Innholdsfortegnelse for 25-jul-15 i Amateur Photographer

In the last few weeks the right of people in the UK to take and freely publish photographs of public places came under threat. French MEP Jean-Marie Cavada proposed extending the same prohibitive rules on photographing buildings that apply in France, and some other countries, to the whole of Europe. The proposal promoted an extreme interpretation of copyright that, if passed into law, would require photographers to seek permission from the copyright holder of any building under 70 years old, and possibly pay a royalty, before it could be published – potentially even on social media. AP joined forces with Wikipedia and others to rally opposition, and fortunately the motion was comprehensively defeated. The episode was a reminder that we should never take our freedoms for granted, and must remain…

AROUND 100 people affected by homelessness attended the launch of this year's Café Art Photography Contest. Participants were each given a Fujifilm single-use film camera and challenged to take photos for the Café Art 2016 calendar. Café Art connects homeless people with the wider community through art. Their artwork is sold in London cafés, and proceeds go to the artists. Last year, money raised from the calendar went to homeless vendors, and towards materials for the art groups involved. A new category was launched in memory of last year's Judges' Choice winner, Alex Davies. Alex's family donated her winnings to this year's project. An exhibition of the best shots will take place at London's Spitalfields Market. For details visit www.cafeart.org.uk.…

Larger EVF The tiltable EV offers a 0.77x magnification, making it one of the largest available on an interchangeable-lens camera. Free-angle screen On the GX8 the rear LCD touchscreen is fully articulated (where the GX7’s simply tilted up and down) and now uses OLED technology. Dual IS The GX8 is the first Lumix G camera to harness image stabilisation both in the lens and on the sensor, for what Panasonic claims is the most effective IS on a Lumix yet. Redesigned body The GX8 is larger, heavier and more weatherproof than the GX7, with more, larger physical dials on top. At a glance 20.3MP Live MOS sensor 3in, 1.04-million-dot OLED touchscreen 4K video recording 7fps continuous shooting 2.3-million-dot OLED EVF ISO 150-25,600 (extended) Price £1,069 (body only) PANASONIC completely overhauled…

As my long-suffering wife will attest, I'm a bit of a hoarder. Old magazines, books and all manner of things – from superannuated car parts to obsolete TVs – are stashed away like fossils round the Bentley household, on the off chance they'll come in useful someday. This mindset extends to my behaviour when deciding whether to delete less-than-perfect photos. Though many would advise a quick prune to keep only the best frames, I'm inclined to hang on to everything, no matter how blurred, incorrectly exposed, off-kilter or badly white balanced the shots might be. Just recently I've had my photo-hoarding policy justified. My old university college emailed asking whether I could remember my second-year room. Apparently the building had been newly restored and they were proposing a ‘new versus…

Until 6 September 2015, Sony is offering up to £100 cashback on its award-winning a7 full-frame compact system cameras. If you're after something a little smaller, then the latest Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III has £50 cashback. But it's not just cameras that form part of the offer. Cashback can be claimed on a variety of lenses, both in E- and A-mount fittings, while videographers shooting with the a7 can get an impressive £200 off the Sony FE PZ 28-135mm f/4 G OSS lens. So no matter which Sony product you have, you can take advantage of the deals. For a list of all cashback items, including flashguns and other accessories, go to www.sony.co.uk/imagingcashback or visit your nearest Alpha Centre of Excellence store.…

1 Be mindful of the mood certain colours will convey. Shooting with red and green will often leave an image looking like a Christmas card and using red and blue can, at times, make a photograph look like a scene from a police chase. 2 When combining colours, try to bear in mind some basic colour theory. Complementary colours like orange and blue, and purple and yellow will always work well together. It's also vital to understand the styling of the shot, and base your colour theory around the colours of a model's outfit. 3 If you plan on using coloured gels on model shoots then be aware of your colours spilling onto the model's skin. Sometimes this can create unwanted effects such as unflattering shine, and strange hues as…

Congratulations AP, you've restored my faith in magazines! A big statement, but over the last few weeks you've published uses for Sugru, how to make a macro lighting rig using LEDs and a USB power supply, and shown how a remarkable young man used 3D printing to make a new digital back for a 35mm rangefinder. Bravo! Hurrah for the tinkerers and home-brewers; the meddlers and dis-assemblers (I am one of the worst offenders) – the amateurs. The icing on the cake was Roger Hicks' musings on works of art or otherwise, and your great review of the Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246). One letter asked why you'd tested it when so few people can afford it – I certainly can't, but at least I know about it now. This…

