In what is some of the most surprising news the industry has seen in a long time, DPReview, one of the oldest and most respected photography publications on the web, is ceasing operations in less than a month.
The news came earlier today, with the site relaying that the decision was handed down by its parent company, Amazon, as part of a larger group of thousands of layoffs. The site will remain active until April 10, after which all new content will be ceased and forums will be locked, with the site remaining in a read-only mode for a "limited period." Readers can request a copy of their data until April 6.
The news is extraordinarily surprising, as DPReview is one of the oldest and most respected photography publications on the web. Started in 1998, it has been around for essentially all of the digital photography age. It was acquired by Amazon in 2007, but strangely, Amazon never seemed to integrate the site much into its main platform, which may have been a double-edged sword, as it allowed DPReview to continue to provide the comprehensive and objective content it was known for, but may have made it less integral to its parent company's plans.
What is particularly sad is that over 25 years, the site has built an absolutely incredible library of data and articles, all of which are slated to disappear from the web forever in a short time, which will be an enormous loss of knowledge. Even sadder is the loss of the DPReview staff, who are some of the most knowledgeable, thorough, and kind people in the industry. We certainly hope they all land on their feet, as they are all of immeasurable value to the industry we love.
Truly depressing news…
at this point, DPR is practically a public service. Amazon should not be allowed to scuttle it because they got bored with it.
Oh? You must have been very active on DPR. Thanks for sharing your constructive comment.
DPReview is far more than its forum (which isn't any worse than any other internet forum, IMHO). I'm thinking of their encyclopedic camera and lens database.
Imagine being this depressing to not only be around in person but to then spread it everywhere you go; How have you gone through anything being this hateful and hardheaded?
Thank you for contributing to the ever growing polarization and hatred on the internet.
"I expressed an opinion; so far four of you have chosen to respond. I didn't make you respond; I didn't address you"
You INVITED us to respond.
"I don't care about your hurt feelings. But comment at me anyway."
Now you wish you hadn't, because we all know you're not only rude but also dishonest.
"A forum full of people attacking each other"
...
And the first thing you feel compelled to do, is attack.
"People attacking each other" is the modus operandi of the internet. There have been many useful tips and constructive discussions on the forums as well.
But the DPReview site was much more than just a bunch of forums. It was a vast database of camera and lens info and reviews, with comparison tools, to help one making informed decisions on the technical aspects of gear one might wish to buy.
And while that's far not everything that there is about photography, the closure of this site is still a big loss to the photography industry (or at least the camera industry 😉 ) for that reason.
Like the burning of the library of Alexandria, this won't be the end of the world but it will be a huge loss of knowledge.
A man follows a neighbor into a local church because he hopes to someday get into her pants and finds himself at a funeral for the neighbor's mother. After several fond remembrances of the deceased, the man lurches up to the podium, flashes a smirking grin at the neighbor, then tells her and all assembled, "I didn't really know the old hag, but you're better off without her."
Your initial post was rude, insensitive, selfish and ignorant. Might as well just keep your yap shut. You are a perfect example of that which you decry.
You don't have to think as I think. You just need to learn how not to be a jerk. Toads are much nicer people than you are.
Dude just go away. Stop replying. You have stated multiple times that you don't care. So why then do you care so much? Obviously you do care because you keep replying. Nothing forced you to make an absolutely unnecessary comment that literally no one benefited from and nothing is forcing you to keep replying. Exercise your lack of care and prove to us that you don't care and leave. Or wait, are you one of those internet people that HAS to have the last word?
looks like you did
The metaphor is perfectly apt. You're an unwelcome guest at a funeral, talking smack about the deceased, and offending everyone for no other reason than to pleasure yourself.
Never mind.
Oh, the irony...in both counts.
I don't even know you. You've just created this account Feb of this year.
Huh... Maybe you should learn to take a hint
"I had one too many cases of people not liking what I said and killed my account."
LOL. Don't bother starting over with a new account...again. Until you learn civility, people will continue to not like what you say.
"I've always gone out of my way to be nice to you."
It would seem that for you, being nice to anyone is, indeed, going WAY out of your way.
😂
Omg I snorted my coffee reading this thread. It’s meta to the point of parody how DPR-esque the original comment and ensuing defensive, argumentative comment thread all are.
DPR may be disappearing, but dudes in internet comment sections will never change
😆🤣
I found all the fanboy obsession over brands and gear to be more negative than the value I got from it.
Plus site management was poor.
I also felt they showed bias.
I have plenty of other places to get photography information from that does not have all the baggage.
Like this site, for example.
I gave up on DPR years ago and won’t miss it.
Over the course of 20 years there, I saw aggressive fanboyism wax and wane. However, judicious use of the "ignore" feature enabled me to filter out the toddlers, and in the past several years I had mostly helpful and interesting interactions with a variety of folks. Some of them were extremely knowledgeable about particular topics and willing to help. In turn, I helped a lot of folks and got "Thanks!" in return.
In addition, I found DPR's expositions on the topic of ISO invariance eye-opening, and this helped me greatly with highlight protection in my low-light event work.
