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DPReview.com to close

dpreview.com

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Re: DPReview.com to close

#231

Post by matmatmatmat »

kevstev wrote: post #170
vvrm wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> another victim of the rapid pace of improvement in smartphones It's not just the pace of improvement, but also the marketing spin. I find the strengths of smartphone camera and ILCs pretty complementary. Smartphone cameras work pretty well outdoors where there is enough light. DSLR and mirroless are hard to beat indoors in low light conditions. Coincidentally it is also easier to find your ILC indoors at home when…

Whats the most recent phone you have tried to use in low light? The last two years of Pixels and Iphones (and maybe others, these are just the ones I have seen firsthand) are amazing in low light for a typical use case. I mean sure if you have a tripod and do a long exposure, its a different story, but thats a very different user. I beat the crap out of my Canon Rebel T3i, I literally wore out the shutter after about…

It so happens I recently took a Pixel 6 Pro and a Canon 80D on a trip abroad. I used a rebuild of the stock camera app that does away with the automatic over-sharpening that the stock camera app has, and with the 80D, I used the EF-S 15-85 mm lens that (I believe) used to be the kit lens for the 7D. I also used the EF 70-300 mm non-L lens.

There is, in my opinion, no question that the 80D takes sharper pictures in daylight. It's just hard to beat a sensor that's that much bigger. The lenses, also, just have way, way more light gathering power.

Now, in dark places, at night, I used the P6P more, and that worked better than the 80D. But I'm glad I had the 80D for the big landscape shots and for the tight shots of people's faces.

The A7 III is way lighter and smaller than the 80D, and takes way better pictures. I would suggest considering finding a space for it in your bag. At least take a few pictures with both the P6P and the A7 III and view them at 100% to see if you're happy with the results.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#232

Post by dboreham »

Espressosaurus wrote: post #144
oktwtf wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that there is some valuable content on the site, there are certainly others to fill in the spots... You want detailed look into equipment? Checkout Ken Rockwell's site[0], or byThom[1] [0]: https://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/reviews.htm [1]: https://bythom.com/reviews--books/index.html

Ken Rockwell is a blowhard that copy/pastes info into every "review". His sharpness comparisons are laughable, as is his blatant fanboyism (which went from Nikon to Canon. It's funny to read the things he said about one brand 10 years ago and compare it to what he says about the same brand today). I would not put him into the same category as DPReview with a straight face. DPReview gave us the exposure latitude and h…

I don't know him but I have to say I like Ken Rockwell's content. I wouldn't go to him for pixel peeping lens comparisons but for a general overview he's good.

There are also nowadays several good YouTubers in this field.

And of course there's TDP albeit Canon and Sony-only coverage there.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#233

Post by throw0101b »

fetus8 wrote: post #8
ragona wrote: post #3

Dang, I'm actually surprisingly sad about this. DPReview is _the_ site for extremely detailed analysis of cameras. When I want to buy something I go through their report first, and it's always extremely informative. It feels like this kind of layoff is part of an end of an era. Amazon used to NEVER cancel projects that customers were using. They just straight up Did. Not. Do. It. I once had to get approval from my VP…

You're spot on, this is _THE_SITE for extremely detailed analysis of of cameras/lenses/etc. I have no idea what will end up filling the gap of losing something like this. I hope Chris and Jordan continue on their Youtube journey and make the content they've been making, but man, there's still a need for a detailed text based site with super indepth info about modern camera equipment. Such a bummer.

> I hope Chris and Jordan continue on their Youtube journey […]

Joining PetaPixel in May:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6T3qWI2c-Y

* https://petapixel.com/2023/03/21/chris-niccolls-and-jordan-d...

And their "The end of DPReview" video:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLikDUacsC8

They'll planning a few 'closing videos' before things are completely shutdown.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#234

Post by dboreham »

gannonburgett wrote: post #91
codersfocus wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it true that they're not going to sell the assets, and just shut everything down? If I had connections to an investment banker, I'd be trying to see if there's an in with Amazon...

