Innholdsfortegnelse for 14-jun-2014 i Amateur Photographer

LEICA Camera AG product manager Stefan Daniel has explained why the firm plumped for a Sony-made, APS-C-sized imaging sensor in the Leica T. But the company has not ruled out producing a full-frame version in the future. In an interview with AP at Leica’s new base in Wetzlar, Germany, Daniel (pictured) said: ‘We are convinced that smaller than full frame has a “reason to be” because you not only have to look at camera size, but at the size of the whole system. ‘It’s a fact that APS-Ctype lenses can be made much smaller – with great performance – than [for] autofocus full-frame… And this is something people don’t really consider when they say, “It needs to be full frame”. ‘Whether for mirrorless or DSLR cameras, [full-frame lenses] are quite…

PHOTOGRAPHERS have been accused of threatening the well-being of a protected bird, the Dartford warbler, at a National Trust site near Southwold in Suffolk, by mimicking the bird’s song using smartphone apps. The National Trust claims photographers have been playing recordings of the Dartford warbler’s song to lure the bird onto nearby heather tops at Dunwich Heath – close to nesting sites – where they wait to take close-up shots. The Trust has urged photographers not to stray off footpaths, and to behave responsibly, to prevent harm to nests. Richard Gilbert, senior ranger for the site, told Norfolk’s Eastern Daily Press: ‘We are trying to raise awareness of a problem that has grown, particularly over the last five or six years…’ Gilbert reportedly told the BBC: ‘Tape luring is becoming…

DxO Optics Pro 9.5 contains a new image-transfer system that allows processing of raw photos from Lightroom. Users can move raw files from their Lightroom catalogue to DxO Optics Pro in one click, process them, and then return them to Lightroom in DNG format. Previously, this would have required converting the raw files to JPEG or TIFF format. DxO Optics Pro 9.5 adds 165 new camera/lens combinations. The Standard Edition costs £79 until 15 June (usual price £119), while the Elite version costs £159 (usual price £239). Visit www.dxo.com. Sony has confirmed the price and availability of the Alpha 7S that was unveiled in April. The 12-million-pixel, full-frame compact system camera will go on sale at the end of July, priced £2,100. The Alpha 7S will include a silent shooting…

THE NATIONAL Media Museum (NMM) has acquired more than 100 images from the collection of renowned British photographer Bob Carlos Clarke, who died in 2006. The photographer’s estate has gifted 104 ‘career-spanning prints’ to the Bradford-based museum. The acquisition features lesser-known images, including a shot of rock star Mick Jagger performing at the Roundhouse in London in 1971, as well as more famous shots of Keith Richards and chef Marco Pierre White. The NMM’s curator of photography Greg Hobson said: ‘Bob Carlos Clarke is undoubtedly a significant figure in British photography, representing many of the things that were both most interesting, but also most challenging, in the rapidly evolving photographic landscape of the1980s and ’90s. ‘He was a versatile and imaginative photographer, and there is a consistent level of quality…

SAMSUNG America called on photographers to swap their DSLRs for a free $1,000 NX30 compact system camera at an event held in Times Square, New York, on 4 June. Samsung’s marketing machine offered the NX30 to the first 200 consumers to ditch their DSLR. The ‘#DitchTheDSLR Day’ was organised by Eventbrite, which, in a post on its website, claims: ‘As all the facets of technology have advanced, many have continued to carry around large outdated DSLR cameras without questioning “is there something better?” ‘Some have even abandoned DSLRs collecting dust in favour of an often limited smartphone camera.’ Announced in January, the NX30 features a 20.3-million-pixel, APS-C-sized CMOS imaging sensor. The Wi-Fi and NFC-enabled model incorporates the Samsung NX AF System II that is claimed to produce ‘fast and accurate’…

EXTREME CLOSE-UP PHOTOGRAPHY AND FOCUS STACKING by Julian Cremona, £16.99 Macro lenses may let you get close, but you need technique and know-how if you want to get really close. Julian Cremona provides that with a detailed guide to the equipment and techniques required for extreme close-ups. There’s some good advice on the best supporting equipment to use, and the coverage of focus stacking is a welcome primer to a notoriously tricky practice. POETS’ GRAVES/BEDDAU’R BEIRDD by Paul White, Damian Walford Davies, Mererid Hopwood and Paul White, £19.99 In this book, three artists tour the graves of Wales’s poets. Damian Walford Davies provides English poetry, Mererid Hopwood provides Welsh poetry and Paul White contributes black & white photography. White’s large-format photography is perfect for evoking the cold loneliness of a…

