Email from Canon

[ipv6ready]

I am wondering what the big fuss is about, is this a case of nikon vs. canon or how come you got the offer when I didn't, thing?

I think it’s great that some members got the "offer", IF it is from this site that they got the "emails from.

Maybe someone in Canon thought the representation of this board is too Nikon centric and thought more users with canon would balance it out.

Of course I did not read the user condition of the forum before I joined like majority of people I presume but even if they did contravene the rules a little or a lot I say to those members who got the emails, congratulations.

I would also add congratulation to Dslrusers.net; the other members and of course the Gary/Leigh the admin not forgetting Birdie for making this forum successful.

Why I say this because though I do not post a lot, I do take in consideration Matt's comments on posted pix in review.

Would I change to Canon because Matt uses it, not likely. Do I think nikon is better then the canon or any other brand, not really.

Why because my $$ investment in gear already spent. But were I brand new to DSLR and looking to see what I should get.....maybe, who knows.


Just my 2 cents worth

[Steffen]

I wonder, are we going to see a bunch of 5D's on eBay soon?

Btw, I've got an EM plus MD-E motor. Does that count as a suitable trade-in for the convert-to-Canon campaign? PM me for my email

This is nothing new, really. In the 90's German photography magazines were initially full of innuendo about Canon offering impossible deals to Nikon shooting PJs and sports photographers. At some point those stories stopped and the magazine editors (hardcore Leica and Nikon folks) fell all suddenly in love with Canon gear...

Cheers
Steffen.

[shakey]

Ever since I started posting to this board I've been constantly emailed by Canon, Leica, Minolta, Pentax urging me NOT to buy their cameras. From this I can deduce that all the major camera multinationals monitor this site and evaluate the posted photos and the commentary. There are obviously the shining stars...like stubbsy and one or two others..who are headhunted by the major players. Most of the rest are not contacted. That is, apart from me. After seeing a few of my photos I'm on a monthly retainer from Canon to stay with Nikon.

ps. whatever happened to that story about a year ago about Maxwell buying out this site from Gary? Deal must have fell through because I've heard no more about it.

[Grev]

OMG, the suspense of looking at the digits of the deal is so so intriguing!!

PICK ME!! Sorry Gary...

[Nnnnsic]

ps. whatever happened to that story about a year ago about Maxwell buying out this site from Gary? Deal must have fell through because I've heard no more about it.

There's a chapter of our history that doesn't get mentioned very often.

[leek]

John

EDIT: Actually, that is the case for everywhere that the "email" button appears... So on each post you make, and your own profile page as well.

A slight problem with that theory... Matt K. doesn't have his e-mail displayed in the forum (like any person with any sanity)... They must have harvested the e-mail from somewhere else: dpreview / nikonians???

No, there's not a slight problem at all. Please reread losfp's post, about hovering over the email button. That action causes that person's email address to be displayed in the status bar.

And ues, I've just checked that with Matt K's too, and he is no exception.

So it doesn't take too much code to parse through the HTML and redcuce it to just a list of the email addresses.

Which e-mail button??? I've explicitly set my profile to DO NOT DISPLAY Email address and I'm gonna be pretty disappointed if this forum has disclosed it without my permission.

[Killakoala]

ps. whatever happened to that story about a year ago about Maxwell buying out this site from Gary? Deal must have fell through because I've heard no more about it.

There's a chapter of our history that doesn't get mentioned very often.

I was just thinking about that the other day.

I've written a small lymerick about this thread.

I no longer want to be Anon,
As i want a 5D from Canon,
I like the full-frame,
So I'll change my name,
To Killakoala-sans-Nikon.

[Glen]

Beautiful Steve

[MATT]

Hmm, I'd love some type of deal.. A 5d for my d70.. Count me in.

But reading these posts one in particular from shakey

ps. whatever happened to that story about a year ago about Maxwell buying out this site from Gary? Deal must have fell through because I've heard no more about it.

So what happens in approx 36hrs time hmmmm...

April 1st ..

read into it what you like

MATT

[thaddeus]

No, there's not a slight problem at all. Please reread losfp's post, about hovering over the email button. That action causes that person's email address to be displayed in the status bar.

And ues, I've just checked that with Matt K's too, and he is no exception.

Yes, there is a slight problem: you are logged on as an administrator. Please try logging on as a normal user and see whether Matt K's email address is visible.

As to it being an April Fool's joke, I thought the trick was to do them between midnight and midday on 1 April, not before or after. But perhaps that tradition has evolved?

