Feedback Thinking about growing the S.C. Network...

To me the best thing about SC is the fact that it includes so many various types, brands, forms and usages of cameras. Same to be said for people behind those shutters. And it's so much more informational (and educational) to hear opinions of such an eclectic community.

What are you Fujians really missing here now? What more could you do elsewhere?

Would it drive people out of here? I joined NexTalk, but soon it started to be exhausting to follow both here and there; then I started to double post, double upload... And, even if it's really good over there, generally I came back here. Because, although I shoot Nex, I'm also interested in everything else. For me, NexTalk being a sub-forum here would be a preferred choice (but it probably wouldn't grow as much as it did if it was me you were listening:)
 
Photo only site sounds a nice idea to get away from gear talk.

I'd love a image only forum too. I honestly cannot see the point of yet another brand/type specific forum... And gear talk in yet another location? Guess I will stick with this forum then, if the decision is to press ahead with an X specific forum.

Things go in cycles. Right now, a lot of enthusiasts have gone over to Fuji, so this site is very Fuji heavy. If another company brings out compelling products, it'll swing that way.

If eventually everyone will swing away from Fuji X... why would you create a forum which by definition will be destined to die? I just don't get it.

Remember when half of us had Pentax K5s?
No? I still have mine.
 
How about X-Mount Fuji? Kind of gets the mountain name in there which ought to be public domain, but with an obvious photo connection for the intended audience.

-Ray

Another good one. My personal preference would be something more about photography in the name,but really, it's the content and culture that will attract or repel.
 
I am totally convinced that the main lifeblood of a photography related forum is gear talk. When it comes to the idea of a gear-free forum: I can look at images, I can love them, like them, be ambivalent to them, hate them, but I often struggle to find something to say about them. The thanks or favourite button is my saviour in that kind of environment.
 
There is a point to specific brand forums because that will be where the largest collective knowledge on them to be found. One important thing that they need to be successful is for the manufacturer and/or format to keep producing successful products. That has been a large part of why the mu-43 forum has continually grown. Talknex also seems to be getting busier as Sony start to (gradually!) fill out the system.

Forums on niche brands will struggle because of a lower volume of sales leads to a lower volume of users, and I think that some people will choose not to participate because they feel a forum is too quiet which of course doesn't lead to it becoming any busier. I was only just looking at Ricohforum and seeing how quiet it is. I don't know if it was ever particularly busy, but you can imagine members starting to leave as the product development stalls. The existing cameras might still be great but you run out of things to say about them before too long.

SC has always been the odd one out being that it is non-brand specific, which is a strength as well as a weakness. It does have a tendency to become a flavour-of-the-month club as the discussion moves from E-P1s to GF1s to NEX to X100s to GXRs to X-Pro1s to E-M5s to X-E1s to >insert future camera here<.
 
I take your point Nic, for me personally I would like to see a means of filtering out the discussion of gear and the images. I stopped visiting m4/3 because of the endless gear talk. Now at least when clicking on "discussions" you are offered the option of an image only listing and I am now beginning to revisit and post to that site, though no where near as frequently as I used to when in its early days.

I feel that there can be an element of "fanboy" endlessly posting about the merits of their camera/brand. I tend to ignore such threads, however they do colour my feelings about the site at times. A camera is a tool, I don't care what camera was used by the likes of Margaret Bourke White or William Eugene Smith, but I care very deeply about the images they left behind.

Barrie
 
That's a fair point, but equally you could say that the reason why those image threads keep flowing is because of the flow-on effect from all the activity in the discussion part of the site. I personally don't have any issues with too much discussion of gear because for me I don't find that it distracts me from the main reason for owning a camera in the first place and with the BS filter firmly in place it will keep me abreast of all the latest tricks.

I'd actually don't think that the ratio of images to gear talk is not really any higher here than there, just the smaller overall volume of each can make it appear that way.
 
To me the best thing about SC is the fact that it includes so many various types, brands, forms and usages of cameras.

I agree, but it's clearly the case that a lot of people like to spend their time on a site for a specific system. Some people also like a very high activity site, and with a few exceptions (DPR, Fred Miranda, etc) those end to be the system-specific sites.

Another good one. My personal preference would be something more about photography in the name,but really, it's the content and culture that will attract or repel.

I agree that it's the content and community that counts. I actually dislike the word "tog" or "togs" as much as the next person, but I think Xtogs is really handy and short. I think it'll be easier to remember as well. So that's what I'm going with for now. If anyone wants to see a site being born, feel free to drop by. You can even sign up and start posting. There's just one subforum there now called "main forum" now, but we can always move threads later. Or you can wait for the official announcement.
 
I'd actually don't think that the ratio of images to gear talk is not really any higher here than there, just the smaller overall volume of each can make it appear that way.

I think one of the reasons I like this forum is that it is, at least, possible to ignore gear threads (which I try to, these days, just because I can no longer participate on the latest stuff). A gear oriented forum is a no-go area for me, except Pentax forums, which I use as a resource for finding out stuff about lenses old and new. I think that is the strength of that forum, in that theres a huge appreciation of old gear, and the new stuff doesnt really dominate. (and there are also a few areas for discussion of other non-Pentax gear too, if thats your thing)

I take your earlier point about a separate x forum, for getting at the collective knowledge... I just probably wont use it very much, myself. I can appreciate its usefulness for some people though...
 
The Xtogs forum is probably someplace I'll visit. Right now I have only the X10, quite a nice "only" however. The X-E1 looks more and more appealing to me, though it would cover a lot of the same ground as the E-M5, which has a more comprehensive system built up around it. Still, just the rangefinder-esque-ness (sorry for that one!) of the X-E1 gets me interested. I'll likely never own a Leica digital rangefinder, and Voigtlander is apparently not interested in making one, so the X-E1 looks affordable -- eventually -- with some nice lenses coming up. I won't sell my E-M5 to get it; that's a camera I just love. But the "kind" of camera I'm using does influence the way I shoot; photographically shallow or not, it's true. With film I'm shooting various camera systems, why not with digital?

Thinking out loud.
 
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