An open letter from photographer Scott Wyden to Sony

It is time for Nikon and Canon to listen up.  Your financial charts are going on a downward slope.  You know it and we all know it.  So start paying attention to what your customers want.  Your customers are buying Sony A7 series cameras with the intention of using their Nikon and Canon lenses on it.

You know this.

So why would you not design a camera to compete with it? Why allow your customers to go somewhere else? Scott Wyden via Hey Nikon – Why I Almost Got A Sony A7 & Why It Was Sent Back

I agree with Scott. I'm a Nikon shooter and for the last year I've been trying out various compact systems (aka mirror-less) cameras from Fuji and Olympus -- Olympus OM-D E-M5, Olympus OM-D E-M1, Olympus PEN EP-3, Fuji X-E1,and Fuji X-T1. I'm impressed.

Come on CaNikon. Answer Scot''s questions.

2012 Web Site Metrics

I stumbled upon Scott Wyden's 2012 blog metrics from Google Analytics, presented as an infographic1. In an attempt to face my own blogging reality, I decided to do the same.

As expected, the results are not what I had hoped for after a decade of blogging. Less than half of my web traffic comes from the US, with a scattered readership across the globe. Europe accounts for most of my international readers, though it remains relatively small.

Most of my audience uses WebKit-based browsers, especially Safari, which aligns with my focus on Apple-based products in 2012. This is evident in the platform preferences of my readers, with 63% being Mac users. However, the fact that only 11% of my readers are repeat visitors means my posts are not compelling. Admittedly, I know that my posts need improvement, considering that the average time spent on my site by readers is just 18 seconds. I have much work to do to grow my community of readers.

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The referrals show that OS X Daily significantly drove traffic to my blog in 2012. I must post more commentary on that site.


  1. Scott used an iPhone app called Analytiks which I had forgotten I owned. 

Trey Ratcliff New York PhotoWalk

When Scott told me a few weeks ago in a private message on Twitter that Trey Ratcliff might be coming to New York to host a photowalk, I was ecstatic. I made sure that my afternoon schedule was cleared so that I could hop the train from Princeton Junction to the World Trade Center. I knew it was going to be a crowded affair. Trey is a well-known popular photographer.

We met up on Courtland Street near the World Trade Center, but the first group to arrive were chased off by the police, so we regrouped around the block. I thought this was strange behaviour by the police until I realised we standing in Occupy Wall Street territory and a few hundred people with cameras might have seemed like "trouble".

We slowly made our way down Broadway. Trey would stop, set up his tripod and teach. I find it incredible how much he can do for the community of photographers. I assume he must have been tired after hopping off a plane from New Zealand but never showed it. He remained patient and gracious. We stopped for a bit in Bowling Green before finally making it to the waterfront at Battery Park.

I hung out and chatted with photographers from New York and New Jersey.   I discovered some of them, like Daryl Meek, lived less than ten miles from my home and made some new contacts. Later in the evening, a small group of us snuck away to Ulysses' on Peal Street for some food and drink. I didn't get the chance to talk to Trey directly because the group was just too large, but I had a great time.

Tuesday 14 August, 2012 | Nikon D40 | AF-S DX Nikkor 35 mm f/1.8G
Tuesday 14 August, 2012 | Nikon D40 | AF-S DX Nikkor 35 mm f/1.8G
Trey Ratcliff and Scott Wyden Kivowitz | Tuesday 14 August, 2012 | Nikon D40 | AF-S DX Nikkor 35 mm f/1.8G