Popular Photography Mag shuttered

[Labdoc]

Most folks on this site won't miss the demise of popular photography magazine. First published in 1937 it was an inspiration to many of us film photographers in the early days. Like many things it has gone by the wayside in this modern digital world.

http://www.adweek.com/digital/bonnier-popular-photography-magazine/

From their web-site

"We are sorry to inform you that Popular Photography is discontinuing publication effective with the March/April 2017 issue.
All current subscribers will receive a notification with further instructions. Rest assured, we have made arrangements to honor the remaining issues on your subscription.
If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]."

 

[unfocused]

Sad. Reflects the death of print media, I guess. I actually enjoyed their reviews. They kept them simple, but seemed to be pretty fair in comparing similar products from different manufacturers.

Mostly they were a vehicle for advertising, but it was nice to see pictures in print, something that we are seeing less and less of these days.

I have fond memories of scouring the back pages during the 70s looking for the best price on cameras and lenses and then sending my cashier's check to Adorama and waiting patiently for my Canon F1 and lenses to arrive.

Before that, I remember being a hormone-filled 13-year-old waiting for the latest Peter Gowland cover.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I bought my first photo products from B&H because of a advertisement in the magazine. I also managed to get cheated with a defective, probably used camera from a fly by night NYC camera store.

After that, I bought from B&H or Adorama, or Glaziers in Seattle when I could. After the internet allowed more reliable vetting of camera stores, I've bought from several others who were very good.

 

[MrFotoFool]

I bought a couple issues years and years ago, but never subscribed because there were more pages of ads than actual articles. I realize magazines are financed by ads, but the amount in their publication seemed to outweigh those in Outdoor Photographer and Shutterbug.

I used to subscribe to Outdoor Photographer (for several years), but finally let it run out because it was the same thing over and over. Every year or so an article on why you need a tripod, an article on why you need a wide angle, etc. Very few profiles of interesting working photographers. Today I was at a used bookstore and flipped through some recent issues of Outdoor Photographer and I was shocked at how thin they were. I wonder how long it will be before they go under?

In my opinion the best photography magazine was PhotoMedia, which was distributed for free at camera shops and photo labs in the western United States (including the lab I used to work at). They did not have silly articles on why you need such and such a lens or accessory. They had feature articles spotlighting the work of very interesting photographers. Sadly they also stopped printing a couple years ago. They were continuing as a website, but I don't know if that is still up.