DPreview to be shuttered. [ not anymore]

[pablolie]

...
Total camera sales in 2021 were down 6% from 2020. 8,361,521 units shipped. [That seems like a small number, and I was surprised about it.] Of that group, camera's with interchangeable lenses totaled 5,348,271, representing an 0.8% increase from 2020. Compact (all in one) cameras were down 16%. Mirrorless cameras outsold SLR by a million units, an increase of 67% from previous year.

Many markets went down in 2020/2021... supply chain stuff, you just couldn't get your hands on things.... plus for something like photography, which very often is linked to events, the covid mess was probably the icing on the cake... I actually wanted to order a new camera in late 2020, but they just couldn't give a shipping date that wasn't an estimate that was 4 months out or so... so I used my existing camera some more. And there's nothing wrong with that, camera innovation really has slowed down a lot and my older camera was still eminently more than good enough. I bought a new camera in the meantime, and I'd say that if it was for picture quality alone, I probably could still live with my previous, 9-year-old camera.

As to compact digital small sensor cameras, which were everywhere many moons ago, indeed they don't have a purpose given that smartphones are extremely capable (for what I'd call snapshots rather than photograhy).

Contrast: 1.43 billion smartphones were sold in 2021. Each with at least one camera feature.

Then one could argue smartphones kill the sales of audio gear, since they have integrated speakers. :-D (I actually know people that listen to music that way...)

The stand alone camera is not a dead market. But as it survives it'll no doubt be more for the pros, and hardcore hobbyists. As a camera non-enthusiast, I own two very out of date digital cameras. But I don't know where they are. In a box somewhere. However, waifu and I have three sometimes smart phones (I hate to admit that), plus two tablets, all with cameras. I think that describes most folk's situation when it comes to the need for cameras.

No one said everybody should own a large sensor, mirrorless camera. In fact, the problem was that too many people went and bought cameras without actually having a real need for them, and for those people of course smartphones are much better in order to take pictures.

I wouldn't call myself a hardcore enthusiast, and I do use my smartphone camera all the time - it's stunningly good for many things. But there are also many things in more ambitioned photography that I know I cannot even remotely try to do with my smartphone.

 

[Old Listener]

I stopped reading DPR reviews years ago. For a few years, I found the forums worthwhile in spite of a population of poisonous people. I especially valued conversations with a few people who were grounded in the real world. As they died, disappeared or moved to other interests, the balance of good and bad swung toward the bad. I still check in every few months to see what my friends are posting.

 

[dwkdnvr]

I stopped reading DPR reviews years ago. For a few years, I found the forums worthwhile in spite of a population of poisonous people. I especially valued conversations with a few people who were grounded in the real world. As they died, disappeared or moved to other interests, the balance of good and bad swung toward the bad. I still check in every few months to see what my friends are posting.

Yes, there was a time where the forums there were pretty toxic and I stayed away for a while. I started visiting a couple years ago though, and found it MUCH better - far less 'brand superiority' fights, and even the 'sensor size' fights were largely muted. I'm not sure whether this was due to moderation changes or whether the shrinking photo community led to the departure of a certain type of user. For the most part I found the general tenor recently to be 'there really isn't a bad camera out there anymore, find the platform that fits your uses', although no public forum will ever be entirely free of conflict.

 

[Old Listener]

Yes, there was a time where the forums there were pretty toxic and I stayed away for a while. I started visiting a couple years ago though, and found it MUCH better - far less 'brand superiority' fights, and even the 'sensor size' fights were largely muted. I'm not sure whether this was due to moderation changes or whether the shrinking photo community led to the departure of a certain type of user. For the most part I found the general tenor recently to be 'there really isn't a bad camera out there anymore, find the platform that fits your uses', although no public forum will ever be entirely free of conflict.

What I resented most was that many of the moderators aided and abetted the toxic people on DPR. Those moderators said that it was management policy to allow toxic behavior to go unchecked. Good riddance to all the toxic managers, members and moderators who infested DPR.

 

[Prana Ferox]

I frequented the m43 forum and a solid 50% of posts were nonsense about sensor size or equivalency (often factually incorrect) or pointless sniping between Panasonic / Oly stans.

You can argue about the survival of the camera industry (and we have another thread for that) but I think it's inarguable that the money end of the industry is selling to video shooters, and video shooters looking for reviews / tips and tricks prefer a video-heavy site format, at the least, if they don't go straight to YouTube. Most of the forum poster content seemed pretty videographer-hostile, at the least constantly advocating against cameras with video features or even things like articulating screens.

Supposedly DPReview was purchased with the intent of making it a fancy storefront, but beyond in-article Amazon links nothing came from that.

 

[cavedriver]

What I resented most was that many of the moderators aided and abetted the toxic people on DPR. Those moderators said that it was management policy to allow toxic behavior to go unchecked. Good riddance to all the toxic managers, members and moderators who infested DPR.

that's still the normal behavior on several of the car forums I used to be active on. Whenever I drop in their to consult on something it's almost guaranteed that someone will pick an argument with you for no real reason. Granted I'm certainly not above expressing my opinions on a topic, but not personal attacks. I suppose it's massively present behavior across most of the internet and a constant drain on anyone in a moderator role.

