The forum has a long history (in "Internet time") of civil discussions of LF-related topics, even when opinions on a topic differ. Here are a few guidelines that contribute to maintaining the friendly environment. Please remember that these guidelines are a part of the larger FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document that can be found by clicking on the "FAQ" link in the navigation bar near the top of the display. The FAQ includes information about how the forum software functions, and how to do various things.
The Basics
- Moderator decisions are final, but we do listen to thoughtful, polite suggestions regarding administrative policy.
- Your Responsibilities - By accessing this site, you agree:
- to keep your posts, PMs, and e-mail communications with other members on-topic and civil, and
- not to abuse other site users - including posting offensive comments (like personal attacks or insulting language), sending them threats, unsolicited bulk email or commercial solicitations, or baiting/enticing them to violate forum guidelines.
- Well wishes and greetings in other languages are fine, but original posts and responses to the topic must be in English.
- Logging In - When logging in from a secure computer, be sure to check the "Remember Me" box, otherwise various permissions issues may occur.
- Maintaining Forum Decorum. To have a healthy and informative forum, it's essential that participants maintain a respectful and professional decorum. Name calling, personal attacks, character assassination, coarse or inappropriate language, or enticing/baiting others to violate forum guidelines will not be tolerated anywhere within the forum (i.e. in posts, PMs, or e-mails to other members).
Generally speaking, in responding to a post, try to respond only to the content of the thread and not to the individual.
- The main forum is only for questions specific to LF photography (see above).
General photography questions and questions related to photography with other formats should be asked in The Lounge here, or on other general-photography forums.
- Do not post test messages. If you want to participate, just go ahead and post a question. You can use the "Preview Post" button to see what the post will look like.
- Be sure to give a descriptive title to your question. For people searching or browsing the archives, a nonsensical or uninformative subject (like "Oops!", "Read this!", or even "Lenses") just makes it harder for people to find answers to questions.
- Before you post a basic question to this forum,
please make sure you have quickly browsed the LF home page (where you will find the answers to many basic questions), and searched the site using the search box or an external search engine that supports the "site=www.largeformatphotography.info" parameter.
- Reporting Posts - Our moderators are volunteers and are not able to constantly monitor threads throughout the day. If you find a post offensive, please notify the moderator group by clicking the icon at the lower left of the offending post. This is the only accepted way to report posts.
Announcements
- Conferences, Workshops, Books and Gallery Openings - Announcements of conferences, LF-related trade shows, workshops, book releases and gallery openings may be posted to the Announcements sub-forum (one per event only, please).
- New products - Announcements of new products and services of specific interest to large format photographers may be posted to the New products sub-forum with advanced moderator approval.
- Crowd-Funded Projects - Crowd-funded projects on platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc., that relate to photography may be announced once, and once only, in the Kickstarter Announcements section. All subsequent discussion of that campaign must be confined to that thread. Projects of no interest to photographers (in the judgement of the moderators) will be removed.
Links
- Links to published articles - Direct links (i.e. not through index pages that contain promotional text or blatant advertising) to on-topic published articles are OK to post, as long as those pages are freely available to all (i.e. no paid subscription required), and do not require further contact with the poster to gain access.
- When posting links to material on other web sites, please provide a link to the material, not the home page of the site. Repetitive postings of links to other discussion boards are not appropriate.
- Links to active or inactive eBay (or similar sites) listings are allowed if the purpose of the post is to discuss or ask questions about a feature or the technology used in the product. To preserve the value of the discussion after the link goes dead, however, please include a sufficient description of the item (e.g. brand name, model number) such that the question or discussion can still be understood. Bare pointers to a currently active sale, or comments about the price of the sales offering, serve only to promote the sale, and are prohibited. Likewise, links to the poster's own sales, or those of a friend or associate on such sites are also still prohibited as being promotional, and counter to our non-commercial ideal.
Essential Prohibitions
This is a family-oriented forum, so for that reason, and to keep the forum cordial and non-commercial, the following types of posts are prohibited.
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We will delete photographs that would prevent us from showing up on Internet searches in safe mode, as best we can make that determination. That means we reserve the right to delete photographs depicting sexual acts, violence, gore, or acts that are illegal in the U.S.
- Posts advocating for partisan politics, religion, etc. are not allowed anywhere on the forum. (see Principles above.) We reserve the right to delete posts that demonstrate advocacy for social issues that are plainly intended to spark divisive debates on the merits of those issues unrelated to the role of photography. The line is between photographic discussions that relate to social issues, versus arguing about the merits of those social issues irrespective of photography.
- Multiple-ID registrations will not be tolerated and persons found to have done so, and continue to use them, will be permanently banned at the discretion of the moderators.
- Equipment Value Questions: Although value may come up in the discussion of the general features of a piece of equipment, it is impossible to provide an accurate valuation for a specific piece of equipment for sales or insurance purposes without a physical examination and testing. Further, such questions during a new member's probationary period will likely be interpreted as a back-door effort to sell the item, subjecting the poster to unpleasant reactions. Because of that, valuation requests are not allowed, and may be deleted. The best ways to get an approximate value range: (1) examine past sales at auction sites (2) search the web sites of vendors who sell used equipment. There is also a "sticky" thread in each of the major equipment categories about how to value a particular piece of gear.
