How Much Bias is there in Things Written About Photography Gear? A Cautionary Word...

Late blooming red rose in rain (how's that for an alliteration?) (click to enlarge)
Handheld image, cropped 50% made in the pouring rain. E-M1, 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens @ 35mm; 1/50th sec. @ f/8; ISO 400

After reading many, many reviews and reports for new equipment over the past many years, it is apparent to me that quite a bit of bias creeps into those reports that are supposedly written to give us objective information.

As the consuming public, we have to rely on the media, reviewers, bloggers and others to give us honest, unbiased information as to what reviewers and writers find as well as test results when it comes to photography gear. After all, most of us don't have access to newly introduced gear or a myriad of different brands and types of gear, which may be available to many of the large Internet based sites, professional photographers or to be viewed at Photokina, Photo Plus or the other major photographic equipment shows around the world. Additionally, we don't have the means to buy and extensively try out cameras, lenses, strobes, tripods, accessories and other gear that is new by the many, many manufacturers.  We have to be able to trust writers to provide unbiased and objective narrative to help us understand just what has changed or improved, what capabilities may be, etc., in newly introduced as well as existing gear.

I believe, as it is with the press in most every subject, that what is reported contains judgments, bias, edited information and even sometimes untruths.  In my high profile public career in which I have extensively dealt with the written as well as the visual press over the span of 30 years, often times writers write from a particular point of view or adopt an opinion, then write to support that point of view or opinion, all the while asking us to believe that their work is neutral and unbiased.  It happens much more frequently than you would think.  Opinion is fine, just tell us that the writing or video presentation is opinion.  Don't push it to us as fact.  We deserve to know.

Everyone has biases, whether conscious or unconscious.  I think that is a given.  I hope you already know that. The writers'/reporters' job is to understand their biases and remove them from the work as best they can. Unless we are presented with only the facts and all of the facts (not just the facts that support the writers' [or manufacturers'] points of view or conclusion), we cannot make the best judgment for ourselves as to any interest we may have in such gear.

When reading reviews, one should take with "a grain of salt" those statements and levels of importance given to the writers' favorite features.  I have heard and read reviewers who disparaged cameras because the camera body didn't have 4K video, no rotating and reversing LCD, no touch screen, ISO performance only up to 51,200, only 16mp or uselessly bogged down with 50mp.  Each of us has to judge for ourselves and come to our own conclusions as to what is important in our types of photography.  Just because the reviewer says it is good or bad, it doesn't mean that any particular feature, or lack thereof, is good or bad for any of us.

For example, if you never make videos, why would you care if the camera only has 1080P and not 4K video?  If you photograph primarily in daylight, who cares if a camera doesn't provide extremely high ISOs?  If you primarily photograph still lifes, why would you discount a perfectly fine camera that doesn't focus at lightning speed?  If you only share images on the Internet or make prints smaller than 8" X 10", why should you be upset that a camera only has 16mp?  You get my point.

Just because a particular reviewer includes his or her own point of view of what are important features, doesn't mean we have to buy off on that opinion.  What is important to the writer may have little or no importance to you or me.  Don't be swayed by bias-based judgments.  Don't let their opinion influence your objectivity.

Reviewers tend, in my opinion, to praise or criticize based upon their own biases and don't just report the facts, all the facts.  Of course, the worst of these reports are biased for or against a particular brand of equipment.  Many reviewers get pre-release gear, can buy gear at vastly reduced prices or even get free gear.  Are you sure they are telling you that when they write their reviews?  They are supposed to.

Now there are times when we want subjective judgments made.  When comparing the elusive "image quality" of a newer camera body versus an older one, we may want to know if the reviewer can visibly see (or even better measure) if the image quality is better than the predecessor.  In these cases, since we don't have the new camera body in front of us to test for ourselves, we may want to carefully consider their opinion.  But we need to know that their statements are their opinions and not present as fact.  We may want to know if a particular lens has better "bokeh" than another, in the reviewers judgment.  But we also have to see illustrations so we can judge for ourselves—as best we can over the Internet.

My caution to you is to try to better understand the reviewer or reviewing site as well as the review. Who sponsors the reviewer or the site?  Who advertises?  Did they get the gear because they always write favorable reviews for all manufacturers or a particular manufacturer?  Do they get free gear to keep or even use for the asking.  And by no means are these questions and concerns only applicable to photography gear.  These quid pro quo arrangements are common across the board in many industries.

There was a national publication that I used to read frequently.  I never, ever saw less than stellar review of any photographic gear—ever.  I once heard the editor say during an interview that if the gear tests badly, they just don't publish it.  Now, to me, that is a real disservice to all of us photographers.  But that kind of things happens frequently, I suspect.

There are many good sites out there that give honest reviews.  There are many good reviewers who give unbiased assessments of photo gear.  Your job is to figure out which you can believe, which opinions you can trust and which you can't.  It may be a good idea to read between the lines to figure out what is not in the review as well as what is in the review.  You may also want to read as many as you can to get a better understanding from a wide variety of sources before you put your hard earned money down to purchase something.

Just food for thought...


Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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