ALMOST every new digital camera has the ability to record video footage, but for many photographers the transition from stills to moving images can be a daunting one. What exactly do all those recording formats mean? How do you set up the shutter speed for video? How do you focus the lens? What about recording sound? There are so many questions, and all of them need answering. Thankfully, help is at hand from The Video Mode, a new website from the publishers of Amateur Photographer and What Digital Camera. The site offers comprehensive advice on shooting video – with tips ranging from the basics you need to know when starting out, to more advanced questions on shooting raw video footage. Plus, it'll feature insights and techniques from leading videographers, as…

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 Featuring a Sony-made 24.35-million-pixel APS-C sized CMOS sensor - likely to be the same as in the Nikon D7200 and Sony Alpha 77 II - the Pentax K-3 II image quality is very good. There are issues with the JPEG processing not rendering the finer detail of an image, but raw files have an excellent amount of detail present. It's also quite remarkable how much detail the Pixel Shift Resolution mode can resolve, although it's limited to static subjects. Dynamic range is great, as we would expect, and it retains a good dynamic range throughout the ISO sensitivity range, giving plenty of detail in the highlight and shadows. I found…

Resolution The difference between edge and centre sharpness begins to close from f/4 and becomes very good at the lens’ optimal aperture of f/5.6. From f/5.6 to f/11 general resolution is excellent, though f/11 is less able for fine detail – and f/16 much less so. Wider apertures create softness around frame edges which is pleasant if anticipated and used well. Shading This lens demonstrates the principle that wide apertures and wide angles of view are prone to corner shading. Wide open shading is dramatic, and remains a fading feature through all aperture settings. The worst is gone by f/5.6, but is present even at f/16. Some may relish the drama of the f/1.4 shading and that it directs attention to the centre of the frame. Curvilinear distortion Some curvilinear…

LAUNCHED March 2002 (announced July 2000) PRICE £6,000 (body only) GUIDE PRICE TODAY £2,500 DESIGNED and manufactured under licence in Japan by the Kyocera group, the Contax N Digital was the first full-frame DSLR to go on sale. It was a commercial failure, but its rarity has seen used N Digitals sell for around £2,500. What’s good The N Digital looked fantastic, and the nine native lenses developed for the N-series were all highly-regarded. Being full frame, the N Digital did not compromise wideangle lenses through sensor-determined cropping and the reflex viewfinder view stayed spacious and bright. The shutter offered a generous 1/8,000sec top speed. Colour reproduction was also well regarded. What’s bad Unfortunately the N Digital was before its time and the Philips 6-megapixel CCD sensor was technologically stretched.…

1 Portable power inverter This is a Godox Leadpower LP-750 portable power inverter. I use it when I take my lights on location. When I work in-studio it’s usually because I’m shooting still life and products. The lights I use are Elinchrom BXRi 500s. I have four, but if I’m being honest, they’re a little bit frustrating at times. It’s often the case that they don’t stop down to low enough power when I’m looking to shoot wide open. Sometimes I’ll have to resort to shooting with an ND filter or Speedlites. 2 Gitzo tripod I use a Gitzo Mountaineer carbon fibre tripod. I used to have a Manfrotto, but after using it to shoot a timelapse image in a lake bed, its legs came off in the mud. There’s…

REPLACING the Speedlite 430EX II and designed to be smaller than its predecessor, the 430EX III-RT carries a maximum guide number of 43m @ ISO 100. The 430EX III-RT provides lens coverage of 24-105mm, or 14mm via the built-in adapter, according to Canon. The newcomer can be used as an off-camera flash, with output and power controllable from the camera's menu. Using the Radio Transmitter (RT) System, the Speedlite 430EX III-RT can control up to five groups of RT flash units, with up to 15 flashes per group, up to 30m away. It also boasts a faster recycling time than the previous model. The kit includes an orange colour filter, allowing users to ‘match or contrast the colour of the flash light with the light sources around them'. The Speedlite…

