Introduction

Magazine racks in bookstores and department stores are filled with photography magazines. Most of these magazines are aimed at amateur and advanced amateur photographers. Ideally, they provide useful "how-to" articles on photographic methods and techniques, as well as critical reviews of photography equipment. Both of these are very needed by beginning photographers as both the photographic process and the plethora of expensive equipment can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, at least 50% of these magazines fall short of providing useful content for their audience. A few of these magazines are particularly bad in that they can actually be misguiding. PC Photo Magazine is, unfortunately, an example of this.

Subscription

I began my subscription to PC Photo unwillingly. An equipment vendor wanted to include a year's subscription to the magazine for free when I purchased a new camera body. I reluctantly agreed, knowing that this was probably just another catalog and not a real magazine. My subscription began several months after receiving my new equipment, but I have received each month's magazine promptly and in good condition. This magazine is published nine times per year. For its individual issue price of $4.99, this magazine is significantly overpriced. Given the amount of advertising, it should be given away for free.

The Advertisements

This is what you'll find most of in this "magazine". In my last issue, 56 of 114 pages were advertising. That's right, 50% of this magazine is advertising. If you include the advertising disguised as reviews, this goes up to 70%. This is why I call this magazine, and others like it, a catalog.

The Reviews

There are no reviews in PC Photo Magazine. A two paragraph summary of a product's features is not a review, and this is all you will ever find in this magazine. Thank goodness for places like Epinions. I have never seen a writer or editor at PC Photo Magazine actually take a camera or accessory into the field and try it. Instead, there are large, glossy, attractive photos of any and all products, giving the reader nothing more than the information that is freely available on several free websites. On such websites, you'll also find legitimate reviews based on hands-on experience. Where does this leave PC Photo Magazine? Nowhere. They offer lower quality reviews for a price than the higher quality reviews that are readily available online for free!

On occasion, I will notice a description of a product in PC Photo which may be useful to my work. This probably happens once every few issues and it's only one product. Usually, this is because I haven't been keeping up with my online reading or talking with my colleagues as much as I should be. Still, I'll try to give PC Photo some credit for this because it really is all I have every found useful in this magazine.

The Articles

Yes, PC Photo Magazine does have articles on how to use your computer and some photo editing software to do post-processing work on your images. Most of these articles are only a few pages long. However, it gets worse. Most of the articles have large images of the photos being edited, as well as screen shots of the palettes used to do the editing. This should be helpful, but the photos and screen shots usually have minimal visual value. Instead, they are used to reduce the amount of space occupied by text. More text would require more experience with the product, which would require more effort that this magazine is simply not willing to put in. The casual observer, such as the person flipping through the magazine at the bookstore to see if it contains anything worthwhile, could be fooled into thinking there is something substantial here. It's happened to me and many others - don't let it happen to you.

Need an example? The cover of a recent issue says, "D-SLR Showdown: Which is Best For You?" This could be a very helpful article for amateur photographers who are looking for some advice. Instead, this article is only six pages in length, 2 1/2 pages of which are advertisements! Add in some large glossy photos of the various cameras, which does nothing to help readers make a decision, and you're down to less than three pages of discussion! But wait, it gets worse! The entire article provides no critical comparison of the cameras whatsoever. Instead, you get brilliant statements like, "Entry-level models have the lowest prices, the fewest features and the lowest performance, although they all have plenty of features and very good performance." If I had written this same statement in fourth grade, my teacher would have asked me to rewrite it.

The only articles of any value are those that are interviews with professional photographers. Here, the PC Photo interviewer asks basic questions and lets the photographer answer the questions in detail, thereby doing the interviewer's work for them by essentially writing the article. Still, sometimes there is some insight to be gained by these interviews and they do contribute some value to the magazine.

Conclusions

Like many other photography "magazines" in your favorite bookstore, PC Photo is nothing more than a catalog masquerading as a helpful periodical of computer photo editing. This entire magazine is highly suspect; I wonder if the manufacturers just pay the magazine to feature their products and act like they are reviewing. Your $4.99 would be much better saved for the photography software or equipment you really need (not just want) or a couple gallons of gas to get you to your next shoot.

I've decided to start a list of catalogs posing as magazines. I'll post this list in every review, with links to my previous reviews. Here's the list so far:

1) PC Photo Magazine
2) Outdoor Photographer Magazine

Recommended: No

Accepts Freelance Submissions: No
Recommended For: Shoppers