Cameratico: A Sleek Camera Comparison Engine Based on Human Experience

cameratico1

Cameratico is a new “humanized camera recommendation engine” that’s being developed by Brasília, Brazil-based photographer and programmer Fábio Pili. Sick of camera comparison websites that only dealt with specifications, Pili decided to create one that takes into account real world usage experiences.

The site uses a special comparison algorithm called the Cameratico CameraIndex, which attempts to translate hands-on experiences into camera comparisons and recommendations. It’s like Snapsort, except it much simpler and not 100% spec driven.

cameratico2

Here’s Pili’s explanation as to how the cameras are evaluated and scored:

We are humans. All products are evaluated by editors with years of real professional photographic experience. We trust human opinion and experience.
 [#]

We compare the cameras we have direct access to and also cross reference them with other cameras, assessing reviews and image samples from the most reputable photography websites. In other words, we do the buyer’s homework and translate it into an objective recommendation. In the end, every product review is subjective, but we try to use several sources and first hand experience to be as objective as possible. [#]

The site also keeps track of product prices and price fluctuations in the market, allowing the site to determine whether the price is trending downward or staying stable.

cameratico3

Want a more personalized list of recommended cameras? Click the “Get personalized recommendations” button on the page to bring up a short survey. Once the site knows what you’re into, it will deliver recommendations that are much better suited to your needs.

cameraticosurvey

New cameras are regularly being added to the database. Upcoming features may include additional filters (e.g. camera brand), individual camera product pages, detailed ratings, price analyses, and side-by-side camera comparisons.

From our experience so far, the site does generally recommend cameras that other spec-oriented reviewers praise as well. The biggest strength of the site, however, is its sleek user interface and simplicity — it’s a site that you can recommend to non-tech savvy folk without worry about overloading them with technical information.

Discussion