Everybody wins an Eisa ward (does it make sense?)
Th EISA (European Imaging & Sound Association) is a unique association of 50 special interest magazines from 19 European countries. And every year they do award the best photo cameras and lenses. The problem I have with Eisa is that they created so many different categories that it easy for every manufacturer to win at least one of the prizes. Olympus for example won the “European All Weather Camera 2011-2012” with the Olympus TOUGH TG-810. And Panasonic won the “European Compact System Camera 2011-2012” with the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G3.
See all categories and winners at http://www.eisa.eu/awards/3/photo.html
Like last year, and two years ago and three years ago (and so on) everybody won a price! Nikon, Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Fuji, Samsung, Pentax, Tamron, Sigma, Casio…sounds a bit like a joke or no? That said the Panasonic G3 is certainly the best mirrorless camera announced in 2011!
REMINDER: Those are the direct search links to all the new Pana/Oly stuff:
Panasonic G3 search page at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Panasonic GF3 search page at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Panasonic-Leica 25mm f/1.4 search page at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Olympus E-P3 search page at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 search page at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 page at Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
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Recent comments
Comment from Emil Travemat: EISA, TIPA...all the same. A scam. There...
Comment from mahler: Interchangeable lens cameras aren't real...- Comment from mahler: Okay, what do you mean with interfaces v...
Comment from Mr. Reeee: Back patting? Or circle jerk? You decide...
Pedro Almeida
10 months ago |Yes they are a joke, it’s like you said, everyone is special and gets an award at the end of the day.
Chris
10 months ago |Should of been the GH2 its way better. The G3 is just a cut down version.
Mr. Reeee
10 months ago |+10
The GH2 was officially released in 2010. You’d never know it, since it was nearly impossible to find or buy until this year!
kesztió
10 months ago |GH2 has better ergonomics and sophisticated video, but G3 is more compact, better build quality (high grade plastic + metal), much more friendly interface whith slighty more advanced feature set (picture in picture MF, pinpoint AF) and – last, but no least – better JPEG quality.
Frederick Hew
10 months ago |And then the G3 is some 30-40% cheaper than the GH2…
mahler
10 months ago |Better build quality? How do you come to that conclusion? Just because the body has a thin metal finish?
I dropped my GH2 some days ago to an asphalt road and only got some scratches on the body surface. The outside material does not tell much about the real build quality. Looking at a G3 more carefully, I don’t think that it is anything better than a G3, and given the probably thin metal cover, I guess its robustness is worse than the GH2.
In terms of ergonomics you contradict yourself: you attest the GH2 better ergonomics and then say that the G3 has the more friendly interface (which I think isn’t true: with the GH2 most of the things are under your finger tipps, whereas in the G3 you have to consult the menu more often).
kesztió
10 months ago |By example, the Canon EOS 1D series have an excellent ergonomics – as they have separate thumbs/buttons for almost everything – but their interfaces are everything but friendly.
Nick Clark
10 months ago |I’d have to agree with this.
Once I tried getting my Mum to take a photo with my GH2. All I got was a Blank Look and that thing fingers do when they don’t know quite what they’re allowed to touch….
There’s a massive difference between good ergonomics on an enthusiast camera, and a *friendly* interface.
Mr. Reeee
10 months ago |Situations like that are what iAuto was made for!
When I go into social situations with my GH2, off goes the Nokton (unless phot geeks are present), on goes the 20mm and iAuto activated.
“See…. Just press this button”
It couldn’t be easier.
mahler
10 months ago |Interchangeable lens cameras aren’t really designed for beginners or people who do not photograph regularly. It would be a R&D waste to design ILC with a beginners interface.
mahler
10 months ago |Okay, what do you mean with interfaces vs. ergonomics? The menu system? Then your point is more clear.
mahler
10 months ago |To choose the G3 in that category is a joke and shows what EISA really is: a marketing tool.
The G3 is a stripped down version of the excellent G2 body concept. Stripping down, however, also downgraded the usability of that camera as Panasonic decided to leave out several controls, such as
* AE-Lock button
* operational mode switch
* eye sensor
and on top of that they made thumb click-wheel smaller.
* the loss of the AF-mode control at the left is debatable, but certainly many people miss it.
To give such a stripped down replacement, which costs the same as its predecessor despite of the stripdown, an international price is a joke.
The camera, that still deserves an award, remains the GH2.
Jutzuro
10 months ago |To the best o my knowledge, the EISA is a trade association, that is, a “club” representing the commercial interest of its members, and financed by them. All of them want to win. Their prizes cannot be considered serious.
Mr. Reeee
10 months ago |That makes sense.
This seems like those children’s “contests” where the adults are so afraid of anyone’s feelings being hurt, that everyone gets a prize. UGH
Chris
10 months ago |@Jutzuro- I think I agree with that
GreyOwl
10 months ago |+1
Henrik
10 months ago |Admin: Typo? G3 announced 2012?
The reader still get the point but if I remember correctly you like to be correct aswell!
admin
10 months ago |Ops! Thanks! Yeah pleae, feel free to correct me at anytime!
Frederick Hew
10 months ago |OK then, in which case it would be the EISA award and not EISA ward (as in a ward of a hospital or an asylum)
Dummy00001
10 months ago |> The problem I have with Eisa is that they created so many different categories that it easy for every manufacturer to win at least one of the prizes.
Obviously. If a vendor doesn’t win something, it might stop sending free cameras/lenses/etc for reviews. (Not even speaking of pre-release models – for reviews to appear simultaneously with the release.)
The magazines are more dependent on manufacturers than manufacturers on the magazines.
kesztió
10 months ago |By the way, even if the prices had been equal I would have preferred G3 over GH2.
Why?
1. Smaller body (as my hand is really small, G3 fits excellent for me).
2. I don’t care about video at all.
3. G3 simply looks much better.
4. Colors and JPG quality are much better as well.
5. As I havent’t touched the LVF/LCD button yet (despite the fact that I heavily use both LCD and LVF) I don’t miss the eye sensor anyway.
6. Touch interface is more friendly.
However I should admit that more Fn buttons would be welcomed – and the multi-aspect sensor is also a strong argument for GH2. But overall I like G3 much more.
Tobias W.
10 months ago |Collective back padding. Nothing less, nothing more.
They use these awards as a non-competitive marketing tool.
Worthless rewards.
Mr. Reeee
10 months ago |Back patting? Or circle jerk? You decide…
Mar
10 months ago |Be glad they use a lot of categories, otherwise m43 wouldn’t get anything.
Ben Y
10 months ago |Can’t stand the pseudo awards like these. They only want to give everyone an award for their own sake so they can have their name on the manufacturer’s page. It doesn’t mean very much at all. 80% marketing.
Ben Y
10 months ago |Might be worth making this comparison to people on flickr who ‘favs’ everyone’s photos, not because they particularly like the photo itself but just to get more traffic in their own stream. Sigh.
Bob B.
10 months ago |At first I laughed because there are soooooo many categories for the awards.. but…then I thought..there is a ton of gear out there to choose from, too..so maybe not so many….
I definitely have mixed feelings about it.
Emil Travemat
10 months ago |EISA, TIPA…all the same. A scam. There have to be as many categories as possible since firms have to pay as to use de prize logo.
Item plus: in at least one of those organizations, “the board” (around six members) controls thightly the money, accounts, etc. More laughable: TIPA gets every year a list from each firm with a “suggestion” of the products they (the firm) consider worthy of a prize…That is good for the organization, since they have, more than once, given e prize to a product not yet on the market, or out of production.