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There are several questions on this site, like Will point-and-shoot cameras be able to compete with camera phones? which have been made into community wiki questions. Presumably this was because someone felt that they were veering towards subjectivity.

If a question is really unanswerably subjective, it should just be closed. (Ideally, by vote, now that we've got a lot of users with reputation to do that.)

If the question has a subjective component — and where various reasonable answers might disagree — but where answers can be backed up with solid reasoning and references, they should be left as regular questions.

I don't mean to imply that the moderators are being horrible dictators or anything. Just a request.

It's not just about the above question; here's a few others.

• What is the fastest lens available for a DSLR?
• Which are must have lenses for Canon?
• When is black and white likely to enhance an image? [FIXED]
• What's a good starter flash for Nikon?
• When is manual focus better than autofocus?
• What do I need to know to get started with food photography?

Some of those I think should have been closed (or still should be); others should be rephrased; and others should just be regular questions.

And in these cases, the questioner or a commenter requested that the post be made CW, but maybe they shouldn't have been:

• What makes a photo a good photo?
• What size should I print at for gallery shows?
• How to teach photography?
• How do Facebook & Google's new photography features impact professional photographers?

Edit 2:

I guess I should explain why I feel that Community Wiki is the wrong tool for subjective-tending questions. The effect of CW is to reduce ownership in answers. The bar to editing is lowered (both by actual mechanical reputation required, and because it's overtly encouraged). And, no reputation score is given. This means Community Wiki is great for lists of factual references, and it's even great for survey-type questions (even though those are discouraged for other reasons). But it's exactly the wrong thing for questions where answers may contain subjective, personal opinions. In those cases, individual ownership should be more apparent, not less. So, I think we're using the wrong tool for the job here.

Edit: @jrista, I'm sorry I've offended you with this and with the tone of my original message. I really didn't intend it that way. You and the other moderators are doing an excellent job and the site wouldn't be as awesome without all your hard work.

There are several questions on this site, like Will point-and-shoot cameras be able to compete with camera phones? which have been made into community wiki questions. Presumably this was because someone felt that they were veering towards subjectivity.

If a question is really unanswerably subjective, it should just be closed. (Ideally, by vote, now that we've got a lot of users with reputation to do that.)

If the question has a subjective component — and where various reasonable answers might disagree — but where answers can be backed up with solid reasoning and references, they should be left as regular questions.

I don't mean to imply that the moderators are being horrible dictators or anything. Just a request.

It's not just about the above question; here's a few others.

• What is the fastest lens available for a DSLR?
• Which are must have lenses for Canon?
• When is black and white likely to enhance an image? [FIXED]
• What's a good starter flash for Nikon?
• When is manual focus better than autofocus?
• What do I need to know to get started with food photography?

Some of those I think should have been closed (or still should be); others should be rephrased; and others should just be regular questions.

And in these cases, the questioner or a commenter requested that the post be made CW, but maybe they shouldn't have been:

• What makes a photo a good photo?
• What size should I print at for gallery shows?
• How to teach photography?
• How do Facebook & Google's new photography features impact professional photographers?

Edit 2:

I guess I should explain why I feel that Community Wiki is the wrong tool for subjective-tending questions. The effect of CW is to reduce ownership in answers. The bar to editing is lowered (both by actual mechanical reputation required, and because it's overtly encouraged). And, no reputation score is given. This means Community Wiki is great for lists of factual references, and it's even great for survey-type questions (even though those are discouraged for other reasons). But it's exactly the wrong thing for questions where answers may contain subjective, personal opinions. In those cases, individual ownership should be more apparent, not less. So, I think we're using the wrong tool for the job here.

Edit: @jrista, I'm sorry I've offended you with this and with the tone of my original message. I really didn't intend it that way. You and the other moderators are doing an excellent job and the site wouldn't be as awesome without all your hard work.

There are several questions on this site, like Will point-and-shoot cameras be able to compete with camera phones? which have been made into community wiki questions. Presumably this was because someone felt that they were veering towards subjectivity.

If a question is really unanswerably subjective, it should just be closed. (Ideally, by vote, now that we've got a lot of users with reputation to do that.)

If the question has a subjective component — and where various reasonable answers might disagree — but where answers can be backed up with solid reasoning and references, they should be left as regular questions.

I don't mean to imply that the moderators are being horrible dictators or anything. Just a request.

It's not just about the above question; here's a few others.

• What is the fastest lens available for a DSLR?
• Which are must have lenses for Canon?
• When is black and white likely to enhance an image? [FIXED]
• What's a good starter flash for Nikon?
• When is manual focus better than autofocus?
• What do I need to know to get started with food photography?

Some of those I think should have been closed (or still should be); others should be rephrased; and others should just be regular questions.

And in these cases, the questioner or a commenter requested that the post be made CW, but maybe they shouldn't have been:

• What makes a photo a good photo?
• What size should I print at for gallery shows?
• How to teach photography?

Edit 2:

I guess I should explain why I feel that Community Wiki is the wrong tool for subjective-tending questions. The effect of CW is to reduce ownership in answers. The bar to editing is lowered (both by actual mechanical reputation required, and because it's overtly encouraged). And, no reputation score is given. This is great for lists of factual references, and it's even great for survey-type questions (even though those are discouraged for other reasons). But it's exactly the wrong thing for questions where answers may contain subjective, personal opinions. In those cases, individual ownership should be more apparent, not less. So, I think we're using the wrong tool for the job here.

Edit: @jrista, I'm sorry I've offended you with this and with the tone of my original message. I really didn't intend it that way. You and the other moderators are doing an excellent job and the site wouldn't be as awesome without all your hard work.

