Why would a French company with a potentially massive world market outside of the USA, worry about a camera store in New York, who use that list to promote retail products, try to get B&H to promote a product that isnât available through retail outlets? And why would B&H want to promote a product that they wouldnât make a profit on?
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For what itâs worth @Joanna , B&H photo in New York City, is a camera and electronic superstore and is the largest and most influential camera retailer in the US., not that that changes anything with regard to PhotoLab.
You would be more likely to find hard to get camera gear and accessories there than just about anywhere else in this country. When Nikon introduces new gear, B&H is usually the first dealership in the United States to have it in stock. They have a large block long 2 story retail store in Midtown Manhattan and multiple warehouses . They are the major online camera retailer in the states. The brick and mortar store is almost overwhelming. Virtually everyone that works there has expert knowledge of the gear they recommend and sell.
Mark
I intended to address your point(s) directly.
This forum is sponsored by DxO for users to exchange information with regards to DxO products. DxO pays the bills for this forum out of our license fees.
I, and I suspect most folks, come here to learn about and help others with DxO product questions. This can certainly include help with photos and applying DxO product tools.
DxOâs forum does not include categories for general photography help, âdo you like my photo questionsâ, how to use my camera help, or photo philosophy. There are many photography forums which includes these topics.
There are lots of photography forums that also support âfree-for-all discussionsâ as well as photo challenges and reviews. Many folks enjoy these forums and build on-line âfriendsâ (or enemies). That fine too. I participate in some photo challenges on other forums.
But the question here is whether or not the DxO forum is the âright placeâ for such topics. DxO has given us participants lots of freedom without moderation, but that doesnât we should mold it to a âfree-for-allâ. We should respect their intent.
For me, keep it DxO-related, honest, and respectful.
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Yes, but not long ago appeared a new category âDxO Pure RAWâ, so what you stated is not carved in stone. The technical possibility to add another category is there.
Although I mostly shake my head at most of Mike Myersâ posts and agree with Markâs comments that he doesnât get most of the responses, I have to admit that there is a market for this type of communication and subject. And as many forum members come here for a long time and are also of a certain age as well as long time paying customers â why not install a kind of âcommon roomâ ? Anybody not interested in chitchat or general questions is never forced to participate. But in some forums these are the more vivid parts. It would also be a very nice way for DxO to set apart from C1 forum, which is just an ugly place to be. And if Adobe has a forum (I donât know), I guess it would be rather impersonal due to the number of clients.
Plus, have you ever noticed any kind of moderation from DxO here? I mean, both threads stand out in pure post numbers. Somebody at DxO should have noticed and also take measures, hand out warnings or blocking the user causing this mammoth threads. What happened? Nothing. Members tell each other what this forum is in their opinion, but the host probably enjoys the âold farts chatterâ in a remote room, happy they keep themselves occupied instead of asking for more features. I would not rely on regulations coming from of DxO. Also, I donât consider DxO to be a very agile software company, development is slow and compared to some new companies rather minor. Why would they bother to drive old customers away?
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Indeed. And I have bought from them before, until I found that Calumet in Germany were much more competitive on price in Europe, especially since there are no import duties between European Union countries. I saved 25% on my D850 over buying it here in France, which was a similar price to buying it from B&H, when you take shipping and taxes from the US into account.
No doubt, but DxO is Europe-based and the EU population is around 1.6x that of the US.
Having said that, the only reason I can see for, basically, advertising downloadable software, is that B&H get a commission - something that would push up the price DxOâs products.
âPhotoJosephâ never worked for DxO. He promotes himself as a paid trainer for all sorts of different photo stuff, including hardware, which he blogs about.
Since I doubt he gets paid to promote DxO, that might explain why he has stopped making any further material.
As @swmurray and @JoJu both intimate, these fora are intended for support of DxOâs products and it is only by their good grace (or perhaps lack of interest in monitoring) that we are allowed to diverge from that goal.
