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Author Topic: Well Said!  (Read 12120 times)

rmofsen

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Well Said!
« Reply #20 on: June 07, 2007, 10:32:33 pm »

Many of the comments regarding Michael's recent article have used the word "disclosure".  I believe this is a key point for anyone who has "the floor" and the ability to influence another.  As a physician, researcher and lecturer I am often in a position to educate other physicians and therefore influence their prescribing habits.  It is therefore necessary for me to fully disclose and describe my relationships with pharmaceutical companies.  This not only includes my personal likes and dislikes but also whether I receive any special "perks" or payments.  This does not necessarily lessen my message but rather gives the listener the full information needed to make an informed decision.  Although not dealing with life and death issues, Michael's generally excellent reviews do influence others.  This can have a significant financial impact on the reader.  Fully disclosing any relationship with a manufacture (including minor gifts or free merchandise) removes any burden from Michael and allows the reader to make an informed decision.
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michael

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Well Said!
« Reply #21 on: June 08, 2007, 07:47:29 am »

I have made this disclosure regularly on this site. It can be found on numerous pages, including briefly on the site's home page.

I have no commercial relationships with any companies in the photographic industry. I accept no money, accept no gifts (maybe lunch during a meeting or conference), and as is obvious, this site accepts no advertising of any sort.

When products are sent to me for evaluation they are returned, after my review is finished. (Printers may be retained for up to a year, so that long term testing is possible). If I decide to purchase something that I've reviewed I will accept a courtesy discount, if one is offered.

Small products (usually under a couple of hundred dollars) are not returned, because it usually is more bother and has more cost to do so than it's worth. Software is not returned. manufactruers don't want it back.

That's the full disclosure. Once again.

Michael
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Ray

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Well Said!
« Reply #22 on: June 08, 2007, 10:53:27 am »

I was never particularly interested in a camera so limited as the Leica M8. I always got the impression, from Michael's original review and others, that there was an unscientific mystique playing a part.

Some people would claim, "Some people just don't get it". I always thought that this was indicative of 'we're into mythology here'.

It's really a replay of the hi fi syndrome that was dominant in the 80's. People imagined all sorts of subtle effects from exotic and very expensive amplifiers.

I understand the emotional attachment, the reverence and the placebo effect. It's powerful and just perhaps it's all some of us live for, so I'm reluctant to knock it.

But really?
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Ken Tanaka

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Well Said!
« Reply #23 on: June 08, 2007, 07:25:08 pm »

Quote
I was never particularly interested in a camera so limited as the Leica M8. I always got the impression, from Michael's original review and others, that there was an unscientific mystique playing a part.

Some people would claim, "Some people just don't get it". I always thought that this was indicative of 'we're into mythology here'.

It's really a replay of the hi fi syndrome that was dominant in the 80's. People imagined all sorts of subtle effects from exotic and very expensive amplifiers.

I understand the emotional attachment, the reverence and the placebo effect. It's powerful and just perhaps it's all some of us live for, so I'm reluctant to knock it.

But really?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=121791\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Ray:  Understood, but that's not the topic of this thread.
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- Ken Tanaka -
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Rob C

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Well Said!
« Reply #24 on: June 09, 2007, 05:53:45 am »

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Ray:  Understood, but that's not the topic of this thread.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=121843\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Ken

Yes, you do have a point, but I wonder whether strict adherence to the thread paradigm is really the best way to run a forum such as this.

There is something rather sterile to conversations - for want of a better word - where there is little humanity, personality or taste on display; life does not run easily in pigeon-hole format.

Quite honestly, if all this forum consisted of was dry technical interchange then I, for one, would have long signed off. As it is, I find myself forming character sketches of the various posters, some positive and others, possibly the sporadic ones, less so. Isn´t this what communication is all about? And isn´t this what keeps relationships, in all worlds, interesting?

Ciao - Rob C

Ray

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Well Said!
« Reply #25 on: June 09, 2007, 01:47:16 pm »

Actually, I realised that my point was not directly relevant to the topic, but those were my thoughts at the time, after reading the article.

