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The thing about GetDPI ....

cunim

Well-known member
You know, @olafphoto, I think you can prune this site all you want but it will be a case of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I believe you need to incentivise people to post, as opposed to prettying up the site. That's why my suggestions tend to focus on ways to help members feel good about their shots. "Best of" threads, mentoring, gentle competitions, that sort of thing. I am not sure many of us care about some ghost threads. I don't. Just my opinion.
 
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olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
You know, @olafphoto, I think you can prune this site all you want but it will be a case of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I believe you need to incentivise people to post, as opposed to prettying up the site. That's why my suggestions tend to focus on ways to help members feel good about their shots. "Best of" threads, mentoring, gentle competitions, that sort of thing. I am not sure many of us care some ghost threads. I don't. Just my opinion.
Thank you for sharing your observations. You are right about engagement. We may hire a person to do just that. However, new members don't have an idea what getdpi.com stands for. In my view, it should be forum focused on medium and large format (film and digital). It should include name change, which would represent just that so potential members know exactly what the forum is all about. Doing everything for everyone usually doesn't work. The future of this site and any forum are new members - growing membership. This is where our focus is going to be in the next year or so.
 

PeterA

Well-known member
Hello Pete,

We transferred the entire website (all data) to the new platform, which was monumental task. Since then a few least popular sections were removed to simplify the forum. Based on the comments it appears that some people want to simplify it further and focus on medium format (film and digital) and a few other aspects like printing. I agree with them. Having said that, we are approaching the subject very carefully because it would clearly upset some people. For this reason, we left the forum unchanged for the last few months to see how it functions and where members gather. I still believe that this forum should be very clearly defined. It cannot be a general photography forum. Places like this disappear. I appreciate your comment and observations.
Hi Olaf

The link I provided you was to a thread I started in 2007 - where I showed the reasons why a MF digi back attached to Alpa bodies and Schneider lens was able to produce a much higher level of detail and colour fidelity than 35mm systems back in the day - whilst the words are there - the images did not come across ...doesnt matter really I mean who really cares anyway? -:)

Pete
 

olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Olaf

The link I provided you was to a thread I started in 2007 - where I showed the reasons why a MF digi back attached to Alpa bodies and Schneider lens was able to produce a much higher level of detail and colour fidelity than 35mm systems back in the day - whilst the words are there - the images did not come across ...doesnt matter really I mean who really cares anyway? -:)

Pete
I do care. While we went through some data check after the transition, it is possible that some images (especially from very old posts) could not display. I don't they they are lost. We would need to investigate. Thank you for pointing this out.
 

anyone

Well-known member
It should include name change, which would represent just that so potential members know exactly what the forum is all about.
I disagree to the name change. The name is quite nice, because that‘s what we are after shooting the best gear available, aren‘t we? It is also known beyond this forum and referred to. Maybe the tagline could be changed though? Something like medium format photography forum?

Concerning the forum structure: In terms of large format, there is not too much happening here. There are a few quite active smaller frame forums here though (Leica, for example, where I post regularly). Most of us shoot more than medium format and the forum should reflect that, even though the focus is clearly on medium format.

The suggestion with technical MF cameras and mirrorless MF sounded good. Maybe one more section for smaller/ other formats? And something about composition as well as locations/ upcoming trips? Plus the buy and sell forum. This would simplify the structure quite a bit.

Edit: Our section on printing/ output is also quite calm, even though printing is (at least for me) essential. There is a lot to be gained by working with people who know their craft. I got a few really nice Diasec images here, the final output of my photographic work.
 
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olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
I disagree to the name change. The name is quite nice, because that‘s what we are after shooting the best gear available, aren‘t we? It is also known beyond this forum and referred to. Maybe the tagline could be changed though? Something like medium format photography forum?

Concerning the forum structure: In terms of large format, there is not too much happening here. There are a few quite active smaller frame forums here though (Leica, for example, where I post regularly). Most of us shoot more than medium format and the forum should reflect that, even though the focus is clearly on medium format.

The suggestion with technical MF cameras and mirrorless MF sounded good. Maybe one more section for smaller/ other formats? And something about composition as well as locations/ upcoming trips? Plus the buy and sell forum. This would simplify the structure quite a bit.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas. Very helpful!
 

Shashin

Well-known member
A few observations.