ANDREW SANDERSON A renowned photographer, tutor, author and Ilford Master Printer, Andrew Sanderson offers practical tips on working with film and traditional darkroom techniques THIS shot was taken during an intensive period of night photography, an interest that lasted around ten years. I tend to go through cycles of interest in how I produce images and I must say I haven’t attempted night photography in a while. However, I’ve always found that shooting at night is one of the most relaxing activities to engage in. Seeing this image reminds me that I really must go out and try it again. I used to go out most nights in all kinds of weather, and on this occasion it was during autumn. I believe that is the best time to shoot night…

Billingham Hadley Digital Around £120 www.billingham.co.uk The ultra-stylish Billingham Hadley Digital is the bag of choice for many Leica M users, as it offers enough space for a large mirrorless camera and a couple of lenses. The internal dimensions are 180x100x170mm, which means it sits in the middle of all the bags on test here. The FibreNyte material is10% lighter and harder wearing than the canvas version of the Hadley Digital, with the added advantage that the colour doesn’t fade over time. The FibreNyte bags come in khaki or sage with a tan or chocolate leather trim, while the canvas bags are available in khaki or black with a tan or black leather trim. At around £120, this bag is one of the most expensive on test, but it is…

EVER since my daughter Laila called to tell me that her mother, my ex-wife, had passed away, I’ve been poring over old photographs in my collection. I was in the pub drinking my way through the different stages of grief, floating somewhere between hammered and acceptance. Eli was there. He’d arrived after me and was going to leave, but then a whisper from Rick the barman and suddenly our falling out no longer mattered. He walked over to me and offered me one of his snacks. ‘Will you be going up north?’ he asked. ‘Aye. I’m headed up tomorrow,’ I said. ‘I’m really sorry, Ogden.’ ‘I am, too. I shouldn’t have said you have no artistic integrity. I only meant that your photos stir no emotions. But they’re still very…

Magnum photo agency legend Elliott Erwitt was caught on the hop at Leica’s recent centenary celebrations. When asked to speak as part of an on-stage panel, he told waiting photographers and journalists gathered in Wetzlar, Germany: ‘I didn’t know I was supposed to say a few words.’ Erwitt then indicated that he has still yet to embrace the digital age. ‘I have been a Leica user for the last 60 years and I don’t see any reason to change. I’m still a film person and I don’t see any reason to change.’ Leica has launched its Leica M Monochrom digital rangefinder camera in a silver chrome finish. The new version of the Monochrom, which was announced in 2012 and only shoots black & white images, will be available in limited…

This year’s Rencontres d’Arles International Photography Festival takes place in Arles, southern France, from 7 July to 21 September. The programme features photography workshops and exhibitions that are expected to include images by David Bailey. A pass for all exhibitions costs t 36 in July and August, and t 31 in September. For details and tickets, visit www.rencontresarles.com. The AFP news agency has opened an Instagram account to showcase the best work from its network of 500 photographers. AFP currently distributes more than 3,000 images each day. Visit instagram.com/ afpphoto for more details.…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Wins a great shockproof, waterproof and dustproof 5-Proof Technology 16GB Samsung SDHC Plus memory card offering up to 48MB/sec transfer speed.www.samsung.com/memorycard HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? When I first became interested in photography back in the late 1970s, I am sure that I recall film manufacturers producing film with an ISO as low as 25. My understanding at the time was that the lower the ISO, the better the quality of the image. Having had a break from photography, I have in the past couple of years bought a digital camera and a couple of lenses. With my renewed interest in photography also comes a renewed interest in photography magazines, and it is good to see that AP is as informative as ever. It seems that…

