Latest Issue of Outdoor Photography magazine makes good toilet paper

roteague · Mar 16, 2005

Just happened to look through the latest issue of Outdoor Photographer magazine because it had an article titled "How To Buy A Camera: New & Used" and I wanted to read more about the new Nikon F6. The article didn't even mention film cameras and the author only does digital. Don't waste any money on this rag.

FWIW, I noticed in the 5 March 05 issue of Amateur Photographer (UK) the back cover has an ad for Fuji Provia 100F, the caption is "Only film could carry this off.", featuring a film photographer.

mark · Mar 16, 2005

You act surprised. As for the toilet paper thought I think the glossy pages would create far too many sharp and uncomfortable edges.

Dave Parker · Mar 16, 2005

I picked it up and thumbed through it today, and place back on the shelf and walked away shaking my head..

not surprised, but disapointed as this has been a magazine, I have contributed many times in the past, and will probably not do again.

Dave Parker

modafoto · Mar 16, 2005

mark said:
I think the glossy pages would create far too many sharp and uncomfortable edges.

It is because of the pixels. Pixels are sharp and my butt is allergic to them...So please don't put pixels up my bunghole

roteague · Mar 16, 2005

Satinsnow said:
I picked it up and thumbed through it today, and place back on the shelf and walked away shaking my head..

not surprised, but disapointed as this has been a magazine, I have contributed many times in the past, and will probably not do again.

Dave Parker

I was a charter subscriber, when they first started publishing, and kept buying until about 3 months ago. I'm going to be putting up the back issues that I have on eBay and just get rid of them.

David A. Goldfarb · Mar 16, 2005

I've been receiving it since _Photovision_ went under. Oddly the publisher decided that OP would be a reasonable substitute. I made sure I got my refund, but they still send it. I usually just leave it by the mailbox for my neighbors in my building.

djklmnop · Mar 16, 2005

All magazines are pretty much going downhill these days.. B&W Magazine remains the best AFAIK. Have you guys ever tried ripping out all the advertising pages from the magazine just to see whats left of the actual content? You'll be surprised!

photomc · Mar 16, 2005

djklmnop said:
Have you guys ever tried ripping out all the advertising pages from the magazine just to see whats left of the actual content? You'll be surprised!

Having been a charter subscriber also, have noticed that the more ads there are the worse OP became. When it started out it, it was really a good rag, though I never thought is covered sports as well as it should have, now it is just like PopPhoto, the old Modern, and so many others...B&W US and UK, Lenswork, and soon Emulsion..that's where my $ will go..and the occasional View Camera issue.

roteague · Mar 16, 2005

photomc said:
Having been a charter subscriber also, have noticed that the more ads there are the worse OP became. When it started out it, it was really a good rag, though I never thought is covered sports as well as it should have, now it is just like PopPhoto, the old Modern, and so many others...B&W US and UK, Lenswork, and soon Emulsion..that's where my $ will go..and the occasional View Camera issue.

I have a real passion for landscapes, so there isn't too many magazines that I can find that fills that void. These days, I primarily buy B&W (US) and UK (whenever I can find it), LensWork, Outdoor Photography (UK - whenever I can find it) and Photography Monthly (UK).

I just got a copy of Amateur Photographer (UK) because it has articles by Joe Cornish and Peter Watson, and a nice article about Wista Field cameras. The paper quality of the magazine isn't as good as the others, but it is a weekly I believe.

Monophoto · Mar 17, 2005

I disagree - the coated paper is too slippery to be effective.

Soeren · Mar 17, 2005

Isn't it to expensive too ?
Cheers Søren

André E.C. · Mar 17, 2005

Only the latest issue?

Cheers

André

rjs003 · Mar 17, 2005

Interesting that the toilet paper thing was mentioned. Because low and behold that is where my latested issue happens to be located. In the bathroom unread! Bought it because of something about doing the Ansel Adams thing; turned out to be a bunch of BS. O well thank God for APUG.

Tom Stanworth · Mar 17, 2005

Sorry to be crude but you cannot wipe away crap with crap.

I stopped buying about a year ago. Less inspiring images, more dumbed down and digital than ever before. I flick thru it on the shelf solely to clock the viewpoints listed. The mag now has virtually no content. Even AP with its many ads (which is why I sometimes buy it) takes far longer to read. Op generally can bre read coevr to cover in 10 mins. The real test is picking it up again. With B&W photography you find things you missed or like to re-read....or skipped as they were not right up your street, but read later. With OP the second sitting takes about 30 seconds and is very boring. I stopped buying when I realised that the mag cost £4 and interested me marginally for 5-10 mins tops. Sometimes it is so bad, there are at most 2 pages that remotely interest me.

There seems to be too much marginal stuff. Outdoor jackets......then compasses, then compass cleaning rags then solutions for cleaning the compass cleaning rags reviewed well it feels like it......If I want outdoor kit or advice on it, there are far better places to go. They should realise that the words 'photography' on the front mean just that. The outdoor bit has been taken too far (it need only be taken so far as not studio work). I think this is just laziness. It is far easier to get in yet another selection of boots for review than to make people really think about their photography. Every now and again they do the responsible 'take care on the mountains' with compasses, winter gear etc. IMHO anyone not sure of how to keep safe on the mountain (without reading about kit in OP) should not be going up period! When they fart on about maps and compasses, gore tex jacket, walking poles etc, how many readers could properly use a map and compass esp in poor weather....1%...less? IMHO it has shot from being one of the best to the worst of the 'proper' photo mags in a vertical dive. When Joe Cornish or similar nature photog is featured, it shows just how badly the rest of the mag misses the point. It has taken on the same probelms that turned practical photography from being passable to awful.

