the 8" x 12" frame then the 100% frame. You can then compare the 100% wide-angle shot and the 100% zoom shot. All the pictures of 'detail 1' (the bottle of oil towards the middle of the scene) are therefore now all listed together at the top of the drop-down menu. Shots of 'detail 2' (the map on the right-hand edge of the scene) are all listed together at the bottom of the drop-down menu.

This makes it easier to compare the different enlargement sizes. For example, you'll be able to see that for a 4" x 6" print, a camera phone with accurate colours will take a picture comparable in quality to the same shot taken with a decent digital camera, but for a 8" x 12" print, you'll notice a real different in quality between the two.

You'll also notice that we've removed the 8" x 12" with zoom detail shots. These were originally included to help you judge the accuracy of the lens at a long focal length (approximately 200 mm max.) compared to in wide-angle mode. However, it's not necessary to use resized shots to compare these factors, as comparing the 100% wide-angle frame with the 100% frame with zoom serves exactly the same purpose.

A new frame we've included is a macro shot of a ruler. This shows you the size of the smallest object the camera can fit into a full-frame shot. If the last line visible on the ruler is 5 cm, then any object smaller than 5 cm will only ever take up part of the overall frame.

Note that the test procedure hasn't changed. We may have reorganised the various pictures and changed their order in the drop-down menu, but the pictures themselves haven't changed a bit. The 2010 test procedure is likely to be in place for a while yet. The only real change in sight is a slight modification to our timing method. It's also possible that we could decide to add new tests, and thus create new entries in the face-off. And with the new audio testing lab now complete, we might even add some audio tests to the face-off (shutter release, video recording quality). 

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