Credibility is very important to me. After all, I do share a lot of reviews, opinion and thoughts on imaging products and photography in general over the years. Why would people come and read my blog, or watch my YouTube video if I don't have any credibility at all? That's why when my credibility was attacked recently, I had no choice but to defend myself - after all, without credibility, there really is no reason for me to be here. This was one of the rare cases where I did need to make a stand and throw some punches.
Here is a quick summary of what happened:
1) I made a recent post on my Facebook page about the limitations of Live ND feature in OM-1, and why I needed to use a real, physical ND filter to achieve the effects that I needed. I wished that the Live ND has more stops (ND1000) and can be used for video, hoping future cameras would break these limitations.
2) Someone commented and said Live ND was good enough for him, and I would have said things differently if I was still an Olympus Ambassador
3) While I agree on the first part of the comment, the Live ND feature indeed can be useful in some situations, I cannot let the second part of the comment go without a fight.
4) I was accused of saying things differently now that I am no longer an Olympus Ambassador - that triggered me and the itch to write this blog entry.
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It takes years and years of hard work and due diligence to build up credibility. It is not an easy feat, I admit, and I pride myself in one thing - being consistent. The reason I am still here blogging and creating content, sharing on social media is simple really, I have been very consistent from the get-go. I value honesty, and I made sure I was being 100% transparent in everything that I said or wrote. Whether I was an Olympus Visionary or not, it made no difference, my writing and content stayed consistent throughout the years. Just because I was an Olympus Ambassador, it did not mean I was holding back from making negative comments and would not criticize any products.
Here is my evidence. I made a video on Live ND feature in E-M1 Mark III back in the year 2020 while I was still an active Olympus Visionary. You can check out the video here (click). In that video, if you jump straight to the 7 minutes mark, you will see that I was specifically talking about all the limitations and restrictions on Live ND feature, which included - cannot go beyond ND32 on E-M1 Mark III, unable to be used with flash photography and not available for video recording. Yes, I have said the two things I have just said few days ago, in a video I have made 5 years ago, the exact same things - the limitations of use in real life and cannot be used for video.
When I was an Olympus Visionary, I have said these things, and now I am no longer an ambassador, I said the exact same things. What changed?
When I was an Olympus Visionary, I have said these things, and now I am no longer an ambassador, I said the exact same things. What changed?
I surely did not change, I remained consistent. Thankfully.
The thing that changed was the audience, or at least their perception of me. When I left the ambassadorship, for whatever reasons I was no longer seen as an ally, and I automatically became an enemy. Anything negative that I said, or any criticism would be seen as an attack on Olympus/OM System or Micro Four Thirds. Facts were never important to these particular audience, all they wanted to hear was singing praises to their brand of worship, and if you did or said anything otherwise, you will be seen as evil.
So, I confronted the person who questioned my credibility with hard evidence - in contrary to what he accused me of, I have said the exact same things 5 years ago as an Olympus Ambassador. I have, without a shadow of a doubt, proven my credibility and at the same time, discredited his nefarious claims on me. His response showed his true colors. Instead of admitting his mistake of saying things that were not true about me, he added on more accusations and personal attacks on my integrity and credibility. Again, all were just words with no evidence, when asked for proof, he simply said "I'd rather disconnect from your social media". Of course, he said that after I gave him an ultimatum - apologize for accusing me of wrongful deeds or walk away. He could not swallow his pride.
I can take a lot of attacks and insults thrown at me, God knows how many there have been over the years. People have accused me of not knowing how to use a camera (some self-claimed expert from Austria had the balls to say that), people have said I don't do real street photography, people have even said my reviews "suck", or I only shoot photographs of my neighbors and breakfast and don't do real photography. These are open opinions, you are free to think what you like about me, I have no control over them, and honestly, I don't care. I just want to do my photography and enjoy my shutter therapy sessions.
However, when you attack my credibility without proof.? I will bite back. I do not take such attacks lightly. I poured my heart and soul into my reviews, my contents, my tips and tricks sharing, my tutorials, and in this case, I spent a lot of time making that Live ND video. For people to just so easily dismiss my effort and time, to minimize my contributions and disqualify my credibility as a reviewer, I will have something to say. And I think I have said enough.
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Well said!
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