[luftfluss]

Carey Rose left DPR a little while back, and now Barney Britton, former Senior Editor, has left, too.

It looks like they are now down to two reviewers.

[Paul the Sunman]

DPR is DOOMED.

Wouldn't it be ironic if they went out of business and Pentax was still going strong.

[biz-engineer]

Cost reduction. Last in , first out. DPR business is in a tricky position since their only source of income is from advertising new camera gear, smartphones and drones.

---------- Post added 09-02-22 at 06:56 ----------

Wouldn't it be ironic if they went out of business and Pentax was still going strong.

Very unlikely. DPR are diversified. Pentax is focused on the fastest declining market segment, and producing hardware has much higher fixed costs than running web pages.

[cxdoo]

Very unlikely. DPR are diversified. Pentax is focused on the fastest declining market segment, and producing hardware has much higher fixed costs than running web pages.

Well is it better to stick to a niche and be really good at one thing you do or be meh at many things? The way I see it they lost a lot of appeal by whole segments of photography gear disappearing.
Joe Shmoe might have gone there a few years ago to see which 500ish dollars camera to get, people in the market for Z9 and like not so much. Also the market for 3000+ gear is much smaller, better informed and more demanding.
Diversification into drones, phones, laptops and such IMHO makes them less relevant because there are other sites reviewing that stuff for longer time and less superficially.

Personally I went there now and then to read about photography gear from other brands, but there is less such content now and it's not really good. So yeah, I'd say they are doomed.
Now that doesn't mean they'll disappear - lots of zombies on the net - MySpace, Slashdot, Yahoo, etc. Hosting is cheap, aggregation too.

[biz-engineer]

Well is it better to stick to a niche and be really good at one thing you do or be meh at many things?

Both DPR and Rico Imaging are diversified. Ricoh Imaging run six product lines (Theta, GR, Pentax Q, Pentax apsc, Pentax FF and Pentax 645). It's very unlikely any go out of business before another. I'd be worried about Canon and Sony, they are focusing only on FF mirrorless, it's more risky. Difference between DPR and Richo. DPR cut white collar workers when costs need to be reduced. Ricoh can cut manufacturing for reducing costs.

[cxdoo]

Both DPR and Rico Imaging are diversified. Ricoh Imaging run six product lines (Theta, GR, Pentax Q, Pentax apsc, Pentax FF and Pentax 645). It's very unlikely any go out of business before another. I'd be worried about Canon and Sony, they are focusing only on FF mirrorless, it's more risky.

The question was about DPR strategy. They were positioning themselves as a premier photography gear site and now it doesn't feel like that anymore. Frankly it wouldn't surprise me if I see a washing machine review there soon.

OTOH, isn't Q dead?

[JPT]

I don't know abut this. They were advertising three vacancies on their website the other week, so it might just be people leaving of their own accord and not because the site is struggling to make ends meet.

I think it's a shame because Barney Britton wrote well and seemed to have a real liking for GR cameras in particular. When I read his recent account of taking the GR IIIx back to the UK, I felt he seemed really relieved to be home. I guess he might have decided to go home.

Carey Rose was also one of the good writers there. He seemed to be open minded about DSLRs and Pentax, and his photos were pretty good.

I agree that DPR has drifted too far away from its core competence of camera reviews. Even if you disagreed with their older reviews, there was enough, well written commentary to get something out of it. The reviews have become increasingly shallow and distorted in my opinion.

[StiffLegged]

It looks like they are now down to two reviewers.

That’s okay, it only needs two to play Top Trumps.

[biz-engineer]

The reviews have become increasingly shallow and distorted in my opinion.

DPR camera reviews , to me , now sound like if I go to ask information about a product at a superstore. The sales guy look for the product spec sheet and reads it to me (as if I don't know how to read). But it could be worse.. my camera shop just ask me what I want to buy as soon as I walk the door, and if I ask for advice they look very busy and don't have time. As a customer it feels like they don't care, except if I pull my credit card, it hurts. The non-verbal message is something like "We don't care about what you need , we only care about your money".

[AfterPentax Mark II]

DPR camera reviews , to me , now sound like if I go to ask information about a product at a superstore. The sales guy look for the product spec sheet and reads it to me (as if I don't know how to read). But it could be worse.. my camera shop just ask me what I want to buy as soon as I walk the door, and if I ask for advice they look very busy and don't have time. As a customer it feels like they don't care, except if I pull my credit card, it hurts. The non-verbal message is something like "We don't care about what you need , we only care about your money".

And after you have pulled your creditcard, they reluctantly shove the box to your side. Just one box! Why do we bother! (And perhaps they are not that interested, because the camera industry minimized the profit margin for the stores. So it is much more interesting to sell other things or just turn to printing pictures and spending time to make a good combination of picture and frame, which is more fun for buyers and sellers.)

[biz-engineer]

And after you have pulled your creditcard, they reluctantly shove the box to your side. Just one box! Why do we bother! (And perhaps they are not that interested, because the camera industry minimized the profit margin for the

I think the majority of their cameras/lenses sales are from online orders (=zero service time). They used to be a conventional camera shop but now turned into a small shop in front of a large warehouse with IT back-office for selling online, with a small crew of employees very busy packing and shipping what's ordered online. The most orders they ship in least possible amount of time, the more money they make. Local customers probably represent a tiny fraction of their sales, thus providing good old fashion customer service is a priority anymore. If I order on amazon, I actually get slightly better online customer service, albeit not as good as good old bricks & mortar shop service.

[house]

Regarding dpreview. I suspect there's some issue causing people to resign. Shitty boss or otherwise bad work environment. First it was the guy with glasses that did those product shots. Then it seems the plug was pulled and most people left.

[bdery]

It looks like they are now down to two reviewers.

I can't remember the last time I saw an actual review there. To be fair I haven't looked deeply but all I've seen is opinion pieces with strong biases.

[JohnMc]

Regarding dpreview. I suspect there's some issue causing people to resign. Shitty boss or otherwise bad work environment. First it was the guy with glasses that did those product shots. Then it seems the plug was pulled and most people left.

Exactly. My bet is they were made to do mandatory comments moderation and fact checking.

[texandrews]

Obviously the one touched upon, that with declining ILC sales and # of models, the DPR business model is going to take a hit. But several other things apply here I think.


DPR moved from London to Seattle---moves that few of us on the outside understood. Still don't: why move ops from an incredibly expensive city to another one that was expensive when they made the move, and now is fast pricing the true middle class out of the market. I love Seattle, but even 4 years ago when I spent some time there it was very pricey and the folks I was working with were all extremely nervous about housing costs. I didn't recognize the city when we drove in from the airport, it had changed so much since I had last been there right at the turn of the century---and the driver said much of it had been since 2010. Add to this the cost of health care in the U.S., plus college/UNI and student loan debt, and cities like Seattle in the U.S. are hard places for average folks to make their way.

Then there's burnout and other opportunities--and since there's most likely a practical ceiling on salaries at a place like DPR, especially now, coupled with the expense of living there, these factors are most likely pressing.


Add in Covid, just sayin'


Finally, they have grown a lot like many companies, and maybe grew a bit too much. I expect to see some more "shed" in the next year or so.