Rip off ? ? ?

[Guest CJS2]

Flu, the human kind I hope! has laid me low, went to work this morning, already had two days off with a heavy cold, felt realy grotty, nearly run the car off the road, back home!! So I thought I'd call in on the way and treat myself to a Photo magazine. Havent bought one for a while, as I think I have posted elswhere, I'm a shelf reader, although I do usualy buy a sea fishing mag every so often, last of the big spenders, me!

 

Well, looked around, Amatuer Photogapher was in, bit anorak'ish for me a full digital convert these days. Looked at a couple of 'how to do it's', free CD's and all. Then I looked at the price, £4.99! now I know why I am a magazine shelf reader. Get a free program on the CD, O'yes, part of a program, out of date or limited to 30 days.

 

Reminds me of the early days of PC's, at the change over from DOS to Windows, anyone remember those days, Windows 3.1, wow, how things have changed. In those days, it cost an arm and a leg to even breath in the same room as a computer 'Guru'.

 

Where do these magazines think people are going to get a 'fiver' to buy their magazine. I certainly stepped back, replacing it in double quick time, looked at another one, that was £4.10 I think. I can certainly find better things to spend my £5 on, in fact I had a look round and bought two magazines for Hazel my parner instead, 'Peoples Friend' 68p and 'Woman's Weekly' 74p, not exactly with it I supose but if they can do it . . . ? Got a lot of change from me fiver to.

 

Is it me, am I tight or just realistic?

 

Edited January 11, 2006 by CJS2

[jeepster]

realistic definately.

 

i rarely buy any magazines now, as they're almost without exception overpriced. the only ones i do buy are classic car magazines, where the quality of the writing and photography make them worth the cover price

[Guest Finepix]

No, your not tight. I think most photographic magazines are in the £4 margin, which is quite ott in my book.

 

I picked up a couple this week, Outdoor photography (£3.50), then went back and bought Black and White photography which is by the same people.

If I had bought the B&W edition first I probably wouldn't have bought both, I just love b&w so thought I'd spoil myself

 

I think the high prices are probably because they know people aren't going to buy them on a regular basis.

I bought two this week, but they are the first photographic magazines I've purchased in months, and probably won't again for a while (although these two are more reasonable than most).

 

I personally feel that if you are thinking about buying a new camera then buy a magazine, as they will always have articles on new models and equipment etc.. , but if you are after advice on the skill of photography then either buy a book (which will work out cheaper in the long run), or even better join the library! You can even order new books through them to hire with a very minimal charge. Normally £1.

I'd even suggest your local charity shop. Ours has some cracking books. You can also buy old National Geographic magazines from some of them, which are excellent for inspiration.

 

-Julia

[n4lly]

CJS

 

Felixstowe market on Sundays, has a magazine stall that sells

three for a £1.-- or £1.50, they are usualy 2/3 months out of date

but what the heck

 

Fishing / Car / allsorts.

[Steve Burke]

Excellent points, Julia. Are there any books that you'd recommend? Or anyone else for that matter.

 

For inspiration I'd suggest "Wildlife Photographer of the Year". I had the current one, number 15, for Xmas and it's brilliant!

 

Reverting back to magazines, I'd never buy one for information on new equipment. Firstly, I find the reviews aren't of the very latest equipment, secondly nearly all mags accept advertising from manufacturers/distributers and so aren't necessarily impartial.

 

I prefer to use the internet. Here are some of the sites I find useful:

 

http://www.imaging-resource.com

http://www.dpreview.com

http://www.dcresource.com

http://www.megapixel.net

http://www.steves-digicams.com

http://www.tomshardware.com

 

Some other useful links for price comparisons:

 

http://www.pricerunner.co.uk

http://www.dealtime.co.uk

http://www.kelkoo.co.uk

Edited January 11, 2006 by Steve Burke

[Guest Finepix]

One I purchased recently from a charity shop was 'The Art of Photography 1839-1989, Royal Academy of Arts 1989'. An incredible book, which has introduced me to some amazing photographers, including Walker Evans, an incredible artist.

 

You can never go wrong with the DK Digitial Photographers Handbook. Some excellent stuff, especially if you are starting out or need a refresher course.

 

The National Geographic books are always a joy to look at. I recently bought the limited edition top 100 images magazine (haven't got the book yet), which was incredible.

But I do have the NG Portraits book.

 

As mentioned above, most of these can be hired from the library (or added to birthday lists )

 

I would always recommend popping into the charity shops though, and they normally have more books out the back than they do on the shelves, so don't be afraid to ask!

If your really tight go to Help the Aged as their books are generally the cheapest!

[J.K]

Most of the mags only come out once a month which is why they are probably £5. I only buy them if there is somthing of interest to me.

 

Joel

[Steve Randles]

I have bought a few over the years but have always been left feeling a bit empty after the fact.

 

For example a while back I wanted some information on Photographing fireworks so I immediately hit google and found loads of usefull stuff, and even discussed the pros and cons of of the "whole event" with other photographers, then I bought a magazine whose main impetus that month was fireworks. There was nothing in there that I did not already know or understand, Most of what was written was fitted around huge images (all very nice) and gave a few words, whereas online had given me paragraphs, and alternative viewpoints too. The rest of that particular magazine was how o do a certain editing task in three different pieces of software, I use only one.

 

The upshot was/is that the magazine was read inside an hour, and missed many important bits of information and tips...and cost me £5 and yes I felt ripped off.

 

Google/the net, however found the precise information I wanted and allowed me to discuss with others the pros and cons, understand why I needed that particular setting, critiqued my shots and cost me nothing. It also left me feeling proud or my photographs and excited.

 

I will be looking into the book option soon as its somewhere I have not looked into yet, but I still find the info I want/need via google...I need convincing to try the book option methinks.

[Guest Finepix]

The book option works for me because I love books, it's that simple. I also love looking at art. The photographic books I am interested in usually contain other peoples photograhphs, rather than tips and techniques.

I have come across a few tip technique books in the charity shops, but they are always very dated, and rarely cover information on digital camera's.

For this kind of info go to the library where they will always stock the latest issues, and if they don't will order it for you (at a minimal cost).

 

 

[Steve Burke]

I've just refound another review site I'd forgotten about that is probably the most helpful in explaining what each individual camera is capable of in practical terms. It also has regularly-updated recommendations on which digital camera to choose for different types of photographer.

 

Go to http://www.imaging-resource.com

 

I've added it to the list I posted earlier on this topic.