Ken Rockwell - Godsent or Moron?

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xil3

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Just curious to see what other people think about him.

I personally think that he partially knows what he's talking about, but his articles are too bias, which really tend to **** me off. Therefore, I'm saying MORON! :|
 
Read his site - the about pages I think - he admits a lot of it is written as a wind up.

I suspect that, as with a lot of web sites, you have to read what is written and then go and compare the content with other sites offering similar information. Never fall into the "everything you read on the web is true" trap else the KRs of this world will be causing you no end of grief :)

B.
 
Moron is a bit harsh, he's a guy with a bias opinion that should be taken with a pinch of salt. I actually find some of his articles quite amusing, but I rarely take them seriously.
 
The meter in the D700 is many times better.

I never use center weighted (on the right), and I certainly never use spot (on the left). With the Matrix meter, just shoot. It's smart enough to do all the compensation and locking that you used to have to do in the older modes.
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I just read this on his D700 post and it really annoyed me. He's basically saying that spot and CW metering are useless...

What a load of BS

</rant>
 
xil3 said:
I just read this on his D700 post and it really annoyed me. He's basically saying that spot and CW metering are useless...

What a load of BS

</rant>
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Is he? Really? Reads to me that he's saying he doesn't bother with spot or CW metering, and prefers to use matrix as it is good enough for what he needs.

All about perception and interpretation I guess. Not sure that's basis enough to class someone as a moron though.
 
Simmotino said:
Is he? Really? Reads to me that he's saying he doesn't bother with spot or CW metering, and prefers to use matrix as it is good enough for what he needs.

All about perception and interpretation I guess. Not sure that's basis enough to class someone as a moron though.
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I guess I just took it the wrong way...

And you're probably right - calling him a moron may be a bit harsh.
 
xil3 said:
I guess I just took it the wrong way....
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Not necessarily xil, that may be exactly what he meant, I don't know.

The point I was trying to make was that there is room for personal interpretation in the statement rather than it being a definitive statement of fact.
 
I enjoy reading Ken, I think he talks a lot sense although he does seem to like winding people up sometimes.

With regard to matrix metering, Nikon were claiming years ago that if you found a scene which matrix metering couldn't cope with, it was outside of the ability of film to deal with it anyway. That's probably a bit of a stretch, but I certainly pushed it to the limits in some very demanding situations and I don't recall it ever lettiing me down, in fact many times it just impressed the arse off me.
 
CT said:
I enjoy reading Ken, I think he talks a lot sense although he does seem to like winding people up sometimes.

With regard to matrix metering, Nikon were claiming years ago that if you found a scene which matrix metering couldn't cope with, it was outside of the ability of film to deal with it anyway. That's probably a bit of a stretch, but I certainly pushed it to the limits in some very demanding situations and I don't recall it ever lettiing me down, in fact many times it just impressed the arse off me.
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I believe it, but I wouldn't totally forget about spot and CW...
 
His user guides are really good. Straight forward and easy to follow, not like the Nikon ones which may well be written in Wookey they are that difficult to understand.

Andy
 
his ramblings are moronic wither he is or not I can't tell since I've never met him.
 
While there's some good advice on his site, there's too much BS and carp there to take wht he says with anything less than a handful of salt. You need to know enough to be able to filter out the tripe to be able to get anything out of it apart from his opinions, so not really much use for beginners.
 
He has the kind of face I wouldn't tire of punching.
 
I must admit I'm amazed at the amount of venom KR stirs up. You don't have to visit his web site, you know. Nobody's forcing you. If you do visit it, you don't have to take it seriously. And if you want to have a good rant about something, there are zillions of far worse things out there.

My opinion? Neither a godsend nor a moron. He can be entertaining. He can be stupid. He can be right. He can be wrong. But that applies to pretty much everybody I know. (Except some who are never entertaining.)

I think KR's best characteristic is that he tends to get straight to the point. You know exactly what his opinion is. You don't have to agree with him, and working out why you don't agree with him can sometimes be enlightening.

And I think his other best characteristic is that he doesn't seem to take himself half as seriously as some people round here do. Punch his face in? Come on, that's not acceptable on the street and it's not acceptable here. Lighten up.
 
KayJay said:
He has the kind of face I wouldn't tire of punching.
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:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Seriously though, I asked a similar question about him recently.
The answers were interesting.

I like him. He's passionate about his hobby, he talks allot of sense, and allot
of crap. It's all his opinion, and his experience.

His user guides do rock though!
 
StewartR said:
I must admit I'm amazed at the amount of venom KR stirs up. You don't have to visit his web site, you know. Nobody's forcing you. If you do visit it, you don't have to take it seriously. And if you want to have a good rant about something, there are zillions of far worse things out there.
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I wouldn't say he angers me, but the issue I have is he talks with enough authority to fool people who are new to the hobby into thinking he's right.

He also makes blanket statements about gear based on his requirements and not on the gear itself, without specifying this.
 
