As digital cameras are often used to produce photographs published on the Web, we asked our online readers to help us judge the images from the cameras we reviewed. This year, we conducted a pair of online jury tests, the Model Shot Jury Test and the Product Shot Jury Test, using photographs of two types of subjects. We used a typical indoor shot with human models and various objects, as well as a close-up of still objects to simulate the product shots often found in online stores. You can try the jury tests for yourself or just view the sample images used by visiting our Web site . Bold type denotes first place.
Low scores are best.
High scores are best. But interestingly, the Coolpix 950 received 514 out of 999 first-place votes yet still finished second to the Kodak camera, which placed first on only 226 ballots. Many jurors did not look favorably on the Coolpix 950, whose flash saturated the scene with bright light. The point difference between third and sixth place, however, is relatively small. The Product Shot Jury Test did not exercise the flash range, because the images were captured under a light table, and the subject did not contain any skin tones, which are always difficult to reproduce faithfully.