Innholdsfortegnelse for 26-jul-2014 i Amateur Photographer

THIS week’s main cover image was taken on an iPhone. The photographic world has a complex relationship with the smartphone. For point-and-shoot compact cameras it’s the Grim Reaper, but it also introduces millions to the pleasure of photography, some of whom will go on to buy a ‘proper camera’. We may scoff at the creative and technical limitations and the low resolution, but increasing numbers of us carry a smartphone in our pockets even as we lug our DSLR systems around, and we consider them part of our kit – whether using photographic apps, getting information on tides and sunsets, or piggy-backing the Wi-Fi to control our cameras or share images from them. This week Julian Calverley, whose regular weapon of choice is a large-format Alpa, shows what the humble…

A SHARED interest in photography can be traced back to the early 1840s. The first club was formed by a few like-minded gentlemen in Edinburgh soon after the invention of photography in 1839. Sir David Brewster, a close friend of William Henry Fox Talbot (pictured above left) had introduced these gents to the inventor’s calotype process, and had reportedly viewed Fox Talbot’s photogenic drawings (see ‘Leaf’ image above) as early as December 1839. The eight members of the Edinburgh Calotype Club included doctors and academics from Edinburgh and St Andrews. Fast-forward 170 years or so, and there are upwards of 1,000 clubs nationally, representing more than 30,000 members, according to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain.…

Flickr Mobile app Free www.flickr.com Callum McInerney-Riley finds that the Flickr Mobile app offers the same flexibility to users as the desktop version At a glance • Upload, download and share images• 1TB of free cloud storage• In-app camera with editing functions• Large community of photographers RECENTLY, Flickr has released version 3.0 of its mobile application making the most dramatic overhaul in its lifetime. With support for video, a new design and improved search functions, the app has a lot to offer photographers. As well as sharing existing images, users can also capture pictures or video inside the app by tapping the camera icon. Once a picture or video is captured, users can apply one of15 different filters and adjust exposure, white balance, contrast, brightness and saturation. When an image is uploaded, it can…

WHAT YOU NEED Rear lens caps and some glue or double-sided tape WHEN you have a number of small lenses in your bag, they can all too easily rattle around. One way to solve this is to simply stick two rear lens caps together, back to back. In this way, the two lenses become one unit, preventing them from knocking against each other in a bag, and avoiding the need for numerous very small divided sections. This trick is particularly useful if you have a compact system camera, where the lenses are smaller than they are for a DSLR. How to… There isn’t a lot to explain here. All you need to do is put the rear lens caps back to back and stick them together. If you just want…

TYPE ‘PAGB’ into Google and a trade association for over-the-counter medicines pops up at the top of the search engine’s list. Any initial concerns about camera club members popping pills are misplaced. It turns out that this particular ‘PAGB’ is the home page of the Proprietary Association of Great Britain, a healthcare body, and not the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain, the umbrella body for photographic clubs. Despite the ‘Great Britain’ tag, the PAGB actually represents camera clubs across the UK, its members being 15 ‘federations’ across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Membership within clubs is increasing, says the PAGB, which was set up 84 years ago and was once part of the RPS. More than 1,000 clubs belong to the PAGB, each with an average of 30-35 members,…

Digital technologies have massively transformed the way we take, manipulate and share images over the past decade or so. But will the next decade continue to excite us with serial innovation? I think there’s a good chance that it will, and in various ways. Take sensor technology. To get anywhere near the perception of the human eye requires around 20EV of dynamic range, but even the best current DSLR struggles to exceed 13EV. The best current solution to this is the range of interesting but ponderous HDR techniques that combine two or more exposures. But graphene – the new wonder-material being developed at Manchester University – is brilliantly light-sensitive and should achieve the 20EV range with ease. Let’s hope it lives up to its promise. At last, one exposure with…