StewartR said:
I must admit I'm amazed at the amount of venom KR stirs up. You don't have to visit his web site, you know. Nobody's forcing you. If you do visit it, you don't have to take it seriously. And if you want to have a good rant about something, there are zillions of far worse things out there.

My opinion? Neither a godsend nor a moron. He can be entertaining. He can be stupid. He can be right. He can be wrong. But that applies to pretty much everybody I know. (Except some who are never entertaining.)

I think KR's best characteristic is that he tends to get straight to the point. You know exactly what his opinion is. You don't have to agree with him, and working out why you don't agree with him can sometimes be enlightening.

And I think his other best characteristic is that he doesn't seem to take himself half as seriously as some people round here do. Punch his face in? Come on, that's not acceptable on the street and it's not acceptable here. Lighten up.
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Damn you and your sensible balanced answer ;)

Personally I'd love to hate him but actually have to really respect him for managing to become a true icon of Photography on the internet, he may not be the best tog in the world and he may not have the best website in the world but hell he sure is famous.
 
Yeah, I'll give him that much - he was smart and started that site!

I wish I was motivated enough to do that...
 
You've gotta give the guy kudos for taking the time to express his opinion on t'internet, how many of us could be bothered or have the witherall to do the same .
As somebody has already said' you don't have to read his reviews, no one is forcing you to, if you think he is spouting BS then he probably is :shrug:, but it is just his opinion at the end of the day, if we were all the same, the world would be a very boring place

P.S I anything you,ve read in this post has helped you in any way please feel free to donate a sum of money in the usually way:lol:
 
StewartR said:
And I think his other best characteristic is that he doesn't seem to take himself half as seriously as some people round here do. Punch his face in? Come on, that's not acceptable on the street and it's not acceptable here. Lighten up.
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There was no venom in my statement, its a phrase that you may not have heard before. Of course I wouldn't beat him up, just like I wouldn't have expected anyone to take what I said seriously. :bonk:
 
In actual fact, his manuals are AMAZING!
Just been reading through the D200 one, and it is SOOOOOOO helping me learn my new toy.

The Nikon manual is CRAP :razz:
 
andy_fozzy said:
In actual fact, his manuals are AMAZING!
Just been reading through the D200 one, and it is SOOOOOOO helping me learn my new toy.

The Nikon manual is CRAP :razz:
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Yeah, me too, I used his settings as a basis, then learnt to re-set them up to suit me. The manuals are, well....factual. I mean they presuppose a certain level of expertise and knowledge. They'll tell you what the settings are for, but not how to use them.
 
aberal said:
Yeah, me too, I used his settings as a basis, then learnt to re-set them up to suit me. The manuals are, well....factual. I mean they presuppose a certain level of expertise and knowledge. They'll tell you what the settings are for, but not how to use them.
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Indeed, that's what I found!
Ken's manual is actually explaining
 what each feature/setting does.

Thanks Ken :thumbs:
 
After much deliberation and thought in the matter (all three minutes of it) I have come to the conclusion he might as well disappear off the face of the earth and take his web pages with him.

It has already been said here that he has enough assumed credibility to make people think he knows what he is talking about and that is downright scary, sad or both...

Enough has been said of him being biased and I have nothing to add to that, save to say that I feel nothing but complete apathy for him.

Photography is neither the first, nor the last subject where the one-eyed guy is king. Let him fight Rob Galbraith for the title on some remote planet far from here!



PS, to answer the OP's question...neither, simply background noise best avoided or blanked out...much like the music played in hotel lifts and doctors' waiting rooms
 
Doesn't anyone look at the about page these days?

While often inspired by actual products and events, just like any other good news organization, I like to make things up and stretch the truth if they make an article more fun. In the case of new products, rumors and just plain silly stuff, it's all pretend. If you lack a good BS detector, please treat this entire site as a work of fiction.
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:rollpies:
 
IIRC, he disliked the D3x quite a lot and really panned it (when comparing it to the "standard" D3) so I was a little surprised to see that he's ordered one... Sounds like even HE doesn't trust his own reviews - or maybe he decided he'd better actually use one before spouting about it?
 
I like the bloke, its easy to spot the exaggerations and B/S, take that out and his reviews and suggestions are pretty damn good, if a little slanted on a personal level to his own tastes.

Godsend..nope
Moron..nope

Icon.
 
Nod said:
IIRC, he disliked the D3x quite a lot and really panned it (when comparing it to the "standard" D3) so I was a little surprised to see that he's ordered one... Sounds like even HE doesn't trust his own reviews - or maybe he decided he'd better actually use one before spouting about it?
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I'm going to keep posting this until people read it :p

I have the playful, immature and creative, trouble-making mind of a seven-year-old, so read accordingly.

This site is purely my personal speech and opinion, and a way for me to goof around.

While often inspired by actual products and events, just like any other good news organization, I like to make things up and stretch the truth if they make an article more fun. In the case of new products, rumors and just plain silly stuff, it's all pretend. If you lack a good BS detector, please treat this entire site as a work of fiction.
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http://www.kenrockwell.com/about.htm
 
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