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amazon buys dpreview

I hope things don't start going down the drain from here on in. That site has always been my #1 place to go for camera reviews.
 
Eh, they have OK reviews but tend to be jerks to any Pentax/Olympus/Sony users in the forums. One professional fashion photographer got banned just because he switched his sponsorship from Canon to Pentax.
 
Its a awsome site for knowledge and phil (owner) seems to have his head screwed on. Apart from intergrating buy now buttons into the shop i doubt much will change.

As said above though there is a bias sometimes against smaller players in the market.
 
I've always found the reviews there informative and very practical. The forums however are horrible. Not just because of the terrible format, but more so because of the viciousness and lack of respect shown for eachother by many of the forum members. Because of that I've never felt compelled to contribute to that community. :( I find Michael Reichmann's luminous landscape website much more preferable because of this.
Anyway, I hope Amazon's commercial interests won't affect the running of the site in a negative way.... :rolleyes:
 
I hope it ends up being a good move for them also. It seems like a strange site for Amazon to own. Perhaps Amazon wanted the reviews of cameras to incorporate in their own sales?

The forums do seem to have their ups and their downs, although that's true at FredMiranda also. Maybe it's just that photographers are, by nature, snippy people? :eek:
 
Lone Deranger said:
... The forums however are horrible. Not just because of the terrible format, but more so because of the viciousness and lack of respect shown for eachother by many of the forum members. ...
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I have to agree to the format of the forum. in days of huge resolution widescreen monitors the small forum stripe just doesn't cut it.

But i have to disagree to your other thought. I can only comment on the Nikon forums and there i was always greeted with respectful people willing to help.
 
thr33face said:
I have to agree to the format of the forum. in days of huge resolution widescreen monitors the small forum stripe just doesn't cut it.

But i have to disagree to your other thought. I can only comment on the Nikon forums and there i was always greeted with respectful people willing to help.
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I loitered a while in the Nikon/Olympus/Pentax forums before finally purchasing. The Nikon and Olympus forums seemed to be the most civilised; the Pentax forum was, and still is, so intolerant.

I thought something must have been amiss, as the news/reviews seems to have slowed considerably.
 
Lone Deranger said:
Anyway, I hope Amazon's commercial interests won't affect the running of the site in a negative way.... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It won't.

Have you seen the way people on their forums act? They're ridiculous. "Oh, it's the end of DPReview's non-biased, independent opinion!! Phil Askey is a sellout! *whinge whinge whinge*" Ridiculous.

Amazon owns it. Amazon sells cameras. Their goal is to sell more cameras and peripherals, from any brand, so it really doesn't hurt or benefit them to give a non-biased opinion. If Pentax sales start to pick up, they'll sell more Pentax but less Canon, Nikon, and Sony. If they review better Nikons, then they'll sell less Pentax, Canon, and Sony. They don't lose a sale by giving a bad review. It's just that their customers may prefer buying one type of camera over another, which is pretty much the same thing that happens now with regards to camera reviews. A camera sale is still a camera sale to Amazon, regardless of brand.

However, Amazon could ask for less DSLR reviews and more point and shoot reviews, since P&S cameras sell so incredibly well. Or maybe Amazon will ask for low-end DSLR reviews immediately, while things like the Fuji S5Pro will never be reviewed because they don't plan on selling many. That's my only concern, and I don't think this willl happen. :)

And besides, all those people who are angry at Phil for "selling out".......when did Phil ever promise you that he'd keep the site running himself for the rest of his life? He had to sell eventually. He just did it today instead of tomorrow. There were probably a lot of other interested parties, but he chose Amazon, and I think it was a good choice.
 
Abstract, I'm a little more cynical than that,Amazon doesn't necessarily make the same mark up on each brand and as a large seller of cameras we don't know it's relationship with various manufacturers,another independent site is no longer independent.
 
I wonder how much Amazon paid for DPReview? Its not a particularly huge site as far as content goes (not enough new reviews either, as far as I'm concerned) but has loads of hits.
 
Peterkro said:
Abstract, I'm a little more cynical than that,Amazon doesn't necessarily make the same mark up on each brand and as a large seller of cameras we don't know it's relationship with various manufacturers,another independent site is no longer independent.
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True, but if they paid a lot for the website, and it was such a good rep, I don't think Amazon has the intention of driving people away with biased opinions. Also, Phil Askey wouldn't have sold DPReview to a company who would ruin all his work. If Amazon did ruin the website, it would be after a certain contract period (say 5 years?), and not while Phil is still working on the website and is in charge of operations or whatever he does now.

Or that's my optimistic view of it. You may end up being right, though. :eek:
 
mfacey said:
I wonder how much Amazon paid for DPReview? Its not a particularly huge site as far as content goes (not enough new reviews either, as far as I'm concerned) but has loads of hits.
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Yes, I was about to ask, too.

Anyone know how much money was involved?
 
I would say Amazon paid a premium for the content. The reviews are what they wanted. Amazon just wants to sell more cameras. People read the review on DPReview then when finish hit the buy now button using their Amazon account. It is convergence and convenience Amazon are buying. Do you think I am studying management course work right now:p

I would guess Amazon will be or have been looking to do this kind of thing for a long time. It was just DPReview were the right price at the right time. Imagine what this kind of arrangement could do for book and DVD sales. ;) Read a good review go straight to the checkout.

I would expect them to change the forums. Maybe even make the forums like this place respectable.
 
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