really? When I was on the panasonic boards, I was overly impressed
with the community, and becuase of that I was eager to join it by
getting a panasonic camera. Why does that make me an idiot?
Because you were influenced by unknown people as opposed to making
your own educated decisions. You were probably one of those who
walks into a forum and asks, "Should I buy a Panasonic or a Pentax?"
You found the community to be a great big Panny Love-In, and to
become a member, you bought yourself a Panny. You were then a
card-carrying member of the commune. Just like you are here,
apparently.
They're not unknown people if you converse with them any significant amount. And yes I am one of those people who walked into a forum and asked advice to which camera would suite my needs/wants. And believe it or not some forums give some great answers, believe it or not the pany board isn't afraid to refer me to the Fuji F20/F30/F31 for low light PnS's, or to a non-Pany DSLR if that's what better suits the poster.
I guess I was a card carrying pany fan, they make great PnS's, what's wrong with that? I had a nikon before that, and a pentax after that, what's the big deal?
I know
many people that got a camera due to the helpfulness and also results
posted on forums.
But from DPR? You've GOT to be kidding me. How many is many? I'd
never even heard of this chat slum until after I bought my camera.
Nobody held my wittle hand. If I had, I probably would have ended up
with a Canon!
Each forum has it's own personality/tone, and there WAS many. Frankly a camera can be a difficult thing to learn, and sometimes having a near realtime support group is a really handy thing. Panasonic cameras as of late have had some weak points namely very poor NR (venus 3 engine), the forum is very good at both advising against such cameras for some people, and also ways to work around it. Perhaps the forums here at DPR that you frequent aren't like that. I don't doubt it, most other boards here arent the same as the pany board, I kinda miss it
Here's the MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Hey Oly forum! I did NOT buy my Oly
gear because I was influenced by you or because of the photos posted
by you! I made up my own mind that Oly was the right gear for me,
THEN I joined the forum! I am so sorry!
So, how did you do your research? Purely on reviews? That's fine, or maybe you tried the cameras in a store? Or just trolled forums? or maybe you bought all the cameras and returned the ones you didn't like. Either way, it doesn't matter, if that worked for you that's great. Some people can't afford to buy every camera. And some people DO read reviews, but then need to ask people if the reviews were fair, or explain something that may have came up in the review but didn't make sense. That's why these forums are good.
Frankly, if I see great results from a camera on a given forum, and I
can ask questions about the camera prior to buying it, and get great
feedback both positive and negative. then i see no reason why
someone is an idiot for choosing that brand of camera...
I don't either. But you can see the same results on ANY given forum.
So, Virginia, how does one make up their mind in buying a camera? I
see fantastic shots on ANY forum here, and I know there are fantastic
people in those forums.
In the end, however, one becomes a sheep, with Canon being the
biggest flock of all. The other little lambs; you know, us, the
sickly skinny ones with club hoofs and smelly dirty wool end up here,
or other less popular camera forums.
Why does it need to be that way? I've owned many brands, and have used even more, I can see the benefits of all of the cameras I've used. Why do you think everyone has to be as narrow minded as you?
My Nikon CP5000 was a great camera, had RAW support with a firmware upgrade. The lens was sharp, and it took great photos, the side flip screen was divine. But the thing was SLOWWWW, slow AF, no AF-Assit lamp, Raw write times were around 12 seconds, the UI was horrid, press this button turn that knob for everything.
The FZ50 had an amazing lens, great resolution, quick RAW write times (given the 23+MB raw files), great UI, halfway good flip screen, but DR/noise was poor, and no raw buffer.
The *ist D was a great sized SLR, image quality was ok, and camera response was ok, my len's were the weakest link, and the raw buffer got full real quick, image review on RAW files were super slow, the view finder even with a Katz eye was difficult for MF.
The e-510 is a great sized camera with great features, like IS, antidust, live view, though still has a bit of a problem with metering, Auto white balance indoors is poor (the FZ50 was great at this, the nikon not so much, the pentax was always wrong), not that it matters much since i shoot RAW always. the live view is less effective since it has no contrast detect or a flip screen, but still handy for tripod MF shots of still objects. The zuiko lens lineup is solid, with a well laid out and full lens selection. I like that I can pick a "Grade" and know what i'm getting in terms of IQ and build quality.
Either way, all my cameras I've had have had strengths and weaknesses, but if someone had a certain need, I would definately recommend them to another brand than Oly if it suited them better...
Why by a camera if only to post on these chat forums?
Some people may find it a hobby, posting about their hobby doesn't seem like a stretch.. I'm not necessarily in that group.
Do you
actually print out your photography?
Yes
Do you actually sell your work?
Yes
Or do you just hang here, posting your kids and cats and pray for a
10?
If I had kids or cats I might do that too, do I pray for a 10, of course... what's wrong with that?
--
Cloverdale, B.C., Canada
Olympus e-510
http://joesiv.smugmug.com 
.
