tramsey Loc: Texas

I look at Ken Rockwell has going. How about you?

DVZ Loc: Littleton CO

Imaging-resource.com

rcarol

Gordon Laing

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

The bulk of my stuff now is Canon, so I refer to The-Digital-Picture.com a lot. Brian reviews some other stuff there too... but almost every piece of Canon gear and a lot of the 3rd party stuff to fit Canon from the last 15 or 20 years is extensively reviewed and thoroughly tested.

Not a big fan of Ken Rockwell and his massive images, but still look there occasionally.

Canon Rumors online and several YouTube sources are good for info, as well.

B&H Photo is a great search tool and has pretty comprehensive specifications on current gear, as well as means of doing side-by-side comparisons.

DPReview will be missed. But Petapixel will be picking up some of the stuff that was done there and is another site I follow a lot.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Ken Rockwell, B&H, Canon Rumors, USA.Canon.Com, Cameradecision.com, Google, etc.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Ken Rockwell also.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

DxOMark.com, PCMag.com, PhotonstoPhotos.net, Petapixel.com, KenRockwell.com , then targeted DuckDuckGo searches.

User ID

DP Reviews was a wasteland. The few times I read their stuff I found nothing I couldnt get from marketing materials.

Ive never once encountered a review that checks out and reports things that I really need to know so I just buy the device and check it out myself. I have zero hesitation about returning anything. Reviews are essentially just click bait.

The only reviewer that sometimes tells me even a little bit of what no one else will tell me is Ken Rockwell. But he cant fully eliminate the need to "review" the item for myself.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I use reviews perhaps differently from others. As an engineer, I am most comfortable reviewing the published specifications for a camera or other product. This information tells me whether I want to pursue beyond my initial interest. (In the case of cameras, I am also not interested in sample images...too many variables that usually aren't disclosed.)

In general, I do not care about positive reviews at all. They could come from folks with a lot more capability than me or from folks who came from such old and limited equipment that just about anything new would cause them to sing praises. I remember when I "reinvigorated" my interest in photography in 2017 and moved from my D200 to a D300. I was ecstatic with a camera that was well over four years old...get the picture? And I don't care what the "expert reviewers" think, either. No matter what they claim, they have too many biases, both visible and not, to be useful, in my opinion.

But I am vitally and critically interested in mediocre and poor reviews. If someone is disappointed, I want to know what caused it and why it's a problem for the reviewer. Then I can determine if it is likely to be a problem for me. (Sometimes it becomes apparent, for instance, that the reviewer just didn't read the directions.) This can then finally lead me to make a decision about whether to move forward.

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

Thom Hogan, Brad Hill, Dustin Abbott and Spencer Cox at Photography Life.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I subscribed to DP Review some years ago because he has a section in their forums dedicated to Studios and Lighting Techniques. It's fun to post there and we question without all the chaos that is ongoing on many other photo forum sites. That section is peaceful and well-moderated. There's another section that tends to cover some professional business issues. I will miss communication with a few of the regulars there.

As for reviews, I too can do my research and make preliminary decisions on various equipment, based on the manufacturer's specifications and the "grapevine" among professionals. I ignore all the marketing hype and look at the specs and numbers. Even the most detailed specification and data are secondary to me, especially with cameras, if they are not ergonomically compatible with my hands, level of dexterity, and muscle memory. In other words, I gotta get a demonstration, touch it, feel it, smells it, and shoot with it before signing the check or tapping the plastic! Optical resolution numbers are good to know but if I don't like the "LOOK" thathe lines produce, it's a NADA!

The aforementioned "grapevine" is usually reliable. Even the most knowledgeable reviewer is not gonna use any given camera or other gear on an ongog daily basis in hard continuous service, and oftentimes in rough conditions. The gear that holds up in professional usage will garner a good reputation in the trade, and the lemons will surface soon enough.

I am fortunate enough inthat I buy from a local dealer who will in many cases allow me to use a demo camera or lends for a few days or a week or return a purchase that I am not satisfied with. He has even called me and asked me to try out a new flash unit or lens and tell him what I think. I suppose I have a "good record" with him inthat I returned 3 items in 26 years and 2 were an exchange rather than a return!

Perhaps I am "cynical" but I always feel that all this review stuff, formerly in print publications and nowadays mostly online is no more than marketing reinforcement. Some reviewers are "brand cultists". Magazines and websites that depend on advertisers are not likely to dis any of their advertisers. Perhaps I am "paranoid"! They seem to cater to photograhers who are somehow dissatisfied with their work or performance in certain areas and feel their deficit in their gear as opposed to their technique or methodology. GAS has risen to epidemic proportions.

On the other hand, I don't lkie to see a well-managed, designed, and comprehensive site like DP REVIEW going down because of corporate takeovers and decisions that I don't even understand. There are virtually no popular magazines on photography still in publication. Folks that are new to the craft will have fewer resources. Photograhers, who do not have access to a local dealer and have to do business with big-box stores or BIG New York dealers will have fewer places to start their research.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

As an industrial engineer, I absolutely agree with your comments on what I call "ergonomic compatibility." The best camera in the world is not much good to a photographer if it is uncomfortable to hold, if his fingers can't easily reach the buttons, or if a critical knob or switch is located such that it is continually changing some setting without his intent. That last situation is why I ended up with the brand and model of camera that I did, instead of the one that I went into the store to buy.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Over the years, I have encountered some cameras that were touted as having some great features, superior optical attributes, etc. but one would need to be a contortionist, or somehow grow a third arm and hand in order to operate it efficiently. Old guys with grey beards, like me, may remember the Koni-OmigaFLEX. I emphasized "FLEX" because the Koni-Omage Rapid was a very nimble machine. The "Felx was the only camera I have ever tried to use that suffered its own case of built-in "DYSLEXIA". To exacerbate its illogical placemt of controls, and unwieldy center of gravity, there was no prism viewing optics, and the viewfinder presented an upside-down reversed image. My unproven assumption was that engineers managed to design a durable well- crafted MACHINE but as for themselves, never lifted a camera to the eye and took a picture.

Of course, that camera was an extreme example but there are many modern cameras that, to me, are well designed, featured, and are rather borderline the un-ergonomic area.

Some might argue that am too fussy and perhaps I am a "Klutz" with rather large hands and maybe uncoordinated. I have to "brag" and remind them that as a kid, I learned to play the accordion and manage some 40 keys with my right hand and 120 little buttons with my left- let alone bellows management. I still do that as a hobby- drives the mice out of the house - leaving the cat with little to do!

gwilliams6

Good News. DPReview has heard you all, and decides to remain available as it will now archives all its articles

https://www.dpreview.com/news/0507902613/dpreview-closure-an-update

Cheers

gwilliams6

I can rely upon my pro friends who do independent reviews like Dustin Abbott, Gordon Laing, Gerald Undone, Hugh Brownstone (Three Blind Men and an Elephant), Mark Smith.

I loved Chris and Jordan of DPReview TV and will follow them on PetaPixel starting in May with new, expanded content.

LOL, if I want the pro-Canon fanboy spin, I watch my Philly friend Jared Polin (Fro-Knows) or Ordinary Filmmaker where Canon is always best and can do no wrong.

If I want the insider Sony perspective, it is Sony world-ambassador Mark Galer.

For all things Nikon, I can turn to Matt Granger.

Cheers and best to you all.