Consumer photo mags corrupt?

Sean · Jan 5, 2003

I just got back from the local book shop and flipped through 5 consumer photography publications. They were all basically one giant, digital love fest. Digital advertisements blanketing nearly every page. Digital vs. Traditional articles in all the mags I flipped through always 'concluded' that digital was better than traditional. I'm starting to wonder how clouded or influenced their judgement is? These publications are funded by advertisements which are promoting digital hardware. How could the writers possibly say anything negative about digital without getting fired? One writer said his digital epson prints far exceeded any known silver printing process! Another writer said his process of using an inkjet printer was far better on the environment! He forgot to mention the environmental impact of all his computer hardware, ink, used up cartridges, special injet papers, power consumption, etc, etc, etc. It's like something out of a bad movie. I thought I was going to gag in the middle of the book shop. Is it just me, or have all the articles in consumer photo mags become nothing more than advertisements on the digital hardware makers behalf?

Aggie · Jan 5, 2003

Jorge · Jan 5, 2003

Of course they wont bite the hand that feeds them, I have yet to see a magazine article that says something bad about any product.
The epson prints are nice, but never like the real thing, is just that these people have to say this to keep their job, I mean c'mon what are they going to say? nope digital sucks? no way, the pink slip would be waiting on their desk as soon as they got back from the bathroom. The same way that years ago you could not read anything bad about a camera/enlarger/lens. If the guy said, nope dont use this lens you are better off using a coke bottle bottom, there goes the pink slip......So dont even fret about it, remember their job is to make people want to buy the stuff. I think is great the more people want to use digital the cheaper the analog stuff gets.

SteveGangi · Jan 5, 2003

I know what you mean. No way a pic from any printer will equal a real print, and I have used the best printers there are (at work). They look nice, but when you look closer you can see the difference. But, there are compensations....I just took delivery on an enlarger that only cost me $10. It appears a lot of people are dumping their "analog" equipment. So, I can once again print my own 35mm and medium format stuff when I don't feel like using the view cameras.

b.e.wilson · Jan 5, 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Jorge @ Jan 5 2003, 07:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>I think is great the more people want to use digital the cheaper the analog stuff gets.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
...until the manufacturers drop it for low sales. R-3000, Fuji Type-35 RC, Azo (almost).

Jorge · Jan 5, 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (b.e.wilson @ Jan 5 2003, 08:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Jorge @ Jan 5 2003, 07:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>I think is great the more people want to use digital the cheaper the analog stuff gets.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
...until the manufacturers drop it for low sales. R-3000, Fuji Type-35 RC, Azo (almost).</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
As I said there are many advantages in using digital for color, specially with light jet prints and fuji crystal archive. From what I have seen these color prints last as long as Ilfochrome and are indistinguishable from a print made from a negative. Long after Azo and other silver papers are gone there will be alternative methods for printing in B&W. If film is gone, wet plate collodion and dry plate will be available. OTOH the plate maker for my pt/pd prints new is about $1500, i picked up at E bay for $500 including shipping. Thank God for the digital revolution!

David A. Goldfarb · Jan 5, 2003

No surprises there. Have these magazines like _Popular Photography_, the old _Modern Photography_, _Outdoor Photographer_, etc., ever been about anything but shopping for the latest equipment, heavily advertised in each issue? I haven't really been looking at these publications for years, but I'd be shocked if there were an article, say, in _Outdoor Photographer_ called "Getting the most out of your Manual Focus Tele," or a piece in _Pop Photo_ on older T-mount and M42 lenses. They exist to hype the new equipment.

Better to read publications like _Lenswork_, _View Camera_, _Camera Arts_, _PhotoVision_, _Contact Sheet_, _Black and White_, and _Afterimage_.

Sean · Jan 5, 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (David A. Goldfarb @ Jan 5 2003, 06:22 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>No surprises there. Have these magazines like _Popular Photography_, the old _Modern Photography_, _Outdoor Photographer_, etc., ever been about anything but shopping for the latest equipment, heavily advertised in each issue? I haven't really been looking at these publications for years, but I'd be shocked if there were an article, say, in _Outdoor Photographer_ called "Getting the most out of your Manual Focus Tele," or a piece in _Pop Photo_ on older T-mount and M42 lenses. They exist to hype the new equipment.

Better to read publications like _Lenswork_, _View Camera_, _Camera Arts_, _PhotoVision_, _Contact Sheet_, _Black and White_, and _Afterimage_.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
no doubt!

I'm moving to Auckland NZ in 3 weeks (currently in small town tauranga), hopefully some of the shops in Auckland will carry "_Lenswork_, _View Camera_, _Camera Arts_, _PhotoVision_, _Contact Sheet_, _Black and White_, and _Afterimage_", etc. If not then I may have to suck it up and get some subscriptions to a few of them. I think Jorge is in the same boat aye Jorge...