In the next few weeks AP hopes to run the following equipment through the most rigorous testing procedures in the industry… Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1 .4 We test the £3,200 Zeiss 55mm f/1.4 lens against the more affordable Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A lens. AP 21 June Sony Alpha 77 II Superseding the Sony Alpha 77, we find out if the new Alpha 77 II lives up to Sony’s claim that it is ‘the king of APS-C’. AP 28 June A4 printer round-up We look at six A4 printers for photographers, from Canon, Epson and HP. AP 28 June Adobe Lightroom Mobile Adobe image management and editing now has a mobile version. We find out just how it works. AP 5 July Sony Cybershot DSCRX100 Mark III We…

Plastic bag on railings Richard Craze Canon EOS 500D, 18-85mm, 1/60sec at f/5.6, ISO 400 WE WALK straight past brilliant photographic opportunities when we aren’t focused on seeing what the world and the moment have to offer us. The majority of the population stride purposefully with their heads down and eyes turned inwards, too busy examining themselves and their own problems and worries to see, or to take the time to see, what is going on around them. Photographers are different, though, aren’t they? We go out with our hunter’s instincts, eyes tuned and senses on alert for the visual morsels that are littered about our path. We see and take the chances as they present themselves, and make great pictures from the things the rest of the world fails…

JESSOPS has launched a professional imaging sensor-cleaning service at its 28 high-street stores. Prices start at £30 for a two-day service, although a faster turnaround may be possible, depending on demand. A spokesperson said: ‘If you’ve cleaned your lenses, but you’re still seeing dark spots and marks on your images, it’s time to get your sensor cleaned. ‘Jessops’ service will help to keep your camera in top condition by cleaning the dirt and dust from the sensor…’ A full camera clean – which includes the LCD, viewfinder, lens and filter – costs an additional £10. For more details, visit www.jessops.com/ sensorclean.…

A USB flash drive designed to allow images and other data to be directly transferred between computers and the latest Apple devices has moved closer to becoming a reality. The iStick includes a USB connector at one end and an Apple Lightning connector, such as that used by the iPhone 5, at the other. A Kickstarter campaign to raise funds has pulled in $850,000 in pledges – more than eight times the amount needed. The iStick’s developer, Sanho Corporation, said in a statement: ‘iStick allows users to easily, quickly and safely transfer data between computers, iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches without the need for synchronisation, internet, wireless networks or the Cloud, where hackers and others (like third-party server providers) may gain access.’ The device is expected to be available in…

Photography’s Orientalism: New Essays on Colonial Representation Edited by Ali Behdad and Luke Gartlan. Getty Publications, £24.99, ebook, ISBN 978-1-60606-267-8 PHOTOGRAPHY’S relationship with post-colonialism is explored in this collection of essays that deal with orientalism – a term that took on new meaning in1978 when Edward Said published his seminal work denigrating the Western world’s prejudicial and patronising attitudes towards Arab-Islamic peoples. The essays question the power relationship between the photographer and the photographed, and assess photography’s representation of the Middle East and beyond. It reminds us how far back this extends, tracing the movements of early daguerreotype-producing photographers in the Middle East. It’s argued that the Middle East was a crucial training ground for the early practice of photography. Other such revelations await within. www.1x.com THE BROWSING experience of…

MY NAME is Lee, and I love 110 film. Well, sort of. Let’s face it, 110 film was never a great success. Tiny negatives and poor-quality cameras resulted in grainy, muddy pictures that were never that well focused, and you were lucky if you got a good-quality shot out of 110. I don’t so much love the film format really, but I love one of the cameras – the Pentax Auto 110. This is the smallest and lightest interchangeable-lens SLR ever made, and it’s so tiny that it fits in the palm of your hand, and inside your pocket, with ease. The system includes six amazingly sharp lenses, two flashguns, a heap of filters and a power winder, and all these parts are minuscule. The camera featured an amazingly good…

THE SEARCH for the Landscape Photographer of the Year 2014 is now on and you have until 11 July 2014 to upload your images to the competition website. There’s a prize fund worth £20,000 on offer, including £10,000 for the overall adult winner. The 2014 Awards are held in association with VisitBritain and Countryside is GREAT. Winners will be announced at the end of October and the Awards book, Landscape Photographer of the Year: Collection 8 (AA Publishing) will be available from 3 November 2014. An exhibition of the best entries will be held in London at the end of the year. For more details, visit www.take-a-view.co.uk.…