Jake Hicks Jake Hicks is a fashion and hair photographer based in Reading, Berkshire. Known for his bright and bold lighting techniques, he regularly runs workshops for lighting manufacturer Bowens International. www.jakehicksphotography.com Coloured lighting has been part of our visual storytelling process as far back as the 1600s, when Shakespearean theatre lights were shone through red wine to alter the colour and mood of a scene. When colour film became popular in the 1940s the process was adopted by cinema, and cinematographers would often use coloured lighting to tell a story and create a mood. For example, adding yellow and orange gelatin sheets in front of lights to simulate sunsets and sunrises. Although we no longer use gelatin sheets the name ‘coloured gels' stuck, and stills photographers use the technique…

There are times where you will want to introduce coloured gels in a more subtle way. I recommend one way of doing this is by diffusing or softening the coloured light before it hits the model. In this example I've used a beauty dish and two different coloured gels to achieve the desired result. 1 Add main light The first thing you need to do is to set up your standard portrait lighting by placing a beauty dish just above the model's head angled down at 45 ¡ . You could use a small softbox but make sure it's as close as possible to avoid too much spill of light. The next step is to soften the shadows. 2 Lift shadows You can do this by placing a small softbox…

Do you get excited about the release of new editing software? You answered A No, to me it’s just a tool 34% B Yes, it’s always interesting to see the latest features 27% C No, I find that I don’t use many of the more modern features of software 24% D I’m not bothered either way 15% What you said ‘I do like to know what new features will be available, but now that I’ve signed up to the Creative Cloud I’ll get the new features anyway. This has lessened the anticipation somewhat’ ‘No, until I upgrade my PC there’s little point as the more up-to-date versions simply aren’t compatible’ ‘New software invariably seems to involve taking something I’ve just learned how to use, and makes it un-useable’ ‘Yes, if…

Silhouettes Brian Price Sony Alpha 57, 18-55mm, 1/60sec at f/5, ISO 3,200 I'M REALLY rather fond of this delicate scene presented by Brian. The silhouettes are picked out perfectly, and their shapes tell us more than enough to piece together a little story for ourselves. The boy and girl at the centre of our attention might actually be fighting, for all we know, but their pose here, under the warmth of the orange lighting, suggests a dance beneath the tree while their father reads a book (or, I suspect, his phone) on a bench nearby. It's all very romantic. Brian has given us great context too, with the ancient stonework of the castle walls behind telling us the location is an old Spanish city – so we can feel the…

What camera? Q The time has come to upgrade from my point-and-shoot compact and I've decided my next camera should feature a Micro Four Thirds lens mount, so that I have plenty of options when it comes to buying additional lenses. I'm still learning and rely a lot on automatic settings, but I'm hoping to progress quickly. I want my next camera to be good for travelling and a viewfinder is preferable. I'm working to a budget of around £400. I Reilly A You may have already looked at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7 (£389) which is a very capable little camera for anyone after manual control and an interchangeable lens design. It has a larger grip than the diminutive Lumix DMC-GM1 (£319), which makes it more comfortable to hold in…

During the Second World War, the United States Office of War Information (OWI) commissioned many brilliant photographers. Jack Delano was among them. Born in Ukraine in 1914 and christened Jacob Ovcharov, he emigrated to the US in 1923. From 1932 to 1936 he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, during which time he managed to secure a Cresson Travelling Scholarship that paid for a four-month tour of Europe in 1935. In Europe he went to as many galleries and museums as he could, and was fascinated by depictions of ordinary people in the work of artists as diverse as Bruegel, Hogarth, Daumier and Van Gogh, as well as in oriental miniatures and Japanese prints. To him they resembled the people in the photographs taken under the auspices of…

‘Smallest ever’ GoPro The GoPro Hero4 Session is claimed to be 50% smaller and 40% lighter than its predecessor, the Hero4. ‘Ultra compact’, it’s built to be waterproof to 10m, is compatible with existing GoPro mounts and can capture 8MP still images as well as HD video. It costs £329.99. Backpack trio MindShift Gear has announced three ‘high-capacity’ backpacks aimed at photographers who carry 200-600mm lenses. The FirstLight backpacks can also carry a laptop or tablet, and come with a rain cover that doubles as a ground cloth. They include grab handles on three sides plus a top pocket for fast access. The FirstLight bags cost from £200. Visit www.mindshiftgear.com. Rollei reveals new tripod Rollei has unveiled a ‘taller and stronger’ version of its C5i tripod. The C6i is designed…

