Innholdsfortegnelse for 27-Feb-2016 i Amateur Photographer

We are only two months into the year and already we have seen some incredible cameras unveiled. It looks like 2016 will be another year when technology leaps forward, and with the photokina imaging fair taking place in September we will no doubt see some major releases. But in this issue we take some time to celebrate the best cameras of 2015. Our annual awards ceremony took place recently in London, with the great and the good of the British photographic industry in attendance. Some of the categories were close calls, but in others there was an obvious choice of winner. You can find out what won which award on pages 48-55, but on pages 8-9 you can see a camera that we may see at next year’s awards, as…

CANON has launched the PowerShot SX720 HS, which it bills as its slimmest 40x superzoom camera. At 35.6mm thick, the SX720 HS features a 20.3-million-pixel imaging sensor and a DIGIC 6 processor. Its 40x zoom is designed to deliver the 35mm equivalent of a 24-960mm lens. The SX720 HS can shoot full HD movie, at up to 60p, in MP4 format. A Short Clip Movie mode allows the user to choose four, five or six-second clips. Playback options include slow motion and double speed. The Creative Shot Mode is designed to automatically create five versions of the image with various filters and effects applied. The SX720 HS is due out in April, priced £299.99.…

1 Background and location Settling on a good location is important when preparing a shoot. Look for interesting shapes or elements that can frame your subjects, or think about a location that either contrasts or complements them, as this will play a huge part in the final feel of the image. Try to avoid introducing too much clutter into the frame, even if you plan to use a shallow depth of field, as it can result in too many distracting elements. 2 Light Harsh light from the sun when it is high in the sky is best avoided, as the deep shadows created across the subject's face won't be that flattering. Cloudy, flat days – while shunned by landscape photographers – are ideal conditions for natural light portraits as the…

1 Plan your shooting trips carefully and be aware that weather conditions can change quickly. 2 Bad weather can add drama to pictures, so look out for dramatic skies and the quick changes in landscapes caused by snow and frost. 3 Use your camera's histogram and be aware of the problems that winter weather elements can create for exposure settings, such as light reflecting off snow for metering. 4 Work cleverly with winter light, which is often lower in the sky than at other times of year. 5 At sunrise think of shooting high early on, then moving on to a second location. 6 Think in black & white and colour – if there is no obvious benefit to having colour in an image, consider post-processing it as a black…

About the waxwing With their prominent crest, pinkish hues, black mask and gaudy red-and-yellow wing markings, the waxwing is a wildlife photographer’s dream when combined with an aesthetic branch of rowan berries. Location Waxwings first appear in the north-east of the UK in November, then spread south and west, returning to breeding grounds in March. Size Waxwings measure 19-23cm, with a 32-35.5cm wingspan. Nest A cup-shaped nest will be placed in trees or shrubs in coniferous forests, often near water. In Europe, these birds breed in Scandinavia and across northern Russia. Diet During the winter, which is when you are most likely to see them, waxwings feed on fruit and berries, particularly rowan, hawthorn, cotoneaster and rose. Population Numbers vary depending on food availability, but the average winter population is…

Lowepro Photo Sport BP 300 AW II Around £140, www.lowepro.com This Lowepro has a slightly larger camera section than the MindShift Gear bag with a lot of space for other items in the top sections. It’s also one of the few that offers space for a hydration reservoir. Nest Explorer 300L Around £129.99, www.nest-style.com This bag has a similar amount of space for camera kit as the MindShift Gear bag and a section for a laptop. It looks more like a traditional hiking bag and is available in four colours. Manfrotto Off Road Hiker 20L Backpack Around £120, www.manfrotto.co.uk The Manfrotto Off Road bags come in 20L and 30L options. They are designed to be lightweight and comfortable, and are capable of housing a decent amount of kit.…

Image-quality concerns Q I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 for its 720mm equivalent zoom to take pictures of birds. I'd like to be able to see enough detail to identify the birds, but this is not happening. To illustrate, see the photo of a skylark – probably – below. The first image is a down-sampled version of the in-camera JPEG to give a sense of scale of the bird at 720mm before it flies away. The second image is a full-resolution section from top to bottom after processing the raw file to maximise detail and minimise artefacts. The lark is in a field of white stones, but they are represented as little rainbows. I've measured the stone lower right of the bird and the spread between red and blue is…

One side of product development that often seems to be ignored is industrial design. I frequently see comments based on a tacit assumption that the cameras we see today are entirely the product of engineers. In a world where the way a product looks and feels probably has as large an effect on its sales success as its functionality, it would be surprising if manufacturers did not pay at least as much attention to this aspect of a product as they did to its internal engineering. Recently I was looking in a shop window where a Nikon D7000 was displayed next to a D7100. When placed side by side, the detailed differences in the styling were very apparent, with the D7100 faithfully following the styling cues from the D4, the…

