Are there any reviewers that are good photographers?

I think reviewer's of gear tend to like gear more than photography. Just like those who read about cameras more than looking at photography (test images do not count).
 
jsrockit said:
I think reviewer's of gear tend to like gear more than photography. Just like those who read about cameras more than looking at photography (test images do not count).
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Not only reads, but change them frequently. :)
 
I will say, it is interesting seeing some of the views about "reviewers" in here given that the general consensus outside of RFF is that most people on here are gear snobs who will argue at length about the superiority of a summicron v2 over a v3 or some other silly nonsense.
 
Ong said:
Ming Thein has always been the best of both worlds, however I've always found his photos and reviews to be very objective (which is good for most) but that being said, his photos always feel like it's lacking soul.
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Astute - I agree.

All the best,
Mike
 
I can’t think of any reviewer who is a truly amazing photographer, but there are plenty who are pretty good or not bad.
 
I was curious about the Ricoh GR III IQ and did a search some time ago. It's really difficult to get a sense of what the camera can do from images posted on the internet because so many of them are badly composed far away street shots of silhouetted people ambling awkwardly with a bubble tea or a vape pen.
 
Exactly why would anyone with a true artistic bent..and very active in that..
Take the time off being an artist...to be a full time reviewer..?
2 different mind sets..for 2 different purposes..
 
I've enjoyed the reviews and accompanying photographs by KJ Vogelius. He has some longform reviews that have much more substantive content (both written and visual) than traditional reviewers:
http://gear.vogelius.se/

That said, he's probably more of a niche blogger rather than a mainstream reviewer. Judging from the frequency of his reviews, my guess is he's more concerned with quality vs. quantity.
 
Emile de Leon said:
Exactly why would anyone with a true artistic bent..and very active in that..
Take the time off being an artist...to be a full time reviewer..?
2 different mind sets..for 2 different purposes..
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Thank you! Between making tuna sammiches and being an artist I have no
time for writing reviews.

Besides Huff has that covered with his rave reviews of the moment. It is incredible how he can make a fire hydrant look so sublime no matter what equipment that he is using with a direct purchase link.
 
Landberg said:
Hi!
Every time I search the intrernet or youtube for a gear review the same thing happens. I will find a video with a person talking about the gear and they sound like they know what they are talking about. But then they show their images and they are bad. Really bad. I guess that most are just in to gear and there is nothing wrong with that. But i want to know the thoughts of people who can use a camera and take good photos. I don’t need to know that a m4/3 is worse in low light than a Canon 5d MKIIII, everyone knows that. I dont need to know if AF speed is slower or faster than a Fuji X-H1. I need to know how the gear works in real life shooting real things. I can’t be the onlyone asking for this? Those out there are great revirewers if im only looking for technical stuff.

Are there any good camera gear reviewers who are also a good photographers?
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Giving them the benefit of the doubt, it's likely the photos they took and shared in that video were just to test the gear. You are supposed to be looking at how the images look from a technical standpoint. Exposure, sharpness, dynamic range, that kind of thing.

Putting the camera to good artistic use is your job.

Also remember that a lot of them get cameras to review that aren't theirs. They review them and make a video for the ad revenue.

It's also worth noting that 'good' and 'bad' are subjective. ;)
 
I agree about Jono Slack, and Sean Reid, mentioned earlier.
Tom Abrahamsson deserves mention who did informal reviews for Viewfinder. They were not technical like Sean Reid but his writing was quite engaging.

David
 
I think the better photographer/reviewers are those who were photographers first, and became reviewers later.

Ming Thien, who everyone seems to agree about, is one such photographer turned reviewer.

Zack Arias was a staunch Fuji photographer and later began to review gear.

Jono Slack does some very nice work, and reviews cameras for Leica (and not too many others, if any).
 
Slack, Reid, Thein. Solid photographers. Lloyd Chambers spends much time outdoors doing natural landscapes and his reviews reflect this bias and are technical in nature, far more than others. Dante Stella is also a pretty good photographer and like Thein and Chambers, his profound grasp of technical issues is quite impressive.
 
I tend to look at what people who are shooting work I like are using.

Obviously it's the archer not the arrow but actually using a camera is the best endorsement. It's never really led me astray.

I don't buy a lot of cameras or read many reviews but I do think reverse engineering images and photographers you like can yield good results. It's certainly what led me to rangefinders in general as I probably wouldn't have known what one was unless I saw the name Leica continually pop up in discussions of the work of people I liked.

I sometimes get sucked into reading a review that pops up in one of my news feeds and almost universally the images suck or they are are of a plastic figurine or a chart of some sort.

Photography more than other art forms tends to attract people who are more interested in gear than the actual work. It's similar to being an audiophile, you don't necessarily love music you love the means of music reproduction. Nothing wrong with either but it's sort of mistaking the finger for the moon as they say.
 
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