What you might be seeing as a problem is actually the result of natural forces at work or at play, depending how they feel at the time.
Inevitably, there are people who have something to say, some who have nothing to say and even those who have lots to say but not the means of saying it. There's no way around that, and in general, it all works pretty well. In the years I've been here, I can only think of two writers who've been hoofed out, which is saying something!
A further problem - if it is one - is that there's no level playing field of age, photographic ability, photographic desires, nor even of financial clout in the sense of what it's possible for each member to own in the way of equipment.
In my own case, I'm a retired pro with a reasonably successful career behind me, in that after my start in '60 I never had to do anything else to earn my living than photography. So that places me into some difficult situations, such as having a helluva lot of understanding of what it takes to survive as a snapper, never mind become successful in the iconic sense of success, something that precious few in this business ever achieve, though I'm sure it's a carrot acting as a sort of drug to keep one keeping on truckin' when things look pretty grim. So, it is more than a little bit irritating to read some of the bullshit that some writers contribute on the matter. But that's really their ignorance and one should just sigh and move on.
Gear-talk is sustaining until you reach a point in your experience where you realise that no, it's not doing it for you, that it's you that's doing or not doing the right things by your photographic progress. That point reached, techie chat loses its appeal and crosses over into boredom. If you look at the different, broad divisions of LuLa you'll discover that few (if any) of the regular contributors to the Medium Format/Pro sections ever show their noses in Critique or Coffee Corner zones... these just don't hold relevance to their lives and knowledge. For my part, I contribute very little in Pro sections because being long out of it, it feels wrong to poke in an opinion. Also, there's the phenomenon where so many writers write so convincingly about theory but are able to show almost nothing worth looking at despite all of that theory, which frequently raises the one about those who teach and those who do, etc.etc..
Nothing fits all, unless a mass grave.
(Even if as in your case it's been raining for twenty-nine days, in which event you might be looking at a swimming pool.)
Rob C