Clouds often feature as a backdrop in landscape images, but it's not often that a photographer looks to the heavens and sees something so different that the clouds themselves become the subject. While we're used to seeing the marble-textured canvas of an autumn sky, or the bruised temper of an impending storm, this display over the North East of England is one of the rarest formations you'll see. High-level nacreous clouds, as viewed over Saltburn-by-the-Sea in early February, are a rare effect caused by the diffraction of sunlight in the ice crystals that form the nacreous clouds at high altitudes. For added effect, Getty photographer Ian Forsyth has included a lone figure on a hill witnessing this epic display. Words & numbers “Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in…

I often find myself wishing more of the world's top cinematographers also shot stills. Think of, say, the late John Alcott, who helped director Stanley Kubrick create brilliantly visualised scenes in films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon and A Clockwork Orange. Or Janusz Kaminski, whose virtuoso shooting enriches director Steven Spielberg's SchindlerÕs List, Saving Private Ryan and Minority Report. I bet their stills photography would be equally remarkable. One man who has demonstrated his prowess in both fields is the legendary Wolfgang Suschitzky, whose prints are on show at The Photographers' Gallery in London until 6 March, and who is still with us at the magnificent age of103. I first became aware of his film work when I saw the 1971 movie Get Carter in its proper…

Prime lens An 85mm or equivalent lens is ideal for flattering portraits, with the fast maximum aperture of f/1.4 or f/1.8 ideal for isolating your subject, as well as offering extra versatility in low light. Reflector Various reflectors are available, but something like a white/silver or silver/gold combination will give you options to bounce light back onto your subject. Monopod This is not essential, but it can be handy when working in poor light if you want to ensure pin-sharp shots. Diffuser If you’re shooting under clear skies and can’t find a shady spot, a diffuser will help soften the harsh light. Dedicated diffusers are available, but if you haven’t got one to hand a translucent piece of white cloth will do the job.…

Keep it simple When it comes to portraiture, there can be no better advice than that offered by Brian Rolfe (see right) when he says don't overcomplicate your lighting (Perfect Your Portraits, AP 9 January). In my opinion, the fantastic celebrity portraits taken by the late Jane Bown will never be beaten. Her simple use of daylight, fast black & white film, and knack for putting her subjects at ease was an unbeatable combination. Many years ago, after reading an AP article about Jane Bown, I set up my own ‘daylight studio'. I fixed frosted plastic panels into the roof of my garden shed and replaced the glass window with a frosted panel. I posed my subjects on a stool and, like Jane Bown, used an Olympus OM-1 and Kodak…

Settings I use aperture priority or manual mode, depending on the light. If it is a clear sunny day and the light is unlikely to change, manual means your camera's metering won't be thrown by a particularly dark branch or light object. If the sun keeps going behind the clouds, however, I would stick with aperture priority simply because it means you do not have to keep changing the exposure to keep up with the weather. As the birds will always be moving, continuous autofocus is a must, and a single focus point reduces the chance of the camera switching focus to the background. Finding them As waxwings often do not spend more than a few days in a particular location, finding them is difficult on your own. They are…

Lightening the exposure THIS photograph by Dani Colston was challenging to process because the original raw image was underexposed and the dog was photographed against the setting sun. The fact it was possible to lighten the image (as shown here) was testament to the quality of the sensor in the Canon EOS 6D camera used. The ‘after' version reveals a well-composed photo; the dog is positioned at the point where the horizon, shoreline and the line running along the base of the cliffs all converge. The light also provided an opportunity to adjust the white balance for a lovely contrast between the ambient light and the sunset colours in the distance. 1 Lighten the exposure I opened the raw original photo in Camera Raw and selected the Basic panel and…

From £14.99 main.panasonic-eneloop.eu BATTERIES may not be the most exciting products, but they are still one of the most essential items in a photographer's armoury – and the choice of battery is vital for high-power devices such as flashguns. Investing a bit of cash into a good set of rechargeable batteries is an excellent move for anyone that uses single-use AA batteries at an alarming rate. Also, with a good battery you get a better performance. Eneloop Pro 2500mAh batteries are designed for high-drain devices, and having tested a variety of other brands I can confidently say the Eneloop Pro batteries are among the best possible for use in flashguns. Many other high-quality batteries are good at maintaining small amounts of power over very long periods, but they quickly become…

