Why are all you internet photo guys so keen on bashing Steve Simmons and his View Camera Magazine all the time? ...hard for me to find something he's not doing right with that publication...
Doesn't he have enough to deal with without all this constant criticism? Does he deserve it? Sure doesn't look like it to me...
Is there any particular reason you're bringing this up now? Just curious.
If my memory serves me well, this was more about View Camera website than the magazine itself. In such case a well deserved bashing. In spite of a long thread initiated by Steve himslef, to this date I see no obvious changes to the site. Perhaps the "nay" votes were not strong enough.
Witold
simplest solutions are usually the most difficult ...
Anthony,
I don't bash him. I think he's contributed a lot to LF photography, I learned on his book and subscribe to the magazine, but we "internet photo guys" are real life photographers too, not separate from the rest of the photographic community.
I think he's mostly criticized for his posting style - not directly posting answers to questions but directing people to the View Camera website via a front page link and not a direct link. The View Camera website IMO, is not a shining example of user friendliness. Try navigating to a topic by one of his posted links on the usenet and you'll understand. This posting style seems particularly disturbing to a few individuals.
Steve could avoid all the criticism by not posting at all, but I also perceive by his posts and responses that he enjoys the sturm and drang.
Steve
Are you sure you are posting your question on the right forum, Anthony? Looking back, I don't see any "constant criticism" or " bashing" of Steve Simmons or View Camera magazine on this forum.
Most of the criticisms of View Camera on this forum are constructive, and Steve usually invites us to offer them. His contributions to this forum are very valuable and are always welcomed.
Hmmm - this is one of those "... and please tell the court, when did you *stop* beating your wife, Mr. Jones?" questions.
The question is based on a false premise. There are many dozens of people who read this forum; a couple of dozen who regularly put finger to keypad; a handful have responded with comments about View Camera Magazine. Much to the apparent shock and horror of at least one person, not all those comments were 100% congratulatory. I'm sure Steve Simmons was not surprised - I'm not sure why anyone else should be.
OK everyone, two choruses of the "Hi Ho" song....... ah, sorry, wrong mythical creature: that's for Dwarves... ;-)
Cheers,
Well, VC magazine is obviously a labor of love, and a reflection of the publisher, as opposed to a corporation seeing a way to make a few extra bucks on a small section of the market. I've been a subscriber for 15 years, and have never regretted it. Sure improvements could be made; one would hope things would be perfect; but the fact is, VC remains alone in its field. Despite the renaissance in LF since then, no other publisher has offered a better alternative or even any real competition. We LF shooters are a demanding lot, but there are still a tiny number of us when figuring out how to sell enough ads to make a magazine stay alive. It's a very niche market, and I'm sure the numbers and the profit margins are very small. VC is/has been a valuable resource, and to me people's complaints consist of "it's not perfect", "it's not free", and "there's not more of it". Oh well!
Brooks Jensen also runs a fabulous magazine called LensWork, which he does with a small team. As a subscriber I get the magazines, offers for prints and little commentaries emailed to me a couple of times per week.
I finally agreed to get a sub because I was assured that the excellent packaging will totally protect the magazine through the mail. It does.
VC cannot guarantee that my mail man won't damage the magazine en route, no publisher can. So I choose to buy the magazine from my local book store (here in Canada) where I can guarantee a clean, undamaged copy. Our gripe (I'm not the only Canadian guy to complain) is that a lot of articles are 'continued' on the website. I don't like the concept of this at all. I'd prefer less articles, but complete, than more abridged articles ...
On the upside, Steve has been a very positive influence on our community and has been instrumental in introducing LF to many photographers.
I look forward to attending one of his conferences ...
Don't worry about the give and take. I think Steve Simmons is helped by the criticism he receives here, and he is learning to respond in a way that is more openly inclusive of new ideas. He, of course, can speak for himself. In any case, publishers who never hear criticism from readers are in deep trouble. Steve may get a little too much of a good thing, but at least he knows that members of this forum are serious about information on large format photography.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In high school a football coach once told me that it was when he stopped yelling at me that I was really in trouble. I've never forgotten that lesson.
steve simmos
Hey, I love View Camera, and Steve's OK too. The website is a pain in the butt until you learn it. A while back he had some real crappy reproductions. I think he switched printer's real fast.
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