Has The Magazine Improved Any ?

[Gil Ritchie]

I used to subscribe to the "Digital Camera" magazine - and did so for a number of years - but stopped some months ago - mainly because the articles seemed to be getting repetative in nature - and did not give many new tips and techniques etc - another reason was that the video tutorials on the cover CDs kept churning out the same old ground - in particular the use of Photoshop CS3/CS4 And Elements etc - and neglected Lightroom/Aperture etc - so I was forced to go elsewhere - to feed my interest these more innovative products.

I now find that many of DCM's competitors seem to be going through this same cyclical repetition too - so I am on the look out for a new and interesting photographical read - that will help alleviate my boring "poolside holidays".

I appreciate that DCM etc are good for the beginners in photography - but for us "old timers" - can't they be a bit more innovative - and cover new ground.

So tell me - in all honesty - has DCM improved enough in recent times - to get me to part with my money - I fear not.

Your genuine views would be appreciated.

[creid]

I'm going to be totally honest and say that I stopped buying it a few months ago as the content was getting a bit "thin" and I ended up buying the same issue twice as the cover images all started to look identical and I couldn't remember which issue I'd bought!! My wife pointed out that nearly every issue had a "long exposure lake / shoreline/ sescape / at dawn / at dusk" on the front cover and she couldn't tell the difference at first glance either. As much as I love those kind of shots it's becoming a bit of a theme.....

Carl

[chris-p]

I stopped my susbcription because the magazine seemed repetitive. I had a couple of years worth of copies which I've since dished out to friends who are interested in photography.
The last copy I saw was a few months ago and it was still well presented and nicely put together, it was the same well presented and nicely put together stuff that has been in the mag time and time again...

[OleHansen]

I enjoy the 'Camera Magazine' immensely and have had many benefits from it. The only thing that annoyes me with the attached CD, is, you will have to watch it on only half the screen or less, which makes it very difficult to actually follow the cursor and read the text when playing the video's.

Is there any way I can get the video's to show in full screen, other magazines CD's seem to be all right, why not this one from Digital Camera? Anybody with some advice, please.

[pavman]

The main reason I buy/subscribe to Photo mags is to learn and improve my skill, technique and knowledge about photography.
I subscribe to a photo mag (not DCM or Photo Plus) for approx 30 months now and I find that some of the topics/techniques are repeated but I do find the reviews of new equipment, comparing / testing products very useful, DVD/photoshop tutorial and the photographic adverts to assist with comparing prices.
I have at some stage bought every photographic mag published in the UK and they are very similar in content and in recent months I was pleasantly surprised to discover Photo Plus ( I have Canon kit) and find that this mag suits my needs supported by websites like radar. I will end my subscription at the end of the year and subscribe to Photo Plus instead.
Recently I bought some books by Mark Cleghorn: "the complete guide to Light", "Wedding Photography" and "Photoshop in a weekend". All three books are extremely well written and fairly easy to follow. all were reasonably priced and in my view excellent value for money

[Les Cornwell]

Originally Posted by OleHansen

I enjoy the 'Camera Magazine' immensely and have had many benefits from it. The only thing that annoyes me with the attached CD, is, you will have to watch it on only half the screen or less, which makes it very difficult to actually follow the cursor and read the text when playing the video's.

Is there any way I can get the video's to show in full screen, other magazines CD's seem to be all right, why not this one from Digital Camera? Anybody with some advice, please.

Yep, very annoying. It used to be possible to view them full screen but that seemed to change a while back. Now, if you try to expand to full screen, the window expands to fit the screen, but the video still fills just a corner of the screen.

Some of the videos from the CDs are put on the website & they can be viewed full-screen - so why not the CDs - Perhaps someone from DCM can comment?

[jinky]

I still cannot view videos on the website.Just a black box with a whirring button. I followed a tip to disable my ad banner setting in Kaspersky which worked initially but makes no difference now.

Just re-started my DC mag subscription after a break - to get the arctic butterfly as much as the mag itself. I`d tried PM for a while but not as much of a read. They do all overlap so much.

[PaulMontgomery]

I suppose the question the magazine has to answer is: Do they want to take a batch of newbies and gradually turn them into experts by gradually making the articles more in depth and technical, or do they want to continually appeal to newbies who want to learn to a basic level - once they've learned the basics, there'll be more people along wanting to learn the basics.

Although not totally incompatible, I would suggest that the 2 scenarios are sufficiently different that one magazine won't be able to do both with any degree of success, so a decision needs to be taken. Judging by the number of people who appear to have subscribed for a number of months / years and then stopped, it appears that they've chosen the second scenario.

Note, none of this is meant as a criticism, just how I see things progressing.

[Forseti]

Originally Posted by PaulMontgomery

Do they want to take a batch of newbies and gradually turn them into experts by gradually making the articles more in depth and technical.....

No, I don't think this would be commercially viable as it entails a captive audience i.e. a bit like completing a course involving a constant number of students.

or do they want to continually appeal to newbies who want to learn to a basic level - once they've learned the basics, there'll be more people along wanting to learn the basics.

Now this is commercially viable as it involves a never ending train of newbies.

[Robster]

If you are a regular reader of one particular magazine you will find it will repeat itself, this is why I no longer subscribe to any magazine.