Innholdsfortegnelse for 18-Jan-2014 i Amateur Photographer

THERE has been a resurgence in the second-hand market recently. The image quality of most DSLRs reached the point of being good enough for most people’s needs years ago, so buying a model a few generations old is now a bargain. Going back further, there’s an appeal in the quality and feel of pre-digital cameras and lenses that’s down to more than nostalgia. This issue of AP is great for those who appreciate older equipment. First, we kick off a new series in which Ian Burley looks at classic cameras and lenses from the perspective of using, rather than simply collecting, them (pages 57-59). The Nikon Df has jumped on the retro bandwagon with an FM-inspired design, but perhaps its most interesting feature is its compatibility with almost every Nikkor…

THE NEW owner of Kodak’s photographic paper business is on a mission to double the number of images printed, by making it easier for consumers to print their smartphone photos. As part of the project, the company is set to launch a smartphone app designed to allow consumers to order prints directly from their mobile phone, for collection, without them having to be at a Kodak printing kiosk at the time. The new service is due to be launched this month by Kodak Alaris, the firm set up after UK Kodak Pension Plan acquired the Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses from US-based Eastman Kodak last year. Kodak Alaris’s European general manager for Personalized Imaging, Lee Palmer, explained that a printing service is already available for Facebook and Instagram users…

A UK INKJET paper maker has announced its own version of Ilford Galerie paper following reports that Ilford Imaging Switzerland has closed its factory. At the time of writing, Ilford Imaging Switzerland, which makes Ilford Galerie paper, was officially still trading despite halting production of photographic paper and laying off 130 factory staff at its Marly plant. The move came after the cash-strapped firm declared itself insolvent in November last year. UK inkjet paper maker PermaJet has since stepped in with plans to sell its own version of Ilford Galerie paper, called Smooth Pearl 280gsm. PermaJet, which is based in Warwickshire, says the ‘heavyweight base’ paper is set for of ficial worldwide launch on 15 January. AP understands that Tetenal, of ficial distributor for Ilford Galerie paper in the UK…

In Predatory Light: Lions and Tigers and Polar Bears By Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson Merrell, £35, hardback, 160 pages, ISBN 978-1-858-94610-8 I HAVE checked with AP’s top editorial brass, and I’m not allowed to dock the editors of this book a star for not adding ‘Oh my!’ to the end of the title. Boo. Anyway – now that I’ve alienated everyone who hasn’t seen The Wizard of Oz – the rest of the book is excellent. Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson’s duotone images are not pin-sharp wildlife photographs, but rough-and-ready shots that use motion blur to convey action and limited dynamic range to show how well the animals blend into their environments. You could argue that now we can watch polar bears hunt and kill in glorious 4K HD,…

IN RECENT months, I have found myself pondering the apparent disposability of modern digital cameras. I don’t mean the gimmicky single-use ones you might find on the table at a wedding reception, but rather the effective lifespan of high-spec offerings from respected companies. We have all heard of built-in obsolescence, and I for one never take out the extended warranty on a new freezer or microwave as you can guarantee it will go wrong very soon after the warranty expires. After all, the length of the warranty is not picked at random! Is this worrying modern concept now extending to cameras as well? The letters pages of AP 16 November featured another tale of woe from the owner of a recent camera model that had proven to be faulty in…

THE IRONIC aspect of high–speed probably taken at least a decade to achieve. Dale Sutton’s eye-catching images seem to freeze nature itself and allow us to glimpse moments that would otherwise pass in a blur or perhaps never be seen at all. His odyssey started as a wide-eyed innocent staring in wonder at high-speed pioneer Stephen Dalton’s image of a swallow sipping water from a pond. Now Dale is a recognised expert in his field – a feat he puts down to patience, trial, error and passion. ‘After seeing Stephen Dalton’s swallow image, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,’ says Dale. ‘I started to look through every book I could find searching for information on how to do it, but there wasn’t much help. Naturally, the people doing…

PROSPERING sports careers can often be cruelly cut short or put on hold by injury. It’s not an uncommon tale to hear of a star player having to take time away from the feld to recuperate, or even to take retirement long before age would have sent them to the sidelines. Take snowboard enthusiast and photographer Lorenz Holder, for example. Lorenz was a natural at snowboarding. In fact, he was so good he was fast rising to semi-professional status. However, in 2003 an injury forced him to vacate the slopes – but that wasn’t the end of the story by any means. ‘I couldn’t just sit at home and be bored,’ says Lorenz. ‘I decided that I was going to borrow my parents’ camera and hang out with my friends…

