Dpreview, what a shame… (Imaging Resource, too)

gonzogolf wrote in post #19496299
It's too bad Amazon couldn't spin it off in some new form. It seems like there is enough traffic there to make it profitable if only on a lesser scale.

I'm sure they looked at it and probably reached out to other companies. My guess is it would had to be gutted so much no one would have liked it anyway and probably would have failed anyway. People have to answer to share holders. If we were in that position we would have made the same decisions otherwise we'd be looking for a new job.

I'm not supporting their decision but people think Amazon owes photographers that site. They really don't. It may have been viable at one time but not anymore and it is a very small portion of the company and not their core. When things go well then they let it slide but when things are bad that stuff is usually the first to go. All businesses are the same. Look at what happened to Google. Great place to work with nap rooms unit the chit hit the fan.

I know some here will not like what I said but in our bottom line driven world that is reality.

Well perhaps Amazon shouldn’t have sucked up so the sites like they did, like dealnews.com, dpreview.com, and a litany of others. It was a money grab to drive traffic almost exclusively to their site, and the actual value to the community be damned. That is the part that irritates many of us.

The rest of the equation here is that there really isn’t too many places left to get camera gear, so they no longer need this “beacon of camera gear” pointed to them. Plus photo related sites like FM and others are now serving up ads that drive business to Amazon as well. There is more than enough camera gear still being sold to keep this around if they wanted to, so I feel this is more about whether they need it than whether they can afford it.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #19496812
Well perhaps Amazon shouldn’t have sucked up so the sites like they did, like dealnews.com, dpreview.com, and a litany of others. It was a money grab to drive traffic almost exclusively to their site, and the actual value to the community be damned. That is the part that irritates many of us.

The rest of the equation here is that there really isn’t too many places left to get camera gear, so they no longer need this “beacon of camera gear” pointed to them. Plus photo related sites like FM and others are now serving up ads that drive business to Amazon as well. There is more than enough camera gear still being sold to keep this around if they wanted to, so I feel this is more about whether they need it than whether they can afford it.

There are very few real philanthropists that add value to a community as you say.

Resources like this are always valuable, especially for people just getting into the hobby.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #19496812
Well perhaps Amazon shouldn’t have sucked up so the sites like they did, like dealnews.com, dpreview.com, and a litany of others. It was a money grab to drive traffic almost exclusively to their site, and the actual value to the community be damned. That is the part that irritates many of us.

The rest of the equation here is that there really isn’t too many places left to get camera gear, so they no longer need this “beacon of camera gear” pointed to them. Plus photo related sites like FM and others are now serving up ads that drive business to Amazon as well. There is more than enough camera gear still being sold to keep this around if they wanted to, so I feel this is more about whether they need it than whether they can afford it.

Pondering on this a little more if we go back I’m sure Phil Askey must have known what type of company Amazon was but he sold it and become rich. I have not seen him step in to save his legacy and the community. Unfortunately it’s alll about money. I know no one likes to hear that.

gjl711 wrote in post #19496689
People stopped buying new equipment

Tell it to BH and their customers on waiting lists.

But may be nothing was sold on Amazon, it is way too primitive site and business to buy equipment from.

digital paradise wrote in post #19496800
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I'm not supporting their decision but people think Amazon owes photographers that site. They really don't. I know some here will not like what I said but in our bottom line driven world that is reality.
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digital paradise wrote in post #19496828
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There are very few real philanthropists that add value to a community as you say.
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digital paradise wrote in post #19496838
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Unfortunately it’s alll about money. I know no one likes to hear that.
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But what we are really interested in is what should be, not what is. . Ideals should drive people's decisions, not dollars. . "Reality " pretty much ruins life on this planet, especially when money is involved.


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kf095 wrote in post #19496847
Tell it to BH and their customers on waiting lists.

Not to mention people going to places that saves their tax. I use BH Payboo but if you use Greentoe and CanonPriceWatch, they too will save you on the tax.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #19496866
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But what we are really interested in is what should be, not what is. . Ideals should drive people's decisions, not dollars. . "Reality " pretty much ruins life on this planet, especially when money is involved.

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True. If I could change that I would.

kf095 wrote in post #19496847
Tell it to BH and their customers on waiting lists.

But may be nothing was sold on Amazon, it is way too primitive site and business to buy equipment from.

People still buy camera equipment, but not like a few years back. One only has to look at CIPA data to see the collapse of digital cameras. At it's peak in 2008, Japan manufactured 1,765,283,000 cameras. Last year the total was 395,024,880, still a lot, but a huge decline.

Market has stabilized, no reason to scream doom&gloom here.

Im blaming Fro

and probably everyone else who make all the videos we all instantly click on to find out about the new bodies. My guess is DP numbers have gone in the toilet with all the internet sensations putting out their take

Their reviews get top billing in google results too, it isn’t the reviews elsewhere to blame, it’s the lack of gear to review, numbers are not like years prior.

Also it doesn’t help that these days the gear from any manufacturer is on par with the others now with tracking capabilities, ISO, and DR. Releases aren’t just as exciting as they once were. The digital body is very very mature in its capabilities, even low end bodies like the R50, R8, etc.

If you can shoot at ISO 6400-12800, at 20-30fps and keep tracking on the eyes all at the same time, that pretty much nails most of the needs. Now we only wait for faster read out times and quad pixel AF….

Here's a thought.

If you have any friends on DPR's forum why not invite them to come over to our forum?

I am sure their are some looking for a new home for the coming decades.

Deleting the content would really be a disservice to the consumers. Personally, I've always preferred thedigitalpicture.com, but I did appreciate the comparison tool on DPReview.

As far as declining camera sales, I'm not overly concerned on behalf of the photography industry. Cameras arent going anywhere, but I wonder if cameras have become too accessible. At first glance, accessibility could be viewed as a positive, but then I think about how many "photographers" have popped up over the last 5-8yrs. It seems like the people who would have normally jumped into an entry-mid level camera are now satisfied with their smartphone camera. Perhaps the pendulum is just swinging back towards the center and we're seeing a healthy downsizing of users. Smartphones are still far off from the capabilities of a full frame camera, so those truly interested in the hobby/profession can still separate themselves from the casual "soccer mom" photographer.