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scubalab
122
May 8, 2018
Is it just me, or do the pictures for this drop really suck? They are grainy, there are only three (all of the same thing basically), and lack any detail. If I'm to spend nearly $700 on a watch, a few detailed pics would be nice (without having to look elsewhere). Pics of the caseback, crown, clasp, etc. would be helpful.
scubalabIt's just you. Don't expect anything more here than the mfr catalog photos, or on any etailer site for that matter, including Amazon. These are no different from any other mfr catalog pictures. Can you use Google? Try searching for "Oris Artix GT" and select "images", and then select "videos". It's easy-peasy dude. Found dozens of photos and a couple videos in under 30 seconds. Not going to post the links for you. You need to learn how to do this stuff yourself. BTW, at the same time I found the ref # for it. Clue: it's in the Amazon listing for the watch. Also easy-peasy to find, if you just move a few fingers on the keyboard. Oh, wait, you qualified that with "(without having to look elsewhere)". I guess since you're too incredibly lazy to move your fingers on a keyboard, you'll just have to do without and suffer.
scubalab
122
May 8, 2018
MadAnthonyWayneLOL, I certainly don't need an education on how to do a google image search. And,I do realize that I could have searched for detailed images or videos in likely less time than it took to comment. My comment was more in jest at the laziness that's become more apparent by MD in the lackluster watch drops lately. There's a very VERY slim chance I'm buying another watch at this time, so I guess it really doesn't make a difference. My comment was more directed to the folks at MD to improve the ad, which could generate more sales, which could help bring more drops, which could help offer better deals, etc., etc. Win-win!
Sorry if it ruffled any feathers otherwise.
scubalabDon't expect any etailer to have a photo studio to do detailed jewelry still photos. If you haven't done them before it's not as easy as many think it is. Unrealistic expectation that's not going to happen. Notable exception: sites like evine with their 24/7 live streaming video programs hawking their wares. When the video is over, even they use catalog photos from the manufacturer.
MadAnthonyWayneYeah, they should just put up a rough description and maybe a stick figure drawing. The customer should have to figure the rest out on their own!
Or maybe, just maybe, making a customer go elsewhere to get information is stupid because they might just buy from the site with better info. But only if they want to actually sell products. Maybe Massdrop just wants to watch pricks condescend to people with legitimate gripes in the comment section.
shenan24
224
May 8, 2018
MadAnthonyWayneMassdrop does do alot of their own photos. they are not from any catalogues
NotsurewhyibotherI've done the kind of photography he's demanding professionally and it's formal studio work. It's not two snaps on your cell phone and up they go to Instagram. It requires special lighting and light modifiers, including soft boxes and reflectors and usually a partial lighting tent, plus the knowledge of how to set it all up. It's not the same as portraiture or commercial photography of much larger objects. The setup is anything but simple because jewelry and watches in particular have reflective surfaces all over them that must be dealt with to prevent unwanted reflections of things in them from appearing in the photograph. Adding to that is small object photography is also macro-photography with very shallow depth of field that must be controlled (do you even know what that is). That requires macro lenses or general purpose lenses that are also capable of macro work. You don't just buy a camera and start snapping away at watches.
Do crappy photography and you'd still be bitching and moaning about how crappy it is. Bottom line is Massdrop is not going to hire a full time professional staff photographer and provide the space required to do what you're demanding. Nor are they going to retain the services of a professional studio to do it either. You'll not find anything different or better on Amazon, Jomashop, Overstock, or any of the other etailer sites like them. They all use manufacturer catalog photos. Why would you expect Massdrop to be different? When you've done jewelry and especially watch photography **professionally** in a studio, and gotten hired and paid to do it, with all the lighting and equipment plus the time it requires, then come back and call me a prick.
shenan24He's taking this awfully personally. Do you think he may have taken the crappy pictures the op was complaining about?
shenan24
224
May 8, 2018
NotsurewhyibotherExactly what I thought 😂
scubalab
122
May 8, 2018
MadAnthonyWayneBoy... someone is living up to their first name... :-)
jarcamp
36
May 8, 2018
MadAnthonyWayneNo one is demanding anything. He suggested more pictures and ones that are not grainy. You don't need any special equipment to get non-grainy pictures. You also don't need to be a professional. He wasn't asking to much.
zofodraziw
124
May 9, 2018
MadAnthonyWayneI worked for a jewelry e-tailer/tv-home-shopping company about 10y ago, and they did have a dedicated photo studio for stills used on the e-comm site.
Silvio1981
6
May 12, 2018
Just wanted to say I've had to look elsewhere for pictures due to pixelated MD photos and ended finding the product cheaper. Having to look somewhere other than MD will cause a loss of sales. They want our money, they can work a little harder for it.
MadAnthonyWayne
63
May 12, 2018
NotsurewhyibotherYes - indeed. I take being called a PRICK by YOU personally, VERY personally. It was well beyond inappropriate.
MadAnthonyWayne
63
May 12, 2018
jarcampHow little you know. Sending the first guy who looks like he isn't busy with a cell phone into a janitor's closet to do quick snaps in five minutes or less ends up with the garbage photography commonly found on ePrey.
MadAnthonyWayne
63
May 12, 2018
NotsurewhyibotherNot my work. It's standard catalog photography that has the typical heavy post-processing found in that type of work. Been there, done that, eons ago. Don't do it now and haven't done it for years. You're an ignoramus and a moron about professional photography, and studio work in particular, especially for catalog work. If it were my work it would look like this, which is my work, but it isn't catalog work, it's for appraisal, auction houses and insurance documentation which needs detail not found in catalog work which has different requirements:
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MadAnthonyWayneI didn't call you a prick, I facetiously said maybe massdrop exists for pricks to condescend to people with legitimate gripes in the comments rather than profit.
