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DPReview.com to close

dpreview.com

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Re: DPReview.com to close

#41

Post by asdff »

giobox wrote: post #9
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…

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…

The thing is, there's another boom currently going on. The mirrorless boom, and this site is the gold standard for that one as well. Now there is no home, and its much harder to gleam the differences that are actually meaningful between these many mirrorless cameras (and new dslrs that do get made).

Re: DPReview.com to close

#42

Post by codersfocus »

int_daniel wrote: post #29

With all the data that is available on DPReview one could have made a nice product. Something like the IMDB for movies or Discogs for music releases. It is sad to see that it should just be closed down …

I'm working on something similar to that (https://cameralenspicker.com)

If they're really gonna shut down, I'd better backup their site and maybe use an AI summarized version of their content for my site.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#43

Post by pjc50 »

giobox wrote: post #9
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…

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…

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.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#44

Post by sixQuarks »

The_Colonel wrote: post #40

Quite shocking, why not just sell it or cut staff. The site has to have significant monetary value.

They have an estimated 5.2 million unique visitors per month. It's definitely still a valuable publication, it's crazy they are shutting it down.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#45

Post by PaulHoule »

noncoml wrote: post #39
PaulHoule wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After 2 day delivery became 5 day delivery I canceled my Prime. (I get deliveries from Japan faster than I get them from a warehouse in the next state.) I am in the middle of cancelling all my recurring bills from AMZN (Pillpack, AWS) and I recommend that you do the same. I can't wait to hear them say on CNBC that Prime cancellations exceeded additions.

Same here. After 15 years I cancelled it. Also their market is now full of counterfeit and Chinese crap that you can buy cheaper on AliExpress. BHPhotovideo is the place I do most of my electronics shopping these days.

Them and Adorama. AMZN is the last place I look for things, not least for the awful experience of wading through all the fake product listings. (So many posters make excuses for this, such as AMZN couldn't afford to police product listings, but I don't see Ebay or craiglist flooded with nonsense listings)

What I'm seeing is that the early adopters who got Prime early on are the first ones to quit.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#46

Post by bradlys »

asdff wrote: post #41
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…

The thing is, there's another boom currently going on. The mirrorless boom, and this site is the gold standard for that one as well. Now there is no home, and its much harder to gleam the differences that are actually meaningful between these many mirrorless cameras (and new dslrs that do get made).

a "boom" is an overstatement. The camera industry overall is dying and struggling. We're down to something like 10% of camera sales from 2010. There is no boom. There is a transition from DSLR to mirrorless for the few existing dedicated camera photographers out there.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#47

Post by Jiejeing »

That hurts a lot, I got in way past the point where it was acquired by amazon, but the forums were always a very nice place to interact (with its lots of weird and single-focused people, as every forum, that gives it charm). The reviews for most cameras made in the last 20 years were invaluable and very detailed, although lately they certainly struggled to maintain the quantity of content they put out in the past.

I cannot imagine that cutting the maybe 30 people (tops) required to maintain the site and push content will make a difference in Amazon revenue; but removing this great online resource is sure to sadden thousands of users.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#48

Post by asdff »

oktwtf wrote: post #38
fetus8 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

Sites like these are also dying breeds with their days numbered. Informationally dense, text and figure, lightweight websites are not being made anymore. Sites like dpreview or Ken Rockwell are pretty clearly holdovers from days long gone and sensibilities long abandoned. Today, all that information that could be read in 5 minutes on dpreview is drip fed to you in video form from a gesticulating talking head, over 25 minutes with an advertisement every 5, wasting both data and time to likely only end up partially informing you compared to a dpreview or Ken Rockwell article.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#49

Post by acomjean »

Shame.

It’s probably hard as digital cameras have been replaced quite a bit by phones. I used that sight for many point and shoot camera purchases. The reviews were good and it had a good summary of all the cameras that were out there.

There’s still the “Fred Miranda” board, but that’s more user lens reviews and a little dated. That site has shifted to focus on photos more than gear, which makes sense.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/

Re: DPReview.com to close

#50

Post by prpl »

Been reading since 2008 or so, after I started playing around with old DSLRs and posited an upgrade to a D200. Will be a ad to see it go. One of the few websites I still check daily.

Hopefully somebody builds an archive at least.

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