Electronic Hub recently posted a study divulging which electronics have the most unreliable reviews on Amazon, with some of our most beloved cameras sitting near the top.
The Findings
Fakespot is a website which uses artificial intelligence to “detect fake reviews and scams.” Having analyzed Fakespot's data, Electronic Hub identified the electronics and brands with the highest density of Amazon reviews suspected of being fake or unreliable. Here is how the list stacked up:
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Sony a7R IV: 45.5% fake/unreliable reviews
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Canon EOS R6: 45% fake/unreliable reviews
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Nikon Z5: 44% fake/unreliable reviews
Once the fake reviews are removed, the Amazon rating for the Sony aR IV dropped from a 4.8/5 to a 2.5/5. Being a Canon enthusiast, there was a little devil on my shoulder coaxing me to wrap up the article with that highlight, but alas, I have some more findings to reveal. According to this study, Canon takes the first slot as the brand with the largest percentage of unreliable reviews on Amazon: a whopping 34.17%. With a slightly shallower fall from grace, the EOS R6 drops from at 4.8/5 to a 3.5/5 once the fake reviews were removed.
Who Are These Fake Reviewers?
As soon as this article came to me, I remembered hearing an interview on NPR where a contract "fake reviewer" was interviewed anonymously. I dug it up. It turns out that there are online channels where Amazon sellers congregate and barter for products on which they want favorable reviews. Going by his first name for the interview, Travis confesses"
I don't think it's right that people can write fake reviews on products, but I need the money. The sellers provide detailed instructions to avoid being detected by Amazon's algorithms.
NPR reports that according to outside auditors like Fakespot and ReviewMeta, more than half the reviews for certain popular products are questionable. Amazon disputes those estimates: "Our approximation is that less than one percent of reviews are inauthentic," says Sharon Chiarella, vice president of community shopping at Amazon.
According to a study by the Journal of Marketing Research, another source of these fake reviewers are fans of competing brands. We've all known a photographer who is obnoxiously over the top with their loyalty to their selected camera brand. Studies have now shown that these users perceive themselves as brand ambassadors with the task of tearing down the reputation of their competitors by leaving fake reviews.
On Writing Reviews
As writers, we are tasked to write reviews unbiasedly, and we are hand-picked by our editors for each review based on our qualifications. The process to be a gear reviewer for Fstoppers not only involves passing the competitive cut to be a writer but also a six month of writing and revision of your work from the editors before even becoming eligible to receive gear for review. You can know that Fstoppers always hand-chooses qualified photographers when it comes to gear review.
As writers, we sometimes tend to compose on the topics we are reflecting on in our own practices. Time and time again, though, I get messages from readers on my Instagram asking the beginner questions: "Where do I buy a camera?" "How do I prepare for my first shoot with a model?" "How much do I charge for my first paid shoot?" I have to rewind my mind to those questions I asked when I was just getting my toes wet. The seemingly obvious takeaway here is that Amazon is not the place for getting accurate camera reviews. Most of you probably already knew that. Is the Sony a7R IV really a 2.5/5 when the padding is removed? I don't know, but the moral of the story is that Amazon is not the place to find out.
Another closing note is that a camera that is perfect for one artist may not be the right one for you and vice versa. I've had photographers work for me who shot Nikon, and I just love how Nikon handles low light. Color is a predominant theme in my work, and for me, Canon is the best at color. Leica seems to have a reputation for the sensitivity to light and a creaminess of texture. The takeaway from this article is to go to the right source for your reviews and figure out what camera is best for the work you are doing. Don't trust Travis.
So how do I find out the true x/5 review results on a camera like the Nikon Z9 after the fakes are filtered out?
Good question- listed some places in the article such as Fred Moranda, DP Review, etc. B&H photo has this sort of rating on the cameras from purchasers- I'm not too sure about the reliabity. I've never looked into it
You only have to have a quick scan around the various camera or photography forums and rumour sites to see all the imposters posing as ‘concerned users’… it’s called concern trolling and I have no idea what drives someone to have such a dislike for a brand that they go to those lengths to discredit them.
Beyond the penis measuring amongst the big 3 brands, it’s amazing to see how much attention these people give the smaller brands, almost like they feel threatened by them.
Lol best comment on the article! I agree with you 100% people get cultish about their camera brands. It's inexplicable to me. I use Canon- I love its color, but I think Nikon is better than Canon at certain things (especially low light), I hear Sony is a clear leader for video etc. I've never understood the cultish behavior.
I follow Fakespot and have it installed on my browsers. I've noticed it gets a lot wrong and gives grades based more on its access to information, rather than its AI predictions of if reviews are real or not. It also seems that Fakespot like a lot of fact-checkers can be bought off, has an agenda, and sometimes gives negative scores to resellers who are perfectly fine but have not given in to their pressure to comply with them.
And who is checking that the AI is right? Is anyone auditing the AI to see if it's right? If Amazon says it's 1% (I don't believe that for a minute) and NPR is saying it's 30% or more (I find NPR to be one of the most dishonest and manipulative media sources out there) so is the truth somewhere in the middle? Is it more like 10-15% Who knows?
