Digital Cameras
Although ratings in this category are all over the map, users were generally happy with their digital cameras. Overall, these devices had the lowest percentage of units with problems of any product category in our survey. But service for cameras is considerably less positive across the board: Sony and Fujifilm users have complaints.
In reliability, Sony outdid the competition and posted the only top-tier score. It fared well on such measures of reliability as number of cameras with problems on arrival and number of problems per year. Most of the big players, including Nikon, Canon, and Fujifilm, earned strong marks in reliability as well.
Photograph: James SchnepfSteve Zaleski is one happy Fujifilm camera customer. He has owned a Fujifilm FinePix 3800 for almost a year and uses it for personal projects. "I've had no problems with the camera--or the software that came with it," says Zaleski, a construction review supervisor with a civil engineering firm based in Waukesha, Wisconsin. "I have never needed to contact Fujifilm technical support for any help with my FinePix," continues Zaleski. "The camera has been bulletproof."
So-So Service
While Sony's and Fujifilm's reliability ratings are high, their service scores are disappointing. About 35 percent of Sony camera owners reported that the company did not resolve problems satisfactorily. Respondents also griped about Sony's hold times: 44 percent of Sony customers waited on hold for more than 5 minutes to reach a tech support rep. (The average number of excessive holds for camera vendors was 35 percent.)
"Our customers did complain about the cumbersome tech-support phone tree we used to have," says Maureen Read, vice president of Sony Electronics' customer information services center. "But over the past year, we've installed an automated voice-recognition system to quickly route calls to technicians." According to Read, Sony has also expanded the tutorials and knowledgebase on its Web site.
Phone support wasn't the only thing that Sony users complained about. Jerome Gaeta of Kew Gardens in Queens, New York, says that his Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S85 was past its 90-day labor warranty period when the flash stopped working. He had owned the camera for less than 6 months--still well within the 12-month parts warranty period. So he wasn't thrilled when a Sony service rep told him that he would have to send in and insure the Cyber-shot for repairs at his own expense and pay a repair fee of at least $200. He was warned that he'd have to wait several weeks for the repaired camera's return. "I was very disappointed," says Gaeta, a contractor and property manager for AC Renovation.
Most camera makers--including Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, and Olympus--cover labor costs for one year, versus Sony's scant 90 days. Still, Sony redeemed itself somewhat by suggesting an alternative to Gaeta: taking the camera to a local shop, which in this instance did the job for $135.
As for Fujifilm, customers specifically complained about hold times: 44 percent of survey respondents had to wait on hold for more than 5 minutes before reaching a technical support rep--second from the bottom, and just a hair ahead of Sony. Though Fujifilm did not offer any encouragement on its tech-support hold times, it recently revamped the support pages on its digital camera Web site. Previously, customers seeking online help were encouraged to e-mail questions; now Fujifilm provides more information on issues such as drivers and camera features, and it displays the data in FAQ lists, says Marianne Salimbene, director of Fujifilm's consumer information center.
Unclear Picture
Sometimes even reliable cameras can be difficult to use. For example: while Nikon pleased its customers on service and reliability, it received a Poor score on ease of use. Even Nikon knows that some customers have usability problems. Most frequently, these relate to the complex menu structure of older cameras, including the Coolpix 880 and 990, according to Michael Rubin, a senior product manager for Nikon. Nikon listened to users' complaints and revamped the menu on newer models like the Coolpix 2100 and 3100, says Rubin. The company also provides a Get Started videotape to guide first-time users.
But Michelle Slaughter, director of digital photography trends at InfoTrends Research Group, says that digital cameras' ease of use should continue to improve for an entirely different reason, and one that camera makers' don't control: the growing use of Microsoft Windows XP.
"The newer OSs--Windows XP and Mac OS 10--definitely improved the experience for digital camera users," Slaughter says. "The OS recognizes the camera right away and helps the users through the process of transferring photos. The PC is still a big factor in the digital photography experience."
Get What You Pay For
More Kodak, Casio, Toshiba, and Polaroid users (19 percent, 21 percent, 21 percent, and 24 percent, respectively) than other brands' customers reported encountering at least one significant problem. Logitech also posted so-so marks: Respondents to our survey cited Logitech cameras as having the most problems per year--an average of 3.6 glitches. That's more than double the average of the other camera brands for which we had meaningful data.
Admittedly, some of these companies build inexpensive, bare-bones cameras not meant for serious photography. For instance, Logitech, a big name in Webcams, makes few digital still cameras, including a simple combination Webcam and digital still camera, and a basic credit-card-style digital camera with no LCD.
Polaroid doesn't make digital cameras anymore; it has licensed its brand to a Hong Kong manufacturer (World Wide Licenses, Ltd.) that works with a distributor (Spectra Merchandising International) in the United States to sell inexpensive, Polaroid-branded cameras in chains like RadioShack and Wal-Mart.
Overall, camera owners seemed to find that they got what they paid for: According to our survey results, satisfaction increased among owners of more-expensive, higher-megapixel cameras in comparison with owners of basic units.
See our survey results for digital cameras.
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