SCANNER RESOLUTION When it comes to discussing (and comparing) scanners, there are two resolution figures that you might encounter so it’s important to understand what they each mean and why neither is particularly accurate. OPTICAL RESOLUTION The optical resolution is the figure often used as an indication of a scanner’s capabilities in terms of potential image size. While this allows rough comparisons to be made between scanners, the optical resolution figure is invariably (and somewhat ironically) limited by the scanner’s lens. Strictly speaking, the resolution figure that’s quoted (for example 6400ppi or 9600ppi) is often the sensor resolution. The actual optical resolution may be much lower. SOFTWARE/OUTPUT/INTERPOLATED RESOLUTION Some scanner manufacturers attempt to dazzle potential buyers with stratospheric resolution figures (variously referred to as the ‘software resolution’, ‘output resolution’ or…

ALONG with the 36.4-million-pixel Alpha 7R that we tested at the end of last year (AP 14 December), Sony also gave us the 24.3-million-pixel Alpha 7. While sharing many of the same key features as the Alpha 7R, including the same design and a virtually identical build, the Alpha 7 also has a few new features of its own. Not only that, but it’s the most affordable full-frame camera yet. FEATURES Unlike the Alpha 7R, whose 36.4-millionpixel sensor omitted an anti-aliasing filter, the Alpha 7 uses a more conventional 24.3-million-pixel, full-frame CMOS sensor. As we’ve seen with a number of cameras recently, including the Canon EOS 70D and Olympus OM-D E-M1, the Alpha 7’s sensor features on-chip phase-detection AF with 117 phase-detection points, which combines with the Alpha 7’s 25-point…

APART from being a useful portrait lens, 50mm standard lenses are also good for macro work. The three ways to do this are: by using closeup lenses; reverse-mounting using a reversing ring; and using extension tubes. I tested my Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 using the following methods. REVERSING RING I didn’t even need to buy my OM/49mm filter thread reversing ring as it was given to me by a friend. However, these can be picked up on eBay for as little as £5. I use my lens reversed using both the OM reversing ring and an Olympus MF-2 OM lens to micro four thirds adapter. An original Olympus MF-2 adapter is not cheap, but third-party ones can be found for under £15. With this arrangement you can get just under life-sized…

PANASONIC ‘PREMIUM’ COMPACT LAUNCHES AT CES THE VIEWFINDER is here to stay for the more discerning photographer, asserts Panasonic, which used the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the US to unveil a new ‘premium’-level travel compact camera. The move came as Panasonic con firmed plans to ‘thin down’ its range of low-end compact cameras and focus on mid to top-end models. CES saw the debut of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60, a 30x Leica-branded optical zoom model aimed at DSLR users – launched as a step up from the 20x zoom on the TZ40, which will continue in the range, for now, says the firm. Features on the 18.1-million-pixel model include a 0.2in, 200,000-dotresolution EVF and ‘improved’ optical image stabilisation that is equivalent to 1 stop more than on the TZ40.…

HAILSHAM PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY The Society is set to stage a Colour Show, featuring members’ images, on 7 and 8 March at Hailsham Community Hall, Vicarage Lane, Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 2AX. Tickets for the audio-visual event cost £5, which includes a donation to charity. Call 01323 845 569 for details. BRITISH PHOTOGRAPHER DIES IN PARIS FALL BRITISH photographer Kate Barry died after falling from her fourth-floor flat in Paris last month. The flashion photographer was reported to have fallen 80ft from her balcony in the French capital. Her body was found on 11 December. Kate, 46, was the daughter of the James Bond movie composer John Barry and actress Jane Birkin. She worked for publications including British Vogue and The Sunday Times. Mourners at her funeral in December included Carla…

TWENTY-FOUR staff photographers face redundancy at newspaper and magazine publisher Johnston Press, claims the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). Johnston Press publishes more than 200 newspapers and magazines, including the Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman. ‘The company intends to replace the work of professional photographers with pictures garnered from social media and sent in by readers,’ says the NUJ. The NUJ’s deputy general secretary Barry Fitzpatrick adds: ‘This decision by the company represents a wanton disposal of the local knowledge and skills of staff photographers working in England and Scotland. ‘The notion that these roles can be replaced by social media and multi-skilling reporters is a fallacy. ‘Quality content is de fined by the quality of pictures and captions of images used, which only professional photographers provide. ‘This spells the…

● AUTUMN RIVER by Philip J Brittan, £16.50 Whatever images your mind might have conjured up upon hearing the title Autumn River, they won’t be in any way representative of what the book offers. Philip Brittan’s mission was to photograph autumn while escaping cliché and he has succeeded. The images are made by moving the camera through flowing water, and often the resultant picture involves the lens being half in half out. Colours are smeared across the glass, shapes blur and coalesce. This book is not for everyone, but it is certainly intriguing. ● PHOTOGRAPHING NATURE IN ACTION by Arnold Wilson, £16.99 While this book offers plenty of solid tips for capturing images of fast-moving animals, not everything is quite so action-packed as there is also a lengthy section on…

