EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT

[anyone]

I was most worried about this whether people can still freely share where they source their things - this seems to be the case, therefore I’m glad GetDPI was able to make this partnership happen. I am sure it is a win-win situation. In the end, we Europeans are just envious of the quality of dealers in the US

 

[edouard]

Congratulations!
(so the only advertiser will be Capture Integration?)

Capture Integration: Hasselblad, Phase One, Leica, technical cameras; 'looks like a dream dealer!
(p.s. they put the Hasselblad X1D in the "small format cameras" category, which is a little bit vexing; although with a 44x33 sensor it's almost true)

Don't they want to come in Geneva Switzerland, bring a little bit of competition to the big Swiss "Light + byte" dealer (in Zurich) ?

 

[Godfrey]

I understand the need for a partner to help fund and develop GetDPI further.

I have had no dealings with or relationship with Capture Integration, but from the comments so far CI and Dave Gallagher seem upstanding members of the photographic community here. Since I mostly ignore advertising of any kind, and have only done commerce with various folks off-line from the site, I don't know really what level of commercial involvement has been going on or how removing it might affect the flow of conversation and discussion. I guess the only thing to do is see what develops over time as this relationship matures.

I do hope that the areas of the site where people discuss photographic efforts outside of medium format and technical cameras remain healthy and popular. Only a percentage of my photographic efforts are with medium format, film or digital; the rest are with film and digital formats from subminiature to FF 35mm.

Change is a necessary part of life, and if GetDPI will continue to live, it will continue to evolve and change. I welcome anything that promotes good conversation and discussion, good solution finding, and the presentation of excellent ideas and photographs. The quality of our conversation and participation here is the reason I participate on GetDPI more than on any other single photographic forum.

G

 

[bensonga]

While I certainly appreciate the financial support that Capture Integration will provide to GetDPI, I am VERY disappointed that the new owners of GetDPI have now made this forum an exclusive partner with CI and ask (require?) that all other commerical providers cease their "commercial activities" here (whatever that means). I for one have had great service, response and experience with the folks at Digital Transitions. Does this new rule mean that anyone from DT Commercial who wanted to post a response on the forum answering someone's question could not include their DT Commerical contact info in their signature line? I do wonder...did CI request a exclusive provider arrangement as a condition for their support of did the new owners of GetDPI offer it as an inducement?

I am really disappointed with this decision and the direction the GetDPI Forum is now going. My interest in spending time here has been greatly reduced over the past couple of months and from my perspective, this is one more negative factor.

On the other hand, although I've been a member of the GetDPI community for many years, since I don't participate here very often anymore, my opinion doesn't carry much weight.

Gary Benson

 

[jotloob]

While I certainly appreciate the financial support that Capture Integration will provide to GetDPI, I am VERY disappointed that the new owners of GetDPI have now made this forum an exclusive partner with CI and ask (require?) that all other commerical providers cease their "commercial activities" here (whatever that means). I for one have had great service, response and experience with the folks at Digital Transitions. Does this new rule mean that anyone from DT Commercial who wanted to post a response on the forum answering someone's question could not include their DT Commerical contact info in their signature line? I do wonder...did CI request a exclusive provider arrangement as a condition for their support of did the new owners of GetDPI offer it as an inducement?

I am really disappointed with this decision and the direction the GetDPI Forum is now going. My interest in spending time here has been greatly reduced over the past couple of months and from my perspective, this is one more negative factor.

On the other hand, although I've been a member of the GetDPI community for many years, since I don't participate here very often anymore, my opinion doesn't carry much weight.

Gary Benson

Hello Gary
You are speaking from my heart .

And I agree to what you say here :
I am really disappointed with this decision and the direction the GetDPI Forum is now going. My interest in spending time here has been greatly reduced over the past couple of months and from my perspective, this is one more negative factor.

 

[fotoism]

I am glad our forum found a steady partner for financial support.

When I saw “…we ask all commercial entities on the GetDPI.com forum to halt their commercial activities…” I want to make sure I am not breaking any rules going forward.

• I do not own, or am related to, a photography business, so I guess I am not a “commercial entity”, right?
• If I run into some good deals outside of Capture Integration (e.g. manufacturer’s sale, Black Friday sales…etc.) can I share that information here to other members if that happened to be products CI sells?
• What if the information above does not relate to Hasselblad, Leica, Phase One…etc. but relates to medium format (or small format as CI calls it)?

