DPReview, or Digital Photography Review if you want to be fancy, announced today that it is closing on April 10. After that, it will cease to publish new articles and will become read-only for a “limited time” before it ceases to exist. I was so shocked that I checked the calendar to see if it was close enough to April Fools for this to be a joke. It’s not.
In his announcement, General Manager Scott Everett cited the operating plan of its parent as the reason for the closure. Not knowing what its parent company was, I clicked the link and realized that it was actually Amazon and this was part of the eliminations announced in January. Apparently Amazon has owned DPReview since before I started reading it.
I’m bummed and I’m going to really miss this site. I’ve used it to do all of my camera research since I decided to ditch Pentax back in 2009. Its reviews have driven every major camera purchase of the last decade – my Canon EOS 50D, EOS 7D, Nikon D750, D500, and D800. I’ve used it to keep up with cameras from other manufacturers and educate myself on how they all compare against each other. I’ve been all over it recently reading about the Nikon Z6, Z7, and Z9 in anticipation for upcoming models. I really love the image comparison tool that lets me compare sensor fidelity, noise, and aberrations between almost any camera made in the last decade or more. I’ve even used the forums on occasion to get answers to odd questions.
I love the site for its historical content and its quality reviews. It’s where I go first whenever there is a new camera announcement because I know it will have great coverage. It’s a bummer that Nikon is so close to announcing new models and DPReview won’t be around to review them. Of course there are other sites, but DPReview was my first photography site and I’m going to miss it.
Relatively Ambitious 