A HUGE majority of MEPs voted against a controversial and widely ridiculed EU plan, which threatened photography of buildings in public spaces across Europe. It was feared an EU proposal to abolish Freedom of Panorama would hit amateur and professional photographers, even Facebook users. However, in a victory for campaigners, a key piece of text on Freedom of Panorama (FoP) was removed from a proposal on copyright harmonisation, thanks to a vote at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on 9 July. If it had passed, campaigners feared the UK would be subject to restrictions such as those in France, where photographers must seek a licence from the ‘architect or rightholder of the public artwork'. The potential calamity for photography was first raised by German MEP Julia Reda. According to…

THE NISSIN Di700A and Commander Air1 flash kit have gone on sale in a Sony-fit version in recognition of Sony as a ‘major contender' in the camera market. Already out in Canon and Nikon versions, the Nissin Commander Air1 can control three groups of Nissin Di700A flashes, up to a maximum of 21 NAS guns. According to UK distributor Kenro, it's an ideal controller for firing multiple flashguns simultaneously at various distances without cables. Kenro's managing director Paul Kench said: ‘We're very excited about this new addition to the range. Sony is a major contender in the digital camera market... and Nissin has recognised this by now making all their new flash systems compatible with the Sony camera range.' The Di700A and Commander Air1 kit costs £239.94. Separately, the Di700A…

THIS lighting technique is one of the easiest ways to get great-looking colour into your shots. Start by selecting your preferred key light – I used a 21in silver beauty dish here, but a small softbox will work equally well. I then added a little fill light via a small softbox on the floor below the model, but a well-placed silver reflector will do just as well. I then added the colour via two hard lights behind the model pointed back towards the camera and aimed at the sides of the model's head. These two lights have grids on them to control the spill of light and are angled just far enough away from the lens to minimise the introduction of flare. The fill softbox is metered one stop under…

Radio active In Viewpoint (AP 4 July) Jon Bentley stated that Sony made the first transistor radio. This is absolutely not correct. The first transistor radio was made in America, and it was called the Regency TR-1. Developed by Texas Instruments, this was a pocket-sized radio and first appeared on the American market in 1954, and sold for $49.95 at a time when a domestic valve radio could be bought for $15. Tokyo Telecommunications (Sony) didn't produce a transistor radio until August 1955, and produced a pocket-sized radio in March 1957. The Regency TR-1 was produced in large numbers, and many survive in the hands of radio collectors like myself, and are still working well. This photo (right) shows my own Regency TR-1, which my late father purchased in 1957.…

Time to visit Dunwich Heath has something to photograph all-year round. Autumn paints not just the trees, but also heather and bracken across the heath with an earthy palette of ochres and siennas. In winter, low afternoon sunlight on the cliff tops contrasts with big brooding skies, while the fresh greens of spring bring the woods to life. The star of the show, though, is undoubtedly summer. From July to September the heath is a riot of colour, awash with pink and purple heather scarred by curving footpaths and splashed with yellow gorse. The best times of day to capture the spectacle are the first and last hours of sunlight, when the soft quality and low angle of the light raking across the landscape emphasises the beautiful colour, shape and…

Manfrotto XPRO ball head MHXPRO-BHQ6 Angle scale The independently locking panning base is marked at 5° intervals for panorama shooting. Base thread A standard 3/8in thread allows attachment to most tripods. Levels The Top Lock quick-release platform has three spirit levels, one for each axis. Portrait slot This allows the camera platform to tilt 90° for portrait format shooting. £160 www.manfrotto.co.uk Andy Westlake tests Manfrotto’s latest ball head designed for 190 and 055 series tripods At a glance Friction control Independent panning base Weight 0.52kg Load 10kg Height 11.5cm AT FIRST glance, Manfrotto's latest XPRO ball head looks almost identical to the 054 model. However, it's much lighter (520g versus 826g) and has a new locking system for the main ball, but it lacks the portrait angle selector switch found…

IF YOU don't shoot video, you may not hear much about me these days. Instead everyone knows about my sibling, the f-stop. But I am a more reliable alternative; I am a t-stop. Let's just recap on what an f-stop is. An f-stop is a value determined by the focal length of a lens divided by the diameter of the entrance pupil of the lens (assuming the exit pupil is not smaller). The entrance pupil is usually the lens iris, also referred to as the aperture. By halving or doubling the diameter of the aperture you respectively halve or double the quantity of light transmitted through the lens. In other words you halve or double the brightness. Each time the aperture is halved or doubled in diameter you change the…