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Paid Reviews in DPReview

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George,

At this point, I take back what I said about you being a Troll. It appears as if you asked an honest question. Only seeing one post from you really set off flags for me, and sometimes real names are not used anyway.

I am wondering why you didn't email Phil the question first, because 1) DPR is a large place and eventhough an honest question is asked, it turns out ugly due to so many opinions; 2) By merely posing Tim Barnett's accusations, it creates a position and polarization from DPR members; and 3) By emailing Phil the question, Mr. Askey could have either denied it or affirmed it, and would not have to be in a position to defend something of fallacy on his own forum. This is why I gathered your post was of Trollish behavior.

I suppose it was your choice in posing the question on DPR, and so here we are. :)

I would suggest next time if someone accuses a reviewer of certain tactics, that you post the question in a private email to the person of whom the accusation was intended, instead of the owner's forum.--'I do just about everything in my CCDs...'The E-10 Club Message Board: http://pub57.ezboard.com/bthedigitaldinguscommunityMy Website: http://e10club.topcities.com/
 
For someone who seems to make his living with words your choice of header was astonishingly inept.
George Cottay said:
What an amazing variety of responses. I guess it just goes to prove
how the human mind (or maybe just the keyboarding finger) works in
strange ways.

Here's the real scoop:

1) Browsing around yesterday for new PS actions, I came across the
Tim Barnett claim. Having used and widely recommended DPReview, I
asked about the claim in a general DPR forum.

2) Phil Askey says Mr. Barnett’s claim is inaccurate.

As far as I’m concerned that’s almost* the end of the story. A
question asked. Question answered. I, for one, plan to continue
using and recommending DPReview.

The thing remaining is for me to provide Mr. Askey with contract
information for Mr. Barnett.
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--John
 
Amen,

Those of us who have been on our own too long to pursue the entrepreneurial journey know too well that "my salary second" can only mean "my salary never".

When we are too busy chasing a dream, why let "money" get in the way ?
Good work Phil.

Huan
CliffB said:
CliffB said:
Phil,
I always have a chuckle when I read over time that you must be
making a killing running this business. Being self employed with a
small staff, that "my salary second" line tells it all. If I get to
my salary, it's been a good week.

Larz
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Well, I'm wasn't sure if this was a thread I should be adding to or not...but what the heck!

The seems to be a lot of speculation/assumptions at times on various forums about whether Phil Askey is either raking in the millions or it's a case of Phil's 'salary never'. I don't know which is worse.

Certainly as ChrisB and a few other people have said, if he put in the effort, took a gamble, or came up with an idea other people didn't have, then why shouldn't he make a profit.

And if he goes public at some point and is bought up by some big company for 'X' million then good for him, I'm sure most people would wish they could do the same. Certainly as a Freelancer for 15+ years I've been paid very well at times for my work, but then I've worked hard and have took lot's of risks, worked in places I didn't like, and have experienced more than enough 'downturns' to consider giving up.

As long as he doesn't try to promote affiliates or products on the basis of making a profit while suggesting an independant stance, or ask for donations/support when he's already profitable then theres no problem.

If people want to speculate they can. Still, Askey.Net Consulting Ltd is a registered company with publicly available accounts (currently up to 31 Mar '01). If people really want to know such details then they are easily available.
Huan Pham said:
When we are too busy chasing a dream, why let "money" get in the way ?
Good work Phil.

Huan
CliffB said:
Huan Pham said:
Phil,
I always have a chuckle when I read over time that you must be
making a killing running this business. Being self employed with a
small staff, that "my salary second" line tells it all. If I get to
my salary, it's been a good week.

Larz
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Phil Askey said:
a. Please contact me and send me the details of this gentleman.
I'm sure my lawyer would like to speak to him.

b. It is not true, we (I) have never been paid nor would accept any
kind of payment for any review.

c. All products are loaned and returned after the loan period
(which is typically two - three weeks).
George Cottay said:
In a letter to ImagingResource, Tim Barnett from Digital Photos
Online recently claimed that Phil Askey from DPReview charges
vendors "thousands of dollars" to review a product.

Does anyone know:

1) If this is true?

2) If DBReview makes this public?
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I am glad you responded so quickly. It is best to lay rumors to rest as soon as possible. As they say talk is cheap and very often fabricated. Unfortunately for phil many will read and assume it is the gospel truth, of course they will be using the bible according to bubba, as did clinton, hehehe.
 
Phil Askey said:
John Burns said:
Phil Askey said:
a. Please contact me and send me the details of this gentleman.
I'm sure my lawyer would like to speak to him.

b. It is not true, we (I) have never been paid nor would accept any
kind of payment for any review.

c. All products are loaned and returned after the loan period
(which is typically two - three weeks).
George Cottay said:
In a letter to ImagingResource, Tim Barnett from Digital Photos
Online recently claimed that Phil Askey from DPReview charges
vendors "thousands of dollars" to review a product.

Does anyone know:

1) If this is true?

2) If DBReview makes this public?
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--

John
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I think dpreview (aka phil) does a wonderful job and service. If he didn't we wouldn't be here reading this. All you have to do is look at the content of his reviews, and you will see that not only does he not play favorites, he tries very hard to be impartial. If you doubt his integrity then you won't take this site seriously, and go elsewhere. That is not in his best interest.

