Amazon customer image galleries gone

My apologies if this has been posted before I couldn't find it in a search. I also wasn't sure exactly where this belongs..

Am I the only one that is disappointed that Amazon took down their customer uploaded images? I spent hours perusing through the pictures of certain lenses in the past and now they decide to take them all down? What the heck, Amazon!

I know we have the lens sample archive threads here and I do spend a good amount of time looking through them here too, but it was nice to have options.

It's probably a good thing.

See no evil.

Hear no evil.

Buy no evil.

The user uploaded images were a great feature on Amazon.

But user uploaded images for cameras and lenses? Meh, not so much. The output of just about any camera or lens can look good when limited to a 500x500 image.

I will miss the user uploaded pics of things that have broken (not necessarily cameras or camera gear). If I was looking to buy an item and was unsure of the quality, I would look to see how many different people posted pictures of the item that failed in various ways. That would always help me choose between different things.

Yes, granted, you always have to take those sorts of negative reviews with a grain of salt, but amazon was always one of the first places I would go when researching products. Non-manufacturer images were a huge bonus.

I wondered why nobody seemed to be uploading images anymore. Looks like it's time to start making more videos as they haven't removed that feature. On the flip side it seems they have improved the stock product images which for many items were often tiny and or useless.

I'm really disappointed about this as well. I buy several thousand dollars worth of stuff on Amazon every year. A good portion of those purchases are because Amazon is a one stop shop - I can research an item, read reviews, see good pictures of the item, and purchase it all in one place. I really missed the user images when I was shopping for camera bags and tripods recently. The manufacturer images suck and don't show anything during "real life" usage. It's also really hard to accurately gauge the size of an item from the manufacturer photos. If Amazon doesn't bring user images back, I'll probably start doing more of my shopping elsewhere.

that really sucks. user images really help with some purchases when manufacturers omit certain items/features.

For some things keep in mind a Google Images search will net the same thing Amazon images would and then some.

I'm disappointed in this as well. They really came in handy on occasion and I don't remember coming across anything inappropriate. I emailed them about it the other day and here is their reply:

"On July 15, 2013, we discontinued the customer-uploaded image feature. Customer images will no longer show on Amazon product pages. This isn't a decision we came to lightly. While customer-uploaded images has a small, dedicated group of active users, it hasn't been broadly embraced by our customers. Shutting down this feature will allow us to focus on building a better overall Amazon experience for you.
Although there were many people that found value in the feature, it did create more issues than it did solutions, as we had inappropriate images being uploaded, incorrect ones unrelated to the item as well as numerous emails from concerned customers about them. Customers would also mistakenly upload pictures of themselves as they believed customer images meant that they had to add images of themselves in the hopes that it would be added to their public profile and displayed in reviews or discussions."

Lame excuse in my opinion, but at least they replied with something more than generic bs.

My guess is that the retailers and manufacturers didn't appreciate the visual feedback of reviews adversely affecting sales. Pictures are more powerful than words. Amazon's official statement... hilarious.

I posted my photos of a deteriorating ONA bag. I was quite proud of that product review.

I liked the shots of loaded camera bags. They gave you a good idea of how well they'd work for you. There were useful pics of ballhead mods and other such things, too. But I suppose those sort of things are available elsewhere online.

Great. Now my reviews say "look at the pics I uploaded" and there's nothing.

Bearmann wrote in post #16167328
It's probably a good thing.

See no evil.

Hear no evil.

Buy no evil.

uOpt wrote in post #16170266
Great. Now my reviews say "look at the pics I uploaded" and there's nothing.

Maybe there is a way to host images elsewhere and link to them in your reviews.

Hmmmmmmmm...... It will be interesting to see if this is possible. I doubt they will allow outside links.

It sucks for buying physical goods because the customer images were often the best way to find out what something really looked like or how big it was in comparison to another object.