Customer Reviews

Shutterbug

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

In many respects, Shutterbug is the mirror image of Popular Photography & Imaging. The strength of Popular Photography is its quantitative product reviews. Shutterbug does little if any measuring when they review a product. Further, I have never once seen a review in Shutterbug that was anything less than gushing. The writer will go on and on about the strength of the product and never compare it critically to other similar products on the market. I realize that magazines are reluctant to offend potential advertisers but some shred of integrity toward readers would be greatly appreciated.

The relative strength of Shutterbug is reflected in more general articles regarding photographic technique. This is the area that Popular Photography badly stumbles and this magazine definitely manages to perform at a higher level of competence. Unfortunately, these articles are still pretty basic and repetitive. Any decent entry level book on photography would contain 99% of the advice you'll ever find in Shutterbug. So while the articles are better than the reviews, it's hard to say that they alone make it worth the price of a subscription. In the final analysis, I can't recommend Shutterbug to eithe beginners or advanced photographers.

UPDATE: Shortly after posting this review, I flipped through an issue of Shutterbug at a local store. It looks like there has been a change in editorial policy as a product review took the tone of a true critique rather than being a puff piece as they so often did in the past. There still wasn't quite as much meat as I would have liked but this is definitely a step in the right direction for the magazine. Amazon does not allow reviewers to alter the number of starts given once a review is published or I would probably bump Shutterbug up a notch to 3 stars. It still is far from great, but I appreciate the fact that they've improved a bit.

I recieved my first issue of Shutterbug after about 7 weeks from ordering it. I was disappointed in the mag. as almost all of it is ads, ads and more ads. As far as I'm concerned it should be given away for all the advertising they recieve in it. The articles they had in this issue were about very high end equipment that 99% of the readers would not be able to afford or use. Most of the ads do not even contain prices for the products, making them useless for shopping and comparing anyway. I did like the low price that amazon had for Shutterbug though, I would have really been mad if I had paid cover prices for it.

If you see Shutterbug on a news stand you might think it is a typical photo mag for amateurs. The usual heavy emphasis on product reviews and how to articles. In fact the content is very much biased towards professionals. Lots of stuff beyond the interests and capabilities of the average non-pro photographer. e.g. If you want to submit stuff for their challenges they want prints.

However there is a lot of good in it for the rest of us. It is certainly educational.

For my money the best part is in the recommendations of web sites of top class photographers. A real source of inspiration.

I have taken Shutterbug Magazine for many years, along with many other photographic magazines. If I had to pick only one, this is the one I would keep. You can't find a better deal on the price. I was about to re-subscribe at $19.95 a year and then I found it on Amazon for $12.00. This is a fantastic price and if you photograph I'm sure you will learn much from reading it.

Looking at all the other photography magazines out there I think that is the best one in terms of lerning about photography, all the gear, software and tools involved with it. I really enjoy readin it and have the feeling I learn a lot for the money i pay for the subscribtion.

I just received my first issue of Shutterbug. Despite the many pages of advertising (some of which is actually informative), I find that the magazine is full of helpful tips, supplemented by products that are relevant to the advice. I look forward to the other issues and if the quality of the magazine endures, so will my subscription to it.

As any magazine that is dependend on advertisements, do not expect too critical articles. Reviews of products usually start with a description that comes straight from the product flyer including all kinds of bold claims. But the reviews themselves seem to be more neutral as compared to some other popular photography magazines.

There are of course many pages of advertisements from the various small and large retailers. Personally I think that is great, as I see it as information (what is on the market, etc). However if you see it as something distracting I'd advise to buy a couple of issues at the supermarket before commiting to a subscription (then again, a year subscription costs about as much as 3 single issues so who cares?)

All in all pleasant reading, not to deep, but I'm always happy when I see the latest issue in my mailbox.

This is a very basic photography magazine that is best read quickly in the store and put back into the rack.

The camera and lens reviews on the internet are superior and the magazine is bogged down with a ton of advertisements.

Conclusion: save your money.

I like this magazine for the howtos. The monthy contest is fun also. I would recommend this one to everyone.

Shutter Bug has a lot of potential, but the ads kill it completely! I couldn't read a single article without having to skip a few pages of advertisements. Ridiculous.