I'll probably get an iPad3 when they come out, and perhaps subscribe to some photography magazines, like Black & White, on it, but I still love the feeling of sitting down with a pristine, glossy paper magazine. The problem is, they're getting increasingly expensive and you eventually build up a pile of them to get rid of.

I'm just wondering, how many people are still buying magazines about photography? I've been a real magazine junkie over the years, especially favouring British magazines, and I still like them, but I've really cut back buying them, although I still subscribe to three. There's just so much material on the web nowadays, are paper magazines going to go the way the dodo?

Phil
A Canadian Nikonian
My portfolio: www.pjr99.500px.com

I have had a few subscriptions through zinio on my iPad but increasingly I find them all to be either similar (no new info) or covering topics I don't care about. But I gotta say, I like magazines on the iPad much more than paper based ones in bet they'll look even more smashing with a retina iPad.

I just let my last paper subscription cancel.

I found that the articles are getting somewhat redundant, advertisements taking up more space and they have gotten pricey.

I also had some stuff on Zinio for $25 a year but didn't care for the look or feel of reading it online.

I still prefer magazines and newspapers vs. online but I'm sure I'm in the minority.

Bob, A Florida Nikonian

"When you turn your camera on...does it return the favor?
"If Not get a "NIKON" !

Still like magazines, paper and electronic. But I am reading a lot more now on the iPad.

They can be incredibly inexpensive on the iPad. I recently subscribed to National Geographic on the iPad and discontinued the print copy. The price difference was something like $15 versus $55. And it is superb on the iPad. The previous month's edition included a short video clip of them photographing a pair of identical twin girls.

Peter

Peter,

What about the maps though? One of the things I always enjoyed about NG were the maps. I guess you have to buty them now, if you want them on your wall? Do you get e versions in any event?

Scott Chapin
Powder Springs, GA, USA
Nikonians Team Member

+! What he said. I used to work at Borders so I was able to grab a few moments here and there on break and lunch to look at the photography magazine. They and the other magazines have increasingly become way too much ad space and too little commentary. The last Time magazine I looked at was next to no news and only brief article at that but there were tons of ads. Not worth buying.

A society is changing and newspapers and magazines must find a new business model or they will not survive. In a similar vein of thought, an article I read recently discussed how young people don't wear wrist watches much anymore as they have so many electronic devices around them that have the time. Older people do wear watches. Shortly after that my 23 year old son had his boss walk up and think he was making a phone call while working when in reality he was just checking he's time. Luckily he was able to convince the boss. (Lack of a wrist watch helped no doubt.)

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I find that believable but hard to digest. Of course, I am OC about time. Pocket watches have always facinated me, but I never wanted to take the time to dig them out of a pocket. Cell phones are little different. You still have to muck with them to read the time. The wrist watch reigns supreme despite your age.

My grandfather used pocket watches, because wrist watches wouldn't keep accurate time on his wrist. Strange, but true.

My clocks that are visible at the same time have to change time together or I go crazy. My wife says if I don't go to heaven, Satan is going to stick me in a room full of clocks and no two will read the same.

Scott Chapin
Powder Springs, GA, USA
Nikonians Team Member

I am still buying them, but I have cut back recently. I think that some of the titles are recycling their material too frequently. I haven't been tempted by an Ipad yet, but I guess the time will come.

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With the eyesight problems I am currently experiencing (cataracts etc) I do find magazines easier to read in electronic format but , unlike a previous corespondent I do think that they are too expensive for what is essentially a collection of advertising and a few pages of writing. As for National Geographic I have forty years worth lining my shelves and could not imaging only having virtual copies!

Andrew

My Lenswork has lapsed, and I probably won't renew until I get an iPad. (I know it's coming - my wife is pestering me about the rumors on an iPad3... so I know I'm getting her iPad when she gets a 3...) When I renew I'll be renewing it digitally.

At the moment I am not taking any of the photography magazines. I waffle on Pop Photo - at least at the price it doesn't need to have a winner article very often. A couple of the British ones seem worthwhile but I am not keen on the prices - so digital delivery might put them back in the picture. B&W might be an option - it occurs to me that I haven't made a color print in more than a month.

