Shilling Is Ruining Our Industry: Thoughts on MPB's GFX 100 II Review

I’d like to begin this post by stating that I think Amy, the presenter, is one of the best in the business. She’s passionate, knows her stuff, takes beautiful photographs, and delivers information with enthusiasm that rivals any network television presenter. She’s fantastic. This post isn’t about her. You are loved Amy. I loved your videos with WEX and it’s great to see you with MPB. WEX lost a good one. I know you’re just doing your job.

I’d also like to add that I love MPB and they are my preferred place to trade camera gear. They give great rates for used gear, offer free shipping, and a hassle free experience. I sold my Panasonic S1R to them a several months ago and was very pleased with my experience.

Now, I must define for the normies what a shill is. A shill is a person who pushes products/services due to some sort of financial incentive while being disguised as someone who genuinely loves said product/service. They could have a contract with a company or be an affiliate or be granted exclusive access to products, events, etc. But their m.o. is always to push things for the brand in order to get you to buy them. They will expouse all the wonderful upsides of the product/service and encourage you to part with your hard earned money.

The shill lacks integrity. The shill won’t be critical of the product because their partnership with the brand will be at stake. The shill wants that sweet affiliate revenue. The shill doesn’t want to lose out on paid for trips to cool events in cool cities. And the shill does not give a shit about you or if the product/service they’re reviewing will actually help you. Notice how the shill recoils and is incensed if you call them out for what they are.

Sadly, shills are everywhere. They are rampant in the photography/video industry but you will also see them in gaming, film, music, cosmetics, fashion, tourism, travel, and more. Most influencers are shills. Paid for people who are just there to promote a product instead of offering an honest review of the product so you, the consumer, can make a smart purchasing decision. I find it insulting, irresponsible, and dishonest.

So in the video above, the title is “Is Bigger Always Better? Fujifilm GFX 100 II Review”. Review being the operative word. A review, in the actual sense of the word offers a critique of the thing it’s reviewing. The pros, the cons, the benefits, the downsides, probably comparisons to other products. With a title like “Is Bigger Always Better”, you’d think there would be extensive comparison to smaller formats or previous cameras in the lineup, but no.

There’s no critical look at any of the cameras features. The weight. How it feels in the hand. The file sizes. The shooting speed. The limitations of all the various video formats. How it compares to previous models or competitor products.

A review is not a promotional video or product showcase that just reads off the specs, constantly praising every little feature, while not pointing out any downsides or looking at alternatives. For this video it’s just “100 Megapixels!” “The video features!” “It’s incredible!” “We have a new film simulation!”

Just praise, praise, praise. This is not a review. This is shilling for Fujifilm and of course, for MPB.

If you truly want to do good by your customers, it would be better to offer an unbiased, real review. If you’re a YouTuber who does reviews of any sort, you fall into this as well. If you begin your review with “Fujifilm was kind enough to send me the camera for a couple of weeks.” You’re probably a shill and your review is probably dishonest.

Please stop doing this. Shilling doesn’t help the consumer and just leads to a lot of buyer’s remorse and irresponsible spending. Or an innocent buyer purchasing a product completely wrong for their needs. Shilling also doesn’t help brands. While it may move a few products in the short-term, long-term it doesn’t cause them to make any changes or refinements to improve the product. Critique is not “hating” or “being negative”. Critique when done objectively is extremely useful in helping consumers make informed purchases while also improving the product, service, film, game, etc.

If you’re a brand, stand by the quality of your product and stop this business practice of buying people just so they can give you a favorable review. The GFX 100 II is an amazing camera that will be loved by many, but it’s not appropriate for everyone and being honest about this in reviews will help improve your brand’s image. Reviewers can easily recommend a Fuji X-T5 or X-H2S as alternatives for those on a budget or if they want lighter, smaller, faster. What happens with disingenuous reviews besides consumers wasting money is they grow a resentment towards the product because it wasn’t what they expected. Then they post bad reviews which hurts both the company and product’s image because someone made a misguided, misinformed purchase.

I’ve seen replies to these reviews with comments like, “Man that camera is a beast!”. It is. And so are the files. You probably don’t need it, won’t enjoy it, and will lose money when you inevitably sell it for a more appropriate camera for your needs. Going off on a tangent, but every camera isn’t appropriate for everything. You don’t use a tank when a rifle will suffice. The GFX 100 II isn’t really made for snapshots, to take everywhere, and to do everything. It’s not meant for sports. Or wildlife. Or street photography. You could use it for those things but there are better options and pros in this space understand this. There are different cameras for different purposes. Please understand this and buy accordingly.

End tangent. Back to shilling.

Sadly, the photography industry is rampant with these sort of reviews as “shilling” is a potential path to earning money. It’s not as lucrative as it once was, but every year, more photographers create a YouTube channel to review gear, hoping to earn money from being an affiliate or through ad revenue. And companies see this as the best way to sell their product. We have to do better.

This is not the way.