Do you know what a bloody pain in the ass it is to set up cameras for testing?
Of course I do. Just a few days ago, the issue of MLU came up again. Despite the fact I am at present travelling in Thailand, I went to the trouble of printing out a Norman Koren test chart, taping it to the wall of my rented bedsitter, then spent a whole morning testing the effect of MLU on the 2 cameras I'm carrying, attached to my ultra lightweight Manfrotto tripod.
Because I was careful and meticulous with my testing, I learned something. With the 20D and standard 50/1.8 lens on this particular tripod, MLU serves no significant purpose at any shutter speed. However, with the 5D with same lens on the same tripod, there is a significant blurring of the image at 1/30th sec exposure without MLU enabled. When one comes across unexpected anomalies like this, then of course one repeats the test.
When it comes to testing camera equipment, the adage, "If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well' is particularly appropriate. If a test is not carried out meticulously and with sound methodology, you end up not only wasting your own time but everyone elses who might be tempted to think you know what you are doing.
You're just going to continue arguing your point anyway even if you're proven wrong.
Absolutely not! You don't know me at all. Prove me wrong and I'll be the first to concede the point. But I'm not going to take a dive and throw in the towel.
In film days I don't go on forums and argue about whether a film is better based on some charts I see online. I buy a roll of film and shoot it myself and compare it for myself.
Exactly what I do. I'd love to have the opportunity to just whizz round the corner and borrow or hire or test in the store a P21, ZD and 1Ds3 and do a proper comparison myself, but I just don't have this opportunity in Chiang Mai. I doubt whether I'd even have the opportunity in Brisbane, Australia. There have been many occasions when I would have liked to have hired a particular Canon lens for a weekend to try out before making a decision to buy, but was unable to find any place in Brisbane that rented the particular lenses I was interested in. I usually have to buy the lens from a store and then return it if I'm not satisfied, which I've done a couple of times, but you can understand one does not become popular if one does that sort of thing too often.
The fact is, the internet is a tremendous resource for saving the consumer time. One cannot possibly test every camera that's available and it's impossible to test cameras that are not available because of one's location or other circumstances.
I am very sure that people who own digital backs have used DSLRs before. sheesh.
Of course they have, but not necessarily the 1Ds3. What's your point? You seem to be reducing the discussion to a black& white issue of 35mm DSLR versus MFDB.