I have difficulties understanding why newbies would be using thinking from film days. Most of them have probably never seen a film or handled one, only heard of it as an old and outdated way of capturing pictures.

I agree with you. Youtube is great tool for learning stuff, like in photography. But when the videos are mostly about something else it becomes a waste of time for the audience. Time is limited, I for example do not like videos replacing text on news sites because I get the news much faster by reading them than watching a video. For teaching it is different because it is so easy to show in the video what you are talking about and explain it with pics and show how you make them. And those Youtubers that can do that in short videos are my favorites.

Before I started this topic I did have very disappointing experience with some Youtubers. I like to turn on my TV when I wake up in the morning and check some youtube videos about photography and other things I am interested in because I like to see what others are doing. Sometimes it is just interesting or fun and sometimes I also learn from it. I usually do this for half an hour or one hour before I get dressed and start my work. Lately I have been very disappointed. I have tried to watch Tony Northrup and it is mostly advertising for some website and long dialogs with his wife about something rather useless stuff or high end gear he is promoting. And sometimes his videos are followed by another video a few days later where he has to explain or make arguments for something he has said in the first video. All in all this is just a long and boring waste of time, usually.

But what really made me mad about those Youtubers was Fro knows photo. I know he is promoting Sony and that is ok with me. He is also selling his T shirts and showing off his fancy Youtube studio. Occasionally he has even made a useful video. But he got me tempted to watch a video some 2 weeks ago. It had the title, "Ken Rockwell is my new best friend" or someting like that. So I decided to watch this video as I have been to Rockwells website a few times and find it very interesting. And the video indicated that it would have something to do with Ken Rockwell. I was hoping that part of the video would be an interview with Ken. But, no, this was just 1 hour or so of nonsense about nothing and no Ken Rockwell there. That really pissed me off.

To me those 2 guys are the most useless popular photography Youtubers.

One more I had in mind is The angry photographer. He is bold and he is gear oriented and he is very cocky but not as angry as his channel indicates and I know many people dislike him. So it is ok to say he is strange. But I actually like his videos because he knows pretty well what he is talking about even when he does it in a manner that make people dislike him ;)

Others I sometimes see are Matt Granger and Jason Lanier. They are sometimes very good and sometimes just promoting gear.
And then there are guys like Steve Perry that are addressing more specific stuff like how to get the most out of Nikon autofocus system etc. That is very good. I also like to look at videos about old film cameras and lenses and repair of this stuff but that is another matter.

But when I found Mike Browne I figured he was probably one of the best on Youtube because he is giving very good lessons in short videos about stuff all beginners and many others will benefit from if they watch the videos.

This topic was a special April fools day topic. Keep that in mind ;)

This guy not only has a lot of simple and useful info in his videos but he is excellent in transfering that info to the viewers. I really like this guy.

Maybe that is what is missing. A drivers license for camera users, compatible to a drivers license for car drivers. Before you are allowed to drive you have to learn a bit and then prove your skills. It is not less complicated to learn how to use a modern camera than it is to learn to drive a car.

I understand your arguments perfectly. But I am not even planing to watch the Nikon 180-400 lens video because the price of the lens alone tells me I am never ever going to buy it And I am sure less than 1% of the people watching that video vill buy the lens no matter how good it is. On the other hand, probably more than 90% of them would benefit from watching some of your videos about technique. And this is kind of the reason for this topic. People who do not know how to improve their photography are making the wrong choices in their search for better results. And how can we stop them doing that? Maybe it is not possible.

Hi Steve.

I must apologize for not mentioning you in this topic in the beginning because you have actually done many great videos about how to use a camera and specific camera settings. I have enjoyed many of your videos because they are truly helpful.

But for the beginners or those who have not figured out how to get good results with their gear it is important to help them understand how to improve. They usually seem to think that the way forward is different gear and there fore swallow everything about new gear. Of course this is good for the gear manufacturers and those who are sponsered. Actually this gear focused info stream is good for all but the people not knowing how to take good pictures. And I do not want to spoil gear sales or anything. I would think if people really learn how to use their gear they will continue to buy new gear but do it in a different manner, knowing what they are doing and what new gear would fit their needs. As the questions here usually are they are telling me that people often have no clue about what they are doing, just hoping a new gear that they have no idea about how to use will make them a better photographer.

Your breath and a microfiber cloth.

I do not know about the ownership of the brand. But do you think this design is a better April fools day project than the Sony A7F?

There is actually another camera that is more interesting, the new Contax rangefinder. That is some serious design and will be a great camera I think.
http://photorumors.com/2018/04/01/breaking-contax-digital-rangefinder-camera-to-be-announced-soon-pictures-specifications-and-more/

Here is a preview video of this Sony A7F camera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP0MWgfr5yw

This new Huawei is topping DXO list by a huge margin.


http://www.dxomark.com/huawei-p20-pro-camera-review-innovative-technologies-outstanding-results/

I am not sure, but wonder if they use it to distract people watching those videos they make.