Opening up the site to all cameras

[Amin]

So there will be still those subforums (some of which could be just renamed)

I'm thinking along the lines of what you said except that images to share subforums would be combined for all camera types, not Micro 4/3 specifically.

 

[Amin]

photoavid.com ?

 

[demiro]

I don't think the name matters all that much. The three photography sites I've spent the most time on beyond this place are: fredmiranda; POTN; and DPReview. None of those were coined by internet marketing geniuses.

 

[Amin]

POTN

POTN is a great site but has one of the worst URLs ever,

 

[Will Focus]

Now that will drive traffic to the site.

But they won't remember how they got there.

 

[Will Focus]

I'm going to resubmit two of my earlier entries for consideration...

thefocusgroup

theviewfinder

 

[aKilter]

Amin, with the proposed changes, I think you run the risk of ruining your(by far) most successful forum....and, in turn, perhaps all of them. They might just become one, of many, generic photo sites/forums.

The fact you are considering leaving the smaller and, relatively, underperforming Nikon Café unchanged, but are willing to completely revamp your most successful site, is mind boggling to me.

The more logical solution, that fits your previously described needs, is to combine the smaller TalkEmount, Nikon Café and Cameraderie forums. You already have the name: Cameraderie. You would just be adding Sony and Nikon to what you already did, previously, with your Fuji site.

Mu-43, at present, is unique, has a strong identity, and lots of passionate members. I urge you to think long and hard, before making any changes, that might produce some very unexpected results.

 

[Walter]

Having read all the arguments so far, I'm going to change my mind.

As aKilter said, leave Mu-43 for all of us who only use this sensor format with a recognizable and separate website (as it is now) and include the others as special side-forums - not sub-forums in order not to frustrate them ;-)) - this would suit best the demands of most followers, as far as I can see.

The one thing I really would not like at all: having more of those un-nerving and annoying pseudo-discussions by people who want to convince us 4/3-community that FF is THE ONE AND ONLY option.

As to the name: if any change were needed at all, I'd find Cameraderie not bad either.

 

[Ulfric M Douglas]

mu-Photos

 

[Bruce McL]

photoavid.com ?

avid.photo

edit:
friendly.photo

 

[Amin]

This thread has been very helpful for me to think things through. I appreciate everyone's comments very much. I'm now leaning towards leaving this site as it is.

My biggest priority is to decrease the amount of administrative work I do. I've always done this more as a hobby than for profit, and it's more than I want to do right now. I'm thinking of trying to find a new owner for one of the other sites. Will see how that goes...

 

[D7k1]

Would also point out that in this format there really is no competition, but you add all others and you have Fred Miranda.

 

[cnyap]

To reduce trolling, I'd rather not have one site with all cameras such as dpreview's forums layout. Maybe you could have one website, but have separate sub-directories/sites for each type of camera. For example www.cameras.org/mu43 and www.cameras.org/APSC. I assume that would still save you money.

 

[Drdave944]

Some initial thoughts: I LIKE this community! Togs here are more photocentric rather than hardware driven. As such this group is enormously helpful and friendly. I’ve learned alot here. So my main concern would be to retain that tone. Before making such a major change let’s try to focus on forum issues/format that shows our commitment to PHOTOGRAPHY is paramount.

With that in mind I’d stay away from using “camera” in the site mane. Togs seems to be used as a short form for phoTOGrapher. Using this idea as a starting point I’ve played with several names. GoDaddy says; “togscafe” and “Togsforums” are both available.

So far that’s the simple part... format, forum titles etc need a lot more thought before I can give this idea a hearty 2 thumbs up.

I did a google search. Togs are supposed to be swim suits in Australia,so I am sure we will get plenty of hits until everyone finds no one posts pictures of babes in "togs".

 

[sesser]

I only made to page two of this thread before I realized there was 21 pages! That said, I would absolutely welcome that. Like @ijm5012 said, a fair amount of users here (mu-43) have other systems and a singular place to share imagery and "talk shop" (as it were) would be easier for the operator and the end user in the long run. It also just happens to coincide with a decision I am making to consolidate to a single camera (system). I've already dumped Sony, letting go of most of my film gear and will probably leave mu-43 eventually. One of the sticking points for me is this site and the people here. It's a great resource and (outside of FM) the most active forum in which I actively participate.

Only thing I wonder is (and forgive me if it's already being discussed), what would set this forum apart from other, similar forums that have a large following already? FM and POTN I believe have a fairly large user base. For me, the forum software here is 100x more usable compared to those two sites, but I do have accounts on both.

Anyway, I'm game for that change.

 

[rumplestiltskin]

If possible/practical, the only thing I would ask is that using mu-43.com re-direct us to the appropriate area within the domain.

Would "show us your landscapes" (for example) be for only m43 cameras or are we going to become (too) generic?

 

[Robstar1963]

Hi Amin
I’ve not had time to read this thread all the way through and only came across it today
As a member who has been here since 2011 I would be sad to see the forum changed in a fundamental way
In that time I have only used M43 and having a dedicated forum for the system I use has been one of the things that have kept me with the system and it has been instrumental in my learning
It is the one and only forum I have visited every single day since I joined and it is one of my daily routines to sign in and see what’s going on even if only very briefly to see what current threads are running some of which I look further into and some that don’t interest me in the slightest but I do have a look at least once a day (most days it is about half a dozen visits)
It has always been informative, entertaining and rewarding.
I’m sure I wouldn’t have done quite so much Motorsports photography if it wasn’t for this forum and having somewhere to share my results and the feedback I get gives me great encouragement
I would certainly welcome expansion of the forum with dedicated threads for other system talk especially for other mirrorless systems and formats.
I’m currently considering moving into Fuji for my Motorsports as I feel that MU43 performance has plateaued a little and I possibly need to try another system to see what can be achieved
The XT3 in particular has caught my eye
Despite these thoughts I am still going to be using MU43 as it is still highly capable and convenient for other genres and I will still enjoy using the system
If you do decide to make major changes I would appreciate there being a dedicated MU43 section which happens to be the only section I visit on DPR when I visit occasionally and infrequently mainly when there is a particularly big news item on the system
As always your work on MU43 is much appreciated and you are to be applauded for the way the forum is and always has been conducted
As an aside I have been a subscriber via PayPal but I think my subscription has lapsed ?
There doesn’t seem to have been any alert to warn me of this ?
Regards
Rob

 

[agentlossing]

I would like to see this forum stay M4/3 if that's in the cards. I just think there needs to be a dedicated resource for the format somewhere, and we are sort of it.

I do wish Serious Compacts was still a thing, and that's one of the forums that became Cameraderie and ceased having any focus on premium compacts (I understand it sort of died before that point, but it's still sad).

 

[sesser]

Is Cameraderie also where fujixspot went as well?

 

[masayoshi]

My biggest priority is to decrease the amount of administrative work I do. I've always done this more as a hobby than for profit, and it's more than I want to do right now. I'm thinking of trying to find a new owner for one of the other sites. Will see how that goes...

If that is the top priority, have you considered consolidating TalkEmount into Cameraderie, and sell other two (mu-43 and Nikon Café)? That move will effectively reduce the administrative work (potentially to 1/10), but revenue will also be significantly down. You will run basically the same 'open to all formats' forum with civil and friendly environment. 'Amin followers' as well as 'multiple format shooters' will soon follow and join (count on me!) so the members and activity will recover in a short period of time. For the members who want mu-43 as focused as possible, they will be happier because of the less traffic (noise) about other formats.

Just a thought.