Thread: Has DPR gone completely around the bend or has my tolerance level just dropped?

I must agree Ray. I was really excited when I'd accessorized my X100 with the new RRS L-plate and grip and posted two pictures of my camera, the first comment out of the gate:
"No offense....Its your camera and you can dress it up however you like...but.......... Really ???
You took a nicely designed well sized retro camera and turned it into a bulky oversized mess !
Enjoy it !"

Where do you suppose this thread went from there? It certainly wasn't general banter about ergonomics, balance, handling and the benefits thereof. I was so done at that moment, I've not been back since.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it, back to you...

I sometimes read DPR, but never post. Maybe what they should do is require you to have a different login for each different forum. Painful if you have reason to visit multiple forums I know, but the greatest problems seem to be caused by people trolling forums that have nothing to do with them.

Originally Posted by Amin Sabet

As everyone is saying, there is good information there amongst all the rest. I occasionally visit but rarely spend more than a few minutes. Yesterday, I made the mistake of starting a thread about trolling and repetitive argument in the Micro 4/3 forum there, and man was that ever ugly.

The point I was trying to make was that repetitive arguments are bad for a forum. Whether it's the whole equivalence issue that is so prevalent there, RAW vs JPEG, Olympus vs Panasonic, or whatever, any time you have a few people making the exact same argument to each other over and over in a forum, it's not good, and those people have a responsibility to "take it outside" (PM, email, etc) rather than the current notion there which is if you're not interested, don't read it.

What immediately ensued was as insane and ugly a thread as I have seen. People comparing a request for moderation to the Holocaust... me getting accused of coverting representing DPR management... blanket accusations made about evil doctors... various references to members stalking and threatening other members in real life...

There are some people there who have long since lost all perspective.

Yeah, I saw that post and thought to myself Uh-Oh, and then just waited for the vitriol to pour in. It must have taken a solid 15 seconds for it to go bad. I made a similar mistake in the Fujitalk forum (not the SLR/X100 forum) a few months back when the X10 orb wars were in full swing. It had all been said so many damn times I merely suggested that we all agree to a set of facts (which weren't really in dispute) and stop all of the screaming while Fuji either did or did not address the problem. I was beaten soundly about the head and face for 150 posts until it shut down. I haven't been back to that forum since, except to lurk and see what people were hearing about the new sensor shortly after it was announced.

Someone from DPR actually asked me if I'd be interested in being a "community moderator" which I guess they're thinking of adding for the m43 forum, if not others. I basically said if they give me nearly dictatorial powers to ban certain longtime offenders and to delete posts as soon as I see a thread going in a bad direction, I'd think about it (not that I'd really want to take it on). But to the extent I'd have to play games with these idiots, some of whom are fairly determined to obey the letter of the law while destroying the spirit of the law, there's just no way I'd want to get into it. I'd want to deal with it sort of how the Supreme Court decided to deal with obscenity or pornography or whatever it was - "I can't specifically define it, but I know it when I see it". I haven't heard back, much to my relief but not to my surprise!

It just seems worse. Maybe it IS me and my shorter fuse. And maybe the crazies just feel the need to take on the hot camera, which seem to be the OMD and X-Pro at this point, but was the Nex 7 and will soon be the D800 / D4 and whatever else.

Oh well, so it goes...

-Ray

I've seen worse. But there are some things that we just don't need to put up with.

To paraphrase my Dad to get past the word-list:

"There are two kinds of poop in this world:

Cheap Poop and Expensive Poop.

Expensive Poop you have to put up with because people pay you to do it.

The cheap poop- you do not have to put up with".

I joined DPR and stopped going there in a timely manner. The hate and disregard people show for others is insane, and its over bloody cameras. My favorite part of forums like here and mu43 is people sharing images and friendly conversations. The way I look at it is when it comes to cameras there is no right or wrong camera, it's just what you enjoy and use to create an image. I still use my old GF1 because I like it and haven't felt the need to replace it, until recently when I tested a X Pro1(still fighting it), thus I joined this forum to explore my options and view others photographs.

Originally Posted by Crsnydertx

Ray, I used to keep four forum pages open on my screen: Serious Compacts, Mu-43, DPR forums, and Elements Village (Photoshop Elements). Recently I dropped DPR from that line-up. The other three are friendly places to visit, where the "we're here to help" mission is combined with a welcoming attitude toward a very diverse group of participants. I have enough tension in my work life; I don't need it when I'm online.

I still visit DPR when I'm looking for the answer to a specific gear question; the search engine there is pretty decent. I also read the gear reviews and news. But the forums? Nah...

I totally agree. As far as unbiased in-depth reviews there is no better place than the DPR. It is amazing the amount of info they have amassed.

However the forums are crazy with unbridled passion and opinions. I must say some of the members there are extremely knowledgeable and really know their stuff. However many of the more seasoned and experienced are very harsh on new photographers such as myself. It seems more like a place for self promotion than helpfulness.

When I was unemployed and had some free time I visited there daily. However since returning it has been several weeks since I logged in.

Part of the issue I have with DPR is also the hard to navigate forum. Here and the few other forums I visit have categories and subforums so that if I have a limited amount of time I can immediately go and double check a couple of my favorite threads. On the DPR everything is just one long list.

I spend a little time in the Sony SLR forum over there and the trolls are really no worse than they ever were. I think some people are entertained by the trolls and encourage and feed them there. So it's easy for me to ignore what are obvious trolls that start threads asking either an incredibly dumb question or a question about how sorry the EVF is on SLT cameras.

The overlords at DPR either don't care about the trolls or are entertained by them. Either way, it makes no difference to me.

And their forum software they use is like right up there with the absolute worst I've ever used or seen. But their reviews while not always fair, are very thorough. I think it would be fair to say whoever is paying them the most advertising money in a particular month is likely to get a fairly good review on a camera. So I always take a review with a grain of salt.

The thing I never understand are why some people feel the need to drop in just to inform everyone they would never buy such and such camera for this list of x reasons, if you are not going to buy or use it, why are they there. I will never buy a Corvette, why would I go to a Corvette forum and tell them that I would never buy one of those cars, just seems like a waste of everyone's time

That... is one of those human nature irritations. Enthusiastic people can become tunnel minded people at times to the point of being hostile to anyone that doesn't 'see the light' or 'choose their side'. It's common in forums because it is common in society but more prevalent in forums because people feel that the internet provides them with a level of anonymity so they won't be held accountable. If anyone misbehaves or says something that could cause a problem on any one of Amin's forums, he or one of the mods see it they get to it right away. It sounds like the DPR chiefs are letting the indians run wild.

I actively read threads on the mFT forum over there. I also post a good bit if I have anything to say that is relevent. Some of the more civil back and forth doesn't bother me too much. When it gets ugly, I have problems. One of the issues DP review has always had is dealing with the gear vs photography issue. There are a few membes who are down right rude to others who even post images or even think about asking for criticism. There are those who want to keep photoraphs out of dpreview if they aren't specifically about how good the gear is. Then there are those who berate and belittle others instead of helping others with their photography. Since there is not moderation, certain members believe that it is ok to be rude because of freedom of speech. Sadly, on a privately owned forum, it can be moderated. Sadly, its not. Even I have my limits.

Then there are the nit picking hair splitting science threads about noise, AF, or DOF issues that just get out of hand also.

My blood pressure went up 10 points just thinking and writting this post, so I'll stop. I think what irks me most is that it was a good place to go.