Ricoh announces the relaunch of Pentax Photo Gallery

Instamixes · 10-01-2019, 05:54 AM

Hello, I also got an email about that, I curious to see how this all is going to happen.

edri · 10-01-2019, 08:37 AM

It seems that it is not yet a significant activity.

Photos-by-Chas · 10-01-2019, 10:18 AM

I may get myself in forum time-out for this but I just looked into joining the Pentax Photo Gallery and am in disagreement with the first sentence of the Terms and Conditions, "Ricoh Imaging has the option, at its sole discretion to decide whether to crop, edit or otherwise alter the images accepted into the Gallery as well as remove any images from its website." To me that takes away the artistic intent of the photographer? If an image can be altered or edited in any way it removes the individuality of that image and removes the original intent and vision of the photographer. Personally, I cannot agree to that type of "censorship" of my images. Therefore, I will not be a subscriber to or a participant with the Pentax Photo Gallery. Just my personal opinion and feeling. Others may agree to those conditions. That is an individual choice. I choose not to agree with the terms.

**boriscleto** · 10-01-2019, 10:55 AM

Originally posted by edri

It seems that it is not yet a significant activity.

And probably won't be.

**Madaboutpix** · 10-01-2019, 12:33 PM

Hm. I really wanted to like this relaunch. But, honestly, I came to realize that my chief motivation for renewing my login was a mixture of curiosity and nostalgia. Curious I sure was, wanting to know what Ricoh Imaging Americas had kept of the old concept and where they had evolved it. Nostalgic I was since, after all, PPG had been a fairly constant presence and motivation when I had taken the leap to digital, into the Pentax system, and into sharing my work online.

Yet, what they have concocted is somehow less than compelling. And that's not so much about the photography on display there. Admittedly, I am not a great fan of the "eye candy" approach to post processing that speaks out of some of the images, nor do I otherwise like everything that I see there, but that's not much different from other sites like, say, Insta or 500px. People's tastes differ, I get it, and it's a boon for photography. At any rate, there would be enough engaging photography in the Gallery to pull me in again.

I guess what gives me pause, then, is that the result of their effort - commendable as it is in and unto itself - feels more like a rehash, the polishing of the tomb of something that remains hopelessly stuck in the year 2012 or so. The display quality of the images is lightyears apart from places like SmugMug or Flickr and - even at the risk of repeating something I've written above - not exactly conducive to giving visitors a sense of what Pentax gear can really deliver. They have stuck with that outdated, clunky web design where you literally move through virtually endless bands of images, distracted by the images before and after particular images that you may want to see and appreciate in isolation. Also, today I noticed that they no longer make available detailed EXIF information with the images, beyond stating the camera and lens used. Of course, that has never made or broken a good image, but I happen to be interested in this kind of information anyway.

Whether they have fixed the poor administration of the site remains to be seen, I guess, but I, for one, am somewhat underwhelmed, as I can't shake the sense that it's a missed opportunity.

PDL · 10-01-2019, 12:51 PM

Originally posted by Madaboutpix

Hm. I really wanted to like this relaunch. But, honestly, I came to realize that my chief motivation for renewing my login was a mixture of curiosity and nostalgia. Curious I sure was, wanting to know what Ricoh Imaging Americas had kept of the old concept and where they had evolved it. Nostalgic I was since, after all, PPG had been a fairly constant presence and motivation when I had taken the leap to digital, into the Pentax system, and into sharing my work online.

Yet, what they have concocted is somehow less than compelling. And that's not so much about the photography on display there. Admittedly, I am not a great fan of the "eye candy" approach to post processing that speaks out of some of the images, nor do I otherwise like everything that I see there, but that's not much different from other sites like, say, Insta or 500px. People's tastes differ, I get it, and it's a boon for photography. At any rate, there would be enough engaging photography in the Gallery to pull me in again.

I guess what gives me pause, then, is that the result of their effort - commendable as it is in and unto itself - feels more like a rehash, the polishing of a tomb, of something that remains hopelessly stuck in the year 2012 or so. The display quality of the images is lightyears apart from places like SmugMug or Flickr and - even at the risk of repeating something I've written above - not exactly conducive to giving visitors a sense of what Pentax gear can really deliver. They have stuck with that outdated, clunky web design where you literally move through virtually endless bands of images, distracted by the images before and after particular images that you may want to see and appreciate in isolation. Also, today I noticed that they no longer make available detailed EXIF information with the images, beyond stating the camera and lens used. Of course, that has never made or broken a good image, but I happen to be interested in this kind of information anyway.

