Quote Originally Posted by Anthony Lewis View Post
Those who come to great defense of View Camera should realize that those who criticize it are not doing it lightly. There are very genuine criticisms of this magazine and you hear exactly the same stories from different people all over the world.

I subscribed about five years ago from Australia. I also subscribe to B&W, Black and White, Silverprint, and now Color. All come from overseas and I have no problems with delivery whatsoever. Every one is delivered on time. They are all very professional in their layout and each gives me a different perspective of photography.

I subscribed to View Camera about five years ago. I paid for a 2-year subscription. Their freight was very expensive to Australia - as much as the magazine itself. View Camera assured me that I was getting "first class" freight and so it would be delivered very quickly. Well you can all guess the story. Not one single issue ever arrived - not one. In every case I waited 3 to 4 months after publication date to enquire where my issue was. In many cases my emails were never answered. In one case I got an email from a lady in the office who asked me "who do you think you are" and accused me of being "rude". All I was doing was asking for my rightful copy. So much for their first class freight.

After this episode, I still wanted to support the LF magazine community; I continued my subscription through an Australian dealer. After another two years, I constantly found the layout childlike and amateurish - it never improved. Also all the articles where very basic, very short and remiss on any sort of detail. Eventually I ended my relationship with VC.

I subscribe to many international publications; have bought Focus off the newsstands (have seriously considered subscribing and may yet). I have never known another magazine to have such terrible delivery problems, and have a layout similar to what a kindergarten kid would do. Are the font sizes still changing erratically? Does anyone do a spell check?

I believe the criticisms are well founded and in many cases and valid.
Your criticisms of ViewCamera are not uncommon - many people feel the way you do. You don't like the quality, there are some editorial issues that bother you - ok - don't subscribe. Don't buy it off of newsstands. But coming on here and airing your complaints and having a group bitch-fest about it is pointless and can only do harm to Steve and his publication. Perhaps there are thousands of people who don't mind the layout and the spelling errors and feel fine waiting for the magazine to come. By you airing your problems here, you are potentially harming new business for Steve which could shut him down which could ruin the enjoyment of ViewCamera for other people.

I am by no means a moderator of this forum nor am I telling you what to and what not to say - however - I just find it extremely dis-tasteful to use this forum, which is meant to be a forum where photographers who use large format can share and exchange ideas on their photography and what surrounds their photography, as a venue to harm ViewCamera's business.