WITH Julian’s background in studio photography, he is usually much more at home with larger cameras. In 2006, he visited photokina, the European photography show in Germany, discovered Alpa, the Swiss manufacturer, and fell in love with its precision-made cameras. ‘It felt like a real camera and I have to feel really comfortable with the model I am using,’ explains Julian. ‘It gave me an experience a bit like using a plate camera – a little bit slow and awkward, but it was beautifully precise.’ He saved up for two years and bought himself the Alpa SWA (shift wide angle), later adding the Alpa 12 Max to his collection. When Alpa introduced the STC (shift travel compact) to its line-up, he finally settled on what he believes to be the…

Angela Nelson, who last month was in second place, has jumped up to the top spot to take away first place from Dan Deakin. In the number three position we find Jevgenijs Scolokovs, who has moved up a place. At number four we have Betrand Chombart, who leaps into the top ten. 1.  Angela Nelson 135pts2.  Dan Deakin 123pts3.  Jevgenijs Scolokovs 102pts4.  Bertrand Chombart 90pts5.  Gerard Sexton 86pts6.  Mark Helliwell 81pts7.  Aaron Bennett 79pts8.  Sigita Playdon 79pts9.  Farid Sani 75pts10.  Chris Wood 70pts…

THE PANASONIC Lumix DMCFZ1000 is the latest innovative camera from a company that refuses to sit back and rest on previous success. With its large high-resolution sensor and extremely versatile lens, this model represents yet another notch on the bar for what is possible in consumer image-capturing devices. The FZ1000 is most definitely not just another superzoom. To put it quite simply, it’s not only the best bridge camera I’ve ever used, but it’s also one of the most enjoyable models I’ve used in any camera class. Of course, it has some minor drawbacks, such as the inability to scrub back through 4K footage by each and every single frame, as well as the limits on custom functions such as the lens ring, but all the issues I have with…

Wi-Fi and NFC Wi-Fi is built-in, and the camera can be controlled and images transferred via the Sony PlayMemories mobile app. NFC is also on hand to create a fast connection Battery Powering the Alpha 7S is a NP-FW50 battery, which is used in all Sony E-mount cameras. It can be charged via the Micro USB connection. Drive In speed-priority shooting mode, the Alpha 7S can shoot at 5fps. This is reduced to 2.5fps if continuous AF and metering are also required.…

LAUNCHED 2010 PRICE AT LAUNCH £450 GUIDE PRICE TODAY £175 PANASONIC put a great deal of effort and enthusiasm into the LX5, as it did with the previous LX iterations. Once again, Panasonic’s unique multi-aspect ratio sensor was used, making more efficient use of the sensor area in different aspect ratios. Mated to this was the wider zoom range of the 24-90mm (equivalent) f/2-3.3 Leica DC Vario Summilux lens, then throw in HD video and you had a stylish and powerful little compact. What’s good Image quality was very good at the time of its launch and is only eclipsed today at moderately high to very high ISO rates, although this is compensated for to a degree by the sharp and fast stabilised lens. Coming from Panasonic, the video operation…

Most people’s first reaction to this image is to laugh. But why? What makes it funny? I don’t know, but it is – at least to me. Maybe it is just the shock of recognition: the truth that we see, but don’t really notice, this sort of thing all the time. Which leads to another reaction: ‘I could have taken that!’ Well, yes. On the other hand, did you? It’s simple enough, after all. I have taken ‘something very like it’ many times. Some, I think, are probably as good as this. Admittedly, Ernst Haas got there first, but that’s only if I take ‘first’ to mean ‘before me’. I sincerely doubt that no one had ever shot anything similar before 1962. Nor can you say, ‘Ah, yes, well, but…

In Vogue victor Surrey photographer Ginny Marsh used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II to take the winning shot (right) in the In Vogue photography competition, by the Society of International Fashion and Glamour Photographers. Ginny took the photo for a hat shop in Farnham, and used a beauty dish overhead with a reflector on the model’s lap. Dress code Photographer Harry Benson CBE was allowed to choose the dress worn by the Queen for a portrait commissioned by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. The photograph (left) depicts the Queen in her private study at Buckingham Palace, where she meets with the prime minister. Jessops raid Police have appealed for help to trace three hooded men who escaped with £8,000 worth of camera gear from Jessops in Swan Walk, Horsham,…

