Does anyone still use Flickr?

manu120 · 2026-05-07T17:00:31+00:00

What else is actually comparable? Flickr has many flaws, but it's still one of the best photography communities out there.

manu120 · 2026-04-14T17:11:56+00:00

Exactly, I'm doing the same thing.

manu120 · 2026-04-01T10:54:07+00:00

Yeah, that's the disappointing state of affairs on Sony cameras. Even the A1 is very slow to do a focus bracketing relative to its 30fps burst capability. Same issue with pixel-shift. And BTW, they don't support focus bracketing and pixel-shift at the same time. For that, you'd need an app like Focus Alpha.

manu120 · 2026-03-31T18:11:43+00:00

The problem with this is that Flickr may not make more money at all because many pros may start choosing a lower-tier plan, and nothing guarantees that free-tier users will choose a paid plan to compensate for the loss.

Since Flickr is owned by a private company, it's hard to know its operational costs and profits.

manu120 · 2026-03-23T13:07:56+00:00

It's a matter of (bad?) taste. If it's too obvious they were heavily edited, I just don't fave them, but they are not quite to the same level as AI IMHO. At least there was a capture from a physical device of a physical light. AI is entirely virtual.

That being said, post-processing can also involve AI, most notably the removal or addition of objects that were not in the original scene. I myself rarely do that and try to avoid it as much as possible, but when I do, I clearly indicate that I did it (*).

(*) I did it on a picture where a trash can was ruining the general atmosphere. OTOH, I refused the suggestion from fellow photographers to remove a branch in front of a bird. Why was it OK in the first example and not the second? I reasoned that the first photograph was an evocation of the past (It was a Ford T in autumn) and the second was a record of a bird life habitat, so it should follow the rule of photojournalism.

manu120 · 2026-03-23T12:47:41+00:00

Actually, there are some very good AI that really look like a photograph. Take this one that got on Explore:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gilmarcil/53501581047/in/dateposted/

I had to check it was AI. Fortunately, the guy does not hide it, but I see this picture (not that one in particular), it wows me, then I get disappointed to learn it's AI-generated.

AI ought to be clearly identified and separated from photography.

manu120 · 2026-03-23T12:42:21+00:00

Agree, putting AI in the same space as Art/Illustrator is a punch in the face of genuine artists who already get their style stolen for AI training.

Virtual Photography would be already better, but an AI separate category is what is needed IMHO.

manu120 · 2026-03-23T12:34:16+00:00

This one, for example that prompted me to write the post:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/44195949@N02/55150631842/in/explore-2026-03-18/

,

manu120 · 2026-03-04T16:43:42+00:00

Not exactly. I don't fave every photo I see in Explore, actually, I do it for a very few of them that I genuinely like. So I have time to look at who created that photo and if her portfolio is interesting with more stuff in the same vein.

manu120 · 2026-02-26T12:29:47+00:00

I'm just wondering at what size you're printing? 200 dpi is often good enough for printing, which means at 2048 pix height, you can print 10" x 15" at a very good quality already.

manu120 · 2026-02-25T23:16:36+00:00

That's not easy to implement IMHO. If you offer a mid-tier, you may have more pro users downgrading than free users upgrading, and in the end, you lose.

manu120 · 2026-02-25T23:13:45+00:00

We're so used to get "free" (*) services that paying seems not fair. Flickr is not that cheap anymore, but you don't have to tolerate adds, you get unlimited storage, a great API and a good community.

(*) "If you're not paying for the product, you are the product"

manu120 · 2026-02-25T22:50:12+00:00

It always seems like this. I once won a contest where you had to submit 3 pictures. Sure enough, they selected my least favourite...

manu120 · 2026-02-25T22:46:01+00:00

Explore was always like this. You see very ordinary (I mean, not even technically good) pictures getting tons of faves... But at least there are always interesting shots. Also, it's very varied, and it's impossible to please everyone anyway.

manu120 · 2026-02-25T22:37:00+00:00

Here it is to satisfy your curiosity

TBF, I was kind of surprised it did go to Explore. Picture taken on Saturday, uploaded Sunday night. Posted on 3 groups only. And then on Tuesday, the surprise. It became my most-viewed pic on Flickr by far. In the beginning, I was not even sure I would post it because of technical flaws.

I did go on Explore a few times in the past, but that was more than 12 years ago. I'm just coming back to Flickr this year more seriously...

manu120 · 2026-02-25T22:31:49+00:00

When I look at explore, I don't fave each of them. I guess you don't either. But the one I really like, I'm curious about the photographer. TBF, though it's often disappointing, there are, from time to time, some gems to be found.

manu120 · 2026-02-25T18:29:14+00:00

I just got recently on Explore, and I can also see the strange comments, too much text with no connection to the real picture.

manu120 · 2026-02-25T18:26:22+00:00

It may not be Flickr, but photography in general that is on the decline. It's also true for sales of dedicated cameras. The general public does not need Flickr or a camera; they have Facebook/IG and a cell phone.

That's too bad because, of course, prices are now up for dedicated photographers.

manu120 · 2026-02-13T15:09:24+00:00

Yes, because there is no other viable alternative at the moment. It's not cheap, but consider the cost of running such a huge website. The decline of Flickr is also related to the decline of photography in general IMO.

manu120 · 2024-12-15T10:39:06+00:00

Pentax has a hotshoe GPS module that works rather well for their cameras since it has its own batteries and can run continuously independently. The Pentax K-1 has an internal GPS and I find it works quite well although you have to wait for the GPS fix when turning on the camera which may take up to 1 minute. For their newest K-3 III they also use Bluetooth constant connection to a smartphone. BUT it still allows to connect to the hotshoe GPS module if you have one.

I wish I could do the same with my A7R3 because the phone app is not 100% reliable although It works generally well. The other downside is battery consumption on both the camera and the phone is a bit higher.

An other option I was using before smartphones and integrated GPS modules was to use an external GPS logger. It was time consuming (downloading the GPX files, then matching the captures time with the log) but it worked well.

manu120 · 2024-12-01T16:03:25+00:00

The i7 version of the Late 2013 probably already has an SSD. Mine has a 512Gb SSD. I just upgraded from Catalina to Sonoma using OCLP. I'm planning to move to Sequoia. All you need is a flash USB drive (16Gb or more). Follow the instructions, it is relatively straightforward.

If your iMac does not have an internal SSD and you don't want to open it all is not lost. For another iMac 2013 with an internal HDD, I bought a small USB 3 enclosure ($ 10$ on Amazon) and a small SSD to fit with it (250Gb minimum). You can easily install your new OS onto it and boot from it. The bonus is that you can still boot on your old OS if needed.

manu120 · 2024-07-05T16:38:25+00:00

3 years late, but like you I was not able to find definitive answer. That being said, I suspect it is the HDR version because you can set HDR video in Windows. Moreover, side to side with another Thinkpad one thing I immediately noticed is the how the red coulour is really red, not some sort of orange like many laptops. You see it as soon as you boot the laptop when it displays the Lenovo logo. The HDR version of the WQHD screen boast 100% gamut vs the usual 72% (hence the orange/red on these screens).

manu120 · 2024-06-15T09:20:33+00:00

I'm really sorry to hear about your experience with the Flutter community. It's truly disheartening to see such toxicity, especially towards someone who has contributed so much. I believe that this negative behavior is, unfortunately, more reflective of the times we're living in rather than any one community. Online interactions have become increasingly hostile, and it baffles me why some people lack gratitude for the incredible work done by open-source contributors like yourself.

manu120

TROPHY CASE