Innholdsfortegnelse for 13-sep-2014 i Amateur Photographer

Next week, the world’s biggest photographic trade show returns for its biennial takeover of Cologne’s sprawling exhibition centre. Photokina has seen some of the biggest camera launches of the past few decades, so there’s always a lot of excitement and speculation in the weeks leading up to the event. These days, manufacturers increasingly announce their wares beforehand, so there are fewer genuine surprises at the show itself, and indeed by the time you read this, some of them may already have been revealed. This year, Pentax is among the first off the blocks with its futuristic-looking K-S1 DSLR (see page 6). It’s great to see Pentax expanding its range and offering something genuinely different. To be among the first to find out what everyone else is launching this year, be…

We couldn’t resist a little celebration for World Photography Day back on 23 August. For one day only, we asked you to send in the best photo you felt you’d ever taken. We were bowled over by the reponse – across Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, our Gallery and our Forum, hundreds of people had images to show off. Whittling them down was quite a task, but a clear winner emerged in the form of this image, submitted to our Flickr pool by Tim Burgess. We loved his tilt-shift treatment of a winding road at Mam Tor in the Peak District, and were thrilled to be able to send him a canvas print of the shot as a prize. To see more from the day, visit www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/worldphotoday. Words & numbers I tend…

It’s fair to say that the production of film has dropped dramatically in recent years, but predictions of its death are certainly premature, and although only two formats – 120 and 35mm – are widely available, the latter can even be found in pound shops. The challenge comes when you have a camera that uses one of the many film formats that came and went in the last century. The Coronet Viscount looks at first like a cheap ’n’ cheerful 35mm model. Indeed, in one sense it is, but it uses 828 film, which consists of unperforated 35mm film with a backing paper on a roll. The 828 format was mainly aimed at the snapshot market and was last manufactured in 1985, so there’s not much chance of finding it…

Sophie Wright Can you tell me the role you played in putting together Magnum Contact Sheets? There was a small working group of us, including Martin Parr, who, of course, has a heck of a lot of experience putting together photography books. Magnum and Thames & Hudson, which publish the book, thought about curators we could work with to edit the book, and we were very keen to work with Kristen Lubben. Kristen and I were essentially the project managers of the book. Why did Magnum feel it was important to put together Magnum Contact Sheets? We were conscious of the fact that the archive of analogue images here in the London office of Magnum – I’m talking specifically of silver gelatin prints – had slipped into history somewhat. The…

One of the most influential and acknowledged masters of 20th-century photography, Bill Brandt produced a wide-ranging document of his adopted home of Great Britain. While most photographers’ reputations are built on a specific genre, Brandt’s body of work can be more characterised by the images’ often brooding atmosphere, as well as his desire to experiment. His work demonstrated mastery of social documentary, portraiture, landscape and nudes. It’s this final subject matter that he most wanted to be remembered for. In 1944, he found his creative breakthrough using a mahogany and brass 1931 Kodak camera with a wideangle lens. Normally used by the police to record crime scenes, its ability to close-focus allowed Brandt to capture distorted body shapes. That was just part of the story, with Brandt manipulating his negatives…

Crumpler Banana Cube – M £39.90 www.crumpler.eu IF YOU can forgive the slightly odd name, the Banana Cube is a neat little bag, with the largest M size perfect for a small DSLR or compact system camera set-up. Measuring 17.5 x 13.5 x 9mm inside, this is better suited to short walks rather than long excursions or hikes, unless you’re also carrying a backpack. Other than a small DSLR camera and a spare lens, it will be hard to fit much more into the Cube, although there is storage for very small personal items, or batteries and memory cards inside the mesh pockets that line the flap. Inside the cube, the soft binder provided can be used to protect your camera and lens from rattling around and causing damage to…

Tiltable electronic viewfinder One of the interesting features of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 is that it was the first to feature a tiltable EVF, like we have seen on recent cameras such as the Samsung NX30. With a resolution of 2.76 million dots, the GX7’s EVF is bright and clear. In addition, it boasts field sequential technology rather than the OLED technology used by many other EVFs. This benefits the camera by allowing approximately 100% of the Adobe RGB gamut to be previewed, but it also suffers the disadvantage that it has a slower refresh rate compared to OLED.…

