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DPReview.com to close

dpreview.com

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Re: DPReview.com to close

#61

Post by noncoml »

bradlys wrote: post #46
asdff wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Definitely not a boom, but there is still a sizable niche community that I would thought to be big enough to support a good website.

For example there is no boom of home audio systems anymore, but there are enough audiophiles to support a number of sites and magazines

Re: DPReview.com to close

#62

Post by colanderman »

_gtly wrote: post #55

dpreview had a great feature which is hard to find elsewhere: You could see at a glance at what date each manufacturer released each model of their hardware. This was so useful because you could then predict when new releases would come out and you'd get a sense of what was the cutting edge. At a glance you'd know which models were the "latest". I will miss this! Making sense of models of hardware from different make…

And compare features between models to see actually what has changed with each revision.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#63

Post by PaulHoule »

asdff wrote: post #48
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

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…

I think of how video game walkthroughs have gone this way. It used to be you'd find exhaustive 300k text explanations of everything in a game. Now there is a "let's play" video that goes on for 40 hours, you have to find the right video to watch, then seek to the right place in that video, it's exhausting.

The one case I found the video was better was in a certain level where the way forward was to make a jump that didn't look possible and the video made it obvious.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#65

Post by Zak »

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…

Consumer fixed-lens cameras are much more dead as a market than ILCs, and those made up the bulk of camera sales. Almost everyone who isn't doing photography as a profession or serious hobby is satisfied with smartphone cameras now.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#66

Post by asdff »

Here's a 2007 article from when they were acquired by Amazon. It seems at the time this made sense. Jeff Bezos identified the website as the source of truth in the digital camera field and sought to own that source and have it direct customers to his website. The founders were naturally overwhelmed and busy as founders of any company are, and were promised resources to make their jobs easier and let them build out the features they wanted (anyone know what these were? as far as I know dpreview has been about the same as its always been in terms of features).

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/1690663587/amazonacquiresd...

Today, maybe it no longer makes sense from Amazon to hold onto dpreview. Maybe the source of truth for most people has moved on from high quality texual sources, to other sources. Perhaps these are youtubers who amazon supplies affiliate links instead in order to capture this market. It goes to show to never trust the hand that feeds you to look out for you, you can and will be cut once its deemed convenient and prudent, and the larger the company you hitch your wagon on the more likely are they to behave like a cold large company.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#67

Post by klodolph »

cozzyd wrote: post #56
bradlys wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

10% camera sales or 10% ILC sales? The point and click market is obviously irrelevant for a mirrorless boom.

Point and shoot peaked in 2010, I think. Camera sales have dropped by something like 90% since 2010, if you exclude smartphones. Any “boom” is just consumers shuffling around within a collapsing market.

Re: DPReview.com to close

#68

Post by codersfocus »

gannonburgett wrote: post #51
Jiejeing wrote: post #47

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…

Former DPReview News Editor (who left after getting news of this back on January 18th) here: There were 8-10 members of the editorial team that were full time and a small group of freelancers. Add in about 8-10 more devs, who cycled in and out for the most part. So, 15-18 people, tops. By my rough math once, our entire operating cost for the year was about 10-12 minutes worth of Amazon revenue.

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...

Re: DPReview.com to close

#69

Post by calme_toi »

It's my go-to site before buying any camera related stuff.

But I guess it's not making any money for Amazon.

Do you know what kind of website would make money?

The buzzfeed style equipments websites. Those full of lists of top 10 best vlog/instagram cameras/tripods. Each item on the list starts with some affiliated links, beneath them are some bullets of pros cons, and every couple of graphs there is a google ads.

I feel exhausted reading them.

Please can anyone recommend alternatives?

Re: DPReview.com to close

#70

Post by klodolph »

m3kw9 wrote: post #57

The photos now are so good now that only visual-Phillies will be interested in better photos. When I buy a SLR or a phone, near perfect photos are expected

There are still significant gaps when it comes to usability for streaming video.
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