Forum Question

This forum is run and owned by a very astute businessman which makes it pretty bullet proof IMO.

As long as Stephen remains the individual he is the forum will grow and prosper I suspect ... beyond his input who could say?
 
And I meant to add:

As long as the numerous (occasional?) really stupid threads don't totally take over we should be safe for quite a while.

I hope so ... 'cause I kind of like it here! 🙂
 
I don't think is the forum it used to be a few years ago, or even one year ago. The quality of the topics and posts has dropped dramatically. Whether this is solely because of the departure of some of the people who used to post here regularly or not.......who knows. Even some of the long-term members who are still here seem to post less often. But for me personally, I find there are fewer and fewer reasons to visit.

But I'm not sure how the owner/mods go about revitalising it either. Maybe it's just reaching the end of the road of it's own accord and it's in a slow, natural, downward spiral
 
It's also good to keep politics and religion out. Some forums can suffer from creeping discussions of politics.

The classified and gallery section is good to keep people coming back.

But most of all, GAS keeps us coming back to ask new questions about potential purchases.
 
I don't think is the forum it used to be a few years ago, or even one year ago. The quality of the topics and posts has dropped dramatically. Whether this is solely because of the departure of some of the people who used to post here regularly or not.......who knows. Even some of the long-term members who are still here seem to post less often. But for me personally, I find there are fewer and fewer reasons to visit.

But I'm not sure how the owner/mods go about revitalising it either. Maybe it's just reaching the end of the road of it's own accord and it's in a slow, natural, downward spiral

I think who is here that posts often is cyclical to an extent. However, even though some leave, there are others with knowledge, insight and humor to take their place. And there are some who have been here a very long time.

I don't see this place going downhill yet. If it has gotten less interesting for you, that is too bad. It remains my favorite forum.
 
I think who is here that posts often is cyclical to an extent. However, even though some leave, there are others with knowledge, insight and humor to take their place. And there are some who have been here a very long time.

I don't see this place going downhill yet. If it has gotten less interesting for you, that is too bad. It remains my favorite forum.


I agree with that comment! If a person genuinely feels that way maybe they've outgrown it and need to move on!
 
It's definitely my favorite forum. I like ( most ) of the people who post, and it seems to be the most civil of the photographic forums that I've perused. Very informative and seems to be occupied by people who are truly passionate about photography. Best of all, most are not condescending, and are eager to help one another out.
 
I certainly don't see this forum as declining. In fact, the overall health of online communities like this seems to be thriving. Every forum has it's share of dumb threads, but that won't kill them off. In fact, since most folks seem to love reading that stuff (kinda like watching soap operas) I think it helps the overall life of fora.

As for RFF in particular, the atmosphere here is unique and the people are mostly interesting.
 
When I first joined this forum I had just seriously taken up photography with my decision to use a rangefinder and got an R-D1. Being here I've learned a lot about film, developing, scanning, and now shoot mostly film and a lot of MF for the joy of the process.

I read the treads to continue to learn, post photos, view photos in the gallery, make comments and get comments. Today I take better photos then when I joined. I've seen people come and go and miss many of them for the photos they posted, and I've no thoughts of leaving here, there is so much more to learn.

I just stick to that and find no need to get involved in any of the hair pulling proving a point threads, perhaps I know I don't know enough to contribute.
 
While I like it here - many good people and tons of good info, I think its not as good as it used to be. Some good photographers are gone or about to be gone due to some "moderation" or "censorship" I dont understand. Maybe some people are too sensative or too politically correct. Yet, whatever it is - we, as a comunity , end up losing some serious talent. I hope this will be considered before next thread or post is being locked or deleted.........
 
The forum has benefitted from the resurgence of interest in RF photography that Cosina set off a decade or so ago when they started making cheap rangefinder cameras. The arc of the forum's success is that of the renewed interest in RF cameras, which seems to have peaked a couple of years ago.

Fortunately, the owner of the forum decided to be inclusive, and this has become much more a general photography forum with with categories representing most kinds of cameras and photography. Otherwise, I think it would have eventually declined because of the growing interest in digital and other kinds of camera focusing systems than only optical rangefinders, and as many members moved to DSLR's from RF's because they no longer wanted to shoot film and Leica digital RF's are too expensive.

These choices decoupled the Forum's success from the fortunes of film rangefinders and should insure it stays around as long as the owner wants to mess with it. Of course, that interest in maintaining it may be tied to the future of film rangefinders (because that is what he sells).
 
Back
Top Bottom