[LOZ]

John



Which e-mail button??? I've explicitly set my profile to DO NOT DISPLAY Email address and I'm gonna be pretty disappointed if this forum has disclosed it without my permission.

Could this be the source of of my spam email I may need more than a 5D to calm me down

[Aussie Dave]

I was just emailed by Nikon Japan and they asked me if I wanted to trade-in my D70 for a D200.....but I told them I'm holding out to hear if Canon will offer me a 5D + lenses

Out of interest, Stubbsy, are you able to post a pic (of anything) from your new 5D - with full EXIF attached ?

[padey]

I have been sent an email today by Canon Australia offering me a deal on a Canon 5D that I just can't believe! I thought it was a hoax but after a quick phone call and a chat I now know the offer is genuine. It concerns me trading in a D70 or D70'S for a Canon 5D at a price trade up that is almost negligable. Unfortunately I can't give details or I will disqualify myself from the deal. They will also trade lenses one for one and the SB800 for a Canon flash in a similar deal as Stubbsy spoke of. What I did find out though was very interesting...this is a very clever marketing ploy by Canon who apparently have identified a number of photographers and can see some advantage in getting these people to switch brands from Nikon to Canon. They believe that these chosen photographers have a sphere of influence in the forum or other areas and that as a marketing ploy it will pay dividends in the long run. I guessed that if I refused the offer then another member on the list would receive the same offer...so they must have a list taken off the forum at some time. My problem is I don't own a Nikon camera at this time and so I am contemplating purchasing a second hand D70 and some lenses. However, I am not all that sure that I want to go down the Canon road and so will give myself a few days to mull it over. Very very interesting stuff though. I believe a few more forum members will be or have already been made the same offer. Strange world we live in.

This is really interesting. When my partner sold all his Nikon gear (D2x, SLR/n, heaps of pro glass) to go to Canon kit; he lost a few thousand dollars in the change over. Crazy!

That reason alone turned me completely off. And from looking at around 1000 prints a fortnight, half 5D, half Fuji, it makes no business sense for me to switch.

But if Fujio Mitarai came along and said, i'll swap you gear-for-gear, i'd have to think very long and hard about it.

[gstark]

I am wondering what the big fuss is about, is this a case of nikon vs. canon or how come you got the offer when I didn't, thing?

That's a part of it.

Of course I did not read the user condition of the forum before I joined like majority of people I presume but even if they did contravene the rules a little or a lot I say to those members who got the emails, congratulations.

This isn't simply about the breaking ofour rules, which, as you know, I treat very seriously.

But there's also a matter of breaking Oz law here.

Basically, if someone has come in here and skimmed email addresses, and then given them to a third party - or used them themselves - to send unsolicited emails to somebody in Oz, and that someone is also in Oz or subject to Oz laws' governance) then they may be falling afoul of Oz's anti-spam laws.

The only person permitted to use those email addresses is me, and y'all should know that I don't. Anyone else.... it's a very serious offence.

I would also add congratulation to Dslrusers.net; the other members and of course the Gary/Leigh the admin not forgetting Birdie for making this forum successful.

Blush!

[greencardigan]

It seems to me that Canon (or whoever) has already got the response they were looking for.

Looks like nearly everyone is now dreaming of a 5D. Including myself.

I feel sorry for Nikon, and all the 5D dreamers.

[gstark]

I've written a small lymerick about this thread.

I no longer want to be Anon,
As i want a 5D from Canon,
I like the full-frame,
So I'll change my name,
To Killakoala-sans-Nikon.

So, what about in Haiku?

[big pix]

This isn't simply about the breaking ofour rules, which, as you know, I treat very seriously.


The only person permitted to use those email addresses is me,

......... April 1 is comming.........

[moz]

So, what about in Haiku?

Can anyone play
or is haiku, like Canon
only for special ones?



once I used a Nikon
then summer came set me free
Santa brought Canon

[gstark]

Russell,

No, there's not a slight problem at all. Please reread losfp's post, about hovering over the email button. That action causes that person's email address to be displayed in the status bar.

And ues, I've just checked that with Matt K's too, and he is no exception.

Yes, there is a slight problem: you are logged on as an administrator. Please try logging on as a normal user and see whether Matt K's email address is visible.

Good point; thanx.

I just did this, and you're correct: the email button doesn't show for many members. Logged in as an admin, it shows for everyone.

Which could explain why some members are getting this, while others are not.

Also, there's the possibility that whomever skimmed the email addresses (presuming that somebody did) might have done this from one of my test sites, which would contain old and certainly incomplete, but not entirely obsolete, data.

