What is the reasoning behind the partitioning of formats?

The Canon, Nikon DSLR, and Sony E-mount forums are partitioned APS-C/DX format and FF/FX format. OTOH, Nikon Z-mount, Canon R-mount, and Sony A-mount forums have both their smaller and larger formats included.

I'm not seeing the reasoning here, and I think there are good reasons not to do it this way. My D500 and D800 are a lot more alike than they are different from each other -- every lens I use on one can be used on the other, and the UI is very nearly the same on both cameras. If a Nikon D7000 series user asks me a question about their camera I would very likely have to look up the answer (the old DPR's camera database was often very helpful for that), and the same is true for a D600 user's questions. If I want to share some recent photos I took, and I used both my cameras, then should I put some photos in one forum and some in the other? Is the plan to further partition the Canon and Nikon mirrorless cameras as their user base grows?

I propose that each mount is consolidated into its own forum regardless of format.

And that partitioning whas (is) great! :)

Please elaborate what's great about it.

If partitioning is based on format, then why are some mounts (Z-mount, R-mount, and A-mount) not partitioned that way? If partitioning is based on traffic, then many cameras are destined to be practically orphaned.

I think one of DPRs worst faults was the balkanization of camera users. It seems to me that adding formats to brands as a division between users makes that worse. As someone who has used D200, D300, D800 and D500 cameras, I think that partitioning those cameras into different forums diffuses user expertise; likewise for users who have familiarity with the D7000 series and D600 series cameras.

DPR has three Canon and Nikon DSLR forums, but each mirrorless format has a consolidated forum regardless of format or UI. DPR also has Canon and Nikon SLR lens forums where all formats are included, but no mirrorless lens forums. I think it makes sense to dispense with the brand specific lens forums and to consolidate the camera brand forums by mount.

Fair comment.

However it makes a lot of sense to start out here with a structure that people migrating over will be familiar with. That will help with what by any measure is a difficult transition that's been foisted on the DPR community.

Once the site here is getting established, making some progressive adjustments will make sense - hopefully with feedback and input from users. Seems to me the first priority should be to get the users here, and worry about reworking things as a subsequent order of business.

You can avoid the partitions entirely and view comments for the entire "family" by clicking on the parent entity…

Love it!

That still doesn't explain the reasoning. It also doesn't address my issue with these partitions. If I have a question about my D500 that could be answered by a D850 user then I'm less likely to have it answered by posting the question in the Nikon DX SLR Talk forum.

My proposal is that there should be three Nikon and three Canon forums -- SLR, Mirrorless, and Compact. I think it would be useful to be able to tag threads at the start with the gear in question and have that show up in "family" screen.

I think the partitioning should be driven by traffic. If I post something about a camera with a crop sensor and it quickly gets overwhelmed by threads concerning that brand's full frame sensor cameras, I wouldn't feel very happy. Since we don't know what traffic levels will be I suggest leaving things as they are and then merging or partitioning depending on how many posts get made.

DPR has three forums for Sony E-mount: APS-C bodies, FF bodies and lenses. That's what users requested. It's because Sony brings out a number of new FF bodies every year, but new APS-C bodies are much rare.

I wasn't active on DPReview when the forum structure was established so, can't speak to the logic behind the choices that were made. That said, I can imagine how the decision to segment products by segment (consumer and professional), format (full-frame, APS-C, etc.) and SLR/mirrorless with each brand forum was made. It's a structure that gives each consumer base a place to discuss the products they either own or are considering for purchase. There's a certain feeling of safety in having a dedicated space for discussion of the product one uses or is giving thought to using. That camera is the focus; it's the reason for that forum's existence. Participants in that forum have an interest in the camera. They probably use the camera. It's where questions about that camera can be answered.

Suppose all cameras made by a given brand are discussed in just one forum. The potential advantage of that structure, include interacting with a larger community of photographers who use that brand's products. A potential negative of that structure is that folks who come in to discuss a lower cost or smaller format camera come to feel like second class citizens in comparison with those who shoot with large format or more expensive products.

When it comes to forums created for the discussion of cameras as products - their functionality and foibles - I'm not persuaded that segmentation is a bad thing or that having discussion of all products made by a given brand occur in just one forum would be an improvement.

By contrast, the forums created for the discussion and sharing of photography within various genres does not segment by brand, class or format of camera. Their aren't brand-specific forums for "Nature and Wildlife" photography enthusiasts. There's one nature & wildlife forum and all enthusiasts are welcome, regardless of the gear used.

That structure makes sense to me. It's the genre of photography that is the common, uniting theme. In the gear forums, the common, uniting theme is brand. Within each brand, there are places where specific classes and formats of cameras are the common theme.