 

[Dismayed]

Yes, there was a time where the forums there were pretty toxic and I stayed away for a while. I started visiting a couple years ago though, and found it MUCH better - far less 'brand superiority' fights, and even the 'sensor size' fights were largely muted. I'm not sure whether this was due to moderation changes or whether the shrinking photo community led to the departure of a certain type of user. For the most part I found the general tenor recently to be 'there really isn't a bad camera out there anymore, find the platform that fits your uses', although no public forum will ever be entirely free of conflict.

Yes, the arguments were intense because the stakes were so small.

 

[JeffS7444]

I liked DPR’s standardized test targets and comparator for evaluating camera sensor performance: Too many equipment reviews are subjective, and say more about the mood of the reviewer than anything else.

 

[Gorgonzola]

What I resented most was that many of the moderators aided and abetted the toxic people on DPR. Those moderators said that it was management policy to allow toxic behavior to go unchecked. Good riddance to all the toxic managers, members and moderators who infested DPR.

Yeah well, I didn't go to DPReview for the forums but for the reviews of cameras and lenses. Not liking the forums seems like a poor, or at least insufficient reason for not liking the site or being indifferent to its closing.

 

[Old Listener]

Yeah well, I didn't go to DPReview for the forums but for the reviews of cameras and lenses. Not liking the forums seems like a poor, or at least insufficient reason for not liking the site or being indifferent to its closing.

I didn't find the camera or lens reviews very useful. By 2016, gear was mostly quite good at optical part. What mattered to me was the software based stuff such as focus peaking, image magnification in the viewfinder and LCD, blown highlight detection, stabilization,correction for lens imperfection and the UI. DPR didn't provide much value. They had a standard template and reviews just filled out the template.

 

[Gorgonzola]

I didn't find the camera or lens reviews very useful. By 2016, gear was mostly quite good at optical part. What mattered to me was the software based stuff such as focus peaking, image magnification in the viewfinder and LCD, blown highlight detection, stabilization,correction for lens imperfection and the UI. DPR didn't provide much value. They had a standard template and reviews just filled out the template.

Sounds like your requirements are more sophisticated than mind which case, I dare say, DPReview might fall short.

 

[Trell]

3. How often do consumers use their digital cameras on a yearly bases?

Since COVID it has found very much use in video calls.

 

[Keith_W]

The title of this thread can now be changed to DPReview to be saved.

 

[julian_hughes]

The title of this thread can now be changed to DPReview to be saved.

Great news! I'm still using it to compare results from phones and cameras dating from 2004 to present. The ability to directly compare real results is incredibly useful and informative. It's one of the few ways to get past marketing, hype and uncritical reviews and find out what devices are capable of.

 

[mmi]

I got a Sigma DP2 Merrill second hand based on DPReview’s incredible camera test library. Oh Foveon X3 sensor, you were so unique and beautiful and died too young.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

DPReview was and is too good resource to die.
So, it was only a question "who will buy it" about, but no more.
Even a decrease in demand for mid-range and high-end cameras does not affect this fact in any way.
So, a buyer has been found.
And this is good.

 

[Neddy]

I got a Sigma DP2 Merrill second hand based on DPReview’s incredible camera test library. Oh Foveon X3 sensor, you were so unique and beautiful and died too young.

I have a DP1S, and still use it occasionally for vibrant images. I'd love to have one of the newer ones, but is beyond my budget, even used...and first learned of them also at DPReview. Glad to hear they are 'rescued' from the Monster Gobbler.

 

[mmi]

I have a DP1S, and still use it occasionally for vibrant images. I'd love to have one of the newer ones, but is beyond my budget, even used...and first learned of them also at DPReview. Glad to hear they are 'rescued' from the Monster Gobbler.

The newer versions aren’t the same tech as the original Foveon sensor from what I know, compromised in ways that probably made them faster and better in low light (maybe? it’s been a while).

In the right conditions the original sensor truly does produce magical images unlike every digital camera on the market before or since. The detail and colour is so film like it’s unreal, equivalent of 60mp from an APS-C size or something like that.

 

[HoweSound]

Sorry to hear of their demise. DPReview informed my camera decisions for many years. Their review clinched my decision to buy the Sony RX100 VII, a great 1" sensor travel camera. Unfortunately cell phones are doing to photography what MP3 players did to music.

 

[antcollinet]

The title of this thread can now be changed to DPReview to be saved.

This is massively good news.

Sorry to hear of their demise. DPReview informed my camera decisions for many years. Their review clinched my decision to buy the Sony RX100 VII, a great 1" sensor travel camera. Unfortunately cell phones are doing to photography what MP3 players did to music.

I think you missed the post I've just quoted