Interestingly, I still get lots of magazines - including several British motorsport publications, particularly Motorsport, which I'd prefer to keep getting on paper due to some good photography and just plain quality presentation. Most of my other magazines I would be happy to get digitally, actually. (A couple come only digitally.)

_____
Brian... a bicoastal Nikonian and Team Member

My gallery is online. Comments and critique welcomed any time!

Of the British magazines, BJP rocks digital delivery. The iPad app is a real pleasure to use -- it takes full advantage of what can be done in digital delivery that can't on paper.

~ Stephanie

I subscribe to several print magazines, off and on. I get offers for low introductory subscription rates and subscribe; then I get offers to renew at higher rates and let the subscription lapse. For example, I used to subscribe to National Geographic, but the price kept going up so I quit. Just got an offer to subscribe for around $15 and took it, so I'll be getting it again. (It was $12 plus some shipping charge, which as I recall was around $3.) I do enjoy the paper magazine and don't think I'd enjoy reading on an iPad as much, partly because it is smaller (but I don't have one, so that's just a conjecture).

One thing I enjoy about photography magazines (obviously) is the photography, and I think photos can come out better in print, although some magazines print too many too small to have much impact.

Randy

>I do enjoy the
>paper magazine and don't think I'd enjoy reading on an iPad as
>much, partly because it is smaller (but I don't have one, so
>that's just a conjecture).

I was thinking that in the case of NG, it isn't much different in size on the iPad2. And on an iPad, the images are much more vivid due to the light emission of the screen.

Peter

Well -- I prefer paper -- maybe I am a dinosaur -- but, I can curl up on the couch with a paper magazine and read it for an hour or two. I do NOT like sitting at the computer to read!!

I don't get the complaints about content, since the paper vs the on-line can be exactly the same?? Assuming that (they are the same), I much prefer a relaxed read with paper !!!

----
Dennis Smith.

It depends, some magazines have a lot more content when electronic than in paper. Depends on the publisher and their goals. Many are just PDF versions of the magazine. But others, increasingly, add video and audio and other features to their online versions.

You can plop on the couch with an iPad, too. Although for comfort having a good case really makes a difference. I was reading about how the iPad has already replaced a very sizable amount of the casual browsing and content consumption previously done with a computer.

Right now the only photography magazines I subscribe to are: Photoshop User, Digital Photo Pro, Outdoor Photographer. I had subscribed to American Photo but it was disappointing. My subscription to Digital Photo Pro will not be renewed because it's like a smaller version of Photoshop User with less content. I just started Outdoor Photographer so not sure yet.

I've also bought a few issues of Light It from Kelby. It's more interactive but doesn't have enough content to keep me coming back. Also looked at Popular Photo's magazine app. Reminds me of American Photo.

I have subscriptions to three photography magazines. However, their quality is in rapid decline, and I spend about 5 min on each issue before they go in the recycle bin.

Tristan

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They probably will eventually go , everything is getting greener. I for one will miss them when they go, you see even though I haven't sat down and read one in awhile, I collect Popular Photography and Outdoor Photographer Magazines. With that said I guess I go sit and read one or both. When I finish I"ll be back to read more posts. Thank you all!

May Your Day Be Happy And
Full Of Beautiful Images
D.H.R.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I let my photography related magazines lapse a few years ago. Other than the gear reviews, which I really don't read, the other articles seem to be recycled from year to year - not much in the way of new, original material. Of course, it may be that I had subscriptions to the wrong magazines, but I was never really impressed with any of them.

Garrett

stuff: D700, D300, AF-S 17-35 f/2.8, AF-S 24-120 f/4, AF-S 80-200 f/2.8, AF 180 f/2.8

and: Ai-S 20 f/3.5, Ai 28 f/2, Nikkor-O 35 f/2 Ai'd, Ai-S 50 f/1.8, Nikkor-K 105 f/2.5 Ai'd, Ai-S 75-150 f/3.5

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I subscribe to Silvershotz (British), Outdoor Photography (the Canadian magazine), and PhotoLife (Canadian).

From the stands, I frequently buy Black & White (British), Digital SLR (British), The British Journal of Photography, and the occasional other, however, lately I'm not buying but just going through them in the store. You can pay $16.00 CDN for a British magazine, which is too much.

Phil
A Canadian Nikonian
My portfolio: www.pjr99.500px.com

I still get Pop Photo, Outdoor Photographer, American Photo, and Shutterbug.

