What Happened To The Site?

No explanation but guessing maintenance (although we'd usually get a heads-up but times have changed, but maybe a crash).

Someone also asked on REDuser (with 2 other members wondering what's up as well).
 
I'm the one who asked on RedUser. The site admins never responded. I was surprised that there wasn't more of a reaction from those on RedUser, some of whom were probably regulars on this site at one point or another. I was starting to wonder if DVX had gone the way of BMCuser.

Also, there were multiple times last week when I thought of something that I wanted/needed to look up on this site and wasn't able to. So if/when this site ever goes dark permanently, video folks everywhere are going to be losing a truly unique resource.
 
Last edited:
I think somewhere between 2014-2018 when the site was absolutely popping with casts of characters from all places, it hit me for the first time and I mentioned how unique this forum was because of its archive of information and user experiences for camera/software/audio technology (mostly cameras).

People were naturally reacting to and living through so many cameras and specs and so many questions were asked and answered, it's amazing. So many discussions about announcements, releases, wishlists.

You could probably say something similar about a few of those really older early 2000-ish forums, maybe Creative COW or something else (it's been so long I don't remember anymore), but not sure anyone was like good ole DVXuser (some threads had hundreds of pages, it was insane).

I saw RU got a site update/design change which I actually think looks pretty good so in my mind I'm telling myself they are prepping DVXuser for it and the site isn't going anywhere.

:2vrolijk_08:
 
The Sony F55 Community Forums was the one that sticks in my mind, we got our first introductions to 4K, SLog/2/3, EI, Luts and S35 sensor formats. Before that, the godawful tricks we were using, Letus, Brevis. Sony participation from Juan Martinez, a stream of firmware updates for the F5 and F55, and professionals Doug Jensen, Alister Chapman, Dennis, Grug, others. It was a really good source of knowledge that Sony pulled the plug on.
 
Was there ever any explanation why?

I was never on there but [in passing] I got the feeling people really liked it.

If Sony never said why, I feel like the only possible reason could be because people were getting too smart with tech and expectations and they didn't like that (at least at the time without the hindsight to know how the world was going to get with cameras and everything).
 
The Sony F55 Community Forums was the one that sticks in my mind, we got our first introductions to 4K, SLog/2/3, EI, Luts and S35 sensor formats. Before that, the godawful tricks we were using, Letus, Brevis. Sony participation from Juan Martinez, a stream of firmware updates for the F5 and F55, and professionals Doug Jensen, Alister Chapman, Dennis, Grug, others. It was a really good source of knowledge that Sony pulled the plug on.

There is a new Sony forum, but it doesn't get much traffic. As you know, the usefulness of a forum is entirely determined by the people who choose to contribute.
https://community.sonycine.com/
 
Was there ever any explanation why?

I was never on there but [in passing] I got the feeling people really liked it.

If Sony never said why, I feel like the only possible reason could be because people were getting too smart with tech and expectations and they didn't like that (at least at the time without the hindsight to know how the world was going to get with cameras and everything).

I don't know. It felt like Sony were trying to take control during the time of a product division change, which coincided with letting go of key people that had been supporting F5/F55 updates that had transformed those cameras from crippled to pretty great. In the beginning, the F55 didn't have any exposure tools, later it got waveform, histogram, some updates to its codecs, just felt like a living community of support that played well, but as you say, the expectations for more were never ending, not unlike BMD now.
 
No explanation but guessing maintenance (although we'd usually get a heads-up but times have changed, but maybe a crash).

Someone also asked on REDuser (with 2 other members wondering what's up as well).

Yeah, you would think that if it was something like that, they would have given a heads up. But over the last year, it’s not uncommon for me to not be able to access the site on the first try and get a message along the lines of ‘requests to access the site/site resources have been exceeded’ or ‘can’t find server’.

I’ve just been operating under the presumption that with the ever dwindling traffic/participation here, that they may not be devoting as many resources to running the site (money) as in the past. I mean the site is a treasure trove and huge repository of information, but honestly there are only a handful of us that are really still active on here on a regular basis.

It would be a shame for this site to go away, though.
 
maybe one of us should make a plan B simple back-up forum...register, have a place to fall back to if anything
 
The reason I left DVinfo in the first place was the over-moderation by the owner Chris Hurd. His ambition was to maintain a high "signal to noise" ratio and I respect that, but the process of getting rid of the noise also got rid of the signal. Dvxuser when Barry was around was refreshing and cultivating of ideas and mostly lets problems work themselves out.
 
Although sometimes things went crazy here and anyone in charge maybe let it go too long, there were other times people were constantly banned and threads were closed, so not always.

It's a tough job; you feel you have a responsibility because people are writing words/thoughts on something you run/own but it's not always straightforward when to moderate.
 
poor BMCuser doesn't even load anymore; that place was just as hot as this one and even more so at times (obviously not with such great extensive history but still a very solid 6-7 years)
 
The reason I left DVinfo in the first place was the over-moderation by the owner Chris Hurd. His ambition was to maintain a high "signal to noise" ratio and I respect that, but the process of getting rid of the noise also got rid of the signal. Dvxuser when Barry was around was refreshing and cultivating of ideas and mostly lets problems work themselves out.

DVinfo seems to cater mostly to hobbyists and wannabes these days. Very few true "professionals" that work for demanding clients. But we could easily bring it back up to speed if DVX went offline permanently. Almost no moderation over there, so whatever issues there used to be, I doubt would be a problem any more. But unless DVX goes dark, I am not suggesting anyone make the jump over to the other site. Look at it as a backup meeting place when/if needed. But hopefully it won't be needed.
 
I know Barry was more or less one of the "founding fathers" here, way before I started frequenting this site, and during "the covid year" he going through some serious health issues and I would never wish ill-will on anyone, but I'm glad he stepped away from DVX. His moderation became WAY over the top and he crossed the line with some people. He drove John Brawley away, who was a great resource and asset to this site. My opinion, a site like this that is largely adults that are working professionals needs very little, if any, moderation. 9 out of 10 times, things will sort themselves out.
 
Back
Top