Maybe itâs just me but, if I want help on taking photos or how a camera works, my first port of call is Google, where I can usually find what I want in a few clicks. I definitely donât limit myself to only those folks who use DxO software.
I think your only nonsolvable problem is that left hand which looks like it in the middle of a warptimeframe.
Is looking like a ghosthand.
It draws my attention a bit.
Im in my car so canât edit but maybe same b&w but larger crop?
A vertical crop?
Keep the fence and the bottle in it and the legs, aldoh it was better if the feet where in it also 
, zoom out a bit so that moving hand is les visible.
I have three dayâs of carshows in movieclip and rawfiles.
Have to cull, edit all types and makingdateâs of the shot cars into my xmp file iptc. BĂ©fore i open photolab and start editing.
The horror: dayâs of hard laborâŠ
(my son just say use the oocjpeg and share. Arghhhh patient my trend, good curry is two dayâs oldâŠ)
I need to retire because i havenât got the time anymore to engage in my hobbyâsâŠ
Or stop renovating a house or respond to the never ending task list of my wife, kids and house animals.
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âŠand its customer service and support is unmatched, anywhere! They give you the same courteous, outstanding service whether you are spending $100 or $100,000.
Highly recommended.
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My son is using my old fz200 and IF heâs continuing his photograpic interrest i am eyeballing the fz2500. Last in secondhand market 500 euro, almost new two batteryâs and a travelbag. Almost bought it.
I am asking him would he liked that camera? Should he invest some money in it?
Too soon for his idea i am afraid. So the ship sailed. By by cameraâŠ
Leaving me in a âdamn that wĂĄs a very good deal!â Kind of mood.
But i suspect i am in for a new dmc g90 as new first camera. 20Mp m43 smaller then the great G9.
Or not. My G80 does stil what i need. (nothing to do with what i wantâŠ
)
Iâm not sure that you totally understand what Iâm trying to say. Iâm not a particularly good writer and sometimes donât clearly express what Iâm thinking so Iâll try again.
Iâm proposing a section where people can just let their hair down and have fun. The DxO forums are already filled with threads dealing with the mechanics of how to process an image⊠this section would be more about the actual experience â and sometimes adventure â of making it. I donât see why anyone would object, but if they do, just donât read it. It doesnât hurt anyone by just being there!
It could be a short story about what happened before, during, or after a photographic âoutingâ, as I call it. It could ramble into a short description about the journey to an inaccessible area, about an interesting incident that happened on the way, about little known history and geography of the area, about new insights they gained on a photographic technique, how they overcame problems with equipment or how they tried to deal with crappy lighting or fog, requests for critiques on cropping or processing techniques of the final image, and so on. Itâs about the experience of photography with more of a human twist.
Something along the lines of this very popular thread in the darktable forum:
If the writer is gifted like many here are, it can be a fascinating read.
There already are many of these kinds of posts scattered through the DxO forums; Iâm proposing a place that would be an easy-to-find home for them.
I understand. You suggest forum category(s) for âfree-for-allâ discussions, photo challenges, and whatever a user wantâs to post. You want this category separated from the other categories such as Photolab, PureRaw, Nik, etc.
Thatâs not what DxO has chosen so far. They pay the bills, and probably look for this forum to help users learn and use their products so that they sell more licenses. This is a win-win for users too as a quality forum for learning about their product helps sell more licenses thus lowering per license costs.
A category for users to post general âfix-the-photoâ questions would seem both helpful and interesting as a way of learning/sharing DxO Photolab techniques. There are several posters here who could really help others as they do in this thread
Feel free to request DxO create these other categories. The fact that these threads are so long might be a reason for DxO to consider doing so.
Since these non-DxO type discussions are available elsewhere I see no use to re-invent them here. (search and ye shall find)
Ed - I am posting my response from DxO.
I have written back that I would like a week to discuss this in the forum, and reply to their questions.
We (or you) can document our thoughts, and I will include them in my reply later this week.
