Innholdsfortegnelse for 16-may-15 i Amateur Photographer

From the first doodles with a pencil to a finished product arriving in a shop, it can take years to design and manufacture a camera. If you are starting a new range, the planning and development stages are critical. Designers must look at trends, develop new technologies and predict what the competition will be doing in a few years’ time. Most importantly, the camera has to live up to the expectations of you, the demanding enthusiast photographer. Arguably, Canon got its EOS M compact system camera wrong. The company’s first attempt at a CSC was clunky, slow to autofocus and seemed a couple of years behind the competition. The follow-up, the EOS M2, was only released in Asia and the original EOS M camera was last on sale for as…

PREMIUM compact cameras and superzoom models continue to boom amid a general decline in camera sales. According to GfK figures, UK sales of premium compacts rose 24% in value from January to March 2015, compared to the same period last year. Unit sales grew 9.1%. Demand for compact cameras with 20x zooms and above rose 7.5% and 11.1% in value and volume terms respectively. In March alone, unit sales of superzoom compacts increased 16.8%. The growth came as overall demand for digital cameras fell16.8% from January-March, compared to the same period in 2014. SLR sales dropped 8.5%, while CSC sales dropped 7.6% and 5.2% in volume and value. The total value of the UK photographic market fell 8.1% in March, compared to March 2014.…

Andrew Mason Andrew Mason is a full-time professional nature photographer. His work is widely published and has been used in books and magazines, and by corporate and government clients. www.andrewmasonphotography.co.uk Richard Peters Richard Peters is a UK-based wildlife photographer whose passion stems from watching natural history documentaries in his youth. Now his photographs and articles are published regularly, and his images have won numerous awards. www.richardpeters.co.uk David Tipling David Tipling is one of the most widely published wildlife photographers in the world. His pictures have appeared on hundreds of book and magazine covers, and have been used in various ways – from wine labels to projections in New York’s Times Square. www.davidtipling.com 1 Don’t get starstruck It's human nature to get a little starstruck now and again, as I did…

Kevin McElvaney is based in Hamburg, Germany. Kevin’s previous projects include documenting the pickers at Agbogbloshie’s e-waste dump outside of Accra, Ghana. To see more of Kevin’s work, visit his website at www.derkevin.com It’s not your average subject – a sulphurous volcano in the Indonesian province of East Java – but for 27-year-old Kevin McElvaney, Ijen, which stands at more than 2,500 metres high, was a photographic challenge too good to pass up. The documentary photographer, who lives in Hamburg in northern Germany, came across the volcano after watching a documentary film about the veteran photographer James Nachtwey. In the 2001 film War Photographer, Nachtwey is seen photographing the Ijen volcano, situated towards the east of the region, battling, as McElvaney says, the heavy clouds of sulphur that almost engulf…

At a glance Lightweight and portable Multiple functions for different light shaping Packs away flat into its own carry case Includes a detachable softbox grid £85 www.expoimaging.com Velcro attachment The diffusion panel for the softbox attaches to the reflector with a Velcro fastening, making it easy to switch between soft and hard light. Travel case included A durable fabric bag is included with the FlashBender 2, which houses all elements of the kit for easy transportation. Universal fitting The set-up fits a wide range of flash units via an adjustable belt-and-buckle attachment. THE NEW FlashBender 2 XL Pro Lighting System is a multi-functional light-modifying tool that attaches to a flashgun. The kit includes the FlashBender 2 XL Pro reflector – the largest reflector available – a softbox diffuser attachment for…

Pop-up flash The tiny built-in flash is released by a sliding switch in the camera’s side, and has a guide number of 5m @ ISO 100. Wi-Fi and NFC An NFC chip is located in the camera’s baseplate for easy Wi-Fi set-up with compatible devices. Battery The LP-E17 battery is rated for just 250 shots per charge, and is replenished using the supplied external charger. Hotshoe The hotshoe accepts Canon EX-series flashguns and third-party E-TTL alternatives, as well as the EVF-DC1 viewfinder. Connectors The EOS M3 sports USB and microphone sockets on one side of the camera, and a mini HDMI port on the other. IR remote receiver This is compatible with Canon’s RC-6 infrared release for wireless remote control. Customisable controls The top-plate M.Fn button, the video record button…

APPLE has acquired a technology company that develops cameras it claims will lead to DSLR-quality images in smartphones. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and reported elsewhere, Apple paid around $20m for LinX Computational Imaging Ltd. Apple and LinX had yet to respond to requests for comments when contacted by Amateur Photographer. In April, Apple appeared to neither confirm nor deny the reports, telling the WSJ that it ‘buys smaller technology companies from time to time'. Meanwhile, in a statement on its website, LinX says: ‘Utilising state-of-the-art multi-aperture imaging technology that combines innovative image processing, advanced sensor and optics technology, our cameras set new standards for image-quality parameters such as low-light performance, HDR, refocusing, colour fidelity, shutter lag and more… ‘LinX cameras are significantly smaller than…

