DPreview to be shuttered. [ not anymore]

[Blumlein 88]

Amazon layoffs will shut down camera review site DPReview.com after 25 years [Updated]

Updates stop on April 10, site will be available for "a limited period" after.

arstechnica.com

DPReview.com to close

After nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview will be closing in the near future. This difficult decision is part of the annual operating plan review that our parent company shared earlier this year.

www.dpreview.com

Maybe with smartphones a site dedicated to serious cameras gets few visitors anymore. It's annual income is listed as $1-2 million with only 8 million visits. Mostly a young demographic however.

 

[NTK]

This is very disappointing

 

[Rednaxela]

Got a Sony DSC-H1 in 2005 based on their reviews.

Great resource though I have to admit I haven’t visited it in years.

 

[Multicore]

I tried looking at that site a couple of times in recent months and I thought that it is basically of historical interest. It's a golden oldie. I hope archive.org has a deep copy. I won't miss the smug smile of that video reviewer.

 

[Martin]

Sad. DPReview has been my go to site for years when shopping for cameras.

 

[cavedriver]

WOW! Hard to imagine it going away. Their camera reviews have had no equal for years- I've been reading them since they started. The current people on there have tried their hand at being internet personalities but the founder preferred to stay in the background and seemed to take pains to be almost anonymous, presumably to try to protect his appearance of impartiality.

 

[Offler]

These are really sad new. The quality of their reviews is very high, especially the possibility to compare different sensors on the same scenes, and compare different cameras against each other.

Like.. I decided to buy Olympus M1x based on their reviews on this Monday.

 

[Keith_W]

How sad! They have been around since the early days. I still remember the buzz when digital cameras first came out. I really wanted a Nikon Coolpix 950, but I had no money at the time. So I bought a Canon Digital Ixus instead. I read dpreview voraciously, getting excited with all the new cameras that were coming out. For me it was a huge revolution from film photography. I could take as many photos as I liked! No need to change film canisters every 36 shots! And ... although film aficionados thought otherwise, I thought that even lowly 2 megapixel images looked cleaner than film.

 

[Zapper]

I was sad to hear this. I've been reading DPreview and participating in the forums for 20 years or so. Unfortunately photography, like audio, is a steadily declining hobby.

 

[Simfunk]

I am absolutely shocked! I've been visiting dpreview.com daily since 2015.

 

[symphara]

Sad to hear, used to visit it regularly. I'm afraid that the kind of photographic equipment they're about is going the way of the dodo.

Not surprising, I barely use my (nice) big camera. The phone is always there, and the quality is good enough.

 

[Palladium]

Sad to hear, used to visit it regularly. I'm afraid that the kind of photographic equipment they're about is going the way of the dodo.

Not surprising, I barely use my (nice) big camera. The phone is always there, and the quality is good enough.

I don't own a dedicated camera, but from what I heard the Japanese camera makers are so afraid of cannibalizing their existing lineups that their new stuff wasn't exciting enough to even keep the pros interested.

 

[TonyJZX]

has shades of amazon effectively destroying some of the better aspects of imdb

but this was a long time coming... people arent into compact cameras or removable lens units any more

 

[Zapper]

I don't own a dedicated camera, but from what I heard the Japanese camera makers are so afraid of cannibalizing their existing lineups that their new stuff wasn't exciting enough to even keep the pros interested.

I don't think that's true. There is fierce competition fostered by the new mirrorless technologies. Sales of high end pro cameras and lenses are healthy. It's the consumer sales that have dwindled to almost nothing.

 

[Zapper]

Sad to hear, used to visit it regularly. I'm afraid that the kind of photographic equipment they're about is going the way of the dodo.

Not surprising, I barely use my (nice) big camera. The phone is always there, and the quality is good enough.

Ha! That's like: I barely use my (nice) big hifi. The phone and earbuds are always there, and the quality is good enough.

Every kid in college used to have a stereo (or want one). Now they have a phone, earbuds, and maybe a dinky bluetooth speaker.

 

[TonyJZX]

i think only canon are in the sub $500 dslr market.... sure you guys might poo poo those Eos 2000 crap boxes but that's all there is

everyone else has moved up to pro sumer

im not sure there is general consumer mirrorless removable lens units yet... say sub $500

 

[symphara]

Ha! That's like: I barely use my (nice) big hifi. The phone and earbuds are always there, and the quality is good enough.