The Sony Alpha 7S provides an interesting case study of the effect of pixel size on the performance of a sensor. Sony has produced a sensor that appears to be a throwback to a previous generation, with a meagre pixel count of just 12.2 million pixels on a full-frame sensor, at a time when the company also produces a 36-million-pixel unit that is used in the Alpha 7R and the Nikon D800-series cameras. The main reason for this low pixel count is to enable every pixel to be read out within 1/30sec in order to provide the camera’s 4K video capability. From the video point of view, it is important that every pixel of the sensor is incorporated into the final image or very unpleasant aliasing effects can result. The…

$3m treasures A collection of Edward Weston photos is expected to fetch up to $3 million at auction on 30 September. The single-lot sale, at Sotheby’s New York, comprises 548 images printed by the photographer’s son Cole, also a photographer, who died in 2003. The archive is currently in private hands. Edward Weston died in 1958. Monkey business Photographer David Slater remains unfazed by a US Copyright Office statement on a monkey ‘selfie’ (see News, AP 23 August). The US Copyright Office says it will only register work created by a human being and not one by a black macaque. Slater maintains that he created the photo, because he ‘set up’ the jungle shoot. Samyang 50mm South Korean lens-maker Samyang is set to unveil a ‘photographic’ version of its V-DSLR…

THIS PHOTO of a greylag goose has triumphed at the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2014. The winning image, by amateur photographer Lee Acaster, beat thousands of others to claim the £5,000 top prize. ‘It was a real privilege to have such a close encounter with a wild bird in the very heart of London,’ said Lee, who described it as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity. ‘I’m just grateful that she didn’t lose interest as quickly as my children do when I’m taking photographs of them.’ Judge Mark Ward, editor-in-chief of the RSPB’s Nature’s Home magazine, said: ‘The stormy, brooding backdrop set a dramatic scene, while the bird’s orange and pink colours bring vibrancy to the monochromatic cityscape. ‘Lee’s stunning photograph proves you do not have to travel far from home to capture…

IT’S SELFIE central over at Olympus, which has just unveiled the Olympus Pen E-PL7, featuring a tiltable LCD screen and built-in Wi-Fi. Its LCD flips down and around, so you can frame and shoot a series of pre-timed, sequential still or video selfies without your hand blocking the shot,’ explains Olympus. The fact that the screen tilts downwards for selfies, instead of upwards, should mean that less of the screen is obscured by the camera or flash. The 3in LCD display is touch-sensitive. The 16.1-million-pixel, metal-bodied camera can also be controlled using a smartphone, using Wi-Fi. Due next month, the E-PL7 will be available in ‘vintage-style’ silver or classic black, priced £499.99, including a 14-42mm lens.…

Dave Kai-Piper Dave is a photographer and retoucher who has worked with numerous brands and publications, as well as being an Adobe Community Professional. To see more of his images, visit www.ideasandimages.co.uk As the old saying goes, less is more. While it’s only natural to want to push your lighting as far as you can and introduce multiple lights to your shooting set-up, it can end up over-complicating the issue, resulting in lighting that doesn’t quite hit the mark. By stripping the layers of light back to a single source, you’ll be able to really see how the placement of your lighting and the diffusion used can affect your model and the mood you convey in a shot. While it may sound underwhelming to work with just one light source,…

Billy Currie’s 2014 EISA crown is quite an achievement. However, it’s perhaps all the more impressive when you consider that he only turned his lens to photographing architecture just over a year ago. An IT contractor by trade, Billy had long been shooting a variety of subjects, from landscapes and seascapes to long-exposure images and nature photography, in both colour and mono, from the moment he owned his first digital SLR. Architecture photography is something fairly new to him, but Billy says it is his computing background that has played a huge part in propelling him to succeed in shooting this subject matter. ‘Having a thorough understanding of my camera and of post-processing is a big help,’ says Billy. ‘I know I can shoot in conditions that my friends can’t…