When I’m shooting a portrait, I’m looking for the ‘moment between the moments’. It may only last 5secs or even 1sec, but it’s the period where the subject kind of forgets who they are and why they’re there. I like to get my subjects to a point where they let themselves go – where they lose themselves in the moment. These little windows can be constructed, but more often than not they just happen and you have to be ready with your finger on the trigger. The subject enters into this gravityfree moment. Their feet come off the ground and they’re foating. The road to shooting the image here actually began with another commission. I had recently shot a cover image for the book How to be a Woman by…

Leroy Copleston East Sussex Leroy picked up a bridge camera just before an extended trip to South America, and the amazing colours and life he captured inspired him to pursue photography further. His favourite subjects are people, animals and derelict buildings. ‘Urban exploration is highly exciting. I love the adventure and the sense of history in abandoned sites,’ he says. Leroy plans to concentrate on travel photography, but would also like to use it charitably as a tool for helping people. To see more from Leroy, find his blog at rotonearth.wordpress.com. Under the pier 1 The choice of vantage point is so important, as Leroy demonstrates here with his take on an often-photographed subject Nikon D5000, 18-200mm, 25secs at f/5, ISO 800, tripod Sun over pylons 2 Rather than avoiding…

XSories U-Charge €24.99 (£21) www.xsories.eu IN RESPONSE to the large increase in cameras and photographic accessories that are able to charge themselves via USB, XSories has come up with a very useful piece of kit. The U-Charge is a plug that accepts two USB cables for charging. The big advantage of this is that users do not need to carry multiple chargers with bulky plugs if their devices can be charged via USB, and only a single power point will be required. Included in the package is the three-pronged U-Charge unit, a 79cm retractable USB cable and six different connectors. These mostly fit a variety of phones, but a Micro USB connector is included among them that fits many recent cameras. Of course, most devices come with a USB cable…

ONE OF the most common complaints I hear about DSLRs comes from enthusiast photographers who want a camera that operates in the same way that their old film SLR did. This is usually followed with a plea for a DSLR that doesn’t shoot video. And it is exactly this photographer at which Nikon has targeted the Nikon Df. The Nikon Df bears more than a striking resemblance to some of the iconic Nikon F-mount SLRs of years past, notably the FM. Nikon has even adopted the older, nonitalicised version of its branding, positioned on the camera’s prism: However, it isn’t just the design that nods to the past, as on the top-plate is a range of dials intended to replicate the experience of shooting on a film SLR. Should you…

THE USE of old pre-digital-era lenses with modern kit can be fun and effective, particularly if you have a mirrorless system camera, but they can be used with DSLRs, too. Lenses like these can be surprisingly good for portrait and macro work, because being fixed focal length and manual focus they will challenge you to think more about your photography. You might already have some that fit the bill hidden away, neglected, in a cupboard. If you don’t, it could be an interesting exercise to explore the secondhand stocks at your local camera shop or scan the advertisements at the back of this issue of AP. Better still, you won’t need to spend a lot of money. NIFTY FIFTY There was a time when the majority of film SLR cameras…

EVERY year since I moved to London from the wilds of Northumberland, I have followed the same New Year’s Eve ritual. Starting at noon, I begin a James Bond marathon of films starring Roger Moore (the finest of the Bonds), culled from VHS tapes found in charity shops over the previous year. At 2pm, I pick up the phone and order a large pizza with a barbecue sauce base – a delicacy introduced to me by my son, who now lives in America. Along with this, I order nachos and a box of potato wedges. I consume the pizza first. At 4pm, I crack open my first ale – I prefer a Meantime or an Adnams – and finish the last of the pizza. In between Octopussy and A View…

Water was rationed, dust was prolific and the impromptu darkroom was a tent that was also used to house an RAF squadron’s dirty sports gear. But, no matter, reported EE Leigh, whose brother, serving with the RAF in the Middle East, had penned a letter he felt worthy of reproduction in AP. ‘Round about 6pm, I take into the tent all the articles I shall need, set them out, and fill the three dishes with developer, water and hypo, while the washing-water goes into a washing bowl we use during the day (or a cut-down four-gallon petrol tin). If it has been a dry day, I hope and pray that the fairly regular evening breeze won’t be strong enough to shake the tent and send the day’s accumulated sand down…

