Shilling Is Ruining Our Industry: Thoughts on MPB's GFX 100 II Review

I’d like to begin this post by stating that I think Amy, the presenter, is one of the best in the business. She’s passionate, knows her stuff, takes beautiful photographs, and delivers information with enthusiasm that rivals any network television presenter. She’s fantastic. This post isn’t about her. You are loved Amy. I loved your videos with WEX and it’s great to see you with MPB. WEX lost a good one. I know you’re just doing your job.

I’d also like to add that I love MPB and they are my preferred place to trade camera gear. They give great rates for used gear, offer free shipping, and a hassle free experience. I sold my Panasonic S1R to them a several months ago and was very pleased with my experience.

Now, I must define for the normies what a shill is. A shill is a person who pushes products/services due to some sort of financial incentive while being disguised as someone who genuinely loves said product/service. They could have a contract with a company or be an affiliate or be granted exclusive access to products, events, etc. But their m.o. is always to push things for the brand in order to get you to buy them. They will expouse all the wonderful upsides of the product/service and encourage you to part with your hard earned money.

The shill lacks integrity. The shill won’t be critical of the product because their partnership with the brand will be at stake. The shill wants that sweet affiliate revenue. The shill doesn’t want to lose out on paid for trips to cool events in cool cities. And the shill does not give a shit about you or if the product/service they’re reviewing will actually help you. Notice how the shill recoils and is incensed if you call them out for what they are.

Sadly, shills are everywhere. They are rampant in the photography/video industry but you will also see them in gaming, film, music, cosmetics, fashion, tourism, travel, and more. Most influencers are shills. Paid for people who are just there to promote a product instead of offering an honest review of the product so you, the consumer, can make a smart purchasing decision. I find it insulting, irresponsible, and dishonest.

So in the video above, the title is “Is Bigger Always Better? Fujifilm GFX 100 II Review”. Review being the operative word. A review, in the actual sense of the word offers a critique of the thing it’s reviewing. The pros, the cons, the benefits, the downsides, probably comparisons to other products. With a title like “Is Bigger Always Better”, you’d think there would be extensive comparison to smaller formats or previous cameras in the lineup, but no.

There’s no critical look at any of the cameras features. The weight. How it feels in the hand. The file sizes. The shooting speed. The limitations of all the various video formats. How it compares to previous models or competitor products.

A review is not a promotional video or product showcase that just reads off the specs, constantly praising every little feature, while not pointing out any downsides or looking at alternatives. For this video it’s just “100 Megapixels!” “The video features!” “It’s incredible!” “We have a new film simulation!”

Just praise, praise, praise. This is not a review. This is shilling for Fujifilm and of course, for MPB.

If you truly want to do good by your customers, it would be better to offer an unbiased, real review. If you’re a YouTuber who does reviews of any sort, you fall into this as well. If you begin your review with “Fujifilm was kind enough to send me the camera for a couple of weeks.” You’re probably a shill and your review is probably dishonest.

Please stop doing this. Shilling doesn’t help the consumer and just leads to a lot of buyer’s remorse and irresponsible spending. Or an innocent buyer purchasing a product completely wrong for their needs. Shilling also doesn’t help brands. While it may move a few products in the short-term, long-term it doesn’t cause them to make any changes or refinements to improve the product. Critique is not “hating” or “being negative”. Critique when done objectively is extremely useful in helping consumers make informed purchases while also improving the product, service, film, game, etc.

If you’re a brand, stand by the quality of your product and stop this business practice of buying people just so they can give you a favorable review. The GFX 100 II is an amazing camera that will be loved by many, but it’s not appropriate for everyone and being honest about this in reviews will help improve your brand’s image. Reviewers can easily recommend a Fuji X-T5 or X-H2S as alternatives for those on a budget or if they want lighter, smaller, faster. What happens with disingenuous reviews besides consumers wasting money is they grow a resentment towards the product because it wasn’t what they expected. Then they post bad reviews which hurts both the company and product’s image because someone made a misguided, misinformed purchase.

I’ve seen replies to these reviews with comments like, “Man that camera is a beast!”. It is. And so are the files. You probably don’t need it, won’t enjoy it, and will lose money when you inevitably sell it for a more appropriate camera for your needs. Going off on a tangent, but every camera isn’t appropriate for everything. You don’t use a tank when a rifle will suffice. The GFX 100 II isn’t really made for snapshots, to take everywhere, and to do everything. It’s not meant for sports. Or wildlife. Or street photography. You could use it for those things but there are better options and pros in this space understand this. There are different cameras for different purposes. Please understand this and buy accordingly.

End tangent. Back to shilling.

Sadly, the photography industry is rampant with these sort of reviews as “shilling” is a potential path to earning money. It’s not as lucrative as it once was, but every year, more photographers create a YouTube channel to review gear, hoping to earn money from being an affiliate or through ad revenue. And companies see this as the best way to sell their product. We have to do better.

This is not the way.

Mannequins (Street Photography)

A collection of posey mannequins captured on the streets of SoHo in New York. Not sure if I’ll include it in my street portfolio or nude portfolio.

I’m leaning towards nude, it’s kinda cheeky.

New York in Color (Street Photography)

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A collection of street images in New York City from the past couple of months.