I do a lot of reading on the web but nothing can replace my magazines. They are in the bathroom, on my nightstand, next to my step machine, and by my lounge chair.

Bill

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I don't think they are doomed, yet. There are still too many of us who grew up with, and like the sensory experience of paper books, magazines, ad newspapers. Now having said that almost all of my subscriptions are digital, I love having all my books, the local paper, and all my magaziness on one device that i can take anywhere.

But I still subscribe to the paper editions of all my magazines, I like to cut out different articles and pictures of interest and save them in now, 4 binders. Those that do not get chopped up i donate to a local retirement home, I have a stack of around 40 that need to go right now.

I think the end will come at some point, but for me there is nothing like having a stack of old magazines, and shelves full of my favorite books looking back at me in my office.

----------------------------------------------
CEI

"Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo."

Interesting thread, when you consider it is about photography magazines. Up until recently photographs have always been printed on paper, so paper magazines seem like a natural way to show them.

Thinking ahead, how long will it be before we have a thread "Are paper photographs doomed?" because people are looking at photos on lcd screens rather than on paper? Museums will find it easier to change their photography exhibits, because rather than hanging new prints they just change what's displayed on their lcds.

And then the photo itself is transformed from a static picture into one that moves. You've seen the Harry Potter movies where the pictures on the wall do that.

I'm not too far from that second paragraph now. Most of my photos don't make it past the lcd to be printed. How long before none of them do, and we're wondering why anyone would want to print a photo anyway?

Randy

You've raised some interesting points, Randy! Come to think of it, I would say only about 5% or less of my images get printed now, they're almost all posted on the internet and/or viewed on a monitor.

I still think a good print on fine paper is a beautiful thing, though.

Phil
A Canadian Nikonian
My portfolio: www.pjr99.500px.com

Magazines done well on the iPad rock. My wife enjoys Vanity Fair on the iPad,and it's a much better experience on the iPad than paper.

I'm getting Scott Kelby's Light It magazine, and I like that on the iPad.

The ones I don't like are basically just PDF versions.

I think we are evolving the media to the point where you will see more and more magazines digital and paper, or digital only.

--------------------------
Rick Paul
The Photo Professors

Saguaro Shadows Photography
Tucson, Arizona

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It won't be too long before paper magazines go the way of vinyl records, video and audio cassette tapes and floppy disks. They will be a fond memory.

Clyde

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One of the problems that killed Borders (among many) wife not so much the e-readers but the lack of ethics in American society. I used to work at Borders sand I had an older customer come in with somebody assisting him as he looked at books. I offered to help him. Seems he had a Kindle (which nay reads Amazon book and PDF format, nothing from Borders or Barnes and Noble) but he HATED shopping on line. So he would come in and browse the books and turn pages and then leave to go home and order. You can't stay in business long like that.

BTW, consider photographers do the same thing, they shop the local camera stores to hold and look at that new lens or body and then go home to order at one of the big online retailers.I wrote a blog on this once and a lady from Adorama contacted em to correct the hours I had posted for them and she commented that they didn't want people to do that. If you shop and tie up the time of local stores, you should buy there.

Unfortunately our society has failed to embrace a digital ethic. We know that as they drag and drop our photos to their computers for whatever reason.

Nikonians is the Smithsonian of Nikon knowledge. If there is a question they can't answer, I want to see the question.

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> Nikonians is the Smithsonian of Nikon knowledge.
> If there is a question they can't answer, I want to
> see the question.

OK, here it is:

What question can Nikonians not answer?

Peter

I read photographic magazines and journals both in paper format and on my iPad. Many of them are often repetitive, possible because several different titles will come from the same publisher, who will inevitably recycle ideas, themes and articles to keep costs down and thicken out their output.

I have been reading photography magazines for the past 40 years, so nowadays I like to think I have some feel for the titles that have been value for money and most informative over the long term. I have my favourites - Practical Photography, Digital Photo, BJP. However, absolutely nothing comes near to Amateur Photographer for its clarity, objectivity, infomativeness and influence. Several magazines claim to be the world's oldest photography magazine, but AP has been around continously since the 19th century and it is as fresh and wonderful now as it probably was then.