Whether they have fixed the poor administration of the site remains to be seen, I guess, but I, for one, am somewhat underwhelmed, as I can't shake the sense that it's a missed opportunity.

Name one other manufacturer that has a site set up for their brand.

That said, I do hope that they change how they parse out the listed gear, provide better EXIF information and the show the producers comments. As for image quality, they don't seem to have changed it from what it was on the old site. At least they are not forcing you to go to Instagram with its low res square and very poor MS Windows support.

I did run through about 20 images for voting - to bad they don't post a upload date. Overall the site was pretty snappy. I will get around to uploading a few images over the next few days (Europe - 2017, England - 2018, Alaska/Yellowstone 2019 and my images from the now defunct NG Your Shot Gallery)

---------- Post added 10-01-19 at 12:54 PM ----------

Originally posted by Photos-by-Chas

I may get myself in forum time-out for this but I just looked into joining the Pentax Photo Gallery and am in disagreement with the first sentence of the Terms and Conditions, "Ricoh Imaging has the option, at its sole discretion to decide whether to crop, edit or otherwise alter the images accepted into the Gallery as well as remove any images from its website." To me that takes away the artistic intent of the photographer? If an image can be altered or edited in any way it removes the individuality of that image and removes the original intent and vision of the photographer. Personally, I cannot agree to that type of "censorship" of my images. Therefore, I will not be a subscriber to or a participant with the Pentax Photo Gallery. Just my personal opinion and feeling. Others may agree to those conditions. That is an individual choice. I choose not to agree with the terms.

Have you ever read the T&C for Google, Facebook, Twitter, Flicker? Really, they are pretty much in line with those guys. Me thinks you protest just a little to much, even NG on its Your Shot T&C said basically the same thing.

edri · 10-01-2019, 01:05 PM

It is not enough that they just reopened the gallery. They must do something to become attractive.

**Madaboutpix** · 10-01-2019, 01:32 PM

Originally posted by PDL

Name one other manufacturer that has a site set up for their brand.

For a German-language example (sorry for this), MyOlympus would spring to mind: MyOLYMPUS

A lot fresher web design and undoubtedly better display quality - and the majority of the images are actually MFT images.

I just offered a considered opinion. No offence.

MarkJerling · 10-01-2019, 02:20 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Photos-by-Chas

I may get myself in forum time-out for this but I just looked into joining the Pentax Photo Gallery and am in disagreement with the first sentence of the Terms and Conditions, "Ricoh Imaging has the option, at its sole discretion to decide whether to crop, edit or otherwise alter the images accepted into the Gallery as well as remove any images from its website." To me that takes away the artistic intent of the photographer? If an image can be altered or edited in any way it removes the individuality of that image and removes the original intent and vision of the photographer. Personally, I cannot agree to that type of "censorship" of my images. Therefore, I will not be a subscriber to or a participant with the Pentax Photo Gallery. Just my personal opinion and feeling. Others may agree to those conditions. That is an individual choice. I choose not to agree with the terms.

When you look at how the pentaxphotogallery.com page is structured, you'll see that, if they host a photographer's image on their home page, they crop that image to stick with their framing format on that page. The terms and conditions exist for (most likely) the sole purpose to allow the website to operate within those parameters and ensure a good viewing experience for viewers. This is the reason why most every image website includes such a clause without actually carrying out any destructive crops of the photographer's image.

If you should click on any of those images, you'll see the image opens in it's original format. This is merely a means to ensure the website operates effectively. Facebook and other sites do the same.
Of course, as you rightly point out, it's your choice whether to participate or not.

PDL · 10-01-2019, 02:39 PM

Originally posted by Madaboutpix

For a German-language example (sorry for this), MyOlympus would spring to mind: MyOLYMPUS

A lot fresher web design and undoubtedly better display quality - and the majority of the images are actually MFT images.

I just offered a considered opinion. No offence.

I just checked out MyOlympus and it appears to be a nice site. When the Pentax Photo Gallery started out, it was pretty well attended and had some reasonably nice content. I remember showing a co-worker who shot Canon and he wanted to know where the Canon like site was. I told him I did not know and I doubted that there was one - even to this day.