Could GetDPI simply be a demographic problem? I am pretty sure if we surveyed the membership based on gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, and age, I am pretty sure I could predict the distribution. I probably can expect there are few young photographers in our ranks. And when most people are entering photography where their first experience of the medium is the cell phone, what attraction is there to a term that is holdover from film photography that has not been a relevant medium for decades? (We call it "medium-format digital" because of the association to medium-format film photography in the film-digital transition from the 1990s. But the term has no real meaning, especially today with those entering our field.)

The comment about wanting the focus the forum to be on the non-tangible aspects of photography, but then to simply organize and focus it on medium format seems self defeating. MFD is simply a technology category. And that is the paradox of GetDPI, it frames itself around specific technology, but wants to be something else (even DPI is an odd choice in a world where printing is no longer a common activity for photographers).

When I joined, I did not enter posting on MDF, but with film and other digital formats. It was a way in. If you make this exclusively MFD, then you severely limit those that can participate. Yes, the cost of MFD has dropped, but it is still extremely expensive. This is very different from the film era. My first medium-format camera was the Mamiya C220, which cost less than my Nikon FM I bought new as well. I also see the Leica is a subform in the MDF forum and Leica is best associated with 35mm cameras. So what is the forum focus? MFD and Leica? That sounds very exclusive. The other forums allow people to join.

But why is GetDPI attractive? Is it like a car club where people associate because we drive certain cars? Or is it like a salon where people associate with a particular art form (MFD is not an art form). Or is it a social club where people of a particular feather flock together? Obviously, it can be, and probably is, a mix of those things. But what is the secret sauce? I think the strength is in the quality of the work (regardless of format) and the generosity of the members to share their experience.
 

Paul Spinnler

Well-known member
Yes, the demographic is older. I'd say a lot of 50,60,70s ... which makes sense. A 30/40 year old pro in 2005 who practiced commercial photography with a bleeding edge P30, is now 50/60+.

A student in art school, except if really into fine art, studying masters - Struth, Gursky, etc. - might not easily develop the wish to pony up the cash for an Alpa and Rodie lens and also might not even know about it except through social media.

Problem: Social Media rarely depicts tech cam use with digi backs, more often 4x5, 35mm and MF film these days, think Mamiya 7 hype 3 years ago.

The current buyer of the P1 gear is most likely a well-off amateur in the later stages of life. Ofc pros still exist, but its less and less given lack of RoI perspective.

It has been analyzed many times, but the problems are:

1) Lack of RoI perspective and cheaper substitutes killed P1 for 95% of commercial photographers
2) Social media does not show off tech cams with digi backs really - there's no real tech cam "influencers" so to say, while there are Mamiya 7 influencers ...
3) Lens cost too high - Rodenstock just milking it

Fashion and product photography incl. cars are severely under pressure through reduced budgets or budgets moving to AI gen content or CGI and then you just have fine art architectural and landscape and the hobbyist crowd.

Look at this: https://botika.io/

Very difficult to make the case for a digital back investment in view of clients cutting you out as fashion photographer, for example.
 
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PeterA

Well-known member
I do care. While we went through some data check after the transition, it is possible that some images (especially from very old posts) could not display. I don't they they are lost. We would need to investigate. Thank you for pointing this out.
Yes Olaf- a lot of images are missing from a lot of threads- in 'old' posts which is what my original post was about as a secondary observation to people's manners.

I am happy to hear that this was an error was not a conscious decision on your part !

atb
Pete
 

Knorp

Well-known member
Could it be that some apparently missing mages, linked to external sources or loaded on this site, were simply removed by their owners over time ?
F.i. you probably won't find images from me here older than 2023.
 

Manoli

New member
In my view, it should be forum focused on medium and large format (film and digital)
[…]
The future of this site and any forum are new members - growing membership. This is where our focus is going to be in the next year or so.
Unfortunately, both those aims seem, to me, to be mutually exclusive.

A gentle change in focus would, IMO, be more beneficial than a wholesale surgical ‘transplant’ of the site’s identity - a focus on MF to the exclusion of FF/35mm format would certainly limit the site’s appeal.

The focus of the imaging industry is moving away from still photography to motion, so though I wouldn’t suggest an expansion in that direction, it’s seems prudent to not exclude a forum dedicated to the proliferation of these new hybrid cameras (aka the new crop of FF cams) which I suspect most MF users will also own.

