On Quality, Sustainability, and the Future of this Website
When I first began publishing articles online, my mission was simple: to create a space for thoughtful, in-depth, and technically precise photographic content and share my knowledge for everyone’s benefit. That mission has never wavered and I’m as passionate about it as ever, even though the effort required to produce detailed equipment reviews, explore complex technical subjects, and write long-form articles is substantial.
For a long time, I have offered this content freely. The digital landscape, for the better or worse, has changed profoundly.
My work is now subject to constant, automated crawling by bots and scrapers, often for the purpose of feeding AI models or republishing content without permission. This activity extracts value from the site without any form of contribution, placing a strain on resources while simultaneously devaluing the human effort behind the articles.
Furthermore, the operating reality is that maintaining a resource of this depth requires significant and consistent investment—not just of capital, but of time. The model of relying on sporadic, voluntary contributions has proven insufficient to support the level of quality and maintenance this site demands.
To continue this work and protect it, a change is necessary.
Effective immediately, I will be transitioning the Review, Article, and Technical sections of the website to a members-only model, accessible via a symbolic contribution. The blog section will remain the publicly available front-face of the website, and you will see more publications here than ever before.
Note that this is not a decision to "charge for content" so much as it is a move to preserve it. The new model is a filter—a way to ensure that this site serves its intended audience of passionate human readers, not automated scripts. Your contribution is a direct investment in the sustainability and quality of the expert analysis you value.
I am immensely grateful for the community that has grown around this site. I hope you will join me in this next, more sustainable chapter.