I would be interested in hearing others' thoughts on this. Is the specificity of the segmentation in the gear forums a positive or a negative? What do people think?

This site was set up quickly by some hardworking, quick-thinking, dedicated folks. And, they just mirrored DPR’s stuff which hasn’t changed much since 2002. Kudos to them for getting this forum up so quickly. But I do hope that the forum structure evolves from “gear-based” to “photography-based”. Gear is gear and it’s all about the same these days.

DPR was a “gear-based” forum set up in the 1990s. It is now in the process of dying for lack of cash flow. General photography sites like petapixel continue (but without forums). I honestly believe that a younger demographic of amazing photographers cares less about gear than an older demographic (which includes me) that populates “old-style” gear-based photography forums that were fundamentally conceived in the 1990s.

Photography is about creativity, vision, and talent among other things. Gear ranks far down the list. If gear was high on the list, I would have won many awards and be famous. But, I didn’t and I’m not. Hand me an $8k camera of any brand and I will make a good image. Hand a kid with amazing vision and budding talent an $400 3-generation old used camera of any brand and their images will be better than mine.

Good/great Photography is independent of brands despite what the marketing machines want you to believe.

We could have a forum for every new camera model that comes out, but that would be extraordinarily unwieldly. I don't think this site is, or should be, about selling gear and advertising, which is what I think the old DPR's business model was and which ultimately led to its downfall because the digital camera gear market is shrinking. I would hope that this site is a place to discuss gear and technique, and that is what informs the partitioning of the forums.

I don't think it's practical or even possible to keep some people from feeling disenfranchised or privileged. Nonetheless, I'm not proposing that all the cameras made by each brand be lumped together in a single forum.

I'm not being dismissive of the value of some partitioning of gear discussions; I'm just asking why that isn't done in a consistent manner. I would say that we should just partition the Canon and Nikon forums the same way the other brand's forums are partitioned. I would also like to be able to see threads/posts tagged with the specific camera and/or lens models that the author wants to discuss.

My thinking is that as a participant here I want to come to one place to seek or give advice, and in the case of the Nikon gear I use separating my gear by format doesn't make sense because my D500 and D800 are more alike and they are both distinct from a D7200 or D600, or a D6. Also, since we are trying to replicate some of the DPR experience, hopefully the positive parts while (as much as possible) leaving behind the negative parts, we don't have a Canon or Nikon lens forum, so that presents another set of questions and advice that will be underserved by partitioning the Canon and Nikon forums by the camera's format.

In addition to what I'm suggesting here about the Canon and Nikon forums, I would also suggest a forum for more advanced (i.e., non-"beginner") questions.

What I wrote about Canon and Nikon applies to Sony's E-mount too, which also doesn't have a lens forum here. I should have included Sony E-mount with the Canon and Nikon forums at DPR in my previous post, though (FWIW) I didn't include Sony's E-mount with the consolidated mirrorless forums mentioned there (highlighted above with bold text). As to the traffic question, I addressed that -- just because Sony, Canon, and Nikon are practically abandoning APS-C/DX format doesn't mean we should exile their older cameras that used the smaller formats to practically dormant forums.

Nikon F mount lenses can be used on both full frame and DX (crop) DSLR cameras. They can be used on Z mount with an adaptor.

As dgmphoto stated, all F-mount lenses are compatible with both formats on DSLRs and with Z-mount using an FTZ adapter. There are loads of caveats regarding the functionality of AF-P and PC-E, and pre-AI lenses, and Thom Hogan has an excellent overview of Nikon's lens designations and their significance here: Making Sense of Nikon Lens Abbreviations

A quick Google search indicates that Sony E-mount (APS-C) lenses and FE-mount lenses ("FF") are both compatible with both of Sony's E-mount format cameras.

The forum structure at DPReview evolved over 25 years for a variety of reasons. Most times it was at the request of the forum members. DPReview editors understood that creating or splitting forums put groups into silos so they never did this without good reason and extra careful consideration.

I'll suggest the DPRevived editors and developers get in touch with Richard Butler to benefit from his experience on this topic while they still can. [Edit: Use this DPReview search to get some of the history behind the forum splits.]

There's a dark side too. One time that I know of, a lot of friction (to put it nicely) had developed in the Sony Alpha forum. IIRC, this was before DPReview had the 150-post limit and moderators.

Richard Butler and the editors had to step in and start locking posts. His explanatory post is here - www.dpreview.com/forums/post/35541205 Eventually, the forum was split into A- and E-mount forums. I don't know why DPReview currently has full-frame and APS-C E-mount forums.

Personally, I'm kinda liking the top-level "Thread" view. I find myself reading threads in forums I would never visit otherwise.