A pruning of the forums would help.

Medium and large format forum - as is (keep Leica there)
Printing and image processing forum. - as is
Buy and sell forum - as is
Digital camera forum- merge all into one single forum.
Other discussions forum - keep site talk and merge all the others.

All the above posted on a WITHOUT PREJUDICE basis 😂

Edit:
Also, redesign the latest posts section so that instead of the last five posts, a list of 20-30 are easily viewed.
The nature of forums is such that I believe majority of members/visitors will, without a specific purpose, browse this list first to see if there’s a topic that’s of interest, or at least to keep up with ‘what’s going on’. Five is too limiting.

Edit #2:
I wouldn’t change the site’s name. This site has been getDPI since inception, it’s the internet address, it’s embedded in the subconscious. The name won’t define the site, the content will.
Think back to two ‘prominent’ renames - Meta & X. Even the press almost always clarify the ‘X’ as (ex-Twitter) and most, if not all, refer to Meta as ‘Facebook or FB’.
 
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pegelli

Well-known member
Could it be that some apparently missing mages, linked to external sources or loaded on this site, were simply removed by their owners over time ?
F.i. you probably won't find images from me here older than 2023.
I think that's indeed the problem, in case my personal SmugMug site stops all my images here will be gone as well. Only people who link their images directly from here will remain in perpetuity (as long as the site continues)
 

pegelli

Well-known member
Medium and large format forum - as is (keep Leica there)
Printing and image processing forum. - as is
Buy and sell forum - as is
Digital camera forum- merge all into one single forum.
Other discussions forum - keep site talk and merge all the others.
Only tweak I would suggest to this otherwise excellent proposal is to keep Leica S in the Medium and Large format forum and merge the smaller Leica formats with the Digital camera forum. There's not much overlap between the Leica S system and the other Leica systems.

And (not mentioned by Manoli) keep the Analog forum as is.
 

olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
Unfortunately, both those aims seem, to me, to be mutually exclusive.

A gentle change in focus would, IMO, be more beneficial than a wholesale surgical ‘transplant’ of the site’s identity - a focus on MF to the exclusion of FF/35mm format would certainly limit the site’s appeal.

The focus of the imaging industry is moving away from still photography to motion, so though I wouldn’t suggest an expansion in that direction, it’s seems prudent to not exclude a forum dedicated to the proliferation of these new hybrid cameras (aka the new crop of FF cams) which I suspect most MF users will also own.

A pruning of the forums would help.

Medium and large format forum - as is (keep Leica there)
Printing and image processing forum. - as is
Buy and sell forum - as is
Digital camera forum- merge all into one single forum.
Other discussions forum - keep site talk and merge all the others.

All the above posted on a WITHOUT PREJUDICE basis 😂

Edit:
Also, redesign the latest posts section so that instead of the last five posts, a list of 20-30 are easily viewed.
The nature of forums is such that I believe majority of members/visitors will, without a specific purpose, browse this list first to see if there’s a topic that’s of interest, or at least to keep up with ‘what’s going on’. Five is too limiting.

Edit #2:
I wouldn’t change the site’s name. This site has been getDPI since inception, it’s the internet address, it’s embedded in the subconscious. The name won’t define the site, the content will.
Think back to two ‘prominent’ renames - Meta & X. Even the press almost always clarify the ‘X’ as (ex-Twitter) and most, if not all, refer to Meta as ‘Facebook or FB’.
Thoughtful ideas. I especially like your forums grouping. Appreciate your input.
 

olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
I think that's indeed the problem, in case my personal SmugMug site stops all my images here will be gone as well. Only people who link their images directly from here will remain in perpetuity (as long as the site continues)
We all should have much deeper conversation about posting images here. As far as I understand this is not an image storing site (and it appears that some people upload everything here including their birthday and family picks). Storing so many images causes certain technical issues and make the site much more expensive to operate. I will ask members about this issue soon. I personally think we should share only images related to the subject of discussion or images a person consider worth sharing with others. Maybe this is not the place to upload personal picks, like birthday, family or vacation images, especially if they are not related to a particular thread. I think it is worth having conversation about this issue one day. We have to find the right balance between sustainability of the site, its focus and goal. I still think it shouldn't be everything to everyone.
 

olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
Could it be that some apparently missing mages, linked to external sources or loaded on this site, were simply removed by their owners over time ?
F.i. you probably won't find images from me here older than 2023.
It could be the case. I would need to investigate. We transferred all data from the old platform.
 