The issue of personal bias in reviews (as opposed to commercial bias as a result of pressure from advertisers) is a given.

One could argue that the more scientific the reviews become, the more unbiased they become. Michael does not seem to take much interest in the tedious process of scientifically accurate reviews, and I don't blame him for this. I know myself how difficult and time consuming it is to merely compare the performance of a single lens at different f stops.

I notice that Michael no longer produces DXO reviews of lenses, for example, although he was initially quite enthusiastic about this method of assessing lens quality.

I fully subscribe to the notion that we should do what interests us; especially true as we get older and are less influenced by economic pressures.
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Rob C

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Well Said!
« Reply #26 on: June 10, 2007, 07:47:12 am »

Ray, I´m pleased that getting older has freed you from economic pressures - I find that life continues to have its ups and downs and that having spent most of it depending on a camera to make a crust, the habit of caution and not believing that the upside lasts for very long is a hard, if not impossible one to kick. I doubt that many photographers living off the art have different attitudes...

Ciao - Rob C

Ray

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Well Said!
« Reply #27 on: June 10, 2007, 10:06:13 pm »

Rob,
Life always has its ups and downs but I've never experienced the ups and downs of trying to earn a living from photography. I sell only the occasional print on demand. I'm reluctant to start my own website advertising prints for sale in case I get a few orders which might interfere with other activities.

I'm freed from economic pressures only because I have no desire for exotic cameras such as the Leica M8 or MFDBs such as the P45 or Aptus 75, or for that matter fast cars or yachts, and of course because I don't have growing kids to support.

I shall, however, be very interested in a 22mp upgrade to the 5D with ISO 6400 capability   .
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Rob C

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Well Said!
« Reply #28 on: June 11, 2007, 05:42:20 am »

Quote
Rob,
Life always has its ups and downs but I've never experienced the ups and downs of trying to earn a living from photography. I sell only the occasional print on demand. I'm reluctant to start my own website advertising prints for sale in case I get a few orders which might interfere with other activities.

I'm freed from economic pressures only because I have no desire for exotic cameras such as the Leica M8 or MFDBs such as the P45 or Aptus 75, or for that matter fast cars or yachts, and of course because I don't have growing kids to support.

I shall, however, be very interested in a 22mp upgrade to the 5D with ISO 6400 capability   .
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=122137\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Ray - wise man! I did have the hunger for boats once - I´d been on a shoot in the Bahamas along with my wife and two models and we had this long, choppy boat ride from Providence to Rose Island. The effect of a fast boat and the then current vogue for having burned all the world´s bras was something wondrous to behold as, indeed, was the location itself.

Anyway, two weks later we found ourselves on another shoot in the Balearics and once more in contact with boats. This time, I followed up the notion that was forming in my mind and asked questions about the viability/costs of moorings etc. and it turned out that the costs were way below what I was paying for the priviledge of owning my own pad in the U.K. That, along with the fact that we´d met a painter couple on Rhodes who were living on a boat (he painted and she mounted exhibitions of his stuff in chic hotels) gave rise to several months of agony during which we toyed with the idea of selling up and buying a boat and doing the same.

Fortunately, common sense prevailed and rather than buy a sinking asset (Michael, your views?) we opted to move from the U.K. to Spain, but on dry land. That was 1981 and we are still here...

We had friends who owned boats and that was fun, but it didn´t take long to realise that owning anything that was able to support life was way, way out of our league. I guess that photography can open a world of appetites a little too rich for many photographers to support.

Ain´t life sweet?

Ciao - Rob C

michael

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Well Said!
« Reply #29 on: June 11, 2007, 06:17:06 am »

I've never had the desire to have a "live on" type boat. I have had a few friends over the years who have, and while I enjoyed going cruising with them the idea of living in such cramped quarters gives me the willies.

Instead I've used my resources to have a vacation home in the country. It's built on Precambrian Shield, the oldest bedrock in the world (2 billion years old) so it isn't going anywhere, up or down. On the other hand it's right on the shore of a largish lake, so I can still enjoy the water in smaller and less expensive craft.

Michael
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