Where did Mattias Burling go? Youtube channel is gone.

[kye]

I remember a quote from around the time that Facebook started having issues with people passing away - "in 80 years there will be 800 million dead people on Facebook".  

People don't really think about social media channels having an end, and so when they do people are often confused.  It would be great if there was specific functionality for such things, like automatically turning off comments to all videos etc, but we haven't really worked through the related issues as a society yet so there isn't really a common understanding of what we even want to have happen when people move on.

 

[Andrew - EOSHD]

4 hours ago, Mattias Burling said:

Hello, I hope everyone is well!

Even though I’m not really active on camera forums anymore, I frequently read the EOSHD blog and every now and then the forum, so I saw the thread and thought I would respond.

Because it wasn’t ”poof gone”, it was announced on the channel over a year ago and mentioned in the last three videos.

Before going into why, super flattered that this thread exist. I mean that.

So here are some thoughts on the matter and why I took it down.

Hobby vs Work

YouTube was never my job, just a hobby. So was video making and photography, in the beginning.

When starting the channel I was working as a producer after a couple of years as a radio/TV reporter. So I started the channel to keep my practical skills fresh. And to keep up with the development, which was huge at the time. The DSLR revolution, Blackmagic, cheaper editors etc.

Fast forward a couple of years and I started making more videos at work again. At the same time I pretty much lost all interest in doing it as a hobby. And actually canceled the channel.

Winston Churchill was definitely right in saying that work and hobbies should not be too similar. 

But what I had discovered was a passion for still photography, which I had pretty much no experience with. So I started making videos again.

That’s why my videos became very repetitive and short. I didn’t care about that part, I just wanted to display my stills work and get feedback, talk to the community, experiment with cameras and develop.

After a few years I became a good enough photographer that my new employer noticed and just like that I was shooting stills professionally all the time. And I still do (I work in marketing and PR). It’s a huge bonus in my field and if you are good at it you will never be out of work.

So photography also became less and less of a hobby.

Instead I found other hobbies. They where things that for example got me out into nature, so photography tagged a long a while, as a secondary activity. But eventually it faded. It was also nice to do things and not share it with people. I know I probably could have a very successful channel by making videos about my current hobbies, and even make some money. But I never really wanted a channel for the sake of a channel. And always had a full time job.

The fact is that at no point would I had been able to live of my channel, not even at the peak. Even with sponsors it was never more that a regular salary (in my field and country). But as long as it was a hobby and I was glad to do it, it was a welcome addition to finance camera gear.

 

Time

At the same time as my channel started to feel less fun and other hobbies started taking my time, I started a family. So.. you get the idea: full time job + family + 2-3 hobbies = no YouTube.

Upkeep 

So why take it down, why not leave it for the community? I did..  at first.

Like some of you pointed out, the YouTube crowd in the photography/video space is generally nice and positive. That is my experience as well.

Early on I learned that a good way of keeping the trolls away was to be present. Respond and engage. Trolls are usually idiots or cowards, so they don’t like getting push back.

But once I stopped making videos, views and comments obviously went down. But the trolls started coming back. Not so much after me, and I don’t care about that. But agains the community. The people commenting started being nasty towards each other.

I felt a responsibility to moderate, which was annoying. That’s when the thought about simply removing it started to grow.

It wasn’t an impuls. It was an internal debate that went on for months. And the issue grew much much larger than a couple of trolls. 

I started thinking about five years ahead, 10 years, 30 years..

This post is already way too long so I won’t go into all of it. But I think you get the idea when I say:

Privacy or when the content no longer reflects the creator. Digital minimalism, control over one’s narrative, inactive or outdated content. Risk of misuse of content  due to me not checking the terms updates. Closure.

 

So there is a looong ramble 🙂

 

To keep in spirit of the forum I can charge my current gear for pro work 🙂

For the longest time I used the EOS-R for 75% of all my work and the R5 (rental)  for the rest. It wasn’t mine but my employer told me to buy whatever I wanted. Paired it with a 28, 35 and 70-200. 70/30 stills/video.

 

The R5 is peak camera imo.

 

Today is a little different. I started working for a new company about a year ago and again was told to buy what I needed. I would have bought the R5 without hesitation if it wasn’t for the Sigma 35-150/2-2.8.. I just had to have it. So I ordered the Nikon Z6iii. It’s not as good overall as the R5 for me and what I like in a tool camera. But it’s 90% there. And coupled with that lens it’s becomes on par.

 

//MB

 

Great to hear from you!

It makes much more sense now we know why you brought the channel to a close and also chose to delete it eventually. All I can say is that I'll miss it.

