Thinking about growing the S.C. Network, again...

Amin

Hall of Famer
In the past 4 years, I've started about 1 new forum per year, most recently Xtogs now renamed to FujiXspot. FujiXspot is off to a great start, IMO. When I announced that site, Phoenix made the following comment, which I think was tongue-in-cheek:

Please let me know if you are planning to create a Leica site sometime in the future :D

It's not the first time I've been asked that, though. I think Herman may even have asked me a long time ago, and along the way I get the occasional PM about it. My brother recently gave me a lovely M6, which is my first Leica M camera, and I'm really liking it.

So I was wondering... would anyone here like a Leica forum in the S.C. family? As far as I know, there is one dominant Leica forum out there (the Leica User Forum). Is it a nice, friendly place? Is there room for another Leica forum? Just thinking out loud here. All input appreciated.
 
Amin,

I think you have done a great thing with the 4 forums that are similar in layout and user tone, linked together at the top right of each forum. Good stuff.

A Leica forum would fit in there nicely.

And since you have nothing but free time (I'm kidding), a software forum would be cool as well ;) You know, CS, LR, C1P, Microsoft Paint.......
 
Sounds good Amin. Will the camera give-away be an M or an M9? :D Either one is fine for me....

I do like the linkage you provide (both physically and from a moderation and tone standpoint) to these ventures. While we have different places to go for NEX or m4/3s or SC or X they all have a similar vibe and some overlap. I just picked up an NEX and it was a no-brainer for me to post on TalkNEX. Not that I wouldn't or couldn't go to a different NEX forum, but why would I? Nice to have that comfort level from day 1 when you go someplace new.

The more the merrier afaiac.
 
I understand the allure of specialist forums, but my personal taste is more of a generalist approach.
In the end though, I'm sure if the day ever comes that I have a Leica, I'd be searching for an Amin Sabet run forum.

My only concern is that the SC is just going to become a place for small sensor cameras with all the others getting their own dedicated hangouts. I rarely see any NEX or m43 posts here and the Fuji ones have dried up as well. While I love the people here, I have zero interest in small sensor cameras. It's no big deal really. If I stop hanging out here, I'll have more time to work on becoming a better photographer.
 
This place is quieter since Fuji forum started. I can't participate in Leica talk, but I would lurk and look!

More emphasis on post processing would also be cool. Comparisons of tools, tips, etc. Also flash and lighting. Just two thoughts that I would love to explore, but they are far more nuanced than "this lens goes to f/1.4" so maybe harder to pull off.

I know there's an "image processing" forum, but could there be a "lightroom" subforum? I'd love to hear, based on RAW shooting, how people managed what they did, and talking about one platform allows you to say "I boosted clarity by +20" etc.
 
I have mixed feelings. Innovation is a wonderful thing and you're clearly very good at it. I used to have the Leica X1 and didn't find the Leica User forum to be very new member friendly. I pretty much gave up posting there because I rarely got any responses. I'm sure like any longtime forum people become friends and there's an easy camaraderie but what I've always found with your forums is that the membership on the whole is very, very friendly and extremely helpful. These are huge pluses that keep bringing us together.

In my dream of dreams, I'd prefer one big happy family (site) with lots of different "living rooms" and other types of gathering places so that I can easily keep up with all my photo pals and meet the new ones and see lots of different photographs.:cloud-9-039:
 
So something like a root forum SC and the others being sub forums? That would consolidate memberships into one which might not be bad.
 
Regarding the posts about SC being a sort of living room (which is an idea I really like), how about having a bar with the latest posts of SC's non-gear forums, embedded on mu43/talknex/fujiXspot? That'd probably get a lot of the people there aware of the interesting discussions going on here, without having to fuse content and memberships or any other wizardry.
 
I appreciate the comments and suggestions. Please keep them coming.