Now:
The USA does not appear in the "countries" drop down list - interesting.
How does one get a picture "approved" for display - is it a free for all?
What is your basis for image quality judgement - really, I would like to know. Can you submit images that are scanned from a film era Olympus or are you only allowed to upload digital images.

No offense taken, I was totally unaware of the Olympus site. The site appears to have Corporate backing which some of us have moaned and groaned about with Ricoh since they bought Pentax and dropped the majority of support. I hope Ricoh has changed.

edri · 10-01-2019, 09:31 PM

Maybe a raffle would be useful there too.

**Madaboutpix** · 10-01-2019, 09:53 PM

Originally posted by PDL

The USA does not appear in the "countries" drop down list - interesting. How does one get a picture "approved" for display - is it a free for all? What is your basis for image quality judgement - really, I would like to know. Can you submit images that are scanned from a film era Olympus or are you only allowed to upload digital images.

Yeah, noticed the thing about the USA missing from the drop-down list, too, as I was trying to step into your shoes and get a feel what the site would look like when you access it. As for perceived IQ, no scientific rigour, I'm afraid, just opening PPG, MyOlympus, and my own SmugMug account (signature link) on different tabs, clicking on images for enlarged views and judging what I see. But the difference (sharpness, contrast, colour rendering) was so striking that I assumed it wasn't just me. Not being an Olympus shooter, I didn't check out their rules for participation and approval, but I went away with the impression that the attractions of that site will not be lost on the European Oly community.

bdery · 10-02-2019, 05:20 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by edri

Maybe a raffle would be useful there too.

How about a contest, with free t-shirts for everyone, and nice prizes?

Oh wait! They did just that yesterday!

edri · 10-02-2019, 06:05 AM

Not for anyone. Only for those who post 10 photos ... or 100?

**boriscleto** · 10-02-2019, 10:15 AM

Originally posted by edri

Not for anyone. Only for those who post 10 photos ... or 100?

That would take a while, since you can only post 5 photos for approval a week.

10-01-2019, 10:18 AM	#33
Photos-by-Chas Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Northwest Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 120	Pentax Photo Gallery is restrictive I may get myself in forum time-out for this but I just looked into joining the Pentax Photo Gallery and am in disagreement with the first sentence of the Terms and Conditions, "Ricoh Imaging has the option, at its sole discretion to decide whether to crop, edit or otherwise alter the images accepted into the Gallery as well as remove any images from its website." To me that takes away the artistic intent of the photographer? If an image can be altered or edited in any way it removes the individuality of that image and removes the original intent and vision of the photographer. Personally, I cannot agree to that type of "censorship" of my images. Therefore, I will not be a subscriber to or a participant with the Pentax Photo Gallery. Just my personal opinion and feeling. Others may agree to those conditions. That is an individual choice. I choose not to agree with the terms.

10-01-2019, 12:33 PM	#35
Madaboutpix Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: North-Rhine Westphalia Posts: 822	Hm. I really wanted to like this relaunch. But, honestly, I came to realize that my chief motivation for renewing my login was a mixture of curiosity and nostalgia. Curious I sure was, wanting to know what Ricoh Imaging Americas had kept of the old concept and where they had evolved it. Nostalgic I was since, after all, PPG had been a fairly constant presence and motivation when I had taken the leap to digital, into the Pentax system, and into sharing my work online. Yet, what they have concocted is somehow less than compelling. And that's not so much about the photography on display there. Admittedly, I am not a great fan of the "eye candy" approach to post processing that speaks out of some of the images, nor do I otherwise like everything that I see there, but that's not much different from other sites like, say, Insta or 500px. People's tastes differ, I get it, and it's a boon for photography. At any rate, there would be enough engaging photography in the Gallery to pull me in again. I guess what gives me pause, then, is that the result of their effort - commendable as it is in and unto itself - feels more like a rehash, the polishing of the tomb of something that remains hopelessly stuck in the year 2012 or so. The display quality of the images is lightyears apart from places like SmugMug or Flickr and - even at the risk of repeating something I've written above - not exactly conducive to giving visitors a sense of what Pentax gear can really deliver. They have stuck with that outdated, clunky web design where you literally move through virtually endless bands of images, distracted by the images before and after particular images that you may want to see and appreciate in isolation. Also, today I noticed that they no longer make available detailed EXIF information with the images, beyond stating the camera and lens used. Of course, that has never made or broken a good image, but I happen to be interested in this kind of information anyway. Whether they have fixed the poor administration of the site remains to be seen, I guess, but I, for one, am somewhat underwhelmed, as I can't shake the sense that it's a missed opportunity. Last edited by Madaboutpix; 10-01-2019 at 12:46 PM. Reason: Style