Every kid in college used to have a stereo (or want one). Now they have a phone, earbuds, and maybe a dinky bluetooth speaker.

Not sure, for me a big and nice audio system is not quite in the same ballpark as phone + earbuds/bt speaker/integrated TV audio/soundbar. The gap widens to a chasm if you add surround or Atmos. Could I watch a movie on my phone? Yes, but I never do, I can get an immensely better experience with a proper AV system.

I personally feel that the quality of phone photography has really come close to the big cameras, for most daily, common uses (family, pets, landscape etc). And since they're so small and always with us, it's no brainer that we use them.

I make an effort to haul the big camera when I go somewhere special (like, say, the pyramids) but otherwise it mostly stays at home.

 

[dwkdnvr]

I don't own a dedicated camera, but from what I heard the Japanese camera makers are so afraid of cannibalizing their existing lineups that their new stuff wasn't exciting enough to even keep the pros interested.

Yes, this is simply untrue. The high-end mirrorless offerings from all brands are all significant steps up from any DSLR, with the possible exception of AF behavior in very low light. (well, and battery life) Far better autofocus, far better burst capabilities, and while expensive the premium mirrorless lenses are lighter, faster and optically at least comparable to any DSLR lenses. Eye focus has made portrait photography almost idiot-proof, the new stacked sensors and AI tracking autofocus have revolutionized bird and wildlife photography, and multi-shot bracketing and computational modes have dramatically improved things like macro and landscape capabilities. Any struggles the camera market is experiencing is NOT due to the fundamental capability of the cameras themselves.

The problem in the camera industry is largely the same as in the audio industry - the mass-market entry level has been basically eliminated by cell phones. The step up from a phone is too expensive, too bulky and requires learning a new approach to pictures and so fewer and fewer people are entering the 'dedicated camera' market. This pushes prices up across the board to the point where the 'entry level' is now more or less where the 'advanced hobbiest' was 10 years ago.

The demise of DPR is certainly unexpected and is potentially significant to the hobby - it was by far the largest community on the web, and while it had its problems there really isn't an obvious replacement. It is likely that the community will fragment, and honestly even many of the smaller/niche sites that might have been alternative destinations have already seen their own erosion in the search for sustainability. (e.g. mu-43.com has long been THE site for micro-43rds discussion, but the original owner sold out a year or two ago and the new owners are absentee and are really only interested in harvesting ads and clicks). I still hold out hope that someone will manage to buy it wholesale, but it may well be too late for this (e.g. the DPReviewTV guys have already moved to PetaPixel, and so wouldn't be part of any buyout/migration)

 

[Zapper]

I personally feel that the quality of phone photography has really come close to the big cameras, for most daily, common uses (family, pets, landscape etc). And since they're so small and always with us, it's no brainer that we use them.

I disagree. I also use my Samsung phone (with its 4 cameras covering the focal length range from 14mm-240mm eq.) because it's convenient. But the image quality between it and my Nikon Z7 is vast. Even used as desktop wallpaper on my PC the deficiencies are obvious.

But my eye is better trained than my ear, and perhaps it's the opposite for you.

I make an effort to haul the big camera when I go somewhere special (like, say, the pyramids) but otherwise it mostly stays at home.

An advantage of superior equipment is it allows you to do things lesser equipment can't. Fill a large room with undistorted sound, or take a sharp, detailed photo of a bird in flight.

But those things are of interest to few. ASR and DPR attract the same sort - those who seek excellence.

 

[symphara]

I disagree. I also use my Samsung phone (with its 4 cameras covering the focal length range from 14mm-240mm eq.) because it's convenient. But the image quality between it and my Nikon Z7 is vast. Even used as desktop wallpaper on my PC the deficiencies are obvious.

But my eye is better trained than my ear, and perhaps it's the opposite for you.

An advantage of superior equipment is it allows you to do things lesser equipment can't. Fill a large room with undistorted sound, or take a sharp, detailed photo of a bird in flight.

But those things are of interest to few. ASR and DPR attract the same sort - those who seek excellence.

I'll tell you for sure that I'm sad that DPR is shutting down. I valued it, I read countless reviews, I liked their methodology. But such is life, I understand it wasn't making enough money and I understand why the need for it lessened, in my very own behaviour.

Still, I'm a Sony guy (formerly Pentax, still have two of those + lenses), your Z7 is awesome, I shot with one.