come on people!!!

[bradg]

man, i didn't mean to start a big contriversey, i was only sugesting that we have a wsib forum, go head, post wsib questions in q&a, i will just skip right over them, BUT i will find it polite if you do it in the newbe section, or a wsib section

sorry i didn't respond faster


with my $.02 that should make about $1.50

[Dani24]

Originally Posted by bcoultry

Yes, always be careful of what salespeople say, maybe not so much in a real camera shop, but most definitely in electronics/computer stores.

Actually, I'd suggest even being slightly wary of what they tell you in a camera store. After doing lots of research on the G3 and G5, and still being unable to decide which I wanted I went to a dedicated camera store near my work. When I started talking to the sales guy he told me that "you can't find the G3 anywhere" (since it had been discontinued), even though I HAD found it in a few places. He started trying to push the G5, even though at that time I wasn't too sure. When I started discussing some of the cons of the G5 (which were widely covered in a large number of reviews) he looked at me weirdly and started insisting those things weren't true, and that I should just buy the G5.

I got the feeling that he was just trying to make the sale -- not try to help me make up my mind. And that's why, when I ultimately decided to get the G5, I bought elsewhere (even though he offered to come down in price from $650 to $560 for me). Plus, I ended up getting my camera for a few dollars less. I would have liked to have supported a local camera shop, but not when they treat me like a wallet with legs.

[bcoultry]

I guess I got spoiled by a real camera store in my area that wasn't armed with a single salesperson. Not one. It was owned by a photographer/technician who hired people of the same sort. Unfortunately, it was located in Schenectady, NY, a city sliding swiftly into ill repute, and store closed. Sitting here thinking about it, all we have left is Ritz and one privately owned store that hires people who, I do believe, hardly know how to use a disposable.

You're right, Danielle. Folks should be wary of all of them.

[Gandalf065]

well, i certainly hope that i have never caused someone to leave in disgust! but yes i agree there are a lot of "know-it-alls" and a lot of pushy, non knowledgable guys.
i personally pride myself in my ability to tell someone to leave the store, go think about cameras, check this site out! ect....
but overall i agree, asking one person for advice, knowledge ect is not the way to go. always get information from as many sources as possible, and compare it all.

[bcoultry]

well, i certainly hope that i have never caused someone to leave in disgust!

Only if they were insisting you make their decisions for them and you refused to do so. The indication is that this isn't your way of doing things. Keep up the good work.

[murphyc]

Personally speaking, I had done extensive research for about a month before posting here. I knew what I would be using my camera for mostly, had a solid idea of the features I was looking for, and based on that research had narrowed it down to three choices. However, in that research I had come across contradictory information--one review might highly recommend camara A and praise its image quality while the next review might not like the same camera and complain about its image quality.
In my research (including looking at sports forum here and other places) I didn't see much discussion of how good the three particular cameras I'm considering are at auto racing (which will be my main use). It's one thing to have a camera shoot x fps, but are the specs easy to replicate in the real world? I only saw one review mentioning how one camera I looked at (Minolta Z1) did at racing photos.
On the front page of this forum it says there are more than 14,000 members. I know I'm crazy and dumb for thinking this, but I thought maybe one or more person here shot auto racing with one of the cameras I was looking at, or knew someone who did. Oh, and the reason I asked my question (which, btw, wasn't a general "I have $500 to spend, tell me what to buy" question) in the general forum instead of newbie was I thought newbie forum was for people new to photography overall. Based on some of the attitudes I see towards newbies here (an attitude I haven't seen at other forums I'm a regular at) I guess I shouldn't be surprised the only two who responded to my question were fellow newbies. Oh well, live and learn. :roll:

[Yaworski]

I'm new and I didn't aske WSIB and I wound up buying a camera that didn't fit my needs the first time around. I hadn't dabbled in photography for nearly 30 years except to take pictures at Disney World and others like that. I read Steve's reviews. I thought that was great. I made my choice. I bought. I discovered that there was so much that I hadn't thought of. So I did more research and bought again. Only to discover that there was more that I didn't know but at least this time around, anything that would have improved my situation was way out of my budget.

I'm a shooting instructor and have been a competitive shooter and a recreation shooter for 28 years. I once had a regular column in a gun magazine and I am considered an expert by many although I think of myself as a knowledgeable learner. I can't count the number of times that I've answered WSIB. I view it as an obligation, not only to help others but to help my sport grow.

[iason]

What being misunderstood is.. For sure, newbies want to learn as much as they can, when they want to enter to digital photography and stuffs. Personally, I was a newbie once upon a time, and asked ops: similar WSIB questions too. But time after time, I saw that those WSIB questions really disarrange the whole forum.

Then I understood.. Whole newbies are mostly excited people who want to take their digital photos as soon as possible and they want to buy a good cam w/o wasting their budget. At that point what newbies lack is a simple one word:

"Search"

I'm totally accepting that there must be WSIB questions, what annoys people and old users is not these questions but both the quantity and quality of them. If you look at most WSIB, most of their contents are the same; same spesifications, same budget limits etc. What newbies must have been told is; before entering a topic, like a private mail to be answered into the forums, they should search what they need. Probably the arguments they care mostly made before.

As a result, none of us came out to the world with a digital camera. For sure, there will be newcomers, who want to enter digital world, but their first step will be "WSIB" questions, doubtless. The solution of this problem is passing through not anybody else, but through newbies and their sensitivity on this matter; searching.

[harry12]

iason is correct. Newbies fail to use the "SEARCH" function. I just tried "What Camera Should I Buy" and received 250+ answers.
Newbies should be chased... er, um, requested to go search. If 'search' is too much work for them, they should be chased. :twisted:

[aladyforty]