Are we just supposed to believe the AI just because we've been told it's right? Is it some other AI telling us to believe, the AI developers? Is some marketing firm behind it all? I want some validation before I simply trust that the information is legitimate that's telling me to not trust some other more distributed reviews.
That is a great comment. Yes, AI is NOT at the top of my list for trusted camera ANYTHING.
Just like anyone can call themselves a photographer, I think any photographer can call themselves a reviewer.
I would prefer the term user experience since most just go out and shoot various unrepeatable situations and decide yes or no if they like the results.
User experience. I like that
I made the mistake of ordering a cheap 1TB thumb drive from Amazon a couple of weeks ago. It had been programmed to spoof the available memory and show 1TB, rather than the 100 gigs actual size. I initiated a return and wrote a review. Unlike the glowing, one-sentence reviews, mine was detailed, provided a screen shot of the drive analysis, and made a remark that obviously couldn't come from a bot, saying that the size listed was as fake as a driver's license for someone named "McLovin."
Boom goes the dynamite and I'm in Amazon jail. Their review bot flagged that as posting information about the seller. Which it's not, by the way. A human who's seen "Super Bad" would know it's a real review.
Amazon, to its credit, removed the item the same day they denied my review. I left a one-star review of an old book recently. Rather than being a fully-formatted Kindle e-book, it was just a crudely-scanned PDF. Review with screenshot and it was off the site the following day.
They're obviously trying to police their merchandise and reviews, but as quickly as they take something down, something evolves and takes its place. Only real thing you can do is look at the reviewer's history: does it go back ten years, or did the account just get created ten days ago? (Asks the guy who finally created an account here to hop into the Amazon discussion!)
As for reviewers being beholden exclusively to one manufacturer, maybe so. But Amazon is usually my first step in researching new equipment. I then hit up camera and photography sites for professional opinions. I had a real estate agent try to pressure me into writing a contract on the second house I looked at. Bless her heart. I told her that I had spent two months shopping for a $500 stereo receiver, and no way was I going to buy a house after an hour.
Educate and comparison shop.
I'm looking for a new main body, but don't trust the reviews, so this is why I rent first and run it through its paces. If I don't like the camera/lens, I feel like it was good money spent to know.
how long do you usually rent it for?
Usually three days. I'll use it on a shoot (not a major one), but also run it through its paces on just tests.
Every time I hear Sony I think Minolta and when I see the Sony G lenses they look just like my Minolta G lenses. Ya go figure. When I hear Canon I think AE1 or F1 when I hear Nikon Z I grab my F2A with the nifty 50 from 1972 or my OM1n with the 28mm
Oh well
That's funny...Our old film cameras were so simple in retrospect but gave us great photos. The Minolta lenses were outstanding in the 80's. And they do fit new Sonys I believe. It's been a while since I tried one on my old A7R3 but i recall it fit. Out of curiosity, what happens when you hear the phone? lol
This sounds like the filter process did not believe Positive reviews and accepted negative reviews. The camera(s), from even the usual youtube top reviewers, is outstanding. They demonstrate their findings and back it all up. Given all of the photog websites and magazine type reviews as well that back up the outstanding conclusions, the outcome of this revelation is truly suspicious. The may actually be the real fake news. PS: I own the Canon R5 and the A7R4 both. Never heard anything but great about the Z9 except the guy I hired to shoot at my daughter's wedding had a memory card failure in one. But the other pictures were terrific (Odd file format though.)
I have this camera and I would rate it a 5 for stills and, for its time, a 4 for video. Anyway, I see your point that probably neither 2.5 nor 5 is accurate. However, my approach is to skip the glowing reviews and look at the 1-star and 2-star ratings first. I then determine if any of those look relevant or legitimate to me (key point being to me). If so, I do a search to get an idea of the extent of the problem or issue. If it seems one-off-ish or way out in left field, I ignore it. Glowing 5-star reviews I look at after the bad ones.
As far as video reviews go, I consider the entertainment factor and how tight the reviewer is in with the brand ecosystem. Many of the video reviews seem to hit at the same exact time for a given piece of equipment, which tells me that some of this is orchestrated by the vendors, the manufacturers of the new equipment. Those reviews I also take with a grain of salt.
--- "Many of the video reviews seem to hit at the same exact time for a given piece of equipment, which tells me that some of this is orchestrated by the vendors"
Yes and no. Many of the video reviews hit the same exact time because they are usually in embargo. The reviewers receive the items ahead of time so they can run their test and prepare reviews, but, are not allowed to post publicly until after a certain date/time. This is not uncommon. This happens also with new automobile reviews. So, no, it's not some coordinated attack. Often, if not all times, the manufacturers see the reviews at the same time the public does. They don't get a sneak peek.
I trust Amazon implicitly. I mean where else can you find a place that only sells 4.5 or higher items? It's just the best stuff no matter what.