What I've noticed is that there are some members who were long ago active on Mu-43, who then disappeared completely from Mu-43 and S.C., and are now posting on the Fuji site. My feeling is that these are folks who switched away from Micro 4/3 and like to participate on a board specific to their new system. I've seen the same thing on the TalkNEX site. These are members who I missed, and who simply wouldn't have been on S.C. regardless, but I now get to see again because there is a site for their system.

At the same time, there are those who prefer a non-system based site, and that's what this site is. I really think the other sites feed into this one rather than bleeding it out. Probably half the early members of this site came here from Mu-43.
 
So something like a root forum SC and the others being sub forums? That would consolidate memberships into one which might not be bad.

S.C. already has subforums for all the systems, but for whatever reason a lot of people choose to spend their time on a site which is specific to a given system. If I were to take the other existing sites and roll them into S.C., I think we find that a lot of people go away altogether.
 
I really can't think of anything more unappealing than yet another community of Leica fetishists endlessly debating the minutiae of different lens/body variations, let alone the constant playground chanting of "my SS M2 is better than your ... " and the continual vacuous diatribes about the iniquity of digital photography.

There's quite enough space for it all to go on at Leica Forums and RFF.

Not that I feel remotely strongly about this or have any kind of an axe to grind, you understand ...
 
S.C. already has subforums for all the systems, but for whatever reason a lot of people choose to spend their time on a site which is specific to a given system. If I were to take the other existing sites and roll them into S.C., I think we find that a lot of people go away altogether.

And this is where your savvy shows because you are observant and noting the trends and seeing what we as members do not see. I did say Leica was a gaping hole as far as little is being shared on SC.

In agreeing with Paul-- uhm well no Leica is not a serious compact--and yes it is a rather elitist group of people.. I do not [ahem] at all see any strong feelings nor an axe held behind his back..

But I also think that Amin's new forum of Leica enthusiasts.. will probably be the nicest ones. If that makes sense :D

Of course I am still leaning towards balance and a unification through photography. Seriously Amin, you really don't see any success in a photography forum where discussions revolve around the images and perhaps how to achieve them rather than the gear? I would be all over a photo based site..
 
Communities are communities and all are not equal. There is a M43 forum on DPR, there's Amin's MU-43.com forum. One is a hateful terrible little place where the good people get lost for all of the screamers and trolls and OLY vs PANY fanboys. The other is an occasionally imperfect group of humans who share a common interest mostly with good humor and a civilized interaction. But both ostensibly deal with the same subject matter. Although Leica does, by nature, bring something of its own demographic to the table, I suspect it would be possible and likely that two or three different Leica sites might have similarly different personalities. I wouldn't do much more than lurk on a new Leica site, but if there's enough demand, I think Amin should go for it.

As for the overall structure, it seems that Serious Compacts should logically be the sun of this solar system, with each of the other forums being planets that revolve around it. Just because SC deals with ALL of these systems and each of the other forums deals exclusively or primarily with one - each essentially an off-shoot of the SC mothership. But that's logic, and then there's gravity. And the reality is that mu-43 seems to have created its own gravity due to no logic other than the vastly increasing popularity of the m43 system. MU-43 was my introduction into this community almost three years ago because I happened to buy an EPL1 as my first decent camera in many many years and I got pretty sick of DPR pretty quickly in my efforts to learn about my new toy. So I found mu-43 and then from THERE, came aboard at SC. And I think SC is ultimately for big picture folks - those who are interested in the entire universe of compact cameras, interested in the overall context and where each new or developing system fits into that universe. I find that the more interesting set of discussions usually, but that's not everyone. A lot of folks get into a particular system and simply want to plumb the depths of that system, learn everything they can about it, and perhaps also get some like-minded props and reinforcement for the awesome and wonderful and perfect decision they made to buy into that system in the first place. Nothing wrong with THAT function either, but its different than SC. So I see a place for both types of forums. I'd personally rather see SC be the biggest and strongest and bestest, but that's just because it appeals to me. Clearly, system specific forums seem to be more likely to draw larger and more dedicated followings. So more power to Amin to follow both pathways - there's a place for both I think.

-Ray
 
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