IMAGES documenting an Antarctic expedition almost 100 years ago have been restored and revealed for the first time after having been discovered in the hut used by Captain Scott during his last expedition. The 22 negatives were found in photographer Herbert Ponting’s darkroom at Cape Evans, which served as Captain Scott’s expedition base in 1910-12. They are actually from Ernest Shackleton’s 1914-17 Ross Sea party, which spent time living in Scott’s hut after being stranded on Ross Island when their ship blew out to sea, according to the Antarctic Heritage Trust in New Zealand, which ‘painstakingly’ conserved the photos. ‘It is an exciting find and we are delighted to see them exposed after a century,’ said Nigel Watson, executive director of the Trust. However, the identity of the photographer remains…

A RECENTLY discovered album of images by 19th century photo pioneer Julia Margaret Cameron, which included two previously ‘unseen’ portraits, has sold for nearly £250,000. As AP reported in September last year, two ‘unrecorded’ images – depicting the photographer’s personal maid Mary Hillier – were among 32 large-scale portraits contained in the album. It was believed to be one of only 11 known albums compiled by Julia Margaret Cameron with her own photographs and represented hours of meticulous work. The album sold for £242,500 at Sotheby’s in London. The album contained portraits of her friends and family, including leading figures in Victorian society, such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The photographer presented the album to her nephew, the artist Valentine Cameron Prinsep, for his 31st birthday on 14 February 1869. POLICE…

LONG-TERM STABILITY Like many retired people, I have lots of fond memories, and loads of slides, negatives and prints stored away. I decided to get the best of them together, 150 in all, and make some CDs to give to each of my children. It was fun and my scanner, a Canon CanoScan 8800F, did a splendid job. Probably the most surprising and enjoyable part of the process was when I got up to my attic. There lay a plastic box where my collection of slides, some of which go back almost 50 years, had been stored. Among them I found my cherished yellow boxes of Kodachrome transparencies. I got them out, blew away the dust and started to scan. Contrary to accepted wisdom, I found little difficulty in getting…

THIS is a photograph I took of Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St Louis plane at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, dc: The steps opposite show how I went about cutting out the plane and placing it against the backdrop of a cloudy sky. I also added some directional motion blur plus spin to the propeller to make it look like it was flying. I was pleased with the final result, but an aeronautical expert couldn’t help pointing out that a colour photograph like this would have been impossible to capture in Charles Lindbergh’s day! What helped in creating this illusion was the fact the plane was positioned in the museum with lots of soft light coming down from the windows above. The natural lighting was critical…

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20, 142mm equivalent focal length, 1/30sec at f/6.5, ISO 80 KALIANNAN took this photograph of construction workers on ‘a very tall building’ while he was in Doha, Qatar, shooting it from an adjacent block. I love the intricacy of this shot, and the strong vertical and horizontal lines that really draw us around the frame, but I wonder if this is the strongest shot that Kaliannan could have presented. The reason I say this is because I’m not convinced that his photograph really conveys the ‘very unsafe and perilous job’ that he describes. Zooming in is generally a great way of getting the viewer close to the action in a photograph, but in this instance a wider view may have had more impact. The problem is, although we…

ASK… Be it about modern technology, vintage equipment, photographic science or help with technique, here at AP we have the team that can help you. Simply email your questions to: apanswers@ipcmedia.com, via twitter @ap_ answers or by post to: Ask AP, Amateur Photographer Magazine, IPC Media, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. SCANNER CHOICE Q I have a lot of black & white 35mm negatives and hundreds of my father’s medium-format (6x4.5cm) transparencies. I have now bought a Hasselblad 500C for my black & white work and would like to be able to scan the negs, as well as print them traditionally in our photographic society’s darkroom. I see there are three Epson scanners and at least one Canon model (all flatbed) that will scan medium-format film,…

NIKON has been keen to promote the fact that the Df can be used with the vast majority of Nikkor F-mount lenses, including pre-Ai versions. ‘Ai’ stands for ‘auto indexing’, and Ai lenses have a notch on the rear of the lens that rests against a sprung indexing post around the edge of some Nikon F-mount cameras. The notch on the rear of the lens pushes against the post, which communicates to the camera the current aperture that the lens is set to. This has now largely been replaced with electronic communication between modern cameras and lenses, but for older manual-focus lenses it allows the camera to know the aperture of the lens being used so the camera can meter correctly. Cameras lower in the Nikon range than the D7000…

WHEN using the Zuiko 50mm f/1.4, one thing to be aware of is third-party lens-mount adapters that don’t allow the camera’s locking pin to engage properly as the pin is connected to a switch on the camera. If not allowed to extend fully, this will switch off live view on some micro four thirds bodies. FOCUS-PEAKING In focus-peaking mode, the camera analyses the contrast in image details and highlights the areas of maximum or peak contrast, which are usually edge details. These details show up as arti ficially boosted areas, and on the Olympus OM-D E-M1 you can choose the highlights to be white or black. You can see where the most edge contrast is by moving the focus back and forth, and where the most contrast is should correspond…