And I hope you find the passion to return one day to the tube.

Having read that I understand completely and found the same challenges myself too, everyone can see that I struggle to get excited about the gear sometimes, whereas in the earlier "DSLR revolution" era, I'd be updating EOSHD 5 times a day sometimes more. It is difficult when a passion becomes work, when enthusiasm becomes repetition, when an audience goes toxic or when a big US tech companies enshitifies the platform you're posting such valuable creativity on. I mean, look what they did to Vimeo, it's a difficult pill to swallow and I've always struggled with my enthusiasm for YouTube as a platform as well and there's very little in way of alternatives.

I'm just glad you're well and enjoying your R5... You're right in that it still holds up as near the peak even 5 years later, and the overheating drama is far behind it after Canon decided to undo the damage caused by their fake timers and cripple hammer decisions.

 

[newfoundmass]

On 2/1/2026 at 3:48 PM, Mattias Burling said:

Hello, I hope everyone is well!

Even though I’m not really active on camera forums anymore, I frequently read the EOSHD blog and every now and then the forum, so I saw the thread and thought I would respond.

Because it wasn’t ”poof gone”, it was announced on the channel over a year ago and mentioned in the last three videos.

Before going into why, super flattered that this thread exist. I mean that.

So here are some thoughts on the matter and why I took it down.

Hobby vs Work

YouTube was never my job, just a hobby. So was video making and photography, in the beginning.

When starting the channel I was working as a producer after a couple of years as a radio/TV reporter. So I started the channel to keep my practical skills fresh. And to keep up with the development, which was huge at the time. The DSLR revolution, Blackmagic, cheaper editors etc.

Fast forward a couple of years and I started making more videos at work again. At the same time I pretty much lost all interest in doing it as a hobby. And actually canceled the channel.

Winston Churchill was definitely right in saying that work and hobbies should not be too similar. 

But what I had discovered was a passion for still photography, which I had pretty much no experience with. So I started making videos again.

That’s why my videos became very repetitive and short. I didn’t care about that part, I just wanted to display my stills work and get feedback, talk to the community, experiment with cameras and develop.

After a few years I became a good enough photographer that my new employer noticed and just like that I was shooting stills professionally all the time. And I still do (I work in marketing and PR). It’s a huge bonus in my field and if you are good at it you will never be out of work.

So photography also became less and less of a hobby.

Instead I found other hobbies. They where things that for example got me out into nature, so photography tagged a long a while, as a secondary activity. But eventually it faded. It was also nice to do things and not share it with people. I know I probably could have a very successful channel by making videos about my current hobbies, and even make some money. But I never really wanted a channel for the sake of a channel. And always had a full time job.

The fact is that at no point would I had been able to live of my channel, not even at the peak. Even with sponsors it was never more that a regular salary (in my field and country). But as long as it was a hobby and I was glad to do it, it was a welcome addition to finance camera gear.

 

Time

At the same time as my channel started to feel less fun and other hobbies started taking my time, I started a family. So.. you get the idea: full time job + family + 2-3 hobbies = no YouTube.

Upkeep 

So why take it down, why not leave it for the community? I did..  at first.

Like some of you pointed out, the YouTube crowd in the photography/video space is generally nice and positive. That is my experience as well.

Early on I learned that a good way of keeping the trolls away was to be present. Respond and engage. Trolls are usually idiots or cowards, so they don’t like getting push back.

But once I stopped making videos, views and comments obviously went down. But the trolls started coming back. Not so much after me, and I don’t care about that. But agains the community. The people commenting started being nasty towards each other.

I felt a responsibility to moderate, which was annoying. That’s when the thought about simply removing it started to grow.

It wasn’t an impuls. It was an internal debate that went on for months. And the issue grew much much larger than a couple of trolls. 

I started thinking about five years ahead, 10 years, 30 years..

This post is already way too long so I won’t go into all of it. But I think you get the idea when I say:

Privacy or when the content no longer reflects the creator. Digital minimalism, control over one’s narrative, inactive or outdated content. Risk of misuse of content  due to me not checking the terms updates. Closure.

 

So there is a looong ramble 🙂

 

To keep in spirit of the forum I can charge my current gear for pro work 🙂

For the longest time I used the EOS-R for 75% of all my work and the R5 (rental)  for the rest. It wasn’t mine but my employer told me to buy whatever I wanted. Paired it with a 28, 35 and 70-200. 70/30 stills/video.

 

The R5 is peak camera imo.

