Calling for reviews on RFF

dave lackey · 07-31-2011

Seriously.

After all these years, why is there not a ton of reviews in the Review forum as listed in the blue banner above?

I see opinions, mini-reviews, etc. all the time mixed in with other forums so why not have the Review section populated with all the information and insight from our own members? Just asking....

mabelsound · 07-31-2011

I asked about this a few months ago and Joe said the section wasn't open yet...

back alley · 07-31-2011

i need to check with stephen again...

jpa66 · 08-01-2011

Call me a curmudgeon, but I'm fine with things the way they are. A review forum may make things a bit easier, but I'd rather just look in the appropriate forum to find ( or ask about ) what I'm looking for, info-wise.

scig · 08-01-2011

I would like to see a some sort of a review of experiences that others are having with hardware, software and processing. It would also be great to see if the camera is well suited to editorial, landscape, street, or other genres of shooting. Examples of said work would be great as well. It helps in the long run when one is deciding of upgrading and what to look for if testing any of the above. Just a thought.

Jamie Pillers · 08-01-2011

I'd love it. Having a Review space would let us practice our writing skills! :-)

sevres_babylone · 08-01-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpa66

Call me a curmudgeon, but I'm fine with things the way they are. A review forum may make things a bit easier, but I'd rather just look in the appropriate forum to find ( or ask about ) what I'm looking for, info-wise.

Count me among the curmudgeons.

rxmd · 08-02-2011

Curmudgeon here. There isn't currently much added value over a thread in a forum, in fact there's less:

- No way of commenting on a review
- No way of making factual corrections to a review, except by the author
- Categories currently limited to Zeiss & Leica products
- Limited expectation of objectivity; if you want a balanced opinion, would you read a Leica MP review undersigned "MP Guy"?

avikrc · 08-02-2011

Hi, am new here. I believe the best way to set up a review forum for a community knowledge base is in the form of a wiki so that others can add value to or correct existing entries so that in the end there is one final review for each thing and not hundred of reviews with different opinions based on personal experiences.

But then what do I know.

Avik.

dave lackey · 08-18-2011

Well, IMO, it would make things easier to access reviews rather than googling and hunting around. Besides, I trust the gurus on this forum.

I have been waiting on writing one or two reviews myself but they would only get lost in the many different forums we have.

David Murphy · 08-18-2011

Sounds like a reasonable idea to me!

dct · 08-18-2011

I have a similar problem (writing and searching as well). As long the feedback to a body is scattered thru many interesting(!) threads, I see no reason to start over with a structured review-like article from my own.

Until now the solution was to search and read as much as possible around a review topic and then, if the question still was open, to start an asking thread. Given the engagement of the community here, you will get many answers in a few hours. This way you have one piece more in the mosaic around a body, lens or whatever it was. But this is a very complicated way for this sort of enquiries.

That's the way this forum works, regarding "reviews". Yes, it would be very useful, if all of this information pieces would be grouped together in a structured way. But I don't know a simple solution...

dave lackey · 08-19-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by dct

I have a similar problem (writing and searching as well). As long the feedback to a body is scattered thru many interesting(!) threads, I see no reason to start over with a structured review-like article from my own.

Until now the solution was to search and read as much as possible around a review topic and then, if the question still was open, to start an asking thread. Given the engagement of the community here, you will get many answers in a few hours. This way you have one piece more in the mosaic around a body, lens or whatever it was. But this is a very complicated way for this sort of enquiries.

That's the way this forum works, regarding "reviews". Yes, it would be very useful, if all of this information pieces would be grouped together in a structured way. But I don't know a simple solution...

If you have hours and hours to do that, fine. But I don't have that kind of time to post something and let the answers develope over many days. Instead, I go online and check other places and get the answers I need regarding a review of something in very short order.

buzzardkid · 08-19-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by dct

I have a similar problem (writing and searching as well). As long the feedback to a body is scattered thru many interesting(!) threads, I see no reason to start over with a structured review-like article from my own.

Until now the solution was to search and read as much as possible around a review topic and then, if the question still was open, to start an asking thread. Given the engagement of the community here, you will get many answers in a few hours. This way you have one piece more in the mosaic around a body, lens or whatever it was. But this is a very complicated way for this sort of enquiries.

That's the way this forum works, regarding "reviews". Yes, it would be very useful, if all of this information pieces would be grouped together in a structured way. But I don't know a simple solution...

And the additional trouble with this approach is the sketchy search option in the forum. Threads that address an issue get pushed back over time, will not be found, and subsequently somebody asks the same question all over again.

I've been around for a while here and sometimes get fed up with answering a question yet again, so I don't. I know the OP of a thread cannot help it, they honestly could not find the answer to their question. Yet it is annoying to see that same question pop up again (for instance, think of the film vs. X-ray question). I think many longer attending forum members feel the same.

I'd say, let's have reviews or fix the search issue, but pls address one of those two!

As an alternative I'd take a gear wiki, which is a simple solution that will probably generate a lot of articles bursting with information.

I'd happily participate in either writing reviews or a wiki. I like writing about gear

buzzardkid · 05-28-2012

In these last few days I wrote two rather nice (and still expanding) articles on my website about the Leica M2 and the real-early Leica II that I own.

Thought I'd post links to them in the Review section on RFF, but it seems to have disappeared altogether!?

Any word on it (ever) returning?

Anyway, my articles are in the Photo Gear section on my website, just click the 'P' logo below...