If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? At best, this question concerns the nature of perception as a placeholder for consciousness. At worst, it briefly entertains a bright child. So if you put an enormous picture on display in a public place and nobody sees it, is it in fact a picture? It is a safe bet that most of the thousands who walked over this picture never noticed it. Of those who did, probably few ever knew it was a portrait of a recent arrival to the United States – Elmar from Azerbaijan. The crossover between anonymity and scale is central to JR’s photography, which I have followed since I first encountered it some years ago at Les Rencontres…

Panasonic cashback Panasonic customers can claim up to £100 cashback on selected Lumix compact system cameras and fixed-lens compacts. The Lumix DMC-GH4, DMC-GX8 and DMC-GX7 are among the cameras included in the promotion, which runs until 30 March 2016. For full details, visit www.panasonic.co.uk/promotions. Be part of history Enthusiasts have a chance to win a £1,000 prize and have their work form part of a historical record of nursing in the 21st century by entering the Royal College of Nursing’s Care on Camera competition. The RCN challenges photographers to capture the ‘innovation and diversity of the modern-day nursing profession’. The closing date for the contest, which is free to enter, is 29 February. Visit www.rcn100photo.org.uk. South Bank show Photographers can have their work displayed as part of an outdoor exhibition…

AN INCREDIBLE image of a diving kingfisher has won the Societies' Photographer of the Year title for the UK and sent social media wild. West Yorkshire photographer Chris Chambers beat almost 12,000 images entered into the Societies' Monthly Image Competition during 2015. At the time of writing, the story had been seen by more than 180,000 people on AP's Facebook page and shared more than 930 times. Commenting on the winning shot – which beat entries from all over the world – the judges said: ‘This decisive moment has been superbly captured. It's a staggeringly good shot that we all wished we had captured.' Chris, from Castleford in West Yorkshire, won a Fujifilm X-T1 with a 56mm f/1.2 lens, plus a trip to the WPPI portrait and wedding convention in…

AT THE same time as announcing the EOS 80D, Canon has revealed its first lens to feature Nano USM focus technology. The EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM merges the best of Canon's ultrasonic motor technology (USM) and stepping motor lens technology (STM) to create the best blend of smooth, quiet autofocus for movie recording, and blistering speed for stills. As well as being able to use it as you would a conventional lens, it supports the attachment of an optional Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E1 (£129), which offers advantages to zoom operation when shooting movies. This compact and lightweight accessory attaches securely to the underside of the lens and provides fingertip power zoom control for ultra-smooth zooming at fast or slow speeds, via its mechanical drive and electronic contacts. It also supports…

You answered… A Yes, it was good 52% B Yes, it was OK 19% C Yes, it was awful 7% D No, but only as I didn’t have the opportunity 13% E No, I don’t think they are good enough yet 2% F No, I have no interest in them 7% What you said ‘I haven’t had the chance to try one, so I cannot condemn them out of hand. I imagine they are more or less the same as live view on a DSLR, which is fine if that is the case.’ ‘My camera of choice is a Sony NEX-6 with EVF. It can provide an almost 10x magnified view of the image and is excellent for manual focus. The viewfinder also incorporates an optional double axis level indicator,…

At a glance Separate internal camera module Designed for trekking and hiking Space for a medium-sized DSLR kit Compact and lightweight Water resistant with waterproof cover supplied Range of colours Our review sample is black magma. There’s a twilight-blue version available as well, which is particularly useful for making you more visible in treacherous conditions. Air-mesh back The back of the bag is nicely padded and features air-mesh material that improves air circulation to prevent the user sweating. Tripod mount on the front Beneath two small flaps at the front are clips that allow users to fasten and transport a tripod or monopod. Belt strap The belt strap goes around the waist to give users extra support when carrying heavy loads. Around £120 www.mindshiftgear.com MANFROTTO, Nest and Lowepro have recently…

LAUNCHED 1963 PRICE AT LAUNCH £99 19s 3d (£99.96) in Westminster Photographic advertisement, AP 7 April 1965 GUIDE PRICE TODAY £160-£200 with 80mm f/2.8 or 105mm f/3.5 lens IN1962/63, the announcement of the crank-wind Mamiyaflex C3 eliminated the doubts of photographers accustomed to the crank wind of the Rolleiflex and suspicious of the knob-wind Mamiyaflex C2. The Mamiyaflex C3 added not only crank wind but also automatic exposure counter reset and double-exposure prevention, neither of which was present on a C2. You still had to cock the shutter manually after you'd wound on the film – a practice alien to the Rolleiflex user. The C3 also had new styling and somehow looked more ‘professional' than the earlier cameras. The textured rubber finish on the body is virtually indestructible. A good…