 

Today is a little different. I started working for a new company about a year ago and again was told to buy what I needed. I would have bought the R5 without hesitation if it wasn’t for the Sigma 35-150/2-2.8.. I just had to have it. So I ordered the Nikon Z6iii. It’s not as good overall as the R5 for me and what I like in a tool camera. But it’s 90% there. And coupled with that lens it’s becomes on par.

 

//MB

Thank you for letting us know! I'm glad you're well! I do wish the content stayed up, as it was still useful, but I understand your reasoning. At the end of the day, it was YOUR content and you could do what you wanted with it!

I hope that you check in from time to time and thank you for all your input over the years! And congrats on the family! 

[BTM_Pix]

Every time I’m watching a YouTube video and they say “Let me know down below in the comments” I just think “Oh no you poor bastard”.

The problem is of course that they have to appeal to people to do that to get the algorithm to work for them and give their content a chance to get noticed.

YouTube actually make you open yourself up for trolling to even attempt to make yourself relevant in their “who gives a shit about quality?” mindset.

It’s exactly the same with the other clown and his blue tick programme being a deliberate incitement to gain money by hateposting, rage baiting and outright lying to farm replies for cash and cause division.

Absolute shithouse behaviour.

Particularly as it also seems to be an effective template to become US President.

[MrSMW]

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

Every time I’m watching a YouTube video and they say “Let me know down below in the comments” I just think “Oh no you poor bastard”.

This one gets on my moobs also as does, “tell me what content you want me to make”.

The latter reads to me as, “OK, I have been through everything I can think of and also copied everything everyone else has done in this genre and now I am stuck and desperate for more material. Please help”.

I have been recently unsubscribing from so many YouTube channels as part of my on-going “I unsubscribe from this world of fuckwittery” lifestyle choice.

[FHDcrew]

On 2/4/2026 at 8:01 AM, MrSMW said:

I have been recently unsubscribing from so many YouTube channels as part of my on-going “I unsubscribe from this world of fuckwittery” lifestyle choice.

How about Matti Haapoja’s “epic fpv sea transition” video that was just an artlist AI ad disguised as a helpful video. The same bro who was gonna “take a break from YouTube and really get back to his creative roots for a year” now shilling Higgsfield AI whilst reviewing yet another lens in a sea of perfectly imperfect but still perfect lenses that are all the same and can be made to look however you want because there’s no bad gear anymore just the potential to either acquire or lack skill. 

[MrSMW]

7 hours ago, FHDcrew said:

How about Matti Haapoja’s “epic fpv sea transition” video that was just an artlist AI ad disguised as a helpful video. The same bro who was gonna “take a break from YouTube and really get back to his creative roots for a year” now shilling Higgsfield AI whilst reviewing yet another lens in a sea of perfectly imperfect but still perfect lenses that are all the same and can be made to look however you want because there’s no bad gear anymore just the potential to either acquire or lack skill. 

Never subscribed but he was an early victim of my ‘do not recommend this channel’ button pressing on YouTube.

Another Content for Content Sake ‘Creatior’ 🥱

[Andrew - EOSHD]

What we're seeing with AI is what we see with human intelligence, in that it can be either the best of humanity or the most evil of humanity, and there's a similar spread of ethics on YouTube as well! On one hand the inevitable consequence of a free and open platform with no editorial oversight, no unifying force in terms of values, just a bunch of people doing what they do - some grifters, some artists, some enthusiasts, some engineers, some marketing, some desperate for money, others more interested in creating and less interested in what other people think.

I'm kinda upset Mr Burling won't be around any more as he was definitely in the latter camp of YouTubers who had credibility and an artist's vision.

I find a lot of the animation folk are the same... that field seems to attract people who are in it for the pure love of it rather than grifters just in it for the ego and the money. In photography and filmmaking the balance is more close to the middle, 50-50.

What I like about YouTube and social media in general is you can seek out the niche pockets of creativity and that it sits on what is now a big mainstream TV platform. A mainstream TV platform in the 'old days' would never have had the sheer amount of one-man-band content on it that YouTube has now.

So there's a lot to be grateful for with it as well as the other more negative side of it which is sometimes difficult to ignore.

It's a net gain overall though isn't it?

I will reconsider my own absence from YouTube soon and get some stuff out there.

[MrSMW]

1 hour ago, Andrew - EOSHD said:

So there's a lot to be grateful for with it as well as the other more negative side of it which is sometimes difficult to ignore.

There is indeed a wealth of super high quality material, instantly accessible and either for free or with very reasonably priced subscriptions.

And every subject whether it be something historical, classic cars, wood turning, whatever floats your boat, is available.

But it is probably less than 5% of the material and channels out there which are just dross and soapboxes for talentless hustlers.

And now, increasing AI slop.

We just have to be more selective as consumers.