- Profile "signature" content - While it is OK to include a simple link to your personal (preferably LF-related) Web site in your profile "signature", please do not include descriptive text that might be interpreted as an advertisement of whatever services or products you might provide.
- People who register for the purpose of publicizing links to non-LF sites will be banned and the posts deleted.
- Links to blogs are prohibited unless the blog post specifically responds to an LF topic being discussed within the thread in which the link is posted. A one-time Announcement of an LF-related blog is allowed in that section, however.
- Maintaining Forum Decorum. To have a healthy and informative forum, it's essential that participants maintain a respectful and professional decorum. Name calling, personal attacks, character assassination, coarse or inappropriate language, or enticing/baiting others to violate forum guidelines will not be tolerated here.
Generally speaking, in responding to a posting, try to respond only to the content of the thread and not to the individual.
- Other Commercial Posts - Except as noted herein, other "promotional" posts promoting your own business enterprise, or one to which you are financially connected (e.g. owner, employee, contractor), are not allowed.
- Posts that fall outside the guidelines are subject to deletion. Participants who repeatedly violate the guidelines can have their right to participate suspended or permanently revoked at the sole discretion of the moderators. Any request for discussion or reinstatement should be made via the "Contact Us" link that appears at the bottom of all pages.
Buy-Sell Sub-forums
Classifieds (for sale, for trade, or wanted ads) should be posted only the appropriate sub-forum, which is open only to those who have been members for 30 days or more. The displays of these sub-forums in the main index are ordered by the original post date, latest first, not the date of the latest post within the threads. Similar to classified ads in a newspaper, only the original poster (OP) can post in the buy-sell sections. All comments, questions, or corrections should be sent to the OP via PM or e-mail. If such a communication indicates a clarification or correction should be made to the listing, the OP should post the clarification or correction to the thread, and potentially ask the moderators to correct the title of the thread.
For Sale / For Trade
- All transactions resulting from listings in this subforum are entirely at the user's risk. The owner and operators of the forum make no representations regarding any listing, and will not intervene in the event of any dispute. Any dispute between parties must be resolved outside of the forum, except that either party may post in the "Buyer-Seller Advisories" section, subject to the rules and limitations of that section.
- FS/FT ads are limited to photographic equipment (all formats), photography books, and prints being sold by registered members.
- The item for sale must be owned by and in the possession of the seller or its location and ownership status fully disclosed in the sales listing
- Listings in the FS/FT sub-forum should include "FS", "FT", or "Free" at the beginning of the thread title, as appropriate.
- For-sale postings require a stated price. No auctions or bidding processes are allowed. For-trade posts should be reasonably specific about what the OP is willing to take in trade.
- FS/FT listings may include links to images of the offered items that are hosted at a member's web space or a commercial image-hosting service. Links or references to sales listings at commercial sites (eBay, etc.) or other forums or venues are prohibited and may be removed without warning.
- Any item may be listed only once at a time. Bundle options combining a given item with other items must be included in the same listing.
- Revisions to FS/FT listings may be made at any time via edits to the original post. Replies or bump posts by the OP and replies by other members to threads in the FS/FT subforum are disabled. All queries in response to a listing must be made via PM or, if the member has enabled it, regular email. Items that remain unsold may be re-posted in a new thread after 30 days.
- A member may post no more than three new FS/FT listings per day.
- Threads in the FS/FT subforum are not included in "Today's Posts". Members who wish to be apprised of new FS/FT listings should subscribe to the FS/FT subforum.
- Sellers have the right to do business with whomever they please.
- WTB listings must be posted in the WTB subforum – see the WTB guidelines below.
- Members who violate the rules repeatedly are subject to moderator action, including loss of access to these subforums and/or being banned from the forum altogether.
Wanted to Buy
- All transactions resulting from listings in this subforum are entirely at the user's risk. The owner and operators of the forum make no representations regarding any listing, and will not intervene in the event of any dispute. Any dispute between parties must be resolved outside of the forum, except that either party may post in the "Buyer-Seller Advisories" section, subject to the rules and limitations of that section.
- WTB listings are limited to photographic equipment (all formats), photography books, and prints desired to be purchased by registered users.
- The thread title must be prefaced with "WTB," followed by a brief description of the item you are looking to buy. Please research the item in advance, so the body of the post can be as specific as possible. If you aren't sure about exactly what you want to buy, post a question in the appropriate subforum first.
- Revisions to WTB listings may be made at any time via edits to the original post. Replies or bump posts by the OP and replies by other members to threads in the WTB subforum are disabled. All queries in response to a listing must be made via PM or, if the member has enabled it, regular email. If the item has not yet been obtained, WTB listings may be re-posted after three months.
- A member may post no more than three new WTB listings per day.
- Threads in the WTB subforum are not included in "Today's Posts". Members who wish to be apprised of new WTB listings should subscribe to the WTB subforum.
- Buyers have the right to do business with whomever they please.
- Members who violate the rules repeatedly are subject to moderator action, including loss of access to these subforums, and/or being banned from the forum altogether.