Protocol

True, but good forums have some kind of community spirit and not just some rigid pigeon holing of topic matter.

IOW a pentax user whose part of the forum community should be able to once in a while post an images for PP critique once in an infrequent while even it wasn't take on his pentax camera. It's the rigidity that puts people off.

People are the most important part of forums.

Agree with Smeggy!

likewise!

being on a discussion forum and telling a member in good standing to go talk about it somewhere else is most odd.

Always agreed with the above comments, but always got in to trouble with the Mods when I do mention this, so be careful.

But I do agree with them with reference to the fact that any photos to be shown on here should be taken with Pentax whether that be the lens or camera.

I really don't see what the fuss is about if an image created on another camera is posted here. I can't imagine that there is an army of photographers out there wanting to post non-Pentax images on the pentax user site. Linking to other sites to display non-pentax images is a bit odd. For instance I've over 10,000 images stored on my computer - most of which are not posted anywhere on the internet - and about 8,000 taken with Olympus cameras. I had recently responded to a topic Diagonals where I thought there was an unbalanced criticism of the Glasgow Transport Museum and I posted some photographs taken with my previous Olympus set up to show someone who hadn't been there what it was like. I did so not as a provocation but simply they were the images to hand. The images were taken down and it was suggested I could post a link to them. What is the logic of that - they are still Olympus images. I get the impression sometimes there a bit of bunker mentality here with regard the Pentax brand. In my years of using Olympus and now Pentax I've only once come across someone who is interested in brands - and that was when I wanted to buy a second hand copy of Photoshop. No-one has ever commented on my camera brand whilst I've been onsite and taking photographs alongside other enthusiasts. I really do find it a bit odd.

We need to organise a big protest march with banners and placards and a brass band with drums and march through the streets of London, Manchester, Birmingham and any other large city, Shouting out to the masses, bringing our plight out into the open for all to see and so they can witness the persecution we are suffering on here that we as a whole are being subjected to.

But not this week as I have to go to work

I agree though any picture that is to be posted in the gallery or your photos or competitions should be Taken with some sort of Pentax related equipment but to regards jamieallens reference photo, that is taking it to extremes.

Look at it this way, i bet there is thousands of photos I am guessing on this site not taken with a Pentax camera or lens? Members Avatars?

For some reason I find it difficult taking a picture of my K-5 with anything other than a non-Pentax camera.

Other than that the rule while a bit errr "tight", suits the site, the sponsors/advertisers, etc etc

Once you know the rule, it's not difficult to adhere to it.

It's a Pentax forum, not a photography forum!

It's a bit less contentious when put into the context of some abuses that have happened in the past.

In essence though, the correct way to establish if something is OK (and to have to ask we must therefore have doubts) is to drop a PM and then it can be sensibly discussed.

agree and with smeggy

Beg to disagree. If the choice is made to have a moderated forum it is best that the rules are clear and unambiguous. If they aren't a) the moderators job becomes impossible and b) the forum tends to disintegrate in acrimony.

Speaking as an ex-mod from other forums the best approach might be to not notice an infringement in cases where the rules themselves aren't helpful. But then if you are called and someone objects you have no option but to remove the post.

Speaking as someone who has run and moderated a successful forum for years, from experience I can say that rules which run contrary to the general expectations of any community always have a negative effect on the vibe of the forum. It's unreasonable to expect a community of Pentax users to only use Pentax cameras and to rigidly clamp down on them occasionally talking about those other brands.

Not having clear and unambiguous rules doesn't make the moderators job impossible and neither does the forum disintegrate into acrimony. Moderating a forum isn't a "paint by numbers/tocking boxes" job it's a job that requires flexibility and a good eye for the sensitivities of the community. It's not easy.

Disagree. It depends on the content of the post. Some forum members will alert a mod over the slightest little thing especially if they have a personal grudge against another member. Again it' about flexibility and taking the community into consideration.

In regards to the "brand" issue being discussed here, the solution for a well designed forum is to have an off topic sub-forum, or an "other Brand" sub-forum. This keeps the off topic stuff away from the main topic of the forum and serves to maintain the bond of the community without people having to go elsewhere and talk to strangers for the odd off topic stuff.


interesting discussion.

I've posted several iPhone shots on here over the years.
Here's one, you can tell from the blown highlights

Having good, sensible and appropriate rules is important, I can agree on that. Personally I would like the strict focus on Pentax to be relaxed but I can see the difficulties as well e.g. just wait for users leaving Pentax to enter into eternal arguments justifying their leaving and posting up 'superior shots' from their new brand choice.

But I stand by the need for the rules, whatever they are, to be clear and unambiguous. Anyone frequenting some of the less well run forums will have seen just how angry people become when they feel they have been unfairly treated and picked on by forum administrators. Even worse than us quarreling amongst ourselves about pixel peeping and halos and stuff

that looks like a fracking rig

but if there was a "other brand" sub-forum, there wouldn't be a problem with people giving such examples. it works well here ...

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/76-non-pentax-cameras-canon-nikon-etc/

In fact at the other pentax forum there's no such rigid strictness on "other brands" even in the main forums when comparing to Pentax and the sky hasn't fallen in.


I'm not saying don't have rules, but somethings should be guidelines rather than rules. Too many strict rules is treating members like school children and alienates people. We are all adults here and no one's going to suddenly flood the forum with non Pentax brand posts.

I still say the best solution to have an "other brand" subforum


that's just healthy and passionate debate