sean has way more RF experience than I do, so i usually look at his site to get yet one more opinion. i could care less if it is a paid site; i have dropped thousands of $ on bad decisions, good decisions, what is a site fee subscription, by comparison. i put sean in the good guy category
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Reid Reviews and a7r
- Thread starter Bill Caulfeild-Browne
- Start date
tashley
Subscriber Member
They serve cocktails here too?
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Maybe but your right and you need to pour me a cocktail. LOL
But on bad decisions . Okay guys we all made them but no reviewer is going to stop you from making them either. Frankly I am probably one of the biggest guinea pigs around and its MY money not a loaner. But I also feel that I really won't know well enough unless i try it under my conditions. Im also very particular about glass and honestly if you buy it , try it you have more on the line. My mistakes are more i sold this for that and that is simply more a resource issue than anything else . I want my damn Zeiss 25mm F2 back for instance , how many times have i done that sell something for something else. Those are not really mistakes as the glass was fine but a resource ( funding) issue. Those moves are hard to call bad decisions in several ways. We are all constantly trying to achieve the best we can with that comes the struggle as we all know nothing and I mean nothing is perfect which causes even more issues by itself.
Frankly and I am being honest and as a co founder father here going through many systems i never scored more information from anywhere but here to guide me along the way and members like me that been around have helped thousands of people along the way. Not sure i need to pay from a single source that rely's on subscription pricing and its advertisers and supporters to get real honest answers. Another way to put this we have hundreds and hundreds of combined experience here over a single user. That really means something
But on bad decisions . Okay guys we all made them but no reviewer is going to stop you from making them either. Frankly I am probably one of the biggest guinea pigs around and its MY money not a loaner. But I also feel that I really won't know well enough unless i try it under my conditions. Im also very particular about glass and honestly if you buy it , try it you have more on the line. My mistakes are more i sold this for that and that is simply more a resource issue than anything else . I want my damn Zeiss 25mm F2 back for instance , how many times have i done that sell something for something else. Those are not really mistakes as the glass was fine but a resource ( funding) issue. Those moves are hard to call bad decisions in several ways. We are all constantly trying to achieve the best we can with that comes the struggle as we all know nothing and I mean nothing is perfect which causes even more issues by itself.
Frankly and I am being honest and as a co founder father here going through many systems i never scored more information from anywhere but here to guide me along the way and members like me that been around have helped thousands of people along the way. Not sure i need to pay from a single source that rely's on subscription pricing and its advertisers and supporters to get real honest answers. Another way to put this we have hundreds and hundreds of combined experience here over a single user. That really means something
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
What you did not know that. LOL
thompsonkirk
Member
Can't Sean be one of the good guys in addition to the good guys here? While his site format is annoying, his information and uniform test images have let me avoid mistakes, especially between similar-but-different lenses.
GetDPI is one of the main sites where folks look for Sony info – you can tell by the number of threads, posts, and viewers. We see lots of separate user tests and opinions here more quickly, but he comes along later with fairly systemaic comparisons. So IMO his site and this one are complementary.
So far he's only compared M240 and A7r at normal and high ISOs, and I don't think anyone else has done this more carefully, with evidence you can see more clearly. He plans to offer more A7r and M lens tests sometime soon.
My concern is that he's reporting about M lenses only on A7r and not on A7. I've learned on this forum that this is probably a mistake. I wrote to him that "I hope when you review M lenses on Sony bodies you'll also look into the A7 alternative. Many Leica users have bought this body instead, expecting its structure of microprisms to cause fewer problems with M lenses than A7r."
I do hope he sees what folks have written here. It might be the push he needs to upgrade his website format.
GetDPI is one of the main sites where folks look for Sony info – you can tell by the number of threads, posts, and viewers. We see lots of separate user tests and opinions here more quickly, but he comes along later with fairly systemaic comparisons. So IMO his site and this one are complementary.
So far he's only compared M240 and A7r at normal and high ISOs, and I don't think anyone else has done this more carefully, with evidence you can see more clearly. He plans to offer more A7r and M lens tests sometime soon.
