Why did the professional camera reviewers totally miss a serious flaw in the camera?

I'm curious why the following three camera reviewers totally missed a very
serious and obvious flaw in the Nikon Coolpix camera lineup.

The flaw is the infamous Nikon coolpix flimsy battery door latch molded as
a thin, easily broken loop of plastic on the coolpix camera body. The fix
has been described in various ways by various users in other threads. The
fix isn't the point of this thread.

DPREVIEW didn't even test camera integrity:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikoncp3100/

DCRESOURCE totally missed the mark:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/nikon/coolpix3100-review/

STEVE'S DIGICAMS was clueless:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/nikon3100.html

The question I am incensed about and very curious about is how could the
reviewers I trusted have been so inanely incompetent to have totally missed
the fact the camera would inevitably turn into a brick due to the obvious
poor engineering that wasn't visible to the consumer but which should have
been wholly obvious to the "professional" camera reviewer?

Is it that the reviewers are:
- Paid by the camera manufacturers to tout their products?
- Paid by the advertisers to tout the manufacturer's products?
- Clueless?
- ??? or ???

 

Good heavens! how could you even think such a thing!



Ron(UK)

 

I'm curious what this has to do with home repair?

 

You have to repair the camera when you get it home.

 

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They probably aren't allowed to test the cameras to destruction! With the
light use the reviewers put on a test camera, something like a flimsy
latch isn't going to break. Even if it did they aren't going to write it
in their article - camera manufacturers aren't going to be too trusting
of a reviewer who breaks cameras!

- --
Brendan Gillatt
brendan {at} brendangillatt {dot} co {dot} uk
http://www.brendangillatt.co.uk
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You came to the right place with your concerns.

Experts here at alt.home.repair are ready to deal with your worries. We
unaimously recommend:

Duct tape.

Hope this helps.

 

Absolutely listen to this recommendation. This guy knows his shit big
time.

You must have heard the famous saying, "When someone says Duct Tape,
people listen."

 

I guess the Nikon name just doesn't carry the same weight it once did,
if its cameras are associated with China manufacturing then they've
just sold that venerable good name down the river, it's mudd now.

 

Darn tootin'! Nothing says "I love you" more than a
fresh-off-the-production-line full roll of silver duct tape. But most
people ask for "Duck Tape". Quack, quack!

 

These kinds of small issues that plague consumers are rarely considered in
reviews. While some of these design flaws may be significant they just don't
come up in reviews that are focused solely on image quality.
Even more to the point is the suspicion that reviewers get cherry picked
cameras/lenses that are not of the build quality that the consume can
expect. How else to explain the frequent discrepancy between lens reviews
and what users actually experience?
I'm looking at the rubberized side caps over the electonic ports in my D80
and wonder how long they would last if frequently used.

 

your concerns.

Or rubber bands. Larger applications can use bungee cords. Packing tape
will do in a pinch if you're short on duct tape, but must be supplemented
with twine.

You could have dragged your lazy ass into a store and looked at the camera
yourself. Probably would've taken less time overall than all your whining.
Did it ever occur to you that if you buy a cheap camera at the low end of
the model scale such as CoolPix, you just might get a friggin' piece of
trash? Did it never occur to you that virtually all consumer-grade
electronics have become completely disposable? Or that Nikon has a vested
interest in ensuring that that camera you just bought DOESN'T last 20 years?

Suck it up and admit to yourself that it was your own damned fault.

Or get a small dog to kick. But whatever you do, do it someplace else.

 

Do you feel better now?

We're you expecting a real answer?

 

You get what you pay for.

Nikon have, do, and will continue to make cameras in their range that are
almost indestructible. Not the entire range they offer, just some.

Price is a good indicator.

If you expect hardy equipment at rock bottom prices, you're fooling yourself.

 

You broke your battery door. And its everyone else's fault?

/M

 

Don't forget the subsequent whining about how the paperclip repair is
supposed to be bent. Now it's the fault of those who offer repair techniques too.

 

The most inventive use I've ever seen for duct-tape to make the most efficient
and low-cost watercraft ever ------ Red Green used sections of straight and
elbow air-ducts (the large 2x2 ft. variety). Creating two pontoons by taping the
sections together. The elbows upturned at the ends to keep the water out, the
shape making a boat-bow for easier movement in water. A section of chain-link
fence across the two pontoons with some lawn furniture on top. It worked
perfectly.

How is this camera related? If some photographers built one they might be able
to get to some scenes worth viewing by others. Those who inflict the world with
their agonizingly boring cat and birdbath photos need all the help and advice
that they can get. If not for them, then for the rest of us who have to endure
their relentless shit.

 

Then explain the titanium shell of Sony P&S cameras that have even withstood
being run over by a jeep and still kept working as new (true story). Story and
photos online in one of dpreview.com's discussion forums.

You're fooling yourself by thinking that money = quality. Lengthy research into
which ones are worth buying = quality. Cost isn't an indication of anything
these days, other than the seller's bank account .... at the expense of fools
who love nothing better than to parrot outdated sayings that no longer hold any
truth whatsoever.

 

Whose stuff???

lsmft

 

Because today's revieweres are merely there to provide support for the
magazine's advertisers.

Graham

 

It's nothing a little Red Green Duct Tape can't fix.

I mean, it could be worse..

Stoneman