You can check it out at http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/

Every Saturday morning the latest weekly printed edition of AP arrives in the mail (I am a subscriber) and I eagerly pull it out of its transparent plastic wrapper to delve into the latest news, views, events, articles, readers photos, advertisements, etc. Sure, I enjoy reading stuff on my iPad too, but I would not entertain the prospect of lying in a hot bath reading from an electronic device, but I will happily take the printed AP magazine into that steamy environment. Finally, when I have read the print off the magazine I can happily give it away to bring a little bit of photographic joy into somebody else's life.

So, are photography magazines doomed? For this reader, no, not yet. However, if AP were to go electronic-only at some point in the future, maybe I would have to re-think that opinion.

Cheers

Steve (Bedfordshire, England)
My Nikonians Gallery- please visit and leave a comment
A Nikon in the hand is worth two in the bag!

I just looked and it looks interesting but the price of $260 per year is beyond my reach. Is there a significant difference between the online and the published version?
EDIT ADDITION: Just looked back and the Current Rate offering a Savings is $208 / yr, still beyond my reach.

Nikonians is the Smithsonian of Nikon knowledge. If there is a question they can't answer, I want to see the question.

My Gallery: www.HLDPhotos.com
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$260 per year - ouch! I guess that most of that would be the weekly postal costs to ship the magazine to the US. I pay around £75 ($120) for one year's subscription in the UK, Which means the difference could easily be explained by a $2-$3 postal charge per week to ship across the Atlantic. The difference suggests that this is not the blatant profiteering we often see in the UK by US companies who convert costs at $1=£1 and then add postal shipping costs on top of that.

The AP website contains the highlights of the magazine; e.g., news headlines, some of the articles, a number of the product reviews. It is reasonably comprehensive though. Maybe enjoying the website for now and saving $260 could be a good strategy.

The magazine content increasingly includes photos and competition entries from overseas readers, often submitted online, so the website does enjoy a worldwide readership. The printed magazine is also popular outside the UK, but at the cost you have mentioned, I suspect that professional and trade customers possibly are in a majority in that respect.

It would be interesting to know if any non-UK Nikonians subscribe to the printed magazine, or regularly follow the website content.

Cheers

Steve (Bedfordshire, England)
My Nikonians Gallery- please visit and leave a comment
A Nikon in the hand is worth two in the bag!

Printed photo magazines will die hard. Like printed books, they will stay for a very long time.
However, new technology brings about changes inexorably.
Electronic tablets, iPad most notably, have already claimed 23% of the TV audience in the USA, according to a very recent industry survey.

When we entertained the idea of a quarterly Nikonians magazine, as early as mid 2003, we found it to be very expensive to print and distribute in relation to possible sales with uncertain subscription.
So we created a free electronic version of it. The Nikonian eZine in pdf format.
Since then, readership has climbed from 1,500 readers in the first three months, to 260,000 in the first month, after adding an iPad app to read it.
And we are in the process of adding apps for other devices.

Have a great time
JRP (Founder & Administrator. Nikonian at the north-eastern Mexican desert) Gallery, Brief Love Story, The Team
Join the Silver, Gold and Platinum members that help this happen; upgrade. Join your personal web site to the Nikonians WebRing
Make sure you check our workshops at The Nikonians Academy

I used to enjoy receiving Rangefinder, free of charge. I guess I should not be surprised that they don't send it any more. They do sadly spam me to death.

I stopped my subscription to Popular Photography years ago after they acquired Modern Photography and the articles seemed to start repeating themselves.

Does anybody know of a really good magazine?

Scott Chapin
Powder Springs, GA, USA
Nikonians Team Member

Aahh, thank you for asking the $24,000 question. What are a couple of good magazines to read? If I may categorize - A good beginner's, a general enthusiast, and maybe a couple of special interests like B&W?

Nikonians is the Smithsonian of Nikon knowledge. If there is a question they can't answer, I want to see the question.

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Of all the ones I've run across, Photoshop User is overall the best but it's not totally photography oriented, of course. I've just started reading Outdoor Photographer. I like it so far. I've been disappointed in American Photo and Digital Photo Pro.

> Digital Photo Pro.

I get a freebie from them once in awhile. That is probably due to their not meeting their minimum guaranteed circulation. There's nothing in it that really thrills me either.

Scott Chapin
Powder Springs, GA, USA
Nikonians Team Member