My concern is that he's reporting about M lenses only on A7r and not on A7. I've learned on this forum that this is probably a mistake. I wrote to him that "I hope when you review M lenses on Sony bodies you'll also look into the A7 alternative. Many Leica users have bought this body instead, expecting its structure of microprisms to cause fewer problems with M lenses than A7r."
I do hope he sees what folks have written here. It might be the push he needs to upgrade his website format.
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I re-upped my subscription to Reid Reviews and have spent the majority of my time there looking at his conclusions....have a devil of a time to see much difference in the coins, newsprint etc...probably due to my age and diminished visual acquity....
Me thinks the security issue is a ruse....economics probably are more at issue...upgrading the site would be an expense that one from Vermont would have a hard time justifying....JMHO.
Love the work he has invested but my interest in NE square dance and fat people walking the beach in Florida does not capture my interest....
And Jack....I tend to post after a couple of glasses of wine...not the best way to modulate my very critical viewpoint and worldview.
Regards,
Bob
Guy - I find reviews from pros like you much more valuable than any paid subscription sites. Your prior field notes (and Jack's inputs too) on M9, S2 were extremely useful. Nothing like hearing from guys (pun not intended) actually in the field.
Now when do we get a COMPREHENSIVE report on A7R and A7?
Eeraj
Now when do we get a COMPREHENSIVE report on A7R and A7?
Eeraj
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Thanks that's very nice of you to say and yes been thinking about a A7 and A7r report or review. I may just want a little more time with them but it is on my agenda.
But I will say this the members here have been awesome on all levels of these new Sonys and we are all learning a lot from everyone. Which I think we have some amazing coverage so far.
But I will say this the members here have been awesome on all levels of these new Sonys and we are all learning a lot from everyone. Which I think we have some amazing coverage so far.
jlindstrom
Member
If were talking quality of advice, I put Sean in the same category as Steve Huff and KR. Where KR is the agitator & tongue in the cheek guy, Steve is the overall nice guy liking 95% of everything tested & the rest 5% isn't half bad either and finally Sean is the neutral guy with analytic mindset.
In the end I respect them all for what they've accomplished, in essence financing their life via blogging about photography. It's not easy getting paid by blogging!
But as for trusting them as single source of judgement for gear choices, none of them qualifies. I read & investigate a lot, including info from these guys as long as it's free.. and then compare that against my current needs (or what I think are my needs, mostly GAS anyway for hobbyist - we don't really have needs, just wishes). As information sources they're not any more reliable than any one post on forum like this. Just one persons findings & opinions, they just have more space to present theirs!
And sorry for mentioning KR, I know he's a red cloth for many - but I like to agitate sometimes as well! ;-)
//Juha
In the end I respect them all for what they've accomplished, in essence financing their life via blogging about photography. It's not easy getting paid by blogging!
But as for trusting them as single source of judgement for gear choices, none of them qualifies. I read & investigate a lot, including info from these guys as long as it's free.. and then compare that against my current needs (or what I think are my needs, mostly GAS anyway for hobbyist - we don't really have needs, just wishes). As information sources they're not any more reliable than any one post on forum like this. Just one persons findings & opinions, they just have more space to present theirs!
And sorry for mentioning KR, I know he's a red cloth for many - but I like to agitate sometimes as well! ;-)
//Juha
jonoslack
Active member
jonoslack
Active member
My trouble with all the bloggers who make a living out of it - whether by traffic like KR and Steve Huff, or with paysites like Lloyd and Sean, is that it seems to me that they have to spend so much time blogging that they no longer really have time to be photographers (perhaps Ming Thein is an exception here).
Those who get their money by traffic to the site (like KR and Steve) also need to have an angle which DOES get traffic - in KR's case by being controversial and Steve's by being Puppy Positive. Pay sites need loads of detail, so tests become increasingly pixel peeping and formulaic and irrelevant . . . .