Soeren · Mar 17, 2005

What did they do to the paper ?
It dosn't even work properly when starting up the kiln
Søren

Lee Shively · Mar 17, 2005

I was also a charter subscriber but I dropped it several years ago only to pick up another subscription around 1998 or 1999. It was at least tolerable until their columnists started dying off. After Galen Rowell died, I totally lost interest. Every issue got tossed out unread until the subscription expired. I never look at it on the newstand.

Soeren · Mar 17, 2005

Well I had about the same experience with german Foto Magazin. In the start they had good articles on the different trends and ...(don't know the word). Little by little they were replasede by digital rewievs and ads so after buying two or three copies I never really read I stopped buying it.
Now I read a swedish magazine and Black&White Photography.
I know of some magazine covering Nature Photography that are really good but they cross my way to seldom.
Cheers Søren

Tom Duffy · Mar 17, 2005

I still have a subscription since, like Pop Photo, it is one of those dollar a month magazines. There are very few places to see color landscape photography. I agree, though since they got discovered by B&H and Adorama, their editorial content has been tailored to a different demographic. More disturbing to me is they taken a Peterson's Photographic approach to editorial content and crossed the line from reviews to being shills for the advertisers. They are not reviews; they are infomercials. Have you ever read a negative comment in a Outdoor Photography review? I haven't.
Take care,
Tom

EDIT: I wanted to add that I think that William Neil's monthly column is usually well worth reading.

bobfowler · Mar 17, 2005

Juba said:
Only the latest issue?

Cheers

André

How true, how true...

roteague · Mar 17, 2005

Tom Stanworth said:
When Joe Cornish or similar nature photog is featured, it shows just how badly the rest of the mag misses the point. It has taken on the same probelms that turned practical photography from being passable to awful.

Tom, I think you are thinking about a different magazine. Joe Cornish has never appeared in Outdoor Photography that I am aware of. There are actually two magazines with similar names. Outdoor Photography is published in the US and Outdoor Photographer is published in the UK by the GMC Group. I have read both, and the US version is much worse. I always consider it to be a treat to find the UK version.

jovo · Mar 17, 2005

I looked at the latest issue of Outdoor Phototgaphy, briefly, specifically to see if there were tech details accompaning the photographs. I am not certain there were none at all, but I didn't find any. Many of the 'graphs therein are probably still large format, film images (as are 9 of the 12 images on their 2005 calendar) but the bastards chose not to acknowledge that fact because it would contradict the necessity of buying the latest and greatest new digital tool for outdoor photography that the editor's are shills for. Sad...

roteague · Mar 17, 2005

I think what angered me the most, is they write an article about buying cameras and don't even mention film cameras. I wrote the editor a couple of times asking when they are going to review the F6, but no response; which doesn't surprise me. If you look closely at the magazine, you can see that the editor, Rob Sheppard, also is the editor of PC Photo, and has written a book about Epson Ink Jet printers. So, it isn't surprising the major bias of the magazine; it just angers me that they refuse to serve all their readers.

If anyone else wants to write: editors@outdoorphotographer.com. Perhaps, if enough people write they may get the hint.

FrankB · Mar 17, 2005

I made the mistake of glancing at the cover of Practical Photography ("Film and Digital Photography") today... Three of the cover articles were a review of new digicams, PhotoShop techniques and "Reasons to Go Digital". I don't recall seeing anything about film (other than the above-mentioned claim) on the cover. I now know better than to look inside...

There's nothing like an unbiased magazine that's honest about its intentions, is there?

I believe I may have inadvertantly placed a couple of copies of B&WP UK in front of that stack. (Oops, butterfingers!)

eric · Mar 17, 2005

FrankB said:
I believe I may have inadvertantly placed a couple of copies of B&WP UK in front of that stack. (Oops, butterfingers!)

I inadvertantly placed Maxim in front of the "Pop, OUtdoor, and whatever Photography" magazine over at Borders Books.

Tom Stanworth · Mar 18, 2005

roteague said:
Tom, I think you are thinking about a different magazine. Joe Cornish has never appeared in Outdoor Photography that I am aware of. There are actually two magazines with similar names. Outdoor Photography is published in the US and Outdoor Photographer is published in the UK by the GMC Group. I have read both, and the US version is much worse. I always consider it to be a treat to find the UK version.

Yep, I got it wrong and refer to the UK mag. Still reckon (like catering companies) the decline sets in after the first year and there is no recovering!

Black and White Photography carries a torch for us all!

Latest Issue of Outdoor Photography magazine makes good toilet paper

roteague

mark

Dave Parker

modafoto

roteague

David A. Goldfarb

Moderator

djklmnop

photomc

roteague

Monophoto

Soeren

André E.C.

rjs003

Tom Stanworth

Soeren

Lee Shively

Soeren

Tom Duffy

bobfowler

roteague

jovo

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roteague

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Latest Issue of Outdoor Photography magazine makes good toilet paper

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