I am asking these questions because yesterday I happened to have revived a thread from 2019 in the medium format forum regarding a Swiss company because I noticed the lenses members discussed there had just gone on Kickstarter, and I thought maybe someone would be interested to follow up. I have absolutely no connection with that company and I don’t want my post to be seen as “commercial activities”. I don’t want to break rules here.

If indeed my post over there is not appropriate please remove it, but please don’t ban me from the forum.

 

[olafphoto]

I am glad our forum found a steady partner for financial support.

When I saw “…we ask all commercial entities on the GetDPI.com forum to halt their commercial activities…” I want to make sure I am not breaking any rules going forward.

• I do not own, or am related to, a photography business, so I guess I am not a “commercial entity”, right?
• If I run into some good deals outside of Capture Integration (e.g. manufacturer’s sale, Black Friday sales…etc.) can I share that information here to other members if that happened to be products CI sells?
• What if the information above does not relate to Hasselblad, Leica, Phase One…etc. but relates to medium format (or small format as CI calls it)?

I am asking these questions because yesterday I happened to have revived a thread from 2019 in the medium format forum regarding a Swiss company because I noticed the lenses members discussed there had just gone on Kickstarter, and I thought maybe someone would be interested to follow up. I have absolutely no connection with that company and I don’t want my post to be seen as “commercial activities”. I don’t want to break rules here.

If indeed my post over there is not appropriate please remove it, but please don’t ban me from the forum.

I appreciate your kind words and thoughtful post. Of course with your class we would never ban you I will be addressing some of your questions in the upcoming posts. The objective of the whole think is not to restrain sharing and ideas but rather support the company and the people that made a very bold decision to support us.

 

[Shashin]

Things are always a work in progress. There does not seem to be anything in this announcement that would actually effect the community. I appreciate Olaf's efforts to balance the spirit of the GetDPI community with new ideas. I have not really seen anything that has changed the forum in any significant way. I was in another forum that was bought by a retailer and the purchase had no effect on the community except for the support.

 

[olafphoto]

While I certainly appreciate the financial support that Capture Integration will provide to GetDPI, I am VERY disappointed that the new owners of GetDPI have now made this forum an exclusive partner with CI and ask (require?) that all other commerical providers cease their "commercial activities" here (whatever that means). I for one have had great service, response and experience with the folks at Digital Transitions. Does this new rule mean that anyone from DT Commercial who wanted to post a response on the forum answering someone's question could not include their DT Commerical contact info in their signature line? I do wonder...did CI request a exclusive provider arrangement as a condition for their support of did the new owners of GetDPI offer it as an inducement?

I am really disappointed with this decision and the direction the GetDPI Forum is now going. My interest in spending time here has been greatly reduced over the past couple of months and from my perspective, this is one more negative factor.

On the other hand, although I've been a member of the GetDPI community for many years, since I don't participate here very often anymore, my opinion doesn't carry much weight.

Gary Benson

No Gary, you are wrong. Every opinion is important to me and yours carry as much weight as anyone else! Thank you for sharing it.

Please let me remind you that it was just a few months ago that we were all facing the fact that the forum could close for good due to the lack of funding and resources. It was especially strange that numerous commercial entities actively advertised their products and services. If you go to any website, other photographic forum on FB or off-FB it is hard to find a place where anyone could advertise for free without supporting the place. We have completed a major migration, upgraded the system, stopped loosing members and started growing again. We are adding more tools and working on exclusive content in a blog format, which will find its way to the forum shortly. I absolutely understand that there will be companies (and some individuals) disappointed in this development but we communicated the need for support clearly and boldly including some private correspondence. It is logical and beneficial to all members to support the company which helps the forum (especially in this difficult time). It doesn't mean that other people cannot participate in the forum. We just have to be realistic about the situation. It appears to me that the only "disappointment" you are citing is the fact that we have a new sponsor, unless you don't like all the upgrades and visual changes. Throughout the upgrade process, I communicated all the changes with the community the best I could and the majority of members supported these changes. To be honest we didn't have much choice - the platform was due for a major technical upgrade anyway. I always welcome criticism and ideas on how to make this forum better but you have to be more specific Gary rather than "I have been disappointed with the direction." We all do our best given the resources available to us. Furthermore, we will need a lot of help soon in moderating and facilitating some conversations and ideas. I will certainly contact you in this matter and I am counting on your help.