10-01-2019, 12:51 PM	#36
PDL Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,777	Nice Rant, but: Originally posted by Madaboutpix Hm. I really wanted to like this relaunch. But, honestly, I came to realize that my chief motivation for renewing my login was a mixture of curiosity and nostalgia. Curious I sure was, wanting to know what Ricoh Imaging Americas had kept of the old concept and where they had evolved it. Nostalgic I was since, after all, PPG had been a fairly constant presence and motivation when I had taken the leap to digital, into the Pentax system, and into sharing my work online. Yet, what they have concocted is somehow less than compelling. And that's not so much about the photography on display there. Admittedly, I am not a great fan of the "eye candy" approach to post processing that speaks out of some of the images, nor do I otherwise like everything that I see there, but that's not much different from other sites like, say, Insta or 500px. People's tastes differ, I get it, and it's a boon for photography. At any rate, there would be enough engaging photography in the Gallery to pull me in again. I guess what gives me pause, then, is that the result of their effort - commendable as it is in and unto itself - feels more like a rehash, the polishing of a tomb, of something that remains hopelessly stuck in the year 2012 or so. The display quality of the images is lightyears apart from places like SmugMug or Flickr and - even at the risk of repeating something I've written above - not exactly conducive to giving visitors a sense of what Pentax gear can really deliver. They have stuck with that outdated, clunky web design where you literally move through virtually endless bands of images, distracted by the images before and after particular images that you may want to see and appreciate in isolation. Also, today I noticed that they no longer make available detailed EXIF information with the images, beyond stating the camera and lens used. Of course, that has never made or broken a good image, but I happen to be interested in this kind of information anyway. Whether they have fixed the poor administration of the site remains to be seen, I guess, but I, for one, am somewhat underwhelmed, as I can't shake the sense that it's a missed opportunity. Name one other manufacturer that has a site set up for their brand. That said, I do hope that they change how they parse out the listed gear, provide better EXIF information and the show the producers comments. As for image quality, they don't seem to have changed it from what it was on the old site. At least they are not forcing you to go to Instagram with its low res square and very poor MS Windows support. I did run through about 20 images for voting - to bad they don't post a upload date. Overall the site was pretty snappy. I will get around to uploading a few images over the next few days (Europe - 2017, England - 2018, Alaska/Yellowstone 2019 and my images from the now defunct NG Your Shot Gallery) ---------- Post added 10-01-19 at 12:54 PM ---------- Originally posted by Photos-by-Chas I may get myself in forum time-out for this but I just looked into joining the Pentax Photo Gallery and am in disagreement with the first sentence of the Terms and Conditions, "Ricoh Imaging has the option, at its sole discretion to decide whether to crop, edit or otherwise alter the images accepted into the Gallery as well as remove any images from its website." To me that takes away the artistic intent of the photographer? If an image can be altered or edited in any way it removes the individuality of that image and removes the original intent and vision of the photographer. Personally, I cannot agree to that type of "censorship" of my images. Therefore, I will not be a subscriber to or a participant with the Pentax Photo Gallery. Just my personal opinion and feeling. Others may agree to those conditions. That is an individual choice. I choose not to agree with the terms. Have you ever read the T&C for Google, Facebook, Twitter, Flicker? Really, they are pretty much in line with those guys. Me thinks you protest just a little to much, even NG on its Your Shot T&C said basically the same thing.

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10-01-2019, 05:54 AM	#31
Instamixes Banned Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: Arizona Posts: 9	Hello, I also got an email about that, I curious to see how this all is going to happen.

10-01-2019, 08:37 AM	#32
edri Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: walking in the air Posts: 1,034	It seems that it is not yet a significant activity.

10-01-2019, 10:55 AM	#34
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 14,989 Original Poster	Originally posted by edri It seems that it is not yet a significant activity. And probably won't be.

10-01-2019, 01:05 PM	#37
edri Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: walking in the air Posts: 1,034	It is not enough that they just reopened the gallery. They must do something to become attractive.

