Everything you ever wanted to know about photography! On DPS!

[wulf]

I'm still happy with JPEG....

It is good for people to take a while to browse, pick up the feel of the site and definitely to read the FAQ before making their first post. That is just old-school netiquette.

However, there is a certain value in new people asking the same old questions again... it gives not-quite-so-new people a chance to reinforce their skills by suggesting answers (and, as noted in my first sentence, not everything is clear-cut).

Wulf

[wal]

Great info Max, Thanks a lot.!!

Originally Posted by wal

Great info Max, Thanks a lot.!!

I do what I can.

[Jim Bryant]

Eric, Even with you assembling this vast listings of UBI's, there's still some asking the same old questions of "Jpeg or RAW" among others that have been countlessly answered before. So much for using the search tool I guess we're gonna have to go back a few times a day to make sure this thread is at top.

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

Eric, Even with you assembling this vast listings of UBI's, there's still some asking the same old questions of "Jpeg or RAW" among others that have been countlessly answered before. So much for using the search tool I guess we're gonna have to go back a few times a day to make sure this thread is at top.

So much work to educate the unwashed masses. *tsk tsk*

[fletch]

Some very interesting musings here from a discussion on often repeated question on dicussion boards from a flickr group

http://www.flickr.com/groups/central...7619141102696/

While it is true that you can have a nice efficiency of search and topics if people searched and continued the thread, I think it removes an element of human interaction to do that. I think starting a new topic is really more dynamic and serves us better. The site serves the human, not the other way around.

Of course, there are some topics that deserved to be searched and checked first: fact based topics, like "Can I connect my 200mm lens to my iPhone camera?" Sure, that is about a FAQ-like answer.

On the other hand, topics that are about opinion have a different dynamic each time they are started. The original poster will phrase the topic different than before, and so people read it in a different way and, although the topic is tired (Explore, HDR, kittens, etc.) new people joining the group, and many other factors will bring out different dynamics to the discussion -- sometimes called tangents.

I think there is deffinately some legs in letting people as JPEG vs RAW over and over and it appears the admins agree as they rarely close or delete a thread.

[wulf]

Seeing the same old questions can be frustrating for old-timers but it does have one particular point of value - newish members get to consolidate their experience and opinions by suggesting answers to newer members. We do have a FAQ and often refer people to it but, since new people are constantly signing up, there is plenty of scope for the same old questions to get asked.

Anyway, the answers are often not clear-cut. Personally, despite being techically skilled and having experimented several times, JPEG is perfect for me, whereas (with my present hardware and software set up) working with RAW images takes a lot more time and doesn't yield superior results. I'm not trying to make a living by photography and my main interest in sharing images is via the web (where differences in user displays undoes hours of careful editing!) but I suspect many other users are in the same boat.

Wulf

Originally Posted by wulf

Seeing the same old questions can be frustrating for old-timers but it does have one particular point of value - newish members get to consolidate their experience and opinions by suggesting answers to newer members. We do have a FAQ and often refer people to it but, since new people are constantly signing up, there is plenty of scope for the same old questions to get asked

We have an FAQ and a 'search' function... yet no one uses it. Hence, the need for yet another spoon feeding to the laggard.

[fletch]

But things change! If you were only allowed to open a new thread if one never existed before the place would be full of outdated opinions. RAW would be a crazy idea as it requires so much memory it would be too expensive, Mac's wouldn't use intel chips which would me a major downside and high ISO noise over 400 would render pictures unuseable...

That is unless you read through threads hundreds of posts long to get to the new stuff. I agree that people could use the search of FAQ section before they ask how to post from flickr or what RAW stands for but the odd repetitive debate or mutual pat on the back of agreeing its the person not the camera is fine.

Originally Posted by fletch

But things change! If you were only allowed to open a new thread if one never existed before the place would be full of outdated opinions. RAW would be a crazy idea as it requires so much memory it would be too expensive, Mac's wouldn't use intel chips which would me a major downside and high ISO noise over 400 would render pictures unuseable...

That is unless you read through threads hundreds of posts long to get to the new stuff. I agree that people could use the search of FAQ section before they ask how to post from flickr or what RAW stands for but the odd repetitive debate or mutual pat on the back of agreeing its the person not the camera is fine.

I'm not debating your stance. It is quite logical.

When RAW is old hat, let me know and I'll update the main post.