There are several questions on this site, like Will point-and-shoot cameras be able to compete with camera phones? which have been made into community wiki questions. Presumably this was because someone felt that they were veering towards subjectivity.

If a question is really unanswerably subjective, it should just be closed. (Ideally, by vote, now that we've got a lot of users with reputation to do that.)

If the question has a subjective component — and where various reasonable answers might disagree — but where answers can be backed up with solid reasoning and references, they should be left as regular questions.

I don't mean to imply that the moderators are being horrible dictators or anything. Just a request.

It's not just about the above question; here's a few others.

• What is the fastest lens available for a DSLR?
• Which are must have lenses for Canon?
• When is black and white likely to enhance an image? [FIXED]
• What's a good starter flash for Nikon?
• When is manual focus better than autofocus?
• What do I need to know to get started with food photography?

Some of those I think should have been closed (or still should be); others should be rephrased; and others should just be regular questions.

And in these cases, the questioner or a commenter requested that the post be made CW, but maybe they shouldn't have been:

• What makes a photo a good photo?
• What size should I print at for gallery shows?
• How to teach photography?
• How do Facebook & Google's new photography features impact professional photographers?

Edit 2:

I guess I should explain why I feel that Community Wiki is the wrong tool for subjective-tending questions. The effect of CW is to reduce ownership in answers. The bar to editing is lowered (both by actual mechanical reputation required, and because it's overtly encouraged). And, no reputation score is given. This means Community Wiki is great for lists of factual references, and it's even great for survey-type questions (even though those are discouraged for other reasons). But it's exactly the wrong thing for questions where answers may contain subjective, personal opinions. In those cases, individual ownership should be more apparent, not less. So, I think we're using the wrong tool for the job here.

Edit: @jrista, I'm sorry I've offended you with this and with the tone of my original message. I really didn't intend it that way. You and the other moderators are doing an excellent job and the site wouldn't be as awesome without all your hard work.

There are several questions on this site, like Will point-and-shoot cameras be able to compete with camera phones? which have been made into community wiki questions. Presumably this was because someone felt that they were veering towards subjectivity.

If a question is really unanswerably subjective, it should just be closed. (Ideally, by vote, now that we've got a lot of users with reputation to do that.)

If the question has a subjective component — and where various reasonable answers might disagree — but where answers can be backed up with solid reasoning and references, they should be left as regular questions.

I don't mean to imply that the moderators are being horrible dictators or anything. Just a request.

It's not just about the above question; here's a few others.

• What is the fastest lens available for a DSLR?
• Which are must have lenses for Canon?
• When is black and white likely to enhance an image?
• What's a good starter flash for Nikon?
• When is manual focus better than autofocus?
• What do I need to know to get started with food photography?

Some of those I think should have been closed (or still should be); others should be rephrased; and others should just be regular questions.

And in these cases, the questioner or a commenter requested that the post be made CW, but maybe they shouldn't have been:

• What makes a photo a good photo?
• What size should I print at for gallery shows?
• How to teach photography?

Edit 2:

I guess I should explain why I feel that Community Wiki is the wrong tool for subjective-tending questions. The effect of CW is to reduce ownership in answers. The bar to editing is lowered (both by actual mechanical reputation required, and because it's overtly encouraged). And, no reputation score is given. This is great for lists of factual references, and it's even great for survey-type questions (even though those are discouraged for other reasons). But it's exactly the wrong thing for questions where answers may contain subjective, personal opinions. In those cases, individual ownership should be more apparent, not less. So, I think we're using the wrong tool for the job here.

Edit: @jrista, I'm sorry I've offended you with this and with the tone of my original message. I really didn't intend it that way. You and the other moderators are doing an excellent job and the site wouldn't be as awesome without all your hard work.

There are several questions on this site, like Will point-and-shoot cameras be able to compete with camera phones? which have been made into community wiki questions. Presumably this was because someone felt that they were veering towards subjectivity.

If a question is really unanswerably subjective, it should just be closed. (Ideally, by vote, now that we've got a lot of users with reputation to do that.)

If the question has a subjective component — and where various reasonable answers might disagree — but where answers can be backed up with solid reasoning and references, they should be left as regular questions.

I don't mean to imply that the moderators are being horrible dictators or anything. Just a request.

It's not just about the above question; here's a few others.

• What is the fastest lens available for a DSLR?
• Which are must have lenses for Canon?
• When is black and white likely to enhance an image? [FIXED]
• What's a good starter flash for Nikon?
• When is manual focus better than autofocus?
• What do I need to know to get started with food photography?

Some of those I think should have been closed (or still should be); others should be rephrased; and others should just be regular questions.

And in these cases, the questioner or a commenter requested that the post be made CW, but maybe they shouldn't have been:

• What makes a photo a good photo?
• What size should I print at for gallery shows?
• How to teach photography?

Edit 2:

I guess I should explain why I feel that Community Wiki is the wrong tool for subjective-tending questions. The effect of CW is to reduce ownership in answers. The bar to editing is lowered (both by actual mechanical reputation required, and because it's overtly encouraged). And, no reputation score is given. This is great for lists of factual references, and it's even great for survey-type questions (even though those are discouraged for other reasons). But it's exactly the wrong thing for questions where answers may contain subjective, personal opinions. In those cases, individual ownership should be more apparent, not less. So, I think we're using the wrong tool for the job here.

Edit: @jrista, I'm sorry I've offended you with this and with the tone of my original message. I really didn't intend it that way. You and the other moderators are doing an excellent job and the site wouldn't be as awesome without all your hard work.