We still see about three new users there each month, despite a statement in big red letters on the front page that the site is old, obsolete, dead, not to be used, and that they should not register there.

Go figure. Talk about failing an intelligence test.

As to it being an April Fool's joke, I thought the trick was to do them between midnight and midday on 1 April, not before or after. But perhaps that tradition has evolved?

My thoughts too.

Plus, as I noted earlier, I have some significant stuff to look at from the site's logs that support a suggestion that there's been some skimming of the site.

[padey]

......... April 1 is comming.........

Now this sounds closer to the truth!!!

[mR_CaESaR]

if this is a real deal, then it'll be from a person that is higher in the canon organisation, cos i know for a fact that canon employees can't buy the 5D or 1 series bodies as they are classified as "pro bodies".

A friend of mine's g/f works for canon and when he was buying his 20D, he asked about the 5D and she told him that they don't sell the 5D to staff, he did get a 20D for real cheap at the time, along with a 17-40L

[MCWB]

Actually, poisson is french for fish.

We're reminding Stubbsy that he's made a promise to a few of us that he will cook a fish dinner in April, and that we're intending to hold him to it.

Ahh ok then, I get it. Stubbsy seems to be a very good cook, the fish certainly isn't going to be half-baked!

[georgie]

I have no idea if this offer is true or not but what bothers me is with these enticement offers, the people who have been supporting the company/product are the ones who lose out.

I wonder how Sheila would feel having forked over her hard earned cash for a 5D and then others who mostly/exclusively shoot Nikon are offered a 5D at a heavily subsidised price.

It seems it is all about getting the % of market share up these days without looking after those existing customers.

Another well know example was with ING Direct. New customers were offered very good cash incentives to join but people who had used the bank for years missed out.

[ipv6ready]

I think its brilliant.

The marketing manager should be given a gold medal.

I guess it will be like TPG offering free ADSL2 upgrade to members of active whirlpool users who are in TPG ADSL2 exchanges.

Just my thoughts.

Now if only Maseratti would upgrade my Audi for nix. Anyone know the marketing manager of Suttons?

[gstark]

if this is a real deal, then it'll be from a person that is higher in the canon organisation, cos i know for a fact that canon employees can't buy the 5D or 1 series bodies as they are classified as "pro bodies".

The 1 series, yes, absolutely.

The 5D a pro body? Nioway in the world.

That's not to say that it's not good - it clearly is - but it's build quality, for one thing, isn't anywhere near what's needed. Nor is its speed, and there are elements in its featureset that are found wanting.

Sounds more like greed than need.

[blacknstormy]

I'm in 2 minds - brilliant for getting everyone on a primarily Nikon site to be talking about Canon !!!! You can't pay for that kind of publicity.

But as has been said, shocking for those who have been with Canon for years and who 'miss out'.

mmmm..... April fools joke? I wouldn't have expected that from Stubbsy or Matt, but I could be wrong

Rel

[georgie]

However, I am not all that sure that I want to go down the Canon road and so will give myself a few days to mull it over. Very very interesting stuff though. I believe a few more forum members will be or have already been made the same offer. Strange world we live in.

Has anyone else been offered the deal and more importantly has anyone actually taken them up on the offer?

[gstark]

I have no idea if this offer is true or not but what bothers me is with these enticement offers, the people who have been supporting the company/product are the ones who lose out.

I wonder how Sheila would feel having forked over her hard earned cash for a 5D and then others who mostly/exclusively shoot Nikon are offered a 5D at a heavily subsidised price.

Well, we don't know what the details of the deal are, so it's not really appropriate to comment on it.

As an aside, how do you feel about deals such as where reviewers of cameras are permitted to keep them as a form of "payment" for writing their review?

Is there a difference?

For the moment, I'm focussing on trying to identify if the email "leak" came from these sources. The information I referred to earlier points to a Sydney Optus user, but Optus users figure pretty heavily within our "walls".

But there's just one who hit the site an exceptionally large number of times earlier this week, and I'm currently parsing the log files to see what pages were hit by that user.

It's not difficult to do, but it takes time ...

[ipv6ready]

I have no idea if this offer is true or not but what bothers me is with these enticement offers, the people who have been supporting the company/product are the ones who lose out.

I wonder how Sheila would feel having forked over her hard earned cash for a 5D and then others who mostly/exclusively shoot Nikon are offered a 5D at a heavily subsidised price.

It seems it is all about getting the % of market share up these days without looking after those existing customers.

Another well know example was with ING Direct. New customers were offered very good cash incentives to join but people who had used the bank for years missed out.

