The Need for Forum Specs

drd1135

Zen Snapshooter
Location
Virginia
Name
Steve
Alright, I need to get this off my chest. For years, it has really bothered me that camera companies and even reviewers never list serious specs for the quality of forums associated with specific cameras. I mean seriously, who wants to drop big bucks on a system and then discover that, at best, you can only find dedicated subforums with new posts appearing maybe twice a month. If I wanted that I would have stuck with film and spent more time in the darkroom reading Petersens' Photographic. The worst is when you have purchased a new toy based on an active subforum, even skimmed all the posts about why video is important, only to have the damn thing peter out because some new fixed zoom lens compact with juicy borderline corner resolution suddenly sucks up all the discussion. OK, rant over. I appreciate you guys reading this. Who else would understand?
 
Alright, I need to get this off my chest. For years, it has really bothered me that camera companies and even reviewers never list serious specs for the quality of forums associated with specific cameras. I mean seriously, who wants to drop big bucks on a system and then discover that, at best, you can only find dedicated subforums with new posts appearing maybe twice a month. If I wanted that I would have stuck with film and spent more time in the darkroom reading Petersens' Photographic. The worst is when you have purchased a new toy based on an active subforum, even skimmed all the posts about why video is important, only to have the damn thing peter out because some fixed zoom lens compact with juicy borderline corner resolution suddenly sucks up all the discussion. OK, rant over. I appreciate you guys reading this. Who else would understand?

I've made my living by admitting my ignorance on technical matters, so here goes: I'm not sure what you mean by "serious specs for the quality of forums associated with specific cameras."

Are you saying that it bothers you that sometimes there will be a lot of discussion about a particular camera on a forum and it will die out because some newer camera pops up?

If so, I don't know of any way to control or rate the quality of forums, except that I know that the Photographers' Lounge is a pretty cool, useful and civilized place to hang out.

Cheers, Jock
 
I've made my living by admitting my ignorance on technical matters, so here goes: I'm not sure what you mean by "serious specs for the quality of forums associated with specific cameras."

Are you saying that it bothers you that sometimes there will be a lot of discussion about a particular camera on a forum and it will die out because some newer camera pops up?

If so, I don't know of any way to control or rate the quality of forums, except that I know that the Photographers' Lounge is a pretty cool, useful and civilized place to hang out.

Cheers, Jock

Maybe I needed to put a :D at the end? I've been reading too much New Camera News.
 
There's a hazard with being your own guy and picking gear that the mainstream doesn't seem to prefer. My two compacts of choice are the Coolpix A and G7X. Neither one was a critical darling and both were overshadowed by far more popular models (the GR and RX100) that got overwhelmingly more discussion and praise. Well, I'd shot plenty with those models too and made fully informed decisions to go with the less popular models instead. And while the Df gets lots of respect around here, it's still more or less the ugly stepsister of the DSLR world today. Kind of a mild drag when nobody else wants to talk about YOUR new camera, or to trash it when they do, but it would never cause me to change my mind. Talking about cameras is sort of fun to a limited extent, but shooting with them is a LOT more fun, and I'm not gonna shoot with something that doesn't work for me just so I have more people to talk about it with!

Which leads me to having checked the forum earlier this morning and found that fully 11 out of the 20 threads under the "recent discussion" column on the right side of the page were centered around the Sigma foveon models! What's up with THAT? Don't get me wrong - they're amazing sensors and good lenses in otherwise semi-functional cameras if you only want to shoot very slowly and deliberately in very good light or even more slowly and deliberately on a tripod in whatever kind of light you like. Very good but unbelievably limited cameras, and they're taking up 55% of recent discussions. Oh well, the pendulum will probably swing back to the RX100 or GR soon enough, so I'll have something different not to read about.

I could do with a banner that pops up and warns me, "nothing for you here this morning - may as well move along to another forum". I guess it'll be up to me to figure it out for myself, though, and then just find threads like this to laugh with and then join in the bitching and moaning! :cool:

Or maybe I'm just getting old and crotchety...

-Ray
 
If I hadn't gone the mirrorless fuji route recently option 2 was building a system around the Df, I love the Df personally It just takes me back to everything i loved in the old nikons (like the XT reminds me seriously of the Pentax LX)
Maybe because it's the ugly stepsister i'll get a good shot at a cheap used unit down the road......
 
Maybe I needed to put a :D at the end? I've been reading too much New Camera News.

Ah . . . okay, now have tumbled to your evil plot.

In that case, we should proceed with a rational plan for developing a set of forum specs.

1. We should appoint a blue-ribbon panel to study the issue. . . a large panel, half of the participants should have no real knowledge of forum specs whatsoever.

2. This panel should issue periodic reports with dire predictions of what will happen if we fail to address the issue of forum specs.

3. When the dire prediction fail to come true with any level of accuracy whatsoever, we should engage the press and the blogosphere to pound the drum that the failure of the predictions actually proves the case.

4. We should encourage various legislative bodies to enact stringent laws in exact contradiction to the actual evidence.

5. We should castigate anyone who denies that the lack of forum specs presents a problem and attempt to suppress the publication of their research.

6. We should allow countries without forums to sell "forum spec credits" to countries that actually have forums, and make sure that large financial institutions get a piece of every such transaction.

Finally, you should pay no attention to the fact that my cheek is swollen by the presence of my tongue . . . and keep reading New Camera News.

Cheers, Jock
 
I'm feeling rather jaded by the whole subject of new cameras. I've got to the stage where I like all the cameras, it's a given that they're all fantastic for someone and now I just want to see the pictures from anything and everything and I don't much care which particular camera it is :)
 
This topic reminds me of two quotes:

See the losers in the best bars; meet the winners in the dives. - Neil Young

I'd never belong to a club that would have me as a member. - Marx (Groucho, not Karl)
 
When the discussion has deteriorated to this point, it's time to go home. But I just got here! (first cup of coffee)

I stop by here every morning, and some times at night. And, the ratio of threads about actual photography vs. equipment has gotten so lopsided, equipment heavy, that I'm finding it very discouraging, to even bother. I guess that could be an indicator of my static state of equipment acquisition, of more, and better stuff. And/or the anti-social tendencies of another hermit/crotchety old man.

And now, we return you to regular programming. :cool:
 
This topic reminds me of two quotes:

See the losers in the best bars; meet the winners in the dives. - Neil Young

I'd never belong to a club that would have me as a member. - Marx (Groucho, not Karl)

Or sort of the mirror image of the old Yogi Berra classic:

It's so crowded nobody goes there anymore...

When the discussion has deteriorated to this point, it's time to go home. But I just got here! (first cup of coffee)

I stop by here every morning, and some times at night. And, the ratio of threads about actual photography vs. equipment has gotten so lopsided, equipment heavy, that I'm finding it very discouraging, to even bother. I guess that could be an indicator of my static state of equipment acquisition, of more, and better stuff. And/or the anti-social tendencies of another hermit/crotchety old man.

And now, we return you to regular programming. :cool:

You're in good company Steve. Or bad. Not sure which... :cool:

-Ray
 
I honestly just don't have the money nor the need. The E-PL5 will last me another few years I think. Nothing has come along and has been that much better for my needs.
 
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