DPReview March Madness finals

The finals

This is it. A few weeks ago we started with 32 contenders and now we’re down to our final match. It’s now up to you and the DPReview editors to decide who will take home the crown for DPReview’s March Madness 2023.

Click on the image above to see the updated bracket.

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Please note that for the best experience, we recommend voting on our desktop site.

Poll Rules:

This poll is meant to be a bit of fun. It’s not sponsored, promoted or paid for in any way and DPReview doesn’t care how you vote. Our readers’ polls are run on the basis of trust. As such, we ask that you only vote once, from a single account.

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Semifinals – Results

Digital bodies vs. Shallow DOF

The DPReview team debated amongst ourselves. What follows is an edited version of this conversation:

Dale Baskin: Oh, wow. Now we’re getting into some serious choices, and this one isn’t easy. I absolutely don’t want to give up digital bodies, but shallow DOF enabled some of the most iconic work ever recorded on film or digital. Without shallow DOF, we wouldn’t have those beautiful, painterly scenes Stanley Kubrick created in Barry Lyndon. For now, I’m going to cheat and go with digital bodies, but go on record that I’m waiting for Apple and Google to come to the rescue with more advanced computational photography.

Richard Butler: Shallow DOF is lovely, and all that. But did Kubrick really want DOF that shallow or was it the inevitable outcome of insisting on shooting film by candlelight? Perhaps his creative vision wanted both, but there’s no way of getting one without the other, so who can say? Digital bodies are the central to what this site is about (articles and forums about film were only permitted fairly recently), so it’s got to be digital for me.

Shaminder Dulai: This feels like an impossible choice. No digital cameras would be a huge loss for shutterbugs everywhere. Without digital cameras we wouldn’t have instant images that circle the globe, images that tell us about the world, hold power accountable and surface truths. These all existed pre-digital, but not in the widespread manner we have today. Digital democratized access to image making, without it we wouldn’t have the low barrier of entry for anyone wanting to get into photography or video. Without digital we wouldn’t have HDR, AI AF tracking, computational photography or be able to have debates about equivalence. And we certainly wouldn’t have the nearly 25 years of history chronicled on this website, but… well… this really does feel like an impossible choice, I’m really struggling here. I have to ask myself, can I erase a key tool from photography and video forever? Nope. I guess back to film it is then. Also a quick note of clarity on how we ended up with the coin flip going 50-50. It finally happened, our single quarter toss bounced around on the floor and vaulted itself onto a knit quilt, where it had landed on its edge. So, it’s possible I guess. (A second flip produced heads, so no matter which flip you consider ‘fair’ it didn’t effect the outcome.)

Roger Deakins vs Jordan Drake

The DPReview team debated amongst ourselves. What follows is an edited version of this conversation:

Dale: Another tough one. On the one hand you have Deakins, who created masterpieces like Blade Runner 2049 and 1917. On the other you have Drake, who created masterpieces like What is Lens Breathing? and Leica Q2 Monochrom Review, the latter of which is widely considered a modern day classic and will be part of film school curricula for decades. It’s a tough call, but I’ve got to go with Deakins. Of course, if Gordon was in the mix it would be a no-brainer, but alas that easy choice escapes us. Sorry, Jordan, it was great to know you. Does this mean you’re going to disappear in a puff of smoke?

Shaminder: I’ll vote once Jordan leaves the room.

Richard: I’ve enjoyed a lot of Deakins’ movies (his work on Empire of Light even manages to make Margate look nice, in a kitchen-sink kind of way), but I don’t remember Roger being available with support and advice when I was halfway through an edit I couldn’t see a way out of, at 11:00 at night. Nor has he ever brought a box of Shreddies into the US for me. So it’s friends over Hollywood, for me.

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Judging rules

A quick reminder of our rules.

Winners will be selected through the following combination of public votes, DPReview editors’ votes and a coin flip:

• 45% readers choice votes (% of user votes for a each team, multiplied by 0.45)
• 45% DPReview editor’s choice (% of editorial vote for each team, multiplied by 0.45)
• 10% coin flip (because chance is a part of March Madness and everyone loves a Cinderella story)

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The final match

The prophecy is complete, the might of digital cameras will face off against DPReview’s Jordan Drake. May your shutter actuations be in your favor.

Ask yourself if you could only save one, what would you advance and what would you destroy?

If you were forced to wipe one from the face of the earth, what would you give the boot?

If you can only have one, would you rather live in a world without A or B?

(And a reminder, our polls are meant to be for fun and we don’t care how you vote.)

Ready, set, vote!

Round Four voting ends April 4, 2023