what do you want rff to be?

[Contarama]

I joined RFF after discovering it via Brian Sweeney and Raid and the old ZI forum. Other than those guys online in my personal photography milieu I was a film shooter of old Zeiss SLR cameras amongst a bunch of Nikon and Canon DSLR shooters. Those folks never held it against me and still don't but I was out to learn the fundamentals and figured the key to becoming a good digital photographer someday was to learn and really understand the f stops and etc. So I read and read and read a bunch of these RFF threads and I practiced and I learned stuff. Thanks guys that is what you have done for me. I now own several RF cameras (more RF than SLR now) BTW but I am increasingly more of a digital user. If they could just make a digital camera with a viewfinder like my old F2 DE-1 I would be really happy.

Moderation is a necessary thing but I have always thought that just deleting something without any explanation or warning was sort of crass. I think a gentle "I am watching you" as I once heard Godfrey say is a great way to moderate things. It seems to be a way of asserting one's authority without having to assert one's authority if that makes any sense.

The thing about RFF which I feel is it's prime strength and the reason it is one of the best if not the best photography forums on the net is the knowledge of it's membership. Just incredible. It reminds me of a particular fish forum of which I am a member. That place is a place where one can actually have an online discussion with heavy hitter fish people like Heiko Bleher for example. They actually find the time to interact with forum members and these are the guys that write the books and magazine articles and are the authorities in their field. Same thing here at RFF. I can pick up a magazine and read an article by Roger and Frances..or I could PM him if I wanted/needed to...that kind of thing just blows my mind. And the rest of you are just phenomenal in your own right too.

I don't think anyone could want for something better really and I don't know if that would be possible anyways.

 

[giellaleafapmu]

I think it is mostly a gear forum, just compare the number of view of the "How to" with that of the "Leica Forum". For me this is ok, there are great sites about other stuff so one can get to other places for different discussions. Now which kind of gear is to be discussed it is tricky because rangefinder cameras are now a niche product or are antique cameras and a lot of other stuff come to replace them but I would say that it should be mostly about "small cameras" whatever that means, so yes to Micro4/3 but no to digital backs, there is a gray line (lights for example which could in principle be used with any camera but in practice are not very "rangefinderish") but mostly we know what is what. As for politics and other stuff it is hard to keep it out, I have seen politics appearing into discussion about food photography, you know, you put a small bowl upside down below a soup and you are "showing a distorted reality in order to support a capitalistic soup vendor and cheat poor soup consumers". In this regard I think that letting people decide to which threads they take part is better than a strict moderation.

GLF

 

[oftheherd]

It's good like it is.

Sure there are a few people here who like to argue meaningless points until they run out of oxygen and there is a little sniping in threads between individuals occasionally but it doesn't dominate the place. Most members enjoy the place for what it is and go about their business in a friendly helpful manner. You tend to notice the nasty stuff because it's not the norm and it stands out!

Apart from which as a group we display typical group dynamics in that we don't all get on with each other all the time ... nothing unusual there IMO.

The quality of the photography is what makes this place different ... try p.net and you'll soon find yourself drowning in over saturated, over processed images that will make your lip curl! The work here is generally very earthy and connected to realty by comparison IMO.

As for politics ... I can live without having to deal with that stuff here ... it's everywhere else and little is achieved by hammering it within a camera/photography forum.

The most interesting threads in the past years that I have been a member here were to me:

Keith's thread on the scanned negatives of a 1930's world voyage
Bill Pierce's forum threads
TightSqueeze's thread on his deployment to Iraq
The wartime Sonnar and German wartime camera thread
The Turkey threads
The historical Leica threads (particularly in the LTM forum)
Many street photography threads, though not all
John's thread with his coverage on the Syria conflict

All in all, I consider the rangefinder camera's and Compact System camera's to be particularly valuable when it comes to photo journalism, street photography and travel.

IMHO all the rest is nice but not 'core business'.

Guess I'd like RFF to be a forum that centers on (the reporter camera's that were, are and will be used to record) news and daily life, both near and far.

I'm not that interested in lens characteristics, sensor specifications, paint jobs and coverings, bags and straps anymore. But it took me quite some time to grow out of it 😀 and I can therefore see why others are into it. And that's okay.


Mods, you people are doing a great job in keeping RFF a positive place. Thanks for that! Pls keep up the good work!

I'd like to list just a few of the hundreds of things that make this a great site. Fell free to add lots more.

Chris Crawford's pictures, and all the help he gives.

Tom A, for his knowledge, help, entertaining comments, and his sense of humor.

Back Alley Joe for his inexhaustible range of interests: bags; practically every new digital camera from the Epson R-D1 forward; endless ideas for new thread topics (watches, knives, etc.)

New thread topics like watches, knives, and stuff.

Raid, for all he contributes

Helen, for all she contributes

Keith, for all he contributes

Roger Hicks for all the time and energy he puts in here, even though he has many other things to do.

Bill Pierce, for sharing his thoughts with us.

I think it's the people that make this forum what it is.

It's about rangefinders and photography with rangefinders.

It's about SLRs, DSLRs; tiny digital cameras; and photography with those.

And a lot of gear talk we use to distract ourselves from everyday ennui.

It's a community, that's what.

I would not change a thing. It's as close as anything will ever get to being all things to all people.

Above are things that I would wish to have been smart enough to say if I had gotten in before those posters. I have been interested in all the comments for that matter. There were a lot of good ones besides the ones quoted above.