Sad but true......but it cost so much to get a new customer and most customers of a brand does not change easily, especially when the cost of change is so expensive for none pros.

So I guess getting influential members just shooting Canon might sway the odd the newbie.

I presume Canon thought either this site is already influential or can see the potential of what DSLUSERS could be in the near future. If it grows at its current rate it could be substantial.

I work in IT and I get free stuff all the time. I would like to say it does not influence my decision but like all human being it does.

But I agree with you it sucks when most of us are already an ORDINARY user of brand.

Having said this Maxwell - I want my bloody Camera Back!!!!!!!!

[gstark]

Now if only Maseratti would upgrade my Audi for nix. Anyone know the marketing manager of Suttons?

Why Suttons?

Maserati is owned by Ferrari, who in turn are owned by Fiat. Likewise Alfa Romeo, btw. I'd probably want a word in the ear of Nev Chrichton.

And going from an Audi to a Mas isn't really an upgrade. As an ex-Mas and still Alfa owner, I'm speaking from experience.

[birddog114]

if this is a real deal, then it'll be from a person that is higher in the canon organisation, cos i know for a fact that canon employees can't buy the 5D or 1 series bodies as they are classified as "pro bodies".

A friend of mine's g/f works for canon and when he was buying his 20D, he asked about the 5D and she told him that they don't sell the 5D to staff, he did get a 20D for real cheap at the time, along with a 17-40L

Actually, it's not neccessary for a high ranking staff of/ from Canon Australia doing or get involved in this type of marketing tactics.
Coz:
1/ Any Canon resellers can offer this deal to their customer with the subsidy and support from Canon and it's inclusively to that channel.
2/ Canon or Nikon (Maxwell) do not care what the deals which their resellers are selling, they can't ask or stop resellers sell their products under cost or at lost.
3/ All Canon resellers and Nikon earn retention bonuses on their purchased volume, e.g: I can sell you a Nikon D2x at cost, but in volume if I'm doing well (Quarterly) I may earn more than the profits I made on one camera body.
Manufacturers require volume sales, same as other as Epson, Seagate, BenQ, Samsung, HP, IBM. So the game is there, the more you sell and the more high target you achieve, then you'll be in the game.

Do the math, if I can convince all Nikon users on this site to convert to Canon in the next quarter, how much bonuses will I earned and what award I'll receive from Canon? Of course, there're some limitations and conditions of the deals.

[gstark]

However, I am not all that sure that I want to go down the Canon road and so will give myself a few days to mull it over. Very very interesting stuff though. I believe a few more forum members will be or have already been made the same offer. Strange world we live in.

Has anyone else been offered the deal and more importantly has anyone actually taken them up on the offer?

Stubbsy and Glen both seem to have taken up this offer. Please see this thread.

[ipv6ready]

Now if only Maseratti would upgrade my Audi for nix. Anyone know the marketing manager of Suttons?

Why Suttons?

Maserati is owned by Ferrari, who in turn are owned by Fiat. Likewise Alfa Romeo, btw. I'd probably want a word in the ear of Nev Chrichton.

And going from an Audi to a Mas isn't really an upgrade. As an ex-Mas and still Alfa owner, I'm speaking from experience.

Suttons because I thought they imported them. I could be wrong. But a Maserrati for nix. For a 3 year old TT, anyday.

If they gave me a bim M I would go out and buy a small sedan for everyday use

[birddog114]

ipv6ready,
Is your D100 back to Maxwell's workshop? if yes, I think its time is up.

[ipv6ready]

ipv6ready,
Is your D100 back to Maxwell's workshop? if yes, I think its time is up.

No its not the D100. Its the S4, won't power up

[pharmer]

Is your D100 up on eBay? - no mention of having to be fixed by Maxwell

What was wrong with it?

[ipv6ready]

Is your D100 up on eBay? - not mention of having to be fixed by Maxwell

What was wrong with it?

I usually don't mention what I have on sale here in this thread. I do post what I see on ebay sometimes but they are usually not sold by me.

Nothing wrong with it now. The relevent thread. here it is. It had a full service for shutter. So I if they fixed it it will be almost new as i bought other bodies off ebay since and now it just sits in the pelican case.

http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php? ... r&start=30

[gstark]

Thanh,

Do the math, if I can convince all Nikon users on this site to convert to Canon in the next quarter, how much bonuses will I earned and what award I'll receive from Canon? Of course, there're some limitations and conditions of the deals.

Is there anything in this message that I should be concerned about?

Iknow that you're an Optus user, but the Optus IP address I'm looking at isn't your's.

That I know of - but I do know that you have at least two Optus connections ...