The 20th century saw many film formats come and go. One or two, such as127 rollfilm and 110 cartridges, enjoyed a comeback, but perhaps the most surprising revival is that of Polaroid instant film. I say surprising, because for more than a decade instant gratification in the photo department has been available to anyone with a smartphone or digital camera. So when The Impossible Project, a group of Polaroid enthusiasts, took over the company's old production machinery, it was an act of faith that there would be enough interest to make it viable. Clearly there was, as five years on it now produces several varieties of instant film. Popular make Polaroid cameras were extremely common in the 1970s and the run-of-the-mill models don't fetch much. In fact, McKeown’s Price Guide…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Storage problem for prints As a long-time reader of Amateur Photographer, I am well aware of the last two editors extolling the virtues of making prints from our digital images for future generations. This I strongly agree with. I still have most of my negatives since I seriously took photographs back in1962, and have thousands of black & white and colour prints in boxes. Apart from deleting out-of-focus images, I still have all my digital images, from which I have several thousand prints ranging in size up to 20 x 30in. As I only have a modest house, I have an imminent storage problem. Most of my personal work has been documenting British humanity, which includes street photography together with environmental portraits of strangers. Obviously I…

Rules ‘I've always loved simplicity and almost all my photos are composed using geometry: symmetry, strong lines, patterns, which help to define the borders of the frame,' he says. ‘Just look at a random selection of photos from my gallery and you'll see these rules jump out at you. Light ‘I tend to only shoot on sunny days. The reason I do this is because I need strong light in order to accentuate the colours in front of me. Shoot, rinse, repeat ‘If the shot is candid, I take two or three and select the best one. But if it is staged, I sometimes take up to ten photos to try to work every possibility. If I don't like any of the images I've captured, I'll keep revisiting the place…

Duncan Herring, London Duncan's image ‘Web Spinners and Deer Stalkers' was featured as our Online Picture of the Week in AP 22 November, 2014. That same image went on to win the Breathing Spaces category in this year's International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. 1 Up for Breakfast This was taken in Richmond Park during one of Duncan’s first dedicated photography outings. By exposing in just the right way, Duncan has made sure to retain some subtle detail in the deer Canon EOS 1000D, 55-250mm, 1/250sec at f/32, ISO 800 2 Frozen Fern Duncan shot wide open and at full zoom to create a shallow depth of field and also to create a very faint bokeh effect with the dappled light Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 24-105mm, 1/320sec at…

Amateur Photographer Our cameras and lenses are tested using the industry-standard Image Engineering IQ-Analyser software. Visit www.image-engineering.de for more details THIS is the first time we've seen Canon's latest 24.2-million-pixel sensor in action, and on the whole it gives good results. Unlike some other recent high-resolution APS-C sensors, it still uses an anti-aliasing filter, so it doesn't reach the same heights of resolution, but equally it's less prone to artefacts. Noise performance is pretty good, and even ISO 6400 is quite usable, especially if you're prepared to process from raw. The in-camera processing does a good job of maintaining its vibrant colour output as the ISO is increased too. The one area where Canon still lags behind the best in class is dynamic range – don't expect to be able…

Data file Price £950 Filter diameter N/A Lens elements 18 Groups 11 Diaphragm blades 9 Aperture f/2.8 Minimum focus 28cm Length 145mm Diameter 98.4mm Weight 1,100g Lens mount Canon, Nikon, Sony THERE'S a lot to like about the Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD, and for those after a moisture-resistant wideangle zoom with image stabilisation and an f/2.8 aperture it ticks all the right boxes. It's by no means cheap, but represents excellent value for money when you consider how well it performs optically and the way it offers vibration compensation – a feature neither the Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM (£1,120) nor Nikon's AF-S Nikkor14-24mm f/2.8G ED (£1,315) provides. With the exception of the positioning of the AF/MF switch, I was extremely pleased by its all-round performance. Full-frame…

What you will need • Pack of Sugru • A skewer or the inside of a ballpoint pen • String USUALLY I put my lens caps in my back pocket, or my front pocket, sometimes my coat pocket, or in my bag. You get the idea. Before too long the lens cap is nowhere to been seen, before it eventually shows up, seemingly out of nowhere. There are a few ways to make sure that your lens cap never strays too far, but this DIY solution is one of the neatest. All you need is some Sugru, a piece of string and something to use to make a small hole. As you won't be using a lot of Sugru, this is the ideal little project if you have a small…

Weston shocker A man who appeared on a US version of Antiques Roadshow was stunned to learn that four Edward Weston prints that had been languishing in a box at home are worth more than $250,000. ‘It was interesting to hear the history behind the photographs,’ said Andrew, owner of the 1930s prints that had been in his family for more than 50 years. Hondros winner Canadian photographer Kevin Frayer has won the fourth annual Getty Images and Chris Hondros Fund Award, and receives a grant of $20,000 for his documentary work. The award is named in honour of photojournalist Chris Hondros, who was killed in Libya in 2011. Baltimore shots An amateur photographer’s incredible black & white documentary photos of the Baltimore riots in America have reinforced the power…

