Is this forum dying?

I am beginning to wonder if it is worth contributing to this forum. Lately there has only been 3 or 4 of us posting here. When I come here I am often the only member logged on.

It just seems like I am wasting my time coming here. I thought it was a good idea creating this forum as there are many Canon owners but it just does not seem to be getting much interest. If the current level of activity does not increase I don't see the point of contributing. I've given it my best shot but I don't think it is working and I am not sure what is needed to make it more active.

Any suggestions?

 

OK, Johnsey, I won't give up just yet. If you do a Google search on "canon camera discussion forum" this forum is on the first page in fifth place which is encouraging. There probably are some active discussions on DPR but I am not a big fan of DPR and I won't be going there but apart from that there is not much of interest on offer so I don't know why we aren't getting more members.

I am in a Canon group on Facebook and it is very active but it is an Aussie group so not relevant for us here. But it does show what can be achieved. I don't think that groups like this are now out of favour despite the popularity of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the like.

At this stage I don't have much to discuss and I will continue to post images but I will only post images here that I have produced with my Canon cameras. My Pentax images will be posted on pentaxforums. But that is just me. I don't have a problem with others who do things differently.
Let's hope that we can get a bit more action going here.

 

I was shooting at the lagoon last week on a windless day, i soon found out that i did like the glass like surface of the water. so i threw a rock in to it. ijs

 

So, post an image to show what happened.

 

Ray, don't get disheartened, mate, as with any thing new, it usually starts of with a fair bit of interest and that slowly dies off leaving a core group of individuals such as yourself and it is these individuals that are the glue that holds the group together. Given time the quality of the core group will encourage new members and the forum will increase to a stable and close group of members.. It was the same with the photography class I teach . Started out with eight people after a few passed away and some moved to other areas (I teach older people) it dropped off to a couple to which has built up to six with other showing interest and the class is growing. Don't give up as one of our most prolific contributors, your input will sorely be missed.

 

I agree with what you have said but the lack of a monthly competition which gives members and prospective new members,something to focus on. Since the monthly competition has not been run, the resulting lack of interest is obvious. You don't always need a prize to encourage participation. Just photo of the month will do for a start each month to give people something to aim for and with-out it the obvious results.

 

Thank you, Craig, for your sage advice and kind words. What you have said makes a lot of sense and I will take it to heart. I will make it work to my advantage by taking more images with my Canons and posting only quality images (well, my version of quality! ) in the hope that they may encourage others.

As I have now gained a good understanding of how my two Canons work I don't think that I need to ask too many questions but I will be happy to help out if I can when others have questions. Despite their age (and I'm no spring chicken either!) these two Canons are quite capable of taking very acceptable and sometimes outstanding images. It took a while to gain familiarity but I was sure that my years of experience with Pentax DSLRs would prove helpful - and it did. And my Photoshop and Lightroom knowledge made it easier to produce output that I was pleased with regardless of where the RAW files were created.

 

You are pretty spot on with what you say and do and it is that experience that the group needs, now look at most young people and they are more interested in the latest technology and fads. Given time and a few kids they will grow out of it and find there way back to older pastimes such as photography and the equipment used.These will be our new core members so hang in there things will improve.

 

I heartily agree with Craig on this one. We have a Photography Club in our retirement village and we have a competition each month. It is usually based on a subject or theme but the one for last month was for "Your Favourite Image from the last 12 Months" and the variety of wonderful images was great to see. Yes, a monthly comp is a good idea. It does not need to be judged. We just need to be encouraged to share images.

 

Thanks for that, Phil. Yes, if you could automate it that would be even better. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

I am also guilty of not posting more often, sorry. The idea of a "Photo Of The Month" sounds good, maybe we'll get some more participation from that. How about no prize, no subject, no theme, members only, and voted by members. Just my thoughts.

 

Yes, I think that could work. Let's wait and see what Phil comes up with.

 

Hello people,

I've not been much active on the internet in the past months & definitely not on here Canonforums as my trusty 70D got sick last halloween with Err80.

I had made a post about the same & am truly surprised that there was not a single other user with the same problem when the net is full of users giving out about the same. Lead me to realize not many are coming through here.

Yes, it is surprising that more Canon heads haven't come this way...

I'd have to agree with johnsey there about the wealth of info on the PF site. Inspite of being a Canon user, i've been there oh so often...its the reason why i'm here actually. The information cataloged so efficiently is priceless.

As he mentioned there to it took a very long time to gather all that info, i'm sure it started small (i did not know it then though)

All i can say here is to the small group of people who have taken the efforts to create this forum, keep it going on. Like a little seed it will grow, maybe winter is a bit longer this year..but spring will come by.

As of now unfortunately i can't think of any brilliant ideas to get more traffic through, will give it some thought when i'm in better times (life is a bit upside down right now)

Maybe start a lens database of only Canon EOS mount lenses. I'm not a web developer so not sure what is involved, but i'd say the database should be searchable, well catalogued and as efficient as the one on PF.
Right now there is the lens discussion thread, its very messy & in my minor opinion not very inviting, as an example i used to spend hours going through the one on PF sometimes purely out of curiousity. Originally went in to look at just one lens, but my gosh the trail kept on going

I'd say the layout & cataloged structure makes a big difference to accessing information & making a site/forum really useful. Once its easy to access info, users grow & in turn content grows.

Personally not sure about the competition part as there are not many active users to vote really, will probably just be the same heads all the time.


On a side note,
Ever since my 70D turned off, i've been off photography completely.

Could'nt take it anymore especially with spring coming on here & the light, clouds, colors, new births with the birds, trees, flowers around, so just in the last weeks ordered a used fuji x (pissed off with canon as a company really)

And now, today got good news that Canon is probably going to provide free support for the 70D, just that news itself revived something in me.

And if it all works out well, i'll be back on the track & hope to post up some adventures & more useful bits and bobs on here.

Just my thoughts on here really, best wishes & big thanks for creating the forum, appreciated by us sure

 

Thanks for your thoughts, denn. I'm sure the admins will read them.

 

Also, as an owner of both Canon and Pentax equipment, I would observe that Pentax stuff is, well, quirky. They do a lot of really neat engineering, but the products are a bit flaky. Consequently, there's lots to talk about on PentaxForums.com.

 

I also am an owner of both Pentax and Canon equipment and I take great exception to your comments about Pentax. Both brands have their strengths but Pentax gear is neither quirky nor flaky. If you disagree, provide examples.
Pentax cameras certainly have features than Canons don't. The same applies vice versa but not to the same degree.
I don't think that your unsubstantiated and derogatory claims add anything to this forum.

 

I agree with Ray, I use both, their engineering may differ but hey both are usable and product very nice results.
I particularly like the early Pentax and Canon film lenses.