thanks for the post.

Here's also a link to the full pdf of the results
http://www.gdusa.com/surveys/stock_visual_survey_2012.pdf

What about loonies and toonies or what ever they call them ?

The one dollar Canadian coin is called a Loonie because there is a picture of a Loon on them.  The $2.00 coin is called a toonie because it was released a few years afer the loonie.  Toonie rhymes with loonie and well... sounds like two loonies.   The $2.00 coin has the picture of a polar bear on it and who would want to called it a poonie.

Only in Canada!

Quote from: fotoVoyager on December 02, 2012, 12:43

The only redeeming feature in these numbers is that despite downloads dropping by 86%, mostly I imagine because of the huge growth of libraries since then, they've managed to limit dollar losses to 36% because of the increased prices and collection diversification.

Not that I'm defending them; someone, somewhere there is making greedy, even immoral business decisions, but their approach of raising prices has saved me and others from even worse times.

It's quite a different picture, if you'll pardon the pun, at Shutterstock. My downloads there last month were 37% higher than Nov 2008, despite the even larger increase in the library at SS. My income at SS last month was 127% higher than in Nov 2008.

SS haven't increased prices since May 2008, if I remember correctly (or lowered commissions either, come to think of it), so it shows that there is more than one way to grow a business. Or maybe not. We don't actually know if iStock have grown their business since Nov 2008. Maybe, if IS hadn't increased prices and added all those expensive 'collections', you might now be earning a lot more money from many more sales __ just like contributors at SS.

One thing that I am absolutely certain of now is that your money, as an exclusive, is on the losing horse. I believe that iStock's policies of ever-increasing prices and ever-reducing commissions by stealth (via the RC system) can only accelerate the demise of their business.

well stated

Quote from: fotoVoyager on December 02, 2012, 07:10

iStock exclusive.

Compared to previous Novembers:

2011: $ -33% DL -47%

2010: $ -50% DL -70%

2009: $ -33% DL -78%

2008: $ -36% DL -86%

I was staggered to see you were 36% down on 2008 revenue ... then I checked my own numbers and found I too was down 17% on IS compared with Nov 2008. 

That means that all the increases in credit prices, image prices, the introduction of the Exclusive collection, Vetta, Agency, E+, etc, etc ... plus you have probably more than doubled the size of your portfolio since then ... has resulted in a significant drop in income. That's insane.

Agreed. Very disturbing numbers in regards to istocks longevity. I haven't checked but I'm guessing I'm currently making at least 10x my 2008 income on shutterstock.

Submitting to microstock agencies since 2005, over 10,000 images in portfolio.

Comparing to November 2011:

Shutterstock - down 8%
Istockphoto -  up 3%
Fotolia - down 48 (!) %
Dreamstime - down 10%
123rf - up 16%

That Fotolia drop really is shocking.. even if we have been discussing it for the last few months in several threads.  Also surprising that Shutterstock is down as much as it is.  How much has your portfolio increased since 2011?

I don't have my numbers on this computer to report my stats - I'll do so on Monday morning.

Probably get a lot of similars in this thread Leaf - reject as you see fit!!!

Increase RM portfolio quite drastically.
Publish books of projects currently working on  - even if self published.
Diversify portfolio in RM and RF.
Learn Illustrator!!!
Replace/update equipment - body, laptop, desktop.

I imagine a lot of people will be looking to expand into/increase their RM portfolio. My gut feel is that RM is making a bit of a comeback and it my prove a good time to take advantacge of it.

Yeah, I've always thought I'd submit more content to RM and have come close a few times but every time I have a good shoot I could submit as RM I end up submitting it as microstock because I KNOW what the return is going to be and know that it will be good.  Submitting as RM with low (but high) sales always seems like more of a risk, as backwards as that sounds.

My Shutterstock income will be about 12% down from Oct but up about 30% from last year.  Oct was a good month so overall I guess I won't complain.  Disappointing that Nov won't be a BME however, October took all the glory.

Here are some initial thoughts.  I thought I'd post them now before I forget, then post more thoughts later.