Dennis Hopper: The Lost Album The late Dennis Hopper was most famous for being a Hollywood actor, but he was also a keen and versatile photographer, shooting everything from Harlem street life to fellow movie stars. Until 19 October. www. royalacademy.org.uk First Light: Still – A 30-year retrospective A gallery closure is never a happy occasion, but Brighton’s First Light Gallery, which closed doors in 2013, couldn’t be sent off in a nicer way than co-founder Mark Nelson’s unique group show of 11 past exhibited photographers. 18 July-20 August. arts.brighton.ac.uk/whats-on/tg/gallery/2014/ july-2014/first-light-still Edinburgh Festival Fringe The world’s biggest and best festival of the arts kicks into gear once again for 2014. Edinburgh, already a beautifully photogenic city, comes alive in August with street performance and…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Would like to meet… Thank you for the excellent review of the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III (AP 5 July). However, this will not be the camera to replace my Canon PowerShot G10. The obvious choice was the PowerShot G16, but I was disappointed to find that it did not have the Color Accent feature that I had used so often, and the PowerShot G1 X and G1 X Mark II felt too bulky in comparison. Then the RX100 III arrived, the specifications of which were everything I wanted, including a similar Color Accent feature. I was so excited when I bought mine, but my excitement quickly turned to disappointment when I realised – as a 54-year-old whose eyesight has seen better days – that I’d be…

Silhouetted photographer Achmad Mikami Nikon D7000, 18-270mm, 1/125sec at f/5.6, ISO 100 I DON’T remember seeing many oil paintings by Great Masters that show other painters painting or looking at their brushes, but photographers seem to like taking pictures of each other at every opportunity. I suppose painters probably work on their own, while photographers often roam in packs, but I always feel there is something inauthentic about an image of a photographer on the loose with a camera. I suppose it feels like an easy option. Achmad’s image, though, goes beyond all that, and has artistic merit, as it shows a genuine moment and some creative use of the photographer’s shape and the dramatic background. The photographer is rather plonked in the middle of the frame, with steam rising…

CMOS sensor The 1in type, 20.1-million-pixel sensor is unusually large for a bridge camera, and is capable of recording an impresssive amount of detail. 4K video recording The FX1000 is the first bridge camera to shoot 4K video, with each frame offering 8-million-pixel resolution. It can also record full HD. Image stabilisation Panasonic’s hybrid 5-axis stabilisation combines optical stabilisation with electronic rotational correction, which is used during movie recording.…

USUALLY you would expect a camera with such a high sensitivity range to be the preserve of professional sports or wildlife photographers, or photojournalists, but since the AF speed and shooting rate are not quite fast enough, the Alpha 7S won’t really appeal to this market. Instead, what it offers is the chance for the enthusiast photographer, and videographers, to have the high sensitivity settings of more expensive professional cameras. Videographers also benefit from the option to shoot 4K footage, and while this option does require an off-camera recorder, to those who want the advantage of a full-frame camera with impressive noise control and high sensitivities, the Sony Alpha 7S is a great option. However, if you don’t require the high ISO settings, or perhaps the resolution isn’t enough, then…

Email your questions to: apanswers@ipcmedia.com, via Twitter @AP_Magazine and #AskAP, or Facebook. Or write to Technical Support, Amateur Photographer Magazine, IPC Media, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU Best online price QI’m a long-time Canon user, but I’m considering selling my APS-C DSLR and EF-S lenses and making the switch to full frame. I was wondering if you had any advice as to where the best place is online to compare specs and prices? I’m also intrigued to find out how the prices of Canon’s full-frame DSLRs have dropped over the years to work out their depreciation. David Knowles A As you’ll be well aware, there are hundreds of comparison websites out there, but one of the best for comparing cameras is www.snapsort.com/compare. This intuitive camera comparison…