Ben730

Active member
It could be the case. I would need to investigate. We transferred all data from the old platform.
I miss a thread. It's the Schneider Super Digitar 28 XL vs. Rodenstock Digaron 28 HR, started by Guy Mancuso.
It was very very interesting and is now, with the newer sensors interesting again.
I can't find it anymore. Maybe it was a "Sticky Thread".
 

Shashin

Well-known member
I would be interested in knowing the difference between images that are stored and those using external links. Personally, I don't have many images in my gallery, preferring to link to an outside site. I know if have a lot of broken link in older posts because others did this as well.

I think there are two main behaviors at GetDPI for categorization of threads. One is around particular cameras or manufacturers. I think this came from those early days of digital photography where there was a lot of development going on in the industry and people were interested in new camera. Remember the Olympic EP-1? Basically, those were image sample threads for people to evaluate new cameras. (I really miss those pictures of brick walls. Pet pics are OK, but they always look fuzzy to me.) This is also probably the driver of the format specific forums as that was an easy why to organize those threads.

I think over time, the Fun With threads started appearing, where we just wanted to share work, rather than evaluate equipment. This overtook the camera specific thread, like the current Fun with Fuji X as the emphasis from image samples to just a way to share work. My felling is these are the dominant ant threads now with the occasional equipment threads as new products are released.

The shift to the Fun With threads is encouraging as this is really a movement to the craft of photography, rather then the underlying technology. The nice thing about the Fun With threads, rather than a running a instagram site, is that this sharing is democratic and collaborative. Instagram is about a single person, Fun With is about a collective.

What I also find interesting is we have Images to Share forums based on topics, rather than technology. Those don't appear to have much traction as those only have a small group of member doing that. If there is a topical thread, then it is usually in a format section, like MFD. I am not sure that is from habit, social connection with a group af members, or just a lack of awareness. But even in the form driven forums, the topical threads seem to be the ones that are popular, with the Fun With is a catchall category.

Is GetDPI and organizational problem. Perhaps the format structure is the most efficient why to organize as it is the easiest to understand. But then in those forums, image sharing threads should be organized? Or would topical forums for imaging sharing be organized with format threads? I am not sure. I have been at GetDPI for so long I have develop my own usage habits. Some of that is just knowing where work I enjoy is--I have not shot MFD for some time, but I always look at the work there. I do shoot a lot of Fuji X and divide my posting between the Fun with Fuji X for random images and the Image Sharing threads for topical ones.

I have also noticed photographers that seem to drive the activity here. Dan Linberg and Jono Slack were important presences at GetDPI. There was also a bird photographer posting here a while ago that drove that conversation, but I forgot his name. (And we cannot leave out Soup.) We have these waves of people contributing that seem to add a certain feel to the forum. While GetDPI is not personality driven, we are here for the photography, these individuals did add a certain atmosphere to the group that I think created a community. This naturally ebbs and flows. But that kind of membership seems to be an important ingredient to the secret sauce.

Not sure this post has a rhyme or reason, just random thoughts on the history I have seen at GetDPI.
 

ThdeDude

Well-known member
... And something about ... locations/ upcoming trips?
Not a bad idea. And perhaps one thread discussing workshops & phototours.

For example, the last two weeks of February I will be in Lone Pine, California. One week for Bruce Barnbaum's Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains Workshop, and the other week for exploring the area around (Death Valley, Alabama Hills, Westgard Pass, Mount Whitney, etc.)

I am a bit hesitant going into remote areas by myself, especially if outside cellular coverage. And sometimes it's just more fun (and motivating) going together with someone or with a group interested in exploring and photographing. So if anyone is interested in meeting up, let me know.
 
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Paul Spinnler

Well-known member
Well one thing would be to provide a meta thread with links to key equipment threads.

Instagram also has the feature to search via tags, which then is not individual. You can explore Rodenstock 32 HR for example or Kodak film or Mamiya 7.

That's unique. You just need to know how to harness IQ for your purpose.

I've heard that some store link lists to favorite threads on the forum.
 
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