10-01-2019, 01:32 PM	#38
Madaboutpix Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: North-Rhine Westphalia Posts: 822	Originally posted by PDL Name one other manufacturer that has a site set up for their brand. For a German-language example (sorry for this), MyOlympus would spring to mind: MyOLYMPUS A lot fresher web design and undoubtedly better display quality - and the majority of the images are actually MFT images. I just offered a considered opinion. No offence.

10-01-2019, 02:20 PM - 1 Like	#39
MarkJerling Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: May 2012 Location: Wairarapa, New Zealand Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,655	Originally posted by Photos-by-Chas I may get myself in forum time-out for this but I just looked into joining the Pentax Photo Gallery and am in disagreement with the first sentence of the Terms and Conditions, "Ricoh Imaging has the option, at its sole discretion to decide whether to crop, edit or otherwise alter the images accepted into the Gallery as well as remove any images from its website." To me that takes away the artistic intent of the photographer? If an image can be altered or edited in any way it removes the individuality of that image and removes the original intent and vision of the photographer. Personally, I cannot agree to that type of "censorship" of my images. Therefore, I will not be a subscriber to or a participant with the Pentax Photo Gallery. Just my personal opinion and feeling. Others may agree to those conditions. That is an individual choice. I choose not to agree with the terms. When you look at how the pentaxphotogallery.com page is structured, you'll see that, if they host a photographer's image on their home page, they crop that image to stick with their framing format on that page. The terms and conditions exist for (most likely) the sole purpose to allow the website to operate within those parameters and ensure a good viewing experience for viewers. This is the reason why most every image website includes such a clause without actually carrying out any destructive crops of the photographer's image. If you should click on any of those images, you'll see the image opens in it's original format. This is merely a means to ensure the website operates effectively. Facebook and other sites do the same. Of course, as you rightly point out, it's your choice whether to participate or not.

10-01-2019, 02:39 PM	#40
PDL Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,777	Originally posted by Madaboutpix For a German-language example (sorry for this), MyOlympus would spring to mind: MyOLYMPUS A lot fresher web design and undoubtedly better display quality - and the majority of the images are actually MFT images. I just offered a considered opinion. No offence. I just checked out MyOlympus and it appears to be a nice site. When the Pentax Photo Gallery started out, it was pretty well attended and had some reasonably nice content. I remember showing a co-worker who shot Canon and he wanted to know where the Canon like site was. I told him I did not know and I doubted that there was one - even to this day. Now: The USA does not appear in the "countries" drop down list - interesting. How does one get a picture "approved" for display - is it a free for all? What is your basis for image quality judgement - really, I would like to know. Can you submit images that are scanned from a film era Olympus or are you only allowed to upload digital images. No offense taken, I was totally unaware of the Olympus site. The site appears to have Corporate backing which some of us have moaned and groaned about with Ricoh since they bought Pentax and dropped the majority of support. I hope Ricoh has changed.

10-01-2019, 09:31 PM	#41
edri Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: walking in the air Posts: 1,034	Maybe a raffle would be useful there too.

10-01-2019, 09:53 PM	#42
Madaboutpix Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: North-Rhine Westphalia Posts: 822	Originally posted by PDL The USA does not appear in the "countries" drop down list - interesting. How does one get a picture "approved" for display - is it a free for all? What is your basis for image quality judgement - really, I would like to know. Can you submit images that are scanned from a film era Olympus or are you only allowed to upload digital images. Yeah, noticed the thing about the USA missing from the drop-down list, too, as I was trying to step into your shoes and get a feel what the site would look like when you access it. As for perceived IQ, no scientific rigour, I'm afraid, just opening PPG, MyOlympus, and my own SmugMug account (signature link) on different tabs, clicking on images for enlarged views and judging what I see. But the difference (sharpness, contrast, colour rendering) was so striking that I assumed it wasn't just me. Not being an Olympus shooter, I didn't check out their rules for participation and approval, but I went away with the impression that the attractions of that site will not be lost on the European Oly community.

10-02-2019, 05:20 AM - 1 Like	#43
bdery Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 7,184	Originally posted by edri Maybe a raffle would be useful there too. How about a contest, with free t-shirts for everyone, and nice prizes? Oh wait! They did just that yesterday!

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10-02-2019, 06:05 AM	#44
edri Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: walking in the air Posts: 1,034	Not for anyone. Only for those who post 10 photos ... or 100?

10-02-2019, 10:15 AM	#45
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 14,989 Original Poster	Originally posted by edri Not for anyone. Only for those who post 10 photos ... or 100? That would take a while, since you can only post 5 photos for approval a week.