DPR

[Victoria Bampton]

It’s a sad day… the news of the closure of DPReview hits a bit close to home. I don’t know about you, but it’s a place I’ve relied on for reviews for as far back as I can remember. The forums there have been a source of great information, and there will certainly be a lot of photographers looking for a new place to call home.

For me personally, it reminds me of a time a few years back, when Lightroom Forums was close to closing its doors. It’s because of you… our loyal members… that this friendly corner of the internet is still here. So please let me take this moment to thank you for your continued support.

 

[Replytoken]

Well, Chris and Jordan just announced they will be moving to Peta Pixel. So if that was a part of DPR that anybody liked, they can find it there.

--Ken

 

[David_W]

Capitalism strikes again. It seems to be an act of supreme vandalism that Amazon have declared their intent to remove the site completely from the Internet at the end of the read-only period. There is so much valuable content there in the reviews which will remain relevant for years to come, even as a read-only resource. I'm sure the Wayback Machine will crawl it repeatedly, but even so, some of the interactive features might break.

This seems to be another example of what is sometimes described as the "ensh*ttification" of the Internet - draw people in, then reduce features and/or introduce charges once they are hooked. Amazon's record in recent years is not good - they've blocked third-party client access to Amazon Photos (which broke features like photo sync from Synology NASes), they cancelled Amazon Smile, and now DPReview is being done away with. I have tried to avoid Amazon for photography purchases for years (especially Sony gear, as Sony does not factory seal boxes), but it isn't always easy to avoid them for general online purchasing.

Tony Northrup has posted a pretty raw response video. I don't always agree with Tony and Chelsea, but I do this time. There will be many more responding in similar terms, but I doubt the outrage will change anything. Amazon has decided there is no money to be made from DPReview any more, so they would rather close it than let anyone else get their hands on it.

 

[Gnits]

I order less and less and less from Amazon, mainly because when I search for a well known branded product, Amazon shovels up every possible combo of non branded similar product, other than the product and brand I have been looking for. Then I have to check if it is supplied and delivered by Amazon and then the hassle of multiple deliveries rather than my purchases in a single parcel.

I was also thinking, by coincidence, a few days ago, that the Sony and Leica forums (Ie forums I use), were a lot less active / useful in recent times. That might just be a seasonal thing.

 

[tspear]

Wow, I have used DPReview for decades. I was never very active on the forums there, but it was the goto place I sent people looking for camera discussions and advice.

That sucks.

Tim

 

[Philippe Coudé du Foresto]

A very sad news.
With this closure, it's also a very large knowledge base on photography that will disappear.

 

[Replytoken]

A very sad news.
With this closure, it's also a very large knowledge base on photography that will disappear.

Agreed. I thought the forums were too much rough and tumble for my taste, but searching for old threads proved useful when I needed information. I can understand why Amazon would pull the plug on future operations to stem their losses, but I cannot understand why they are considering removing the site and its contents. Perhaps they will change their minds and leave it up as a resource? One can hope.

--Ken

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

Capitalism strikes again. It seems to be an act of supreme vandalism that Amazon have declared their intent to remove the site completely from the Internet at the end of the read-only period. There is so much valuable content there in the reviews which will remain relevant for years to come, even as a read-only resource. I'm sure the Wayback Machine will crawl it repeatedly, but even so, some of the interactive features might break.

Your first sentence is exactly true, though you say it like it is unexpected. That is exactly and precisely what capitalism is.

Personally I never found DPR to have much value. Maybe I was an aberration, but it was all sales oriented, with non-objective reviews just like almost all advertiser supported site reviews. The forums had some interest but seemed to have devolved into a state of malaise that seemed like groundhog day repetitiveness. I am sad it all goes away, but ... who is going to pay for it if it doesn't? With stale content even fewer people will come there to see ads. If there's a go fund me, I wouldn't contribute, would you?

The only cure for it is some new paradigm that pays for all the data we expect for free, but doesn't force users to become the product, have their eyes bombarded by ads and their personal information sucked up continually. And so far no one has come up with one that actually works.

It's a corruption of that other saying: Capitalism is the worst possible system, except for all those others.

RIP DPR, thanks for trying.