[birddog114]

Gary,
It's just my example to make people understand how the concept of building a new customer base is, once I've just got the accreditation with Canon Australia and it's just my case.

Yes, I have three Optus broadband and ADSL connections, but I do not think that I have any wrong doing on this board.

[DaveB]

Gary, the 5D *is* a "pro" body, at least by some definition of the term.
It is a qualifying body in the requirements for membership of Canon's Professional Services organisation. But then that's also applied to the 20D, 30D, 10D, D60, and even D30 (when I joined CPS I used a 10D and a D30).

But then what really defines something as a "professional" tool? Something that's used by professionals? Sure many professionals use 1-series cameras, but some also use 350Ds!
Or even D70s

[gstark]

Thanx, Thanh.

That's my expectation of course.

I'm still looking at that one IP address, and what I'm seeing there isn't looking very good at all.

I expect I'll be sending something off to Optus' abuse centre sometime later today.

[blacknstormy]

Gary - just a question.
Shouldn't you approach the user first? Can't hurt to check??
Just my opinion
Rel

[gstark]

Gary, the 5D *is* a "pro" body, at least by some definition of the term.

Anything to garner a buck, eh?

Yes, very true, and like cheque-book journalism, since when would a featureset dictate the designed usage of any camera?

Or even D70s

Or even a D50!

[Nnnnsic]

Another well know example was with ING Direct. New customers were offered very good cash incentives to join but people who had used the bank for years missed out.

Yup. I got one of those cash incentive ones to join. $123 already in there! Sweet! And also... Thanks Geoff!

Oh and Steve, that limerick has become one of my favourite posts ever!

[gstark]

Gary - just a question.
Shouldn't you approach the user first? Can't hurt to check??
Just my opinion
Rel

If I can, then of course.

But I'm working from site logs and only have their IP address.

While I can see for any post the IP address from which the post was made, I may have a situation whereby a user is using a different address, and one that's not been used by them for posting, for the skimming of the site.

That would make it very difficult for me to track the user from just the IP address, and privacy concerns would preclude Optus from telling me who was assigned to the miscreant IP address at the time in question, regardless of any evidence I might produce. Unless I produced a court order, of course.

So, if I cannot ID the individual through my own resources, I think that the Optus abuse system becomes the next step in the process.

[obzelite]

Thanx, Thanh.

That's my expectation of course.

I'm still looking at that one IP address, and what I'm seeing there isn't looking very good at all.

I expect I'll be sending something off to Optus' abuse centre sometime later today.

The other thing is that whoever emailed the users to make this offer could have used the users webpage in that persons signature.
My work email is on the page that is in my signature.
I'm still not convinced you will get anywhere under the current laws as the intention was to stop spam, two direct emails presumably giving details on how to make direct contact do not fall into the spam template. That and the fact there are still a lot of Australian companies sending out spam who have not been prosecuted I don’t see you getting any joy.

[gstark]

Simon,

I'm still not convinced you will get anywhere under the current laws as the intention was to stop spam, two direct emails presumably giving details on how to make direct contact do not fall into the spam template.

As I understand the laws, and as bad as they are, they don't really need to be spam, as in builk emails.

Rather, the perspective is from the recipient's PoV, and if he or she recieves any unsolicited commercial email from somebody with whom he has not done any prior business, that would fall within the scopeof this legislation.

Thus, to take an example, if had sent an email to Matt K making this sort of offer, that would be perfectly acceptable because Thanh and Matt are friends, and have also previously engaged in business transactions with one another. Likewise Peter and Glen.

Butif Thanh had skimmed the emails (and I'm not suggesting that he has), and on-forwarded the addresses to Canon, who then initiated a contact with either of those three members, if those three members had no prior dealings with Canon, then that contact would be likely to fall within the scope of the Oz anti-spam legislation.

That said, I think I'd probably be somewhat upset if either of these circumstances were the case, the latter for reasons which should be painfully obvious, and the former because I simply don't see that as being in keeping with the spirit that we like to engender here.

[obzelite]

I can see your point.

If this is in fact a precursor to a possible offer to other members as birddog mentioned in another thread would your view change?

[gstark]

I can see your point.

If this is in fact a precursor to a possible offer to other members as birddog mentioned in another thread would your view change?

It would depend upon how quickly it flowed through to the membership.

If there was a swift flow-on of the same or a very similar deal, than that would be fine.

But if the deal took more than a few days to be passed on to the greater membership, or if it was not substantially the same deal being offered to all members, then I guess I'd have an issue with that.

[obzelite]

well i'm crossing everything.