If you decided that shoe fits, you can wear it or try to be more civil in your discourse.
You obviously have a lot of knowledge and skills in photography. The pictures you posted are beautiful. I am baffled that a professional photographer would argue for less professional photography. As to dismissing others opinions because they aren't experts in producing photography is asinine. I'm not a chef either, but I know when some serves me a big shitburger. I don't expect steak au poivre at McDonalds, but don't expect me to enjoy spit in my burger.
You just dismiss it as "never gonna happen" yet at least one poster said he worked for an ecommerce site that did its own with studio. You say it doesn't matter, yet at least one poster said he left the site to get better pictures and bought elsewhere which means it affects sales. You say it's too expensive, yet online retailers save immense amounts of overhead by not having physical stores, some of which could easily pay for better photography. Particularly when dealing with watches/jewelry where appearance is Paramount.
Just saying "nope deal with it" and telling other people they are wrong for asking for more from a retailer doesn't really accomplish much. Good photos are expensive, we understand. They are also worth it when you are trying to sell watches that often cost into the thousands of dollars. And even if high end detail shots like you posted are prohibitively expensive, they can certainly do better than three blurry pictures that don't even show the piece from all angles.
scubalab
122
May 14, 2018
MadAnthonyWayneDude... relax and get off your high horse! Yes, the pictures you took are beautiful, and no one is belittling the work that goes into professional photography, but it's NOT DIFFICULT to get halfway decent pictures. Can you honestly say that the three grainy pictures provided with this drop were the best MD could have done? Hell, I took this picture in 20 seconds, yes, WITH A CRAPPY CELLPHONE (although not in the janitor's closet...). No, it's certainly not to the same level of quality of your professional pictures, but I think everyone here would agree that it's a tad bit better than the ones provided with this drop. And, it probably took me less time than it would have taken me to search for existing pictures online...
Sorry if you take offense that most people responding here think that even the first person who wasn't busy could have spent 5 minutes (or less...) with a cellphone in a janitor's closet and gotten some better pictures... I don't think anyone is belittling what you do, and I have to believe that you realize that there are multiple levels of quality when it comes to photography. The pictures in this drop were near the bottom. Most would accept and appreciate a level in between what was provided and costly professional studio photos.
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MadAnthonyWayne
63
May 15, 2018
Troll
MadAnthonyWayne
63
May 15, 2018
zofodraziwComparing Massdrop to a jewelry e-tailer/ tv-home-shopping company is like comparing Mars to Jupiter. There are three main tv-home-shopping companies, in order of size from largest to smallest: QVC, HSN and Evine. The smallest, Evine, has over 20 times the number of employees as Massdrop. HSN has roughly 100 times as many and QVC about 200 times as many. The size difference in employees is entire orders of magnitude. The difference in annual revenue is even more staggering by more orders of magnitude. Furthermore, Evine, HSN and QVC are operating 24/7 cable channel feeds on TV broadcast sets. I would expect the likes of Evine, HSN and QVC to have more than sufficient studio capability and the expertise. The nature of their business starting with their fundamental business model is entirely different. Having any expectation that Massdrop can or would do something because Evine, HSN and QVC do it is beyond anything reasonable.
MadAnthonyWayne
63
May 15, 2018
NotsurewhyibotherCongratulations on your use of passive-aggressive behavior to call me a prick a second time, and you have the temerity, after making obscenity laden posts fully intended to incite anger, to demand civil discourse. I suggest you go to a mirror, look directly into it and lecture the person you see there about civil discourse.
MadAnthonyWayne
63
May 15, 2018
scubalab Professional photography work was only a sideline for a while that generated some extra money for discretionary spending. Never has been a primary occupation.
I suggest you first read my response to the dude who mentioned he worked at a TV home shopping company. Won't repeat it here. Then I suggest you do a little research about Massdrop to understand their business model and how they facilitate the sale of various products. There's an entry in Wikipedia about the company, and then Google for "Massdrop company profile" which will find sources of information about their size (# employees and annual revenue). Hoovers.com (D&B Hoovers) is one of the better sources along with Buzzfile.com for that information. Most of the rest that Google finds are about the funding they've received from investors, and who they (the investors) are, along with the company's officers, not the number of employees or annual revenue.
I knew about how Massdrop worked - their business model - and had a good idea of their size before I ever responded to anyone here. If I'm contemplating buying something from an online source, I do my homework about who they are first. Once you understand their business model - basically a sophisticated and organized "group buy" facilitator for products like this (a very over-simplified characterization) - you'll understand that expecting them to do product photography is out of the question under the business model used for selling products like this Oris. From the product for this specific watch: "After the drop ends, payment will be collected and the group’s order will be submitted to the vendor up front, making all sales final. Check the discussion page for updates on your order." I conclude from this that Massdrop puts in the order for these when the drop closes, if it meets the minimum buy quantity. Massdrop submits them to the "vendor" (presumably the Oris USA distributor) and takes care of herding them to the buyers. They don't have them sitting in a warehouse or a vault with samples available for photography, samples that cannot be sold as "brand new" once they've removed all the protective plastic, hang tags, and other protective wrappings. Anyone receiving that one would be screeching about fraud, claiming they were shipped a "used" watch. If you've bought a new watch on line before, you know what it should look like when you get it, if it is truly brand new. You also know it's impossible to photograph one with all the plastic stuff covering the crystal, back, bracelet and clasp, and sometimes blue stuff painted onto the end of the crown. What do they do with that one? Eat it as the cost of doing business? I think not. They use catalog photos provided by Oris. If you want to gripe and complain about the photos, it should be directed at Oris, not Massdrop.