Doug, thanks for posting the info, certainly find the lens specs, especially weights, filter threads etc. very useful.
A general comment, I think it is unfair to characterize a dealer as biased for favouring the products they carry. This is what they are here for. I find the level of information provided by Doug and others like him regarding the products they sell to be very valuable. I'm sure other dealers carrying other products are welcome to put out helpful info regarding their products as well. In any case, Doug has always been open about the fact that he is a dealer.
In addition, the product/brand agnostic information that Doug has posted here including various calculators, image circle info, C1 tips etc., should be appreciated. Not sure what the witch hunt is about, and I would hate to see otherwise mature, very talented photographers, diminish the intent of this post.
Sorry, but I'm not going to sit back and let accusations of a "witch hunt" just stand without a response.
People need to read the thread from the start.
Doug claimed this for what he posted - "As far as I'm aware this is the only place one can find the weight, length, width, and movements of Cambo, Arca, and Alpa tech cameras in one place".
Additionally, on the page itself, right after the introduction to the company, he states this as an opener (and this is of critical importance to the argument) - "This page is provided to help guide our customers early in their process of selecting the body and lenses that best match their needs and budget."
He listed both the Max and the XY as not being capable of back-only movements.
It is NOT a witch hunt to point out a factual error.
When the person who has made that error initially refuses to correct it, coming out with some ridiculous assertion that you can't include accessories (even those included with the camera when you purchase it) when assessing the functionality of a camera, then frankly, I think I have every right to call him out on it.
Yes. He is a dealer for Cambo and Arca.
Yes. We of course should expect some bias in some circumstances.
But no. We should NOT expect some bias when he is purporting to present a purely objective, balanced - and hence presumably unbiased - assessment of the functionality of different cameras on the market.
And no. It is NOT OK to just sit back and accept it when he misrepresents a product that he does not sell, and having had the error pointed out to him, refuses to correct it.
With regards to the product agnostic information, I agree with you 100%. And if you were to look through the thread on his visualisation tool, you'll see that I was pretty vocal in my support of it, and suggested additional thoughts as to how it could be enhanced.
Look.
Like Graham, I too have spent some time in technical sales. I was a tech pre-sales guy for a software company for a good portion of my career, and trust me on this - not only do I know every sales trick in the book, I also fully understand multiple sales processes from both vendor and customer perspectives.
One of the things you look to do in any sales process is eliminate the competition as early as you can. Particularly the ones that you have often lost to in the past.
The oldest trick in the book is to feel the customer's pain and recognise what a confusing, complicated - not to mention, expensive - decision he has to make. In fact, part of your job as a salesman is to make the decision process appear even
more complicated than it is. You want the customer out of their comfort zone. That way, they need you to guide them.
But don't worry Mr Customer - we're here to help you with that. Look - we've put a great little tool together that will simplify things for you. Have a look through it, then come back to us when you need some more guidance.
Since you've developed a great relationship with your customer - chances are, he's going to trust you, and take you at your word.
And guess what. That little tool you provided (typically a bunch of check boxes against functionality) is loaded in your favour to knock the competition out.
Which is
exactly what Doug provided.
Anyone looking for all movements on the back would have written off the Max and XY right out of the starting gate.
Whether this was a deliberate intent from the outset we'll never know. But either Doug is a very well trained sales guy, or he's just extremely naturally gifted at it (or I guess a combination of both). What you are seeing in play here - by accident or design - is sales process methodology 101.
I'm more than happy to be called out as being overly cynical with regards to my perspective on this. Perhaps I'm just a jaded old fart who has been involved in far too many sales processes in his life (both as vendor and customer) and is not one to just sit back and shut up when he thinks he sees customers getting manipulated by false information.
But please don't accuse me of going on a witch hunt.
Who knows. Perhaps Doug really is that rare breed of salesman who would actually be happy to lose a sale and recommend a competitor's product if he recognised that's what would be best for the customer?
What is evident though, is that without strongly voiced objections, that table would have been left as it was.