Oh no! DPReview, one of my favourite online photography websites, is to close down on 10th April. It has been around for 25 years, and has a huge and very useful archive of photo reviews and articles. It still has clout and authority. But its ultimate owner, Amazon, has decided that, as part of its current slimming-down process - eliminating unprofitable parts of its empire - DPReview has to go. The decision was announced only a couple of hours ago. Already there have been howls of sadness and protest from website readers (and watchers of the YouTube channel). Everyone hopes that somehow the archive will be preserved, and not wiped. Or that Amazon will relent and sell it to someone else, rather than just shut it down. One or two commentators are however resigned to DPReview's disappearance, remembering other websites that were institutions but fell victim to unsentimental business economics.
I have been a follower of DPReview since discovering it in the early 2000s. Certainly, it guided me in the purchase of my Canon G6 in 2005, and every subsequent camera except my current favourite, my Leica X Vario. (DPReview didn't review that one; its launch price made it very niche) It was a reliable place to find a thorough and illuminating examination of a particular camera, and it was famous for its comprehensive tests, and carefully expressed opinions. I found DPReview's conclusions about a product realistic and balanced. This is not to say that there weren't many other good camera review websites - indeed there were - but DPReview was the complete one-stop shop, with buying guides galore, constantly updated, and a finger on all the latest industry news.
One commentator wondered how the camera manufacturers would react. DPReview was one of their main showcases, and their sales may now suffer. And yet a DPReview 'rescued' and 'reinvented' by (say) a syndicate of camera and equipment manufacturers would lose its editorial freedom and integrity.
Well, we'll soon know what its fate will be. I personally believe that Amazon will kill it off without the slightest compunction or regret.