Although much of the work I post is in black-and-white, believe it or not, I prefer color. As Winter gives way to Spring and the sun is more prominent in the sky, I feel much more inclined to go out and do street photography. I’m not a huge fan of boring overcast skies for this sort of work. Ample sunlight makes the colors pop, shadows more prominent, and reflections more interesting. Not to mention the overall energy of the city changing.

Instead of my A7RV, I used the Sony A7CR with the Sony FE 35mm f/1.8 lens for most of these outings. While I love the quality of that lens, I found the shape of it a little too long for discreet street photography. I didn’t want to buy another 35mm, but since I have a preference for small, lightweight equipment, I bit the bullet and picked up the Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens.

When I paired it with the A7CR, I immediately knew this was the best lens for my approach to street photography. Super small, lightweight, sharp, and with fast focusing makes it still a great option in 2024. I also picked up the Sony FE 50mm f/2.5 G Lens as a complement when I want a 50mm lens. I already have the Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA Lens, but similarly to the 35mm f/1.8 I find it too long. I’ll keep both the 35mm f/1.8 and 55mm f/1.8 and use them for video work or in special cases when I need a faster aperture (i.e., client work in a lowlight setting).

A final note about the A7CR and A7RV. Both cameras use the same sensor and produce the same image. Besides the detailed, lifelike image quality, I’ve been most pleased with the color from the cameras. If using Capture One, I recommend not using the default Sony profile the program uses. I have my “Base Characteristics” see to the Fujifilm GFX 50S II as my ICC profile. This produces much better color than the default Sony profile Capture One uses. I’ve also heard you can get good results using the Canon R5C profile. Play around and do what works for you.

I’m really loving the color and performance from these cameras. Props to Sony.

More to come.

You Don't Have to Be Artsy

I freakin’ LOVE shooting on the beach. Art be damned.

A trap I think a lot of artists fall into is this notion that you have to be artsy in order to be an artist.

If you’re a photographer, you have to do some intellectually charged art project in order to be accepted by the high brows of society. Even my favorite photographer, Richard Avedon, fell into this trap. His commercial/editorial photography was immensely successful both critically and especially financially. He was rich off the beautiful images he created for glossy fashion magazines. But the art community at the time frowned their noses up and didn’t really embrace him into their elitist fold. This bothered Avedon and he would go on to labor for years on work that would earn him that seal of approval from this group of “tastemakers” of the time.

Truthfully, whether you like it or not, all of it is art. To what degree is certainly debatable, but it all falls under that umbrella. Whether you’re doing it for money or doing it for passion, it counts as art.

The thing to remember is that you don’t have to be artsy in order to be successful and/or appreciated. Daniel Day-Lewis is one of my favorite actors of all time, but I wouldn’t consider his films as entertaining as Tom Cruise’s. He’s considered more of the “artist” between the two, but that doesn’t make Cruise any less successful or appreciated for the entertainment he provides.

Your films don’t have to be these pretentious affairs with fancy cinematography set it the countryside of Europe. Your photographs don’t have to be black-and-white melancholic street scenes. Or portraits where everyone looks sad and vacant. And your music doesn’t have to be classical for it to be “art”.

Glossy, popular, even trendy work has a place. There’s no shame it and you should create it proudly. And audiences/customers love it and are often asking for it.

Don’t feed them salad when they’re asking for cake.

If you’re doing what people love and they clamor for more, give them what they want. That’s Business 101.

Speaking for myself, I dabble across genres. There’s the more serious studio portraiture. Then there’s slick, colorful photos of beautiful models in swimwear. I also do nudes. I plan to shoot lingerie. I do street photography on occassion. And I plan to produce much more color work going forward. Do I give a shit if some snob in an art gallery or pseudo intellectual type appreciates my work? It’s nice if they do, but I’m not working for their approval.

Story time. I had a colleague who’s not terribly familiar with my work, but she remarked rather ignorantly, “I think your black-and-white portrait work is more you than your swimwear stuff. It’s more like art.” Mind you, she said this more out of her disinterest in and bias against swimwear photography or work featuring models. She fancies herself an intellectual and praises the work of the French New Wave. Of course she wouldn’t like glamorous imagery of attractive models on the beach. And she’s welcome to that preference. But do I change my direction because I don’t meet her personal standard of what is art? Of course not.

I do work I personally enjoy and I encourage other artists to do the same. I don’t “chase the market”. If people like what I do and are willing to pay me for it, then I’ll continue to serve them that.

But it won’t always be salad. It will likely be cake.

Something for you to ponder on your own artistic journey. Do your glossy, colorful, trendy, beautiful, glamorous, sexy work with pride.

You too, are an artist.

Kadeem (Portrait Photography)

Some portraits I did recently with model Kadeem Samuel in my studio. This was a fun, somewhat experimental shoot as I wanted to play around with a cool mask I found online. It’s a small accessory, but the mask gives the photographs a bit more character and creates an interesting narrative. Who is this masked man?

I used the Sony A7RV with the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART during this session and find it a winning combination. The A7RV has been a revelation, especially coming from the Fuji GFX 100 II. Although medium format does have the edge in terms of image quality and rendering, the A7RV produces a beautiful, detailed image with greater versatility and a much more fun shooting experience.

There are so many great options from this session so I’ll be sharing more in the future. I’m trying to be more economical when I shoot and what images I ultimately decide to post. But it’s time to start posting more work. Less chitter chatter.

More to come!