Totally agree. Moderators there were playing favorites and if they did not like someone like me they would give you a temporary ban. After a while I figure out it was a waste of my time that could be spent better doing actual photography, so I quit.
I had some run-ins with a couple of mods there, one of whom banned me for posting "off-topic" when I suggested a flash the OP hadn't specifically asked about. But, the vast majority I encountered not only exercised restraint but also made positive contributions to the discussions. Remember, too, that moderators were not paid, and so inconsistency of quality control was to be expected. Overall, I'd give the moderation there a B+.
You and I have different views it appears.
All well said. The loss of the knowledge is like ... well, it's as if Amazon is burning down a library.
My thoughts, exactly. The test images facilitated empirical comparisons. The articles shed light on many aspects of gear that would otherwise be very difficult for individuals to glean. And, over 20 years of posting in the forums, I gained a tremendous amount of insight and useful information from many, many experienced photographers who generously contributed to helpful discourse. As for the trolls, I wish Fstoppers had DPR's "ignore" forum feature, which enables users to hide petty and mean-spirited posters from view.
The fact that you find trolling amusing is truly pathetic and a perfect validation of my original point. The sad part is that you equate being a jerk with being nonconformist and having temerity. I got news for you: there's a lot more to nonconformity and temerity than just farting at a party.
LOL. You're still the guy who thinks that taking a crap on a public sidewalk makes you an intrepid challenger of conventional wisdom. Ya got nothing, so now you're trying to divert attention from your own offensive behavior. How about you apologize to everyone here you offended and just move on to another thread. Maybe we'll forget what a jerk you are if you stop reminding us.
Every word I wrote about my background is true. But, that's beside the point, because you're still a funeral-crashing lout, and now you're just trying to change the subject.
How about you apologize to everyone here and just move on to another thread. Maybe we'll forget what a jerk you are if you stop reminding us.
For sake of this community, I'm now putting you on my ignore list. Change the subject all you want. Everyone here knows what you are.
One word: "Amazon"
Have not purchased a single product or service from them in years.
dpreview was a goto site for info and reviews for many years. Will be missed.
PSA DPReview is being archived by the Archive Team, currently team members are working to scrape over 4 million articles and posts. Once complete, the archive snapshot will be uploaded to the internet archive and the entire .WARC file made available to download so anyone will be able to download and browse most if not all of the sites articles.
I will also be downloading every image from the DPReview studio image comparison tool, preserving file structure with the exact name of each camera, both the day and night time modes and all ISO + pixel shift modes. I will make this available on Github, probably through a Lightroom catalogue (that can also be imported in Capture One)
Great news! Thank you!
Is this archive.org, a.k.a "The Wayback Machine?"
I was about to point out that DPReview historical content can be found there.
I would like to download a couple of articles on the cameras I own, how do I do this?
Go to the review you want then:
In Safari, File - save as PDF
In Firefox, File - print - and then select print as PDF
I'm sure the print option will work with any browser.
What the hell? Chris and all the others should provide information where they want to go in the future so we can follow them.
LOL what? Is Fstoppers your only news source? They are moving to PetaPixel.
That will improve PetaPixel.
They are going to Petapixel!
My first visit was in 1999. This was the best site to get info on new gear in a brand new market with limited options and memory cards around $1/megabyte. I stopped being a regular visitor when gear wasn't really crucial to keep up with. Phil Askey did pretty good selling it.
Bummer
Chris and Jordan have been picked up by PetaPixel, hopefully the writers, editors, and staff will have a softer landing too.
Dang. They were a great resource for sample raw files also.
perhaps i'm naive and understand nothing about corporate business, but it simply doesn't make sense that a well established site like that can't generate enough income to stay afloat
Most likely Amazon just cut it off during some re-structuring. Owners of these companies are so far off reality, everything is just number for them.
My assumption is with the greatly contracted photography market the money spent on the site offered a better return if it was spent on other things.
Also, I know plenty of people avoided DPR because of its negativity. I was one.
i did not see this coming. have to commend PP on their brilliant move. this will boost their brand for sure.
I don't have anything against Jacques or anyone else in this thread. However, I have an extreme hatred for dpreview and share your anger about the place.
In the early days, it was the best site (maybe the only site) to get camera reviews and download some full size files. But then the digital photography industry went into full swing and product cycle after product cycle came along and then we weren't "in Kansas" anymore. Photography has always been about technology, but the planned obsolence of digital is nothing like how it was before. Most of my teachers at art school in the 90s had Hasselblads from the 70-80s and they were still the coolest thing.
Dpreview evolved to represent the absolute worst aspects of consumerism. The vast majority of the people that posted there had bought their way into photography and were nothing but gear fetishists. The obsession with the new and the emphasis on constant progress means that people have no respect for anything but the latest fad. Consequently, they're totally unwilling to entertain an opinion that isn't the current thing (aka shut up troll).
It's no surprise that Amazon pulled the plug. The whole damn mess was built on credit and debt expansion. Now, the banks are failing and money is retracting, so all those gearheads are going to have a harder time financing their shiny new toys. It's also going to get harder to fake being a professional when everybody wakes up to reality that the jobs are disappearing too. Good riddance! The art of photography will still be here because it doesn't care about product cycles.