Looks and Style
I really like the looks of rangefinder cameras and now that I have the X100 in my hands, I'm not disappointed.  I don't know why I like that style of camera but I do, so I'm happy to appease that desire.  It's not surprising that I still like the looks and style after using it as you can get a pretty good idea of the looks and style while looking at it online.  I do think the back of the camera has too many buttons though.  It looks a little cluttered and 'point and shootish'.  The size of the camera is very nice.  It is small enough to stuff into a back or a large pocket, is very light but large enough to actually hold and shoot with.  I figured if I wanted a mini point and shoot (with poor quality) I can use my phone, so I didn't need something super small.  If I want the best quality and best lenses I'll use the DSLR.  This camera is for when I want to take an actual camera, get good/decent photos, have fun shooting and not have to lug around several kg's on my shoulders all day to snap a few shots on a holiday.

Useability
I really like the manual mechanical aperture dial on the lens and the shutter speed dial on the top.  It is a little bit of a shame these don't include half stops (you can just a switch on the back to adjust the settings by 1/3 stops) but the feeling of them is very nice and tactile.  To change the ISO however you have to press the Fn button on top then rotate the back dial.  An OK solution but I think a manual mechanical control of the ISO would be the icing on the cake.  The old film cameras had it, they could stick it on the X100 if they wanted to.
Again, the back of the camera is a bit busy for my liking.  If the camera is supposed to bring us back to the old 'manual' days of shooting, it would be nice if the back of the camera echoed that.  Instead it is very point and shoot like with a dial that can be rotated and pressed in, in 4 directions.  This takes a little getting used to and is a bit frustrating trying to remember how to get the thing on macro mode, turn the flash on/off, change it to movie mode etc.  It is easy once you get used to it, but coming from a DSLR where you have dedicated buttons it seems very finicky. 

shooting
I've really enjoyed shooting with it though.  i don't know why I think it is more fun than using an SLR (which generally ends up being the Canon 5D mark III with 24-70 f/2.8 or a 50mm), but it is for some reason.  Perhaps the SLR feels too much like work, or too electronic and 'cold'.  The X100 is simplified and is feels more 'organic' or something.. not to sound too fluffy and hippy like but it has a fun feel to it.  It's like shooting with an iPhone but you are shooting with an actual camera instead of a toy.

wife factor
Yes I know there are lots of women in here who shoot.. this isn't a gender thing.. perhaps I should call it the 'spouse' factor.  In other words: How hard it is to use for someone who doesn't feel like reading the instruction book or playing with all the settings and buttons.
Figuring out how to get to movie mode or macro isn't completely intuitive but could probably be figured out once a little instruction is given.  You can slide the aperature and shutter speed dials to A (auto) so the camera works by itself.  This is a little more difficult than turning the Canon dial to the big green box but not a big deal.  So, not super friendly but not bad either.

Menus
I find the menu system UI a little backwards and clumsy.  Again, I'm used to the Canon system so it could just be familiarity, and the X100 menu is relatively small but still... I think Canon's is better.  The X100 has a funny underline / highlight thing when one item is selected that simply looks out of place, certain menu items are only available when you press the menu button at the right time.  If you press the menu while shooting you'll get the shooting menu items.  If you press the menu button while previewing images you shot, you'll see the preview menu.  It makes it a little dummy proof I suppose but it is frustrating when you can't find what you are looking for because you were in the wrong 'mode' to start with.  If i'm in the menu I want the entire menu, not a watered down menu.  I also find that little dial a little small and finicky to use..but again I'm used to the nice large 5D dials.  I'm getting used to it as the days go by.

Focus
I'm not sure manual focus is even worth trying.  You can turn the focus ring but it is hard to tell (impossible?) when things are really in focus through the viewfinder.  It would be nice if this was a bit better so one could really do manual shooting.  The autofocus is pretty good though, and seems quite quick.  I still dream of using a Leica because of this but I'll be happy with the Fuji for a few years I think.  I really like the process of things (baking, making a fire, building something) .. which is why manual, mechanical controls are fun when you are doing something for the purpose of enjoying the activity of doing it and not just for the results.

Very nice work. Sell us the code so we can do it too!

His site is based of the Ktools store.. you can get the code there

what state is Firefox 18 in?  Alpha, Beta?  I'm afraid I won't bother fixing errors for a browser that isn't out of beta yet.

Interesting situation: before 50$ payout limit no more sells !!!

Yes, this is true!

Almost 1000 pics in portfolio, last few months nice sells (for CS) until reached 40 $.
Now finito, null, zero !
I upload every week, normal sales on other sites, on CS nada, niente, zero.

Upsss

I think your problem is simply this : a watched pot never boils

I removed your other thread.  Please only start one thread per topic.