I was lured over to Hugh Brownstone's YouTube channel today by a tag that indicated the subject would be the newly announced Leica SL-2S. If web-info can be believed the camera is basically a Panasonic S1 with a custom body and some little software touches to tweak the interpretation of the final images.
I presumed, given his much trumpeted relationship with Leica (free trips, lots of loaned test cameras, etc.) that he'd have substantive things to say about the new camera. Color me unamused that he spent a the first 8 minutes and 14 seconds giving us another in a series of overly hashed and overly re-visited stories about the early years of Leica. The faux history lesson was larded with an enormous Hugh-narrated ad for some sort of online service to which I paid no attention.
I skimmed to the 8:14 mark, guided by his sponsor's watermark on the corner of the screen and prepared to hear something new and different about the product only to be given a press release version insulated on all sides by a smug projection of familiarity with the camera that was wholly unearned.
The argument, of course, is that all YouTube videos are less about learning and information delivery and more about entertainment, and I can't argue with that.
Sometimes Hugh can be quite entertaining but the schtick is wearing thin and the callow disregard for the viewer's time in this instance was poignant. Time to become choosier about what sort of YouTube material I look for. Another one off my list.
12 comments:
"all YouTube videos are less about learning and information delivery and more about entertainment".
Totally agree, almost no info but lots of personal show business
That's a well-deserved razzberry to the Three Blind Men. I had the same reaction and it took only 1 minute of selected viewing.
But I don't agree with your dismissal of the SL2's as Lumix S1H and S1R in a slicker case. The -S sensor is different from the ones used in the S5 and S1H, probably better at high ISO. There are lots of other differences, some good, some not, in the components and firmware. The two companies are not as close as it may seem.
As you said MrT, Hugh can be entertaining at times ... the operative term being "at times". I watched his talk (I won't dignify it with the term "review") of the Fuji X-S10. Killed it about a third of the way; still don't understand a word he said or how it relates to the camera. Like you, I won't be back anytime soon.
All Bun, No Burger.
Yes, sad. Even sadder is what Ted Forbes has melted into. Years ago, I wouldn't miss him, dropped him a while ago. I guess he does what pays the bills, and hard to fault that, but I don't need what's on his current menu.
That fellow is so full of himself, I can't stand him. He acts as if he's saying something deep, while he's saying nothing. I'd prefer that Angry Photographer in a way, but actually can't stand him either for other reasons. In general, most YouTube photography videos are three times longer than they need to be, but that's another story.
Occasionally i find Hugh interesting but more often than not his posturing and pretence just become annoying unlike your fine self that gets to the point often in a humorous tongue in check way
Concise Mr. Brownstone is not. Hold that thought!
Smile Face Icon to ATMTX.
Over the last year the relentless onslaught of the need to monetize the video stream has polluted almost every channel. I get it. We all need to keep food on the table and opportunities in the physical realm have largely dried up during the current Dark Age.
YouTube has become the home of the modern day Street Vendor, peddling their wares to the wealthy citizens who walk past.
I am reminded of an old Monty Python skit set in the middle ages where a street vendor was eagerly hawking "Rat on a stick! Rat on a stick!". It's not quite that bad yet, but getting there quickly....
Aaaah....YouTube, that egalitarian repository of some truly wonderful creative stuff, videos related to our other hobbies and stuff that tells you how to fix things as well as some utter c**p.
I've rarely used YouTube to look at "photography stuff" although I have found I can watch Robin Wong or Kai W, both of whom are engaging in their own individual (quirky?) ways....but...I think their videos are about photography and not themselves and maybe that's the difference? Narcissistic presenters with inflated egos spouting about photography or equipment turn me off, particularly as we get enough of that from certain politicians. I have made a note not to look at that channel! Thanks Kirk.
Nigel
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