I wasn’t privy to that information even before I left (Feb), but from what a few people who were/are privy to that information have told me, it doesn’t appear as though Amazon is at all interested in selling off the IP. So yea. Just shut it all down. Which is a fucking shame.

I've seen a few of these bonehead decisions in my career. Typically it happens because "MBAs are eating the world" -- someone with the idea that the number of things you have needs to be made smaller makes a ranked list of all the things in their area. Then they run "head -7" on the list.

I saw this happen long time ago when a company I worked for decided to close a product division because it was the fifth most popular i the company. The people working on that product left, formed a startup, did the exact same thing and made $$$. Today the product category is a tens of billions industry.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#235

Post by Delento »

vvrm wrote: post #165
giobox wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do think times have changed though, DPReviews fortunes arguably have mirrored the fortunes of the ILC (interchangeable lens camera) market. The site (along with flickr.com...) was a daily visit for me 15 years ago at the height of the DSLR boom, but I honestly now can't remember the last time I checked. ILC/DSLR annual sales volume peaked in ~2010 I believe, and has rapidly declined ever since really, another victi…

> another victim of the rapid pace of improvement in smartphones It's not just the pace of improvement, but also the marketing spin. I find the strengths of smartphone camera and ILCs pretty complementary. Smartphone cameras work pretty well outdoors where there is enough light. DSLR and mirroless are hard to beat indoors in low light conditions. Coincidentally it is also easier to find your ILC indoors at home when…

[dead]

Re: DPReview.com to close

#236

Post by shaman1 »

I don't see why at least they don't keep it in read only mode for longer - e.g. a few years - until the content becomes obsolete. This will alienate many Internet dwellers and make the Amazon brand sink even lower. Surely it doesn't cost them much.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#237

Post by astrange »

asdff wrote: post #81
johnvanommen wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a $600 DSLR that I bought at Costco on a whim, fifteen years ago. Once in a blue moon I look at my old photos and realize they just look night and day better than anything I've taken in the last decade. Camera phone lenses do alright when it's sunny outside, but DSLRs kill it when it comes to medium and low light.

And of course, the dslr looks perfect in perfect light too. You can do things that make your images even better with dslrs since you have access to the raw files and complete control over exposure. You can underexpose for a night scene to not blow up highlights and shoot at lower noise or at a shutter speed you can hand hold without blur (depends on your current focal length), then pull up the exposure only on the sh…

Exposing for highlights doesn't work the same way on a phone since it's doing multiple captures and HDR merging.

(Well, it can if you use a third-party camera app.)

Re: DPReview.com to close

#238

Post by astrange »

FollowingTheDao wrote: post #79
johnvanommen wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a $600 DSLR that I bought at Costco on a whim, fifteen years ago. Once in a blue moon I look at my old photos and realize they just look night and day better than anything I've taken in the last decade. Camera phone lenses do alright when it's sunny outside, but DSLRs kill it when it comes to medium and low light.

The only people who think Smartphone Cameras take better pictures than SLRs are not photographers. It is not just low light, it is depth of field, exposure control, the minimization or absence of computed exposures. I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and only shot in RAW mode. That is the best I can do. Saving money fro a mirrorless camera so i can start shooting again.

SLRs don't take "better" photos, they take more detailed photos. The best photo is the one you actually took because you had the camera on you and didn't miss the shot.

And if you want the most detailed photo, SLRs are not the highest quality cameras either when you could rent a Fujifilm GFX 100.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#239

Post by astrange »

layer8 wrote: post #72
pjc50 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gloomy prediction: based on Samsung Moongate, the next logical step after the smartphone camera replacing the DSLR is AI replacing the smartphone camera. Or at least substituting for underlying camera quality. Take a 10MP image and have the AI fill in the detail. Or remove detail (see the google advert for editing people out of your holiday photos). Or put in some detail that wasn't there.

Smartphone photos are already heavily ML-processed, with actual details and colors being replaced by what the model thinks looks best. The moon thing was just the most blatant example.

No kind of camera sees "actual colors", and neither do your eyes; the actual colors are the same day or night but that doesn't mean you can see them at night.

When there is light, the colors you see depend on how well you're adapted to its white point.

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