As with any source of news/info I look at the content not the opinions. If more people did this then I think there would be fewer 'newscasters' and more "Reporters".I say keep up the good work Phil!

MYSTIC
 
Phil Askey's site is the best

Phil's reviews are the best.

Phils forums are the absolute best.

IMNTBHO

Thank you, Phil, sincerely, for a most valuable resource.

---John
 
Oh for god sakes who cares if he gets paid or not. Do you really care?

I think the forums would be less controversial if Phil ASkey stayed away and didn't drop a line from time to time.... people seem to enjoy to provoque him and he seems to enjoy "snapping" back. I guess it's a game and it's part of the popularity of his site... perhaps?
 
I really value Phil's reviews. I'd hate for his electricity to be turned off, so I sent him a small fee ($50) for his reviews. Probably should be more. Easy to do with PayPal, it's on the home page.
Laurence Bartone
 
i know for a fact that the many manufacturers american susidiaries

monitor the dpreview site specificly to read what people are writing and they know its the biggest digi cam web site

they might not always reply and if they do they might not reply with their real name

unless they reply officially on behalf of their employer

but they are reading this board and the reviews
Phil Askey said:
Eric Foster said:
Barnett sounds like a real sour apple who just likes to whine:
At Imaging Resource he complains about .. "have to pay thousands of
dollars to be included in a newsletter that cost him nothing other
than some editing time to produce."

Nothing more than editing time? Like it should be free? What a jerk
with a capital J.

Mr. Askey has every right to profit from the labor that he so
obviously has put into this web site though sponsorship. It's
terrific web site. And he has no obligation to help some other
fellow set up some other web site to do some of the same thing.

I suspect Mr. Barnett would not have considered sharing any revenue
from his site with Mr. Askey based on referring traffic. And even
if he did, why would Mr. Askey be obligated in any way to accept
such an offer. What Mr. Barnett wanted had nothing to do with
announcing news and everyting to do with wanting to get a free ad
-- and frankly from a more established competitor. Real cheesy and
low class. And you've got to wonder about what's going on upstairs
with ImageResource folks who posted the lamebrained letter.

As far as accepting payment for reviews, I think the Nikon 5000
review would pretty much dispell that notion. If they could, I'd
bet Nikon would've loved to see something a bit more glowing. But
it was a fair review, and helpful to me personally.

The university I work for just upgraded the digital camera we use
for routine, and frankly some magazine work.

Based on the review, we (actually I) choose the G2. Saved a lot of
money vs. a Nikon 5000 and got the qualities we need -- fast lense
for one. Superior dynamic range at ISO 50. Compact flash storage --
relatively accurate color, certainly as compared to Sony -- though
perhaps not as good as Olympus. The point is these reviews don't
just say, wow, the camera takes nice pictures. It looks at what
ways in which the camera takes good pictures. And depending on the
application, that's very important. I do a lot of indoor shooting
sans flash, and a lense that starts on the high side of f2 and
works down to something in the f4 range at telephoto won't cut it.

(On the flip side, based on Mr. Askey's first impressions, it looks
like the Nikon D100 may have some advantages over the Canon -- but
we're a Canon shop for SLRs, so if we ever went to a DSLR, it'd
probably be a Canon.)

There are quirks -- some jaggies come to mind, but I knew what to
expect. But the flippy screen, which I thought would never be used,
is used all the time.
George Cottay said:
In a letter to ImagingResource, Tim Barnett from Digital Photos
Online recently claimed that Phil Askey from DPReview charges
vendors "thousands of dollars" to review a product.

Does anyone know:

1) If this is true?

2) If DBReview makes this public?
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--beam me up scottyim giving it all shes got captain
 
I was going to make a comment about this sychophantic post but alas it wouldn't add to the tone here.
John Forish said:
Phil Askey's site is the best

Phil's reviews are the best.

Phils forums are the absolute best.

IMNTBHO

Thank you, Phil, sincerely, for a most valuable resource.

---John
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Paul,

I was going to make a comment about your misspelling (it's sycophant, without the first "h" - I even looked it up online at Merriam-Webster's website, m-w.com to be absolutely sure there wasn't an alternative spelling - if Merriam, Webster, and I are wrong please point me to your source) but alas (and alack, for crying out loud), it wouldn't add to the tone here, either (notice how I added a comma after "alas" -- you shoulda' added one, too).

I was going to call you an illiterate, misspelling buzzard but I thought I might get in trouble with buzzards over that. And that tone thing, too.

Please don't take offense, I'm just kidding about all this -- sorry you thought I laid it on too thick but I really enjoy and value and treasure (and enjoy) this website.

I was just being appreciative of the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful* resource that Phil provides us here. I'm not sucking up to Phil to get him to review the new digital camera I'm inventing without charging me a fortune for the review - really!

I would have put three more wonderfuls here but I ran out :)
Maybe that's what happened to your comma!

---John
Paul Pope said:
John Forish said:
Phil Askey's site is the best

Phil's reviews are the best.

Phils forums are the absolute best.

IMNTBHO

Thank you, Phil, sincerely, for a most valuable resource.

---John
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