Personally, I am well satisfied with RFF being the way it is. I enjoy the gear threads, and the photos shown whether in the gallery or threads. Some threads I get in and out of in a hurry, but some of those get to be quite popular with other members. I think that is good for all of us. There are things that each of us can relate to and contribute to. And enjoy.

I approve of the moderation. I generally understand and agree. The few times I haven't understood, I have accepted the decision. It isn't my site and I am not a mod, and don't want to be. To all mods, a tip of the hat to you, past and present. I appreciate you.

I can't imagine any changes the head bartender would want to make causing me to leave. But as I said, I am well satisfied with it as it is as well.

 

[jmilkins]

RFF is a diverse community with many willing to share their passion for straight out gear through to very creative and individual pursuits.

Over the time I have participated my knowledge and interest in rangefinders (and other gear) and photography has increased in inverse proportion to my bank balance!

And the various other interests of "typical" RFF users has also kept me here as well.

Its been a worthwhile investment to share in a what really makes this place special - the people sharing their own discoveries and their varied and fascinating opinions and knowledge.

While I won't understand or agree with everyone, it is my own choice about who and what I choose to engage with.

The mix of old and new, challenging and mainstream, seems in relative equilibrium. It allows wonderful side trips down new paths and a return to the "safety" of favorite threads.

i'm pleased to share in the journey.

 

[Stuart John]

Personally for me RFF is my favorite of all the photography sites I visit. I don't mind gear discussions or political discussions. RFF is very civil compared to other sites with very little trolling here.

 

[FrankS]

I enjoy the casual familiar banter as well. If this were a strict photography on topic type of

 

[Al Patterson]

I stick around to see where the digital folks who can't afford Leica are going. I likely will never own a digital M, but might end up with an E-Px or a Fuji.

 

[rkm]

I'm relatively new here. Joined late last year. I'm relatively new to photography as well. As any newbie would, I spent a lot of time reading up on gear, getting to know the lingo. But ultimately I enjoy the act of image making, and that is what I'm driven by. RFF has been good on that level.

I'm also a musician, and there are many forums for musicians that centre only on gear, but fail to create community around the act of music making. I enjoy that a forum like this can embody the whole process: geeking out on gear, discussion of the process, presentation of your work, and critique of your work.

On the whole it seems like the user can dictate their own experience of the forum. If you're not interested in something, ignore it.

The longer I'm here the more I value it as a creative community. Communities have to accept diversity, and value it. The community is the sum of its parts. You can't dictate what it is. But as a community, you can dictate what kind of behavior is acceptable or not.

As a side note, I was perusing the gallery the other day and found images with something like 6000 views from back in 2006. It made me wonder about the history of the forum and how things have ebbed and flowed.

 

[giellaleafapmu]

Personally for me RFF is my favorite of all the photography sites I visit. I don't mind gear discussions or political discussions. RFF is very civil compared to other sites with very little trolling here.

I agree 100% on this, sometimes discussions become a bit boring with stuff like the bokeh of lens model xyz from brand hkj serial number xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, but they never ever become rude.

GLF

 

[mdarnton]

I view this forum similarly to the way I see the newspaper: there are always one or two things that interest me and many things that don't. I don't require of the paper that every time I buy one 100% of the content needs to be something I am interested in.

I come here several times a day and hit the recent posts button. Out of 30 posts, I might find two that I'm interested in. Nothing requires me to pay attention to the other 28, nor do I feel the need to complain that they're there on the page. In my world, posts about Thatcher carry about the same weight as posts about color film--zero--so they're functionally equal to me.

 

[kaiwasoyokaze]

I really like the fact the average user on this site is above 30+. In other sites I have the demographic is lower and it shows in the comments/spelling errors/education level.

Of course there is no correlation with intelligence and age (except maybe crotchety-ness 😀) but I like the more mature crowd here.

Also, I would like to add that compared to other sites, RFF has a much more knowledgeable crowd. When I do research on something in Goggle that I'm interested in knowing (about analog cameras) RFF normally pops in the first 10 hits on popular websites.

It also has less gear churners and GAS sufferers than most (and I find that the GAS here is justifiable compared to (OMG THE LATEST OMDGX elenty billion!!!1111). I'm beginning to hate the drudgery of digital photography websites. Same cycle of GAS crap and people saying they are completely happy with the latest digital camera and then 4 months later jump onto the newest latest and greatest.

 

[johannielscom]

I stick around to see where the digital folks who can't afford Leica are going. I likely will never own a digital M, but might end up with an E-Px or a Fuji.

/Off-topic mode on/

Al,

get a Ricoh GXR-M now. In all modesty and IMHO it is gearing up to become a worthy replacement of the Epson R-D1 camera's with regards to esteem, dedicated users, usability with Leica lenses and image quality.

And I'm not saying this because I own one, because I own two! 😛


/Off-topic mode off/😉

 

[Paul Jenkin]

When I signed up, I'd lurked around a short while to see what's what. It looked okay so I signed up. I was in the early throes of having a Leica and, aside from there being some good photos to view, there's a wealth of knowledge on the rangefinder here and that proved really useful.

As I've been shooting for over 40 years, I know most of what I need to know on the "how-to" front - but I can always learn more. Some of the off topic threads - travel, off topic itself, etc can throw up some interesting discourse.

I tend not to post much by way of photos as I seldom get much response - whether viewings or comments. No big deal and I shouldn't expect different as I don't spend much time viewing or commenting on other people's photos either.

I don't think there's much wrong as it stands and certainly nothing that puts me off visiting and posting.