 

[David_W]

As you rightly say, this is capitalism in action.

I blew hot and cold over the DPReview forums - I did participate a little, but the Sony one tended to talk up the "latest and greatest" excessively in my opinion. As @Replytoken says, the forums were useful as a reference source.

Amazon, as the site owner, is free to stop providing the site and, assuming they follow the requirements of employment law, to let the staff go. However, considering they are a major hosting provider through AWS, it is a shame that Amazon seems determined to take the site offline quite quickly, denying people the chance to benefit from all the user-generated content. The forums and contents only worked because people were prepared to contribute; it is sad that once the decision has been made to drop the service for commercial reasons that all this goodwill is so quickly ignored. It would not cost Amazon very much to leave the site up for two years, by which time the value of the old content would be on the wane.

 

[Gnits]

Having thought about it a little more.

1.It would be ideal if a repository / sponsor could be found for the accumulated knowledge contained within the site.
2. I think it’s early years we’re the best. I am sure there will be lots of post graduate studies which will provide a whole host of reasons for its decline.
3. I am surprised that Amazon, with their vast hosting capability, did not offer to host the site for a period of time, as a good will gesture.
4. There may be discussions behind the scene to transfer / sell the site…. but we may never know ….. if they fizzle out.

 

[Minguy]

It fits neatly into my aphorism about 'The relentless march of Capitalism'. We're all in it to make a buck, but the insatiable quest for ever more profits inevitably leads capitalists to produce a smaller box of Milk Duds for a little more money.

 

[clee01l]

I used DP Review when I needed info on a camera that I was considering. Seldom if ever participated.

I’m sure if the content is useful after cameras cease production, there will be a place to find it.

I also think the forum base of the website can be resurrected in another venue. If the demand is there it will happen.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

It fits neatly into my aphorism about 'The relentless march of Capitalism'. We're all in it to make a buck, but the insatiable quest for ever more profits inevitably leads capitalists to produce a smaller box of Milk Duds for a little more money.

Let's not forget that smaller box of Milk Duds will have a large yellow banner on it saying "New and Improved", and advertising it is all done for your convenience.

I wonder if DPR will come back in some new guise similarly "improved" yet smaller and less filling.

 

[johnrellis]

The database of sample images for cameras and lenses has been invaluable in troubleshooting people's Lightroom problems. It's far easier to download a sample image from dpreview.com than to help non-technical users upload sample images to a sharing service. (Heaven forbid Adobe would ever have a forum platform that would allow arbitrary files to be attached to posts.)

 

[PhilBurton]

Capitalism strikes again. It seems to be an act of supreme vandalism that Amazon have declared their intent to remove the site completely from the Internet at the end of the read-only period. There is so much valuable content there in the reviews which will remain relevant for years to come, even as a read-only resource. I'm sure the Wayback Machine will crawl it repeatedly, but even so, some of the interactive features might break.

This seems to be another example of what is sometimes described as the "ensh*ttification" of the Internet - draw people in, then reduce features and/or introduce charges once they are hooked. Amazon's record in recent years is not good - they've blocked third-party client access to Amazon Photos (which broke features like photo sync from Synology NASes), they cancelled Amazon Smile, and now DPReview is being done away with. I have tried to avoid Amazon for photography purchases for years (especially Sony gear, as Sony does not factory seal boxes), but it isn't always easy to avoid them for general online purchasing.

Tony Northrup has posted a pretty raw response video. I don't always agree with Tony and Chelsea, but I do this time. There will be many more responding in similar terms, but I doubt the outrage will change anything. Amazon has decided there is no money to be made from DPReview any more, so they would rather close it than let anyone else get their hands on it.

And Amazon is also guilty of much worse unethical actions on their website. Ever notice all those "weird" store or vendor names. Names that completely violate a cardinal rule of marketing: pick memoriable product and company names. A few years ago, I did some research into this topic. Amazon has spawned and encouraged an entire business subculture in some countries, I won't name which. It's Ok to hide behind an unknown name, so the consumer has no recourse. It's Ok, and even a point of pride, to confuse and lie to customers in Western countries. Itl's Ok to sell crap products to customers, since repeat business isn't a goal. These companies could not exist without Amazon, and these companies have helped fuel Amazon's growth.