Jorge · Jan 5, 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Ross @ Jan 5 2003, 09:36 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>I think Jorge is in the same boat aye Jorge...</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Yeah, unfortunatelly that is the way it goes. I can only get phototechniques. Everytime I have money for subcriptions I rather spend it on materials. Ah well.....

Aggie · Jan 6, 2003

David A. Goldfarb · Jan 6, 2003

Speaking of these legacy materials selling on eBay, have you seen the prices people are paying for Kodachrome 25? I used some from my own supply a few weeks ago, and in a moment of sentimentality for the old stuff (still the only color film I really like), I thought I'd see if there was any up for auction, and I found that it's going for about $12-13 USD a roll!

Eric Rose · Jan 6, 2003

I can't comment on the photo industry, but I can relate how the scuba magazines work. It's the same there as in the photo mag's, all the new stuff is way cool, ya gotta have it, blah blah blah. Then they have the testing and recommendations sections. I have been told by a manufacturer that the magazines "sell" their recommendations. For a top rating say it's $50,000, for a testers choice it's more money and so on. The manufacturers that refuse to participate in this milking/shake down are never reviewed even though they may be some of the best equipment out there.

I suspect the commercial photo mags are not adverse to receiving some extra bucks now and then.

The only thing I look for in photo mags are how-to articles and articles that feature some artist I'm am interested in. The rest of it is just that much land fill as far as I'm concerned.

I enjoy Black & White magazine. It's a mag for collectors of B&W and usually has some stunning photos in it. Actually the ads taken out by photographers in the last part of the mag is some of the best stuff.

FWIW that's how I feel.

Robert Kennedy · Jan 7, 2003

It is pretty bad out there. The only "popular" style magazine I have ever liked is one from the U.K. that I can't even remember the name of! I bought a friend an old Practika on E-bay for her birthday, and noticed this magazine at the bookstore. It was a direct import and actually had an article on Practikas! MENTIONED ON THE COVER! Not hidden in the back in the "collectors" column. Wow!

Wish I could remember the name of it.....

Otherwise most suck. Either they pander (Petersons, Pop Photo, etc.) or they get too "star struck" like American Photo (Sorry, but does Alyssa Milano warrant a whole article of her 'work'?). View Camera and Camera Arts I can deal with....

Jorge · Jan 7, 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Robert Kennedy @ Jan 7 2003, 11:33 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Otherwise most suck. Either they pander (Petersons, Pop Photo, etc.) or they get too "star struck" like American Photo (Sorry, but does Alyssa Milano warrant a whole article of her 'work'?). View Camera and Camera Arts I can deal with....</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Life sometimes just sucks, I can get here in Mexico American Photo, I saw the same article...lol.....but no View Camera, or Lenswork magazines.....I suppose seein Alyssa Milano is more important for some people....

lee · Jan 7, 2003

could you see the tattoo's she has. LOL Are Consumer photo mags corrupt?

Yes...

lee\c

brYan · Jan 8, 2003

Black and White Enthusiast is a good mag also, published in Australia I think.

And Black and White Photography, published in England.

Aggie · Jan 10, 2003

Robert Kennedy · Jan 14, 2003

True, although in the same magazine they have had the standard "Film is dead! Only amateurs use film!" line. But at least they seem to be leaving it up to the writer and not the camera makers.

HuwEvans · Jan 15, 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Robert Kennedy @ Jan 7 2003, 06:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> It was a direct import and actually had an article on Practikas!  MENTIONED ON THE COVER!  Not hidden in the back in the "collectors" column.  Wow!

Wish I could remember the name of it.....

</td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
The only UK magazine I can think of that frequently deals with what might be thought of as "collector's" cameras is Amateur Photographer. Recent highlights of the last few months include Rolleicords, Voigtlaenders, Topcons, Mirandas, folders, and that sort of thing. AP certainly isn't ashamed to advertise such stuff on its cover, and I'd guess that is the most likely candidate, but of course a one-off article could have been in just about any magazine.

http://www.amateurphotographer.com/

[Sadly no on-line content, other than a basic run-down on what is in the magazine each week.]

Robert Kennedy · Jan 15, 2003

I'll have to ask the person I gave it to I guess!

It was ncie though to see such a thing covered and placed on the FRONT of a magazine.

As I develop, I find it harder and harder to find a magazine that fits where I am at. I don't need to know things like "How to use your light meter", but at the same time some of the higher end magazines tend to go into "here is XXXXX and they made this picture...." Nice, but sometimes I need more technical stuff. Plus it can be a bit daunting to see the work of people on the level of Jack Dykinga and (insert a Weston here).

Speaking of Westons....

I got a copy of B&W Magazine last week. My girlfriend started looking through it. After about 10 minutes she simply said to me "You should change your name to Weston. These Weston people all have shows."

Eric Rose · Jan 15, 2003

That's a good idea your GF had. You can now call me Eric Weston, the long lost illegitmate son of the legend himself. I'm sure if I can get on some sleazy TV talk show with my claim I could get a showing in Los Angeles at least!

Consumer photo mags corrupt?

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