Added to which - these days at least - most cameras produce pretty good image quality, and what matters to us is whether it floats our collective boats - either ergonomically or the 'feel of the files'. This is all very subjective stuff, and not good for writing articles about.
Personally - when I do write this stuff, I know I've done it right if I get an email from someone saying that they enjoyed the article - it seems to me to be the best I can manage.
I really enjoy Tim's articles (even though I very often disagree with his priorities), because they're meticulous, but still manage to be entertaining and informative, and because he clearly does NOT have any kind of financial agenda.
Those who get their money by traffic to the site (like KR and Steve) also need to have an angle which DOES get traffic - in KR's case by being controversial and Steve's by being Puppy Positive. Pay sites need loads of detail, so tests become increasingly pixel peeping and formulaic and irrelevant . . . .
Added to which - these days at least - most cameras produce pretty good image quality, and what matters to us is whether it floats our collective boats - either ergonomically or the 'feel of the files'. This is all very subjective stuff, and not good for writing articles about.
Personally - when I do write this stuff, I know I've done it right if I get an email from someone saying that they enjoyed the article - it seems to me to be the best I can manage.
I really enjoy Tim's articles (even though I very often disagree with his priorities), because they're meticulous, but still manage to be entertaining and informative, and because he clearly does NOT have any kind of financial agenda.
tashley
Subscriber Member
I totally agree. Ming manages great images as well as punchy, smart reviews. One of the reasons I have scaled back on the number of reviews I do is that it was starting to cut into my photo time: it started as a 'well, I'm gonna test it for my own purposes so I might as well share' and ended as a 'I have to cover as many aspects as possible with strong methodology or I'll get cr@pped on'. And that takes a lot more time... and is why I haven't published an A7R review yet.
Thanks Jono - but who says I don't have a financial agenda? Last year I made many $000's from my reviews. Oh, hang on, no, I SPENT many $000's. Damn. Gotta get the hang of this....
I can't find any rule violations here.
-bob
I have subscribed to Sean's site 3-4 times over the years. Each time, I soon tell myself I will never do it again, but then--many months later--give in to get additional information before a big camera/lens purchase. As others have mentioned, Sean's web design is pretty much unusable. It can't be used at all on an iPad, which is my preferred tool for camera information browsing. In addition, it makes for a painful and completely unenjoyable viewing experience on a computer. I've said it before, but will hold to it this time: No subscription to Sean's archaic website.
losta
New member
I subscribed to Sean's site years ago and it was such a pain then. I could not see doing it now. I don't see why he doesn't create an app for tablets and charge $10 -$20 for that app. That would be a way people would enjoy reading and have good visuals instead of having to suffer through an interface that is 10 years out of date.
There's never going to be a definitive review, because we are all coming at it from different angles. All one can do is read various opinions, which hopefully make their biases clear, and make your own mind up. I know I don't work like the next person.
I agree that Ming is a pragmatic consumer of his own verdicts if that makes sense. He uses kit, rather than just blogging about gear. It therefore matters to him to get things right. His opinions are clear most of the time and that's what I want to hear.
I always respected Sean's reviews and have subscribed in the past, but currently don't have a subscription. I do think he's fairly pragmatic and I don't have the same concerns as some other pay sites.
As much as I like Steve H and think his site is a great resource for the photographic community, I do not go there to read review because I prefer stronger opinion. I don't feel the bite of hard reality... of serious, demanding use and that's where I personally come from.
I agree that Ming is a pragmatic consumer of his own verdicts if that makes sense. He uses kit, rather than just blogging about gear. It therefore matters to him to get things right. His opinions are clear most of the time and that's what I want to hear.
I always respected Sean's reviews and have subscribed in the past, but currently don't have a subscription. I do think he's fairly pragmatic and I don't have the same concerns as some other pay sites.
As much as I like Steve H and think his site is a great resource for the photographic community, I do not go there to read review because I prefer stronger opinion. I don't feel the bite of hard reality... of serious, demanding use and that's where I personally come from.