 

[olafphoto]

Things are always a work in progress. There does not seem to be anything in this announcement that would actually effect the community. I appreciate Olaf's efforts to balance the spirit of the GetDPI community with new ideas. I have not really seen anything that has changed the forum in any significant way. I was in another forum that was bought by a retailer and the purchase had no effect on the community except for the support.

Well-said Shashin. Thank you for your support. Indeed, not much will change in terms of interactions and exchanging ideas.

 

[olafphoto]

Congratulations!
(so the only advertiser will be Capture Integration?)

Capture Integration: Hasselblad, Phase One, Leica, technical cameras; 'looks like a dream dealer!
(p.s. they put the Hasselblad X1D in the "small format cameras" category, which is a little bit vexing; although with a 44x33 sensor it's almost true)

Don't they want to come in Geneva Switzerland, bring a little bit of competition to the big Swiss "Light + byte" dealer (in Zurich) ?

Yes, the only advertiser and commercial partner will be Capture Integration. We really didn't want to plaster the forum with ads and products. We are convinced Capture Integration is the right partner for the forum.

 

[bensonga]

It appears to me that the only "disappointment" you are citing is the fact that we have a new sponsor, unless you don't like all the upgrades and visual changes.

Thank you for the response Olaf. I certainly appreciate and recognize all the time, effort and resources your team has devoted/invested in upgrading and keeping GetDPI alive for the future. I am supportive of your work here and I'm also subscriber to the Medium Format Magazine.

My disappointment is not that GetDPI has a new sponsor. Quite the contrary...I applaud CI for their continued and increased support. My disappointment, which is strongly felt, is that this is an EXCLUSIVE sponsorship arrangement with Capture Integration. I never felt that the original GetDPI forum was plastered with ads from the few corporate sponsors here.

In general, I am ok with the new look of the forum, although I do wish that my original Subscriber Member Gallery was still organized and shown as such. Perhaps I'm missing something about the Regular Member Galleries, but I don't see a way to locate all of the photos from a "Regular Member" in the same way that this is still possible in the Subscriber Member Gallery. Having that "feature" for Regular Member galleries would be useful.

I also wonder whatever happened to the original GetDPI lens and camera reviews posted by Guy, Jack etc. I wanted to share a link with a friend to Jack's reviews of Mamiya 645 lenses recently, but I could not find those on the new GetDPI Forum site. Perhaps someone could point me to them, if they are still here.

Gary

 

[olafphoto]

Thank you for the response Olaf. I certainly appreciate and recognize all the time, effort and resources your team has devoted/invested in upgrading and keeping GetDPI alive for the future. I am supportive of your work here and I'm also subscriber to the Medium Format Magazine.

My disappointment is not that GetDPI has a new sponsor. Quite the contrary...I applaud CI for their continued and increased support. My disappointment, which is strongly felt, is that this is an EXCLUSIVE sponsorship arrangement with Capture Integration. I never felt that the original GetDPI forum was plastered with ads from the few corporate sponsors here.

In general, I am ok with the new look of the forum, although I do wish that my original Subscriber Member Gallery was still organized and shown as such. Perhaps I'm missing something about the Regular Member Galleries, but I don't see a way to locate all of the photos from a "Regular Member" in the same way that this is still possible in the Subscriber Member Gallery. Having that "feature" for Regular Member galleries would be useful.

I also wonder whatever happened to the original GetDPI lens and camera reviews posted by Guy, Jack etc. I wanted to share a link with a friend to Jack's reviews of Mamiya 645 lenses recently, but I could not find those on the new GetDPI Forum site. Perhaps someone could point me to them, if they are still here.

Gary

Thank you for your thoughtful response Gary. Please note that we reached out to most dealers present on the forum BEFORE we made an agreement with Capture Integration. Despite very difficult market conditions they step up and decided to support us. Therefore, I strongly believe that Capture Integration should be applauded and supported for doing this! Let's be honest. There are two choices here. We introduce a subscription-based model (the idea was rejected by most members) OR we find a great company, which could support us. Also, please keep in mind that we need to GROW this forum in order for it to be relevant and active.

Some threads and forums were removed as they were no longer active, most with close consultation with @Jack.