Dear Mr. Myers,
Thank you for your insightful suggestion regarding the creation of a new forum section. As we move forward with this idea, we would appreciate your input on some additional points.
Firstly, do you think it would be more effective to create this new section for each DxO product separately, or would a single, unified section suffice for all products?
Secondly, we are considering various names for this new section and would love to hear your thoughts. Do you have any suggestions for what the new section should be called? Your input will help us create a welcoming and engaging space for our users.
Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.
Best regards,
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A social daytime activitie for older users.
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I, for one, prefer the first image, but Iâd prefer it even more if you used some of the PhotoLab tools to make it more appealing.
The second version looks like an interesting bit of âartworkâ, but nobody looking at it will feel the relationship to a real elephant as they will with your first image. I know you know (and Joanna knows) how to make that first version more appealing, simply by changing the settings.
Of course, this is mostly personal preferences, along with your goals. My ideal photo would be something like what is printed by the National Geographic Magazine. But I would prefer the whole elephant, without a plant growing out of its head.
When I do take photos of elephants in India, I get the whole elephant, and itâs surroundings, and if I wait long enough and follow it, I get photos of the elephant interacting with its surroundings. But thatâs just my own personal preference, not suggesting others do the same thing.
Eight photos I really enjoy, far better than anything I have been able to capture:
Elephant Pictures - National Geographic
As you point out it is about preferences and I certainly will not argue with you regarding yours. However, I guess Iâm a nobody looking at it who feels a much more emotional reaction and a much stronger relationship to his fine art rendition with the distracting background removed.
From my perspective, for any photograph to be truly successful it needs to grab me and pull me in.
The first image is just another nice image of an elephant in the wild, (or semi wild), one of thousands, and not particularly interesting or different in itself. It can be made to look better using various tools in PhotoLab, but in the end it is still the same image which doesnât distinguish itself from so many other similar ones.
However, the second version is much more striking, and highlights the important elements of fine art photography for me, including line, shape, texture, contrast, light and shadow.
In the end, I think the first image is nice but is not particularly inspired, while the second version is very nicely rendered and much more involving than the original.
We see things differently and knowing your very objective view of the world, I donât expect that you will agree with me.
Mark
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I donât belong in this discussion.
To me, THIS is the ultimate:
Not that I know how to do it, or will ever get the opportunity to do so, but to me, this National Geographic image is as good as it gets.
The emotion, the realism, the adrenaline, and everything else are off the chart.
The other two images donât do anything for me, or to me. Theyâre just snapshots to me. I can understand that as âartâ, things are different, and the fact that I donât get it means Iâm lacking in things that others understand and feel. Thereâs also âGiGoâ.
I do âgetâ Joannaâs art images usually, so Iâve got some of the right brain cells in my head, but not enough of them. You guys are lucky - Iâve got something similar to being âcolor blindâ where I donât see/get things that others do. Not much I can do about it, except try my best anyway.
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It is a very nice photo but due to publication standards it is probably entirely or almost entirely straight out of the camera. The issue I have with this image is if the goal is for it to represent ârealityâ, the flat colors tones and lack of contrast makes it look like a SOOC jpeg rather than a live elephant. There is very little emotion or adrenaline for me. just a nice photo of a standing elephant.
Mark
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There should be a lot of adrenaline⊠this guy is about to charge and you better be able to run faster than he can!
⊠boring documentary photo, with far too much background to distract from the principal subject. And there is no focus differential to separate the elephant out.
Possibly for your photo-journalistic taste but did you look at the other images in the same series? To me, they were neither good documentary nor art.
@Stenis itâs not perfect but I really like what you were trying to do with your rendering.
@mikemyers this is what I call a stunning wildlife photo, by my good friend HervĂ© JolyâŠ
⊠and here is a link to his wife Myriamâs website
And, translated from her About pageâŠ
Photography is who I am, through what it expresses.
See beyond your everyday vision. Take your time and live the present moment as a precious gift that must be protected and respected.
My highlighting of the most important aspect to photography.
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