EISA theme 2014-2015: Architecture THE WINNER of first place for 2014-2015’s European Imaging and Sound Association Maestro competition is Billy Currie from the UK. You can read an interview with him on pages 24-29 to see how he achieved his atmospheric architecture images. Billy wins € 1,500 and the EISA Photo Maestro 2014 Trophy. In Reader Portfolio this week, we present the second and third-placed winners. Eric Dufour from France takes second place, and he wins € 1,000 and the EISA Photo Maestro 2014 Trophy. Third place has been awarded to François ‘Sus’ Bogaerts from Belgium. He wins € 750 and the EISA Photo Maestro 2014 Trophy. All prize winners will be invited to the EISA Award Ceremony, to take place on 5 September 2014 during the International Funkausstellung (IFA)…

£84.95 www.manfrotto.co.uk At a glance Sturdy lightweight aluminium tubes Foldable three-way head with tilt and panning motions Snap locks on leg extenders Easily portable MANFROTTO’S Compact Advanced tripod weighs 1.42kg and claims to have a maximum load limit of 3kg, however it’s most suitable for a small DSLR or compact system camera with a medium-sized telephoto lens. It features a clever foldable three-way head with tilt and panning motions that can be locked firmly in place at any angle up to 90°. The levers that control the head are large and sturdy while the tripod’s leg extender locks snap open and closed. The legs are comprised of five sections and are constructed from an alloy metal that is lightweight but still quite hard. When fully extended, the tripod measures 165cm,…

I’VE REALLY enjoyed shooting with the Summilux 15mm f/1.7, and found it to be an accomplished performer in day-to-day shooting. It autofocuses with lightning speed and unerring accuracy, and produces attractive images shot after shot. Its biggest optical flaw is purple fringing wide open, but this isn’t unusual for a fast prime, and can be mitigated by careful post-processing. The lens’s exquisite construction and precise controls give it the feel of a product from an earlier era, despite the fact that in reality it’s fully electronic rather than mechanical. The aperture ring is a lovely touch for Panasonic users, making smaller single-dial cameras like the GM1 and GF series much more pleasant to use. It’s a real pity that it doesn’t currently work on Olympus cameras, though. Overall, the 15mm…

Email your questions to: apanswers@ipcmedia.com, 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 iPhone battery life Q While I’m photographing landscapes with my DSLR, I’ve got into the habit of taking snapshots on my iPhone, which I post directly to the blog area of my website and my social media to keep people up to date with my whereabouts. During the past few months I’ve noticed that the battery life isn’t as good as it used to be, and on my latest shoot the battery died on me so I couldn’t record my usual set-up shots. What are the best ways to preserve battery life on my iPhone so that I don’t get…

LAUNCHED 1950 PRICE with f/1.5 Sonnar in 1950 (USA) $460 GUIDE PRICE TODAY £150-£350 THE CONTAX IIa was smaller, lighter, quieter, sweeter to use and more reliable than its predecessor, the 1936 Contax II produced by Zeiss Ikon (Stuttgart). What’s good The Contax IIa is a long-base coupled rangefinder that provides spot-on focusing, has superb coupled Carl Zeiss lenses (21mm to 135mm) and can use pre-war Contax lenses other than the 35mm (see below). What’s bad The early Contax IIa’s flash synchronisation required an accessory lead, whereas the later models had a PC socket. One further drawback is that the Contax IIa was unable to use the pre-Second World War Zeiss 35mm Biogon lens, with the post-war (Stuttgart) version of the Biogon and the ‘budget’ 35mm Planar now both difficult…

Some pictures ‘want’ to be big. This is one of them. When you see a photograph in a book or magazine, you are rarely seeing it at the size the photographer intended. Small pictures are occasionally run too big: much more often, big pictures are run too small, though in all fairness, the first time I saw an original Ansel Adams print I thought it was grotesquely over-enlarged. I had always liked his work very well on the page, but when I saw it on the wall there was a leaden quality I would never have expected. At exhibitions, you will often see pictures bigger than most people can even afford to print – prints that fill half a wall or more. See them in reproduction, and you wonder what…