In regards to Members' Galleries, please note that we moved to an entire different platform, which offers similar solutions but some tools cannot be transplanted exactly how they were before. We have already spend a lot of time and money to do some customisation work so the impact of our changes would be minimal. However, as you can imagine, we don't have unlimited funds to tailor everything to everyone's liking. We must make some difficult choices. Having said that, we are still working on some solutions and we may decide to organize Members' Galleries differently. This is something that I will definitely consult with all our members. Once again, thank you for the conversation. I appreciate your support and I count on your support going forward.

 

[elm]

Its rare to find a forum where people are willing to share their insight and experiences freely. To find someone willing to help maintain this forum going forward is something we should all be grateful for, especially during this time where so many places shut down.

I have been photographing for a long time (never professionally) and purchased equipment from lots of places. I got to know about Capture Integration on this forum and was able to use them to get my 907x 50c. At no time did they try to push anything on me. They gave honest and direct answers to questions and made great recommendations. I expect them to do the same for this forum. Thank you.

 

[Ed Hurst]

I fully understand what's being done and I can see plenty of positives in it; like anything, there will be a few cons as well as pros, but if it keeps the quality of information, the tone of collaboration and the helpfulness of this wonderful community going, then I am happy to support it with all my heart.

Just to be 100% clear, does this new model mean that no one can provide links or contact details when contributing to the forum if those links/details relate to a photography business? Perhaps it means that only for dealers selling gear? Or perhaps everyone can reply with all details/links present providing they aren't actually directly promoting their services or advertising? This might sound pedantic, but just keen to know where the line is drawn to avoid any unfortunate slip-ups by myself (who has a photography business but isn't a dealer!) or anyone else...

Warmest - and please keep letting all of us know how we can help. Any ideas, help, photos or anything else i can provide (within reason) are at your disposal!

 

[MoJo]

Olaf, can you message me somehow? I have tried all of your available conduits - email, your website at Medium format magazine, and FB, and have never received any responses... Or can anyone else forward me a viable way to contact Olaf? TIA.

 

[olafphoto]

Olaf, can you message me somehow? I have tried all of your available conduits - email, your website at Medium format magazine, and FB, and have never received any responses... Or can anyone else forward me a viable way to contact Olaf? TIA.

Will do!

 

[olafphoto]

I fully understand what's being done and I can see plenty of positives in it; like anything, there will be a few cons as well as pros, but if it keeps the quality of information, the tone of collaboration and the helpfulness of this wonderful community going, then I am happy to support it with all my heart.

Just to be 100% clear, does this new model mean that no one can provide links or contact details when contributing to the forum if those links/details relate to a photography business? Perhaps it means that only for dealers selling gear? Or perhaps everyone can reply with all details/links present providing they aren't actually directly promoting their services or advertising? This might sound pedantic, but just keen to know where the line is drawn to avoid any unfortunate slip-ups by myself (who has a photography business but isn't a dealer!) or anyone else...

Warmest - and please keep letting all of us know how we can help. Any ideas, help, photos or anything else i can provide (within reason) are at your disposal!

Thank you so much Ed for your kind and thoughtful note. Yes, I will be posting a major update today or tomorrow and I will try to clarify some rules going forward.
I want to make it clear that no one will be banned from posting, sharing ideas or helping fellow members to solve technical problems. Yes, Capture Integration will receive our support and we will work with them to create channels for easier communication between members and the Capture Integration team. They deserve our support and I strongly believe that anyone who cares about the future of this forum will support them as well. Over the next few weeks, I will organize a group of moderators who will help with the group, mostly by facilitating and leading great conversations and the exchange of ideas. I may contact you Ed

 

[stngoldberg]

This forum has been a most valuable resource for me for a very long time. Some very competent photographers have helped me learn by demonstrating their work and sharing their knowledge. I am pleased that CI will enable this forum to continue....CI is a valuable resource in its own right...Chis Snipes has made himself available nights and weekends to help me get unstuck on many occasions which I really appreciate
stanley

 

[jotloob]

Olaf, can you message me somehow? I have tried all of your available conduits - email, your website at Medium format magazine, and FB, and have never received any responses... Or can anyone else forward me a viable way to contact Olaf? TIA.

@ Olaf

Olaf , as english is not my mother language , I sometimes feel , i can not properly express what I want to say .
But the above QUOTE is what I experienced too .
I have tried to contact you twice and once , one of the software technicians , rather at the end of your take over of getdpi .
I never got an answer . That is frustrating , isn't it ? ? ?