Who is your trusted (youtube) camera reviewer

Not had a TV for years so I tend to watch YouTube instead. The photography channels are always interesting. Different points of view and all that. The latest from Alex Barrera has caused a bit of a stir .
 
peterm1 said:
While I often like what Theoria Apophasis has to say about lenses well enough, I find it hard to watch him. His constant manic giggling and intense and constant use of gratuitous profanity bores me. Swearing is fine if it has a purpose, but when every second word is a swear word it just becomes an annoying affectation.

EDIT: (oops, I now see that I have written something very similar to this in a previous post on this thread. Well, at least I am consistent! 🙂 )
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Consistency, like adulthood, is overrated. To me it is the mark of an intelligent person who can change his/her mind often as the data or the facts change.

As for Theoria, from my limited viewing of this person I (of course personally) rate him as the Gordon Ramsay of camera reviewers.
 
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I read that English is the subtlest of languages. Where else will you find the differences between boyish and puerile? Puerile is not working for me, boyish barely. In adults. In children it is normal. It is not normal in adults. If I want advice on cameras, lenses or photography I will seek it from an adult, not a boisterous buffoon from whose verbiage facts and information must be dug out. Buffoonery has its places. In comedy not fact or information reporting. As always, YMMV.
 
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boojum said:
I read that English is the subtlest of languages. Where else will you find the differences between boyish and puerile? Puerile is not working for me. boyish barely. In adults. In children it is normal. It is not normal in adults. If I want advice on cameras, lenses or photography I will seek it from an adult, not a boisterous buffoon from whose verbiage facts and information must be dug out. Buffoonery has its places. In comedy not fact or information reporting. As always, YMMV.
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There you went and did it! You got me on my language soapbox.

English has an unusually extensive vocabulary, and therein may lie its greatest asset for subtlety of expression. On the other hand, English syntax (often referred to somewhat inaccurately as "grammar") is pretty simple, if a bit quirky. It is rather ambiguous, while extremely flexible.

Other languages have more complex syntax, which allows them to express things syntactically that are utterly impossible in English. We can sometimes approximate them with added verbage - sometimes a word, sometimes a phrase, and sometimes a whole sentence.

Romance languages have far more evolved verb systems than English that express subtleties that English is often incapable of translating. Iberian Romance languages have two verbs for "to be," with which one can do truly wonderful things!

- Murray
 
CMur12 said:
There you went and did it! You got me on my language soapbox.

English has an unusually extensive vocabulary, and therein may lie its greatest asset for subtlety of expression. On the other hand, English syntax (often referred to somewhat inaccurately as "grammar") is pretty simple, if a bit quirky. It is rather ambiguous, while extremely flexible.

Other languages have more complex syntax, which allows them to express things syntactically that are utterly impossible in English. We can sometimes approximate them with added verbage - sometimes a word, sometimes a phrase, and sometimes a whole sentence.

Romance languages have far more evolved verb systems than English that express subtleties that English is often incapable of translating. Iberian Romance languages have two verbs for "to be," with which one can do truly wonderful things!

- Murray
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To get someone on that soapbox is an event I take some small pride in.

The two "to be's" in Spanish have slightly different meanings. I believe that one allows for possible change of state and the other does not. The "to be" for weather is the one which acknowledges possible change of state: sunny today, rainy tomorrow. And Spanish can be treacherous as there are many flavors. In Mexico a cabron is a clown, maybe a cuckold. In Puerto Rico it is a cuckold, maybe a clown. A pendejo is a hair in a personal body place but in Cuba it is a half shot of rum. And more subtle differences abound. One you must watch for is "esta bueno", "it is good." "Esta buena" means "I wanna jump on your bones, mama." And it gets more subtle. But my Spanish is very rusty and I left Mexico in 2003 so I really cannot speak even my very bad Spanish. So correct me where I am wrong.

As for English it really is a glorified patois. Stravinsky was lecturing a grad class in music a U of Texas. He started fumbling for a word and asked if anyone there spoke Russian. A hand went up, a dialog ensued. At the end of it Stravinsky lapsed back into English. "You do not have the word in English. The word is connoisseur." Is there a real English? Doubtful. It is an amalgamation of Latin, Anglo-Saxon, French, German and a slew of others. Grammar is Latin grammar forced upon the dog's breakfast of a language. OTOH we have Shakespeare, Conrad, Joyce and an abundance of poets and other writers. The vocabulary may be the largest, over half a million words.

And can you name the eight Anglo-Saxon four letter words dealing with the body and body functions? They are in the OED.

What has this to do with YT camera guys? Not much.
 
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The Photographic Eye - mostly thoughts about photography and creativity, and less talk about gear

Willem Verbeeck - rarely reviews gear, so it’s more of photography and thoughts behind images. He got a great commission from Porsche recently, and produced some really cool images. Recently opened a film photography lab in California.

Tatiana Hooper - highly recommended, reviews of famous photographers of the past.

KingJvpes - mostly street photography and cityscapes

Tin House Studio - mostly about his studio photography business, and about being a professional photographer.

Toshiki Yukawa - the Japanese art of photography and seeing. Highly recommended.
 
Not on YT: Roger Cicala's lens bench tests and equipment teardown blogs are my gold standard for such things. Plus he's able to comment on matters such as sample to sample variations with some authority.

Not on YT, not a reviewer so much as an antique lens enthusiast: ksmt.com

YT: Mathieu Stern's videos and web site have great production quality, even if I don't necessarily concur with his recommendations.

Japan Camera Hunter: Not really a reviewer, but his sense of awe and wonder are refreshing.
 
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