AN AMATEUR photographer has beaten hundreds nationwide to win Skipton Building Society's Grassroots Giving photography competition. Angela Baker, a deputy head teacher from Hull, won the title with an image taken at the Stevie Smith Boxing Academy, earning her a £200 gift voucher and national exposure. Angela said: ‘I really enjoyed the whole process and getting to know members of my local community. ‘I'm delighted that my photograph was chosen as the winner and that it will showcase the positive attributes that this and many other community groups have in Hull.' The contest sought documentary-style photos as part of the Grassroots Giving photography project. For the latest news visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk…

You answered… A Yes, if the quality was good enough 50% B Yes, even if the quality was sacrificed, they are an affordable option 14% C No, I wouldn’t accept a drop in quality 10% D No, they compromise on the handling of a lens 5% E No, I simply don’t need one 21% What you said ‘Yes, in fact I got some just the other day that hook onto a phone’s camera lens. The macro adapters get you quite close, but might be a bit mediocre for some’ ‘Probably never again. I once bought a wideangle converter for a video camera and was very disappointed with the poor-quality results’ ‘I have a couple. One is a Jessops version that can either be a wide converter or a close-up lens…

Mark Bauer Mark Bauer has been a full-time landscape photographer for more than ten years. He is based in Dorset and takes his inspiration from the beauty of the surrounding landscapes in the south-west of England. www.markbauerphotography.com KIT LIST Lenses Both wideangle and telephoto lenses are handy – wideangles for making the most of foreground interest and panoramic views, and telephotos for the more distant points of interest. Graduated filters Grads will tone down bright skies at sunrise, so you don’t blow the highlights. Use the soft-edged ones if you have foreground interest that breaks the horizon. Polariser Polarisers reduce surface glare and restore natural colour saturation, and are essential filters for making the most of the spring colours. Shoot at 90º to the sun for maximum effect. APART from…

Lone farmer Chaitanya Deshpande Canon EOS 7D, 70-200mm, 1/250sec at f/9, ISO 250 THIS is a stunning scene, and Chaitanya has made a great job of spotting it and creating a clever composition that leads us right into the frame, from bottom left to top right. I love the light and the swirling terraces that ring the dome-like mounds in the landscape – and those clouds rolling across the scene make the perfect mysterious backdrop. There is a person right in the middle of the frame who we don't necessarily see at first, positioned crossing over from the bright flatness of the sky reflected in some water and not quite disappearing against the hillside behind him. He makes a great focal point, but for us to find him more quickly…

OVERALL, there's a lot to like about the Canon EOS M3. It is compact, well made and handles well, with a sensibly thought-out control layout and well-designed grip. Crucially, autofocus speed is much improved on earlier Canon EOS M models, to the extent that I never found it to be a problem while shooting with the18-55mm kit zoom. Unfortunately, though, it's still very slow with most EF lenses via Canon's mount adapter, which means that you'll get best performance using the four EF-M lenses so far available. There's not much to complain about with respect to image quality, with the new 24.2MP sensor giving highly detailed images at low ISOs and impressively low noise at high ISO settings. Indeed, the main disappointment is that Canon hasn't improved its low ISO…

Resolution The best centre and corner sharpness is at f/8-11. Use the lens at its maximum aperture set to its widest focal length and you’ll quickly realise the corners appear softer than the centre. Diffraction starts to have an effect on sharpness at f/16 and beyond, so for the finest results users will want to use it between f/5.6 and f/11 unless circumstances or a low-light environment dictates otherwise. Shading Our graphs indicate that the lens shows signs of most vignetting when it’s used at f/2.8 at 15mm. Closing the aperture by a couple of stops removes it completely. Vignetting is controlled slightly better as you push through the zoom range and you’ll only need to close the lens by a stop (f/4) between 24mm and 30mm to see a…

LAUNCHED September 2003 PRICE AT LAUNCH £799 GUIDE PRICE TODAY £50 MINOLTA'S Dimage A1 was the last major camera launch made by Minolta before the company merged with Konica to form Konica Minolta. The A1 was also a pioneer of sensor-shift image stabilisation. A development of the Dimage 7 series first revealed two and a half years earlier, the Dimage A1swapped AA batteries for a Lithium-ion rechargeable battery, but it retained its predecessor's 5MP2 ×3in CCD sensor. What’s good The A1 has a decent fixed zoom lens with an equivalent 28-200mm f/2.8-3.5 zoom/maximum aperture range and a manual-focus control that works nicely. The camera is good to hold, and you also get an electronic viewfinder with 220,000 dots. Both the viewfinder and small rear LCD tilt. What’s bad The electronic…

Sometimes I drop myself in it with the pictures I select. I choose them on the grounds that I like them, or think they are significant, without necessarily thinking too hard about why. Then, once the incomparable Rosie Barratt has secured the rights, often with only a name and a scan or url to work from, I have to start work. Which is as it should be, because there are no rules about what makes a good photograph. Or if there are, there are very nearly as many rules as there are good photographs. I believe that thinking is a Good Thing: in art, as elsewhere, I accept Plato’s dictum that the unexamined life is not worth living. If I have to think about why I like something, and to…