That’s right, one of the biggest names in digital photography is starting not one, but two brand-spanking-new blogs.
From DPReview.com…
Dragged kicking and screaming into 2008 we’ve finally decided to break the code of silence which hovered over the inner workings of the dpreview beast and launch our very own blog, or blogs to be more precise.
They’ve start two separate blogs: one for the editorial side of things, and one for the developer side.
Looks like they will be using the blogs primary to open up the site to some transparency, which is always nice, as well as being a direct link to the community for questions, comments, and the expected flamewars that are sure to come.
It will be interesting to see how active the blogs are beyond the usual reviews and such, and of course the ability to rant tends to bring out the best AND worst in people, so only time can tell how the community will react to the personalities behind the blogs. So far though, it’s looking pretty good.
If you’re interested in camera/equipment reviews, and photography in general, I’d highly suggest checking them out.
3 Comments
DPReview to me was never anything more than the facts, and a giant advertisement for every major camera and photography product on the market. Never did they post anything mildly negative on any product, ever. It’s of no real value unless you are either looking for tech specs on a camera or want to deal with their archaic forums which are full of fanboys and girls and are terrible to navigate through.
Sorry if it really sounds negative, but I work in the photo industry and there are shortcomings with all camera gear, I wish major outlets like DPR would step up to the plate and say, “this shiny new $8k dslr is great, but… ” because that’s what most people want to know. They want to know what’s good and what’s not good, DPR never offered that.
Personally, I think they are two years too late on the blog thing and it was / is probably a way for Amazon, who know owns DPR to use it as a way of directly connecting with the readers and push more ad space / products, resulting in more sales. Just a hunch though.
They definitely need a bit more balance in the reviews…beyond the straight specs anyway. Hopefully the new blogs will open up an avenue to allow for some of that balance, even if it’s coming from commenters. Hard to say though. Could easily crash and burn. Will be interesting to watch for a while either way I think.
The problem with DPReview is the flamewars. Its forum has little value because it is largely peopled by sneering Nikon/Canon loyalists.
I like Michael Reichmann’s reviews on Luminous Landscape. He refuses to accept freebies or discounts from anyone and his reviews are very hands-on and backed up by a DEEP well of knowledge of how things work. He also moderates his forums to some extent and closes off any flaming tit-for-tats.
http://luminous-landscape.com/