Oh, I don't doubt that things like that go on, not for a second..

business and bribes go hand in hand...and I don't trust any big company not to engage in something shady...

> it's also a numbers game. I don't have hard stats, but Canon and Nikon
> seem to be the predominant players in photography for the last 10 years
> or so (for SLR / DSLR cameras and likely P&S, too).

Oh, absolutely (at least, for DSLR). CaNikon owned about 90% of the DSLR market 5ish years ago. That's been slowly declining, of late, because some of the others have stepped up their game, and are winning market-share from the Big Two. I don't have the numbers _in_hand_ but I've seen them, could probably find 'em again if I had to.

Based on the trends, and presuming the models-offered have some bearing on the total sales, I'm betting on Sony to (soon) be the first non-CaNikon in 15ish years to get to 10% or more of the worldwide market (Sony had 8% last I looked, and have surged out a 2nd FF body + several entry/mid models since then). Other non-CaNikon makers are also growing their market-share, or were last I knew (and the Pentax K-7 is getting a *LOT* of positive press lately, so I'm guessing Pentax at least is growing; also, they've had the least-expensive enviro-sealed body for a *long* time now).

My only gripe with a "best" list -- biased, but without the bias laid out -- is that it's easy for a naive reader to then presume that brand-centric advice is ALSO the "best" -- that is, that the *brand(s)* mentioned is/are the best. So, when "Nikonians" appears in a list of FIFTY "best" sites, it "seems obvious" that Nikon is the only *real* option if you want the "best" camera.

I'd have the same opinion about -- for example -- an automotive "50 best websites" that mentioned just one or two manufacturer-centric sites. Not that I have any huge automotive brand-loyalty, overall. It's just that "best" lists, if unbiased *MUST* either (1) avoid including brand-specific sites, *OR* (2) include most/all brands. I've no gripe with Nikonians; indeed, I suspect it DESERVES a place on a "best" list of this kind. I just don't believe it's the ONLY such brand-specific site (or, more specifically, that Nikon isn't the only brand whose adherents' websites are) deserving of a place on such a list.


> And it's also a $$ game. Websites look for advertisers, and well, see the first part again.

Yeah. Money is the root, and all that... ;-|
OK, so maybe it's not the ROOT of all evil, but it often messes up otherwise-reasonable things...


> Steve - sounds like you have a few sites you like. What'cha got?

To begin with, I've got to re-iterate my original point -- that list has a LOT of great sites. Most of my favorite of the non-brand-specific ones are included. A few that "should" have made it but didn't:

deviantart - multiple followup's mentioned this one, so it almost "doesn't count" as not-included... ;-)

modelmayhem... are there so few portrait/fashion shooters following "photocritic"? AFAIK, modelmayhem is one of the favorite sites for that segment.

stopshootingauto - even though the original "top 50" article seems to be aimed at more-experienced shooters, this site IMHO is one of (if not the!) best one(s) those "more-experienced" shooters should know about, to recommend to the P&S crowd when they're looking to step to the next level...

As to brand-specificity... I shoot with the a-mount (Alpha), so when I want info on that mount I usually go to *those* brand-specific sites. A couple of the "ol' standby's" include alphamountworld.com and photoclubalpha.com.

The really great one IMHO is dyxum.com (the name is a blend of Dynax+Maxxum, but ironically skips the "Alpha" name) . While "brand-centric," they don't bash other makers and mounts. The degree of civil discourse, useful commentary & information, the comprehensive lens-database, & so forth, make it IMHO one of the premier sites. I know for a fact that some folks who shoot CaNikon hang out at Dyxum because the site gives them stuff they can't get in their "own" environment. For at least 3rd-party lenses, I don't hesitate to recommend Dyxum's lens-database (and collected, user-generated reviews) to anyone considering non-OEM glass.


- Steve