And yes, I'm also very annoyed that Amazon is shutting down DPReview, instead of just spinning it off. Intellectual vandalism.

 

[davidedric]

Alternatives?
As many folks will know, there are projects going ahead to replace DPReview.
The one I've signed up to is DPRevived, which seems to be gathering some momentum, currently with around 2,000 members (tiny compared with DPR, of course, but I assume more likely to be active members).
What, if anything, are others doing?

 

[PhilBurton]

Alternatives?
As many folks will know, there are projects going ahead to replace DPReview.
The one I've signed up to is DPRevived, which seems to be gathering some momentum, currently with around 2,000 members (tiny compared with DPR, of course, but I assume more likely to be active members).
What, if anything, are others doing?

I looked at PetaPixel once. There are many, many other photo websites. I could easily spend all my time reading about photography, to the exclusion of actually doing photography and everything else in my life, but I won't/can't do that.

Of course, I visit LRQ forums almost every day, since LrC is the basis for my post-processing.

I just signed up for DPRevived, which I just learned about, thanks to @davidedric

 

[Mickey]

I, too, just joined DPRevived. Will miss DPReview. It was one of my go to sites for equipment information.

 

[Jimmsp]

Alternatives?
As many folks will know, there are projects going ahead to replace DPReview.
The one I've signed up to is DPRevived, which seems to be gathering some momentum, currently with around 2,000 members (tiny compared with DPR, of course, but I assume more likely to be active members).
What, if anything, are others doing?

I have signed up for both DPRevived and DPR Forum. Both have work to do. I'll wait for a while and see how they both shake out. Generally quality beats quantity for me, and the user interface plays a big role there. I have put similar posts in both the Retouching sections, and will watch how they survive.

 

[davidedric]

The DPR camera data has been extracted and is available here: https://digicamfinder.com/

 

[PhilBurton]

I just started a new thread in one of the DPReview forums. The forums are still functioning.

Is it too optimistic to think that the "death sentence" may be revoked or "stayed" long enough to find a buyer for the site?

 

[Jimmsp]

I just started a new thread in one of the DPReview forums. The forums are still functioning.

Is it too optimistic to think that the "death sentence" may be revoked or "stayed" long enough to find a buyer for the site?

I am hedging my bets. We have a small group that has had a photo challenge for years on DPR. We have posted the same thread this week on DPR and its possible successors DPR Forum and DPRevived.
While the forums all seem to be functioning, they all seem slow as folks watch the possible slow and drawn out demise of DPR.

 

[Replytoken]

I am hedging my bets. We have a small group that has had a photo challenge for years on DPR. We have posted the same thread this week on DPR and its possible successors DPR Forum and DPRevived.
While the forums all seem to be functioning, they all seem slow as folks watch the possible slow and drawn out demise of DPR.

Do keep us posted if you start to see a trend one way or the other.

Thanks,

--Ken

 

[PhilBurton]

I am hedging my bets. We have a small group that has had a photo challenge for years on DPR. We have posted the same thread this week on DPR and its possible successors DPR Forum and DPRevived.

Awk. Two successor forums to DPReview? This is "progress?" Or just more time needed to keep up with forum content, and that assumes that DPReview itself goes away. Are more "successors" going to emerge like flowers after the spring rains?

I just learned of DPR Forum and signed up. I like the Xenforo forum software, which is used on some other forums I follow?

While the forums all seem to be functioning, they all seem slow as folks watch the possible slow and drawn out demise of DPR.

I'm not sure what to hope for anymore. I guess the days of a "single forum" are over.

 

[Jimmsp]

Awk. Two successor forums to DPReview? This is "progress?" Or just more time needed to keep up with forum content, and that assumes that DPReview itself goes away. Are more "successors" going to emerge like flowers after the spring rains?

I just learned of DPR Forum and signed up. I like the Xenforo forum software, which is used on some other forums I follow?


I'm not sure what to hope for anymore. I guess the days of a "single forum" are over.

These two forums popped up within days of DPR's impending death announcement.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
While they each are touting their membership numbers, I know there are a lot of dual signups.

I guess time will tell who, if either or both, will survive.