Innholdsfortegnelse for 29-Apr-2017 i Amateur Photographer

When mirrorless CSCs first started to appear, the perceived market was compact users looking to upgrade to something less intimidating than a DSLR. As a result, many of the earliest models were small cameras with no viewfinder and simplified controls, exemplified by the Sony NEX-5. It wasn’t until the introduction of the Olympus OM-D, Fujifilm X and Sony Alpha 7 systems that it became clear that the real audience for CSCs wasn’t the compact upgrader (as Nikon found with its ill-conceived 1 system) but DSLR owners looking to replace or supplement their systems. In the early days switching to mirrorless entailed compromises in performance but they’re now as good as DSLRs and indeed offer many advantages. We bust a few myths that still persist about them. JOIN US ONLINE amateurphotographer.…

A NEW photography competition has been launched by Sinchi, the human rights organisation, in aid of the preservation of indigenous cultures. The organisation says the competition will celebrate the strength and beauty of indigenous culture through visual storytelling. This can be inspired by many things from activism, relationship to nature, spirituality, community and everyday life to art, music and cultural practice. Anyone can participate in the competition and is invited to submit up to six photographs with accompanying captions. Entries are welcome from both remote and urban indigenous communities. The entry period is open until 31 May, with a€ 10 submission fee. The winner and runners-up will receive a cash prize ( € 1,000 and € 200 respectively) and see their work printed. Visit www.sinchi-tribe.com to learn more.…

THE Camera Raw White Balance tool can be used to apply measured white balance adjustments to any image. To do this, select the tool and look for an area of the image that should be a neutral grey or white in colour. It is best not to sample a bright tone, because if one or more colour channels happen to be clipped, this can result in an incorrect white balance. You can for example, place a colour checker chart in a scene, take a photograph of the chart and use this to measure the white balance, which can then be applied to all the photos you take subsequently in that location. For a more accurate white balance, I recommend using a dedicated white balance card, such as the WhiBal card…

When it was launched in 1959, the Penti was unashamedly marketed as a ‘lady's camera. With its curvaceous anodised-gold metallic body and cream-enamel finish, it's as much a fashion accessory as a piece of photographic equipment. But for all the external glamour, there is a well-featured camera inside. The diminutive size is possible because this is a half-frame camera. Furthermore, although it makes use of 35mm film, it uses Agfa Rapid cartridges that take up less room as they have no spools to accommodate. It sports a 30mm f/3.5 Trioplan lens that focuses down to a metre and stops down to f/22, while the three-speed shutter also has a ‘B' setting, quite feasible to use, as the camera had both a tripod bush and a cable release socket. There is…

In last week's issue the team at AP selected their favourite images from this year's Sony World Photography Awards Open category. This was one of the toughest years in which to pick our stand-out images, meaning that a handful were left behind. This image by Oscar Lopez from Germany was one of them. Here we see the Dockland office building in Hamburg, Germany. It was taken during the summer of 2016 and went on to be shortlisted in this year's Open category. It really is an extraordinarily beautiful example of architecture photography. The stormy sky is forbidding and throws its dying light on the point of the structure. In the background we see wind turbines lit by that same fading illumination. To see more, visit www.worldphoto.org Words & numbers There…

AN EYE-CATCHING photograph that made the rounds on social media has been seized on as a symbol of Birmingham's rejection of far-right ideologies and the English Defence League (EDL). The image was taken during an aggressive exchange with Ian Crossland, the leader of the EDL, at one of its protests, by PA photographer Joe Giddens. It shows a young woman appearing to fix Crossland with a defiant and unfazed smile amid the chaos of the demonstration. She was identified as Birmingham resident Saffiyah Khan. Speaking after the incident, she said she had stepped in to defend a woman in a hijab from abuse by the group. ‘He was pointing his finger in my face but I just stood there,' she said. ‘I didn't do anything; I wasn't interested. That wasn't…

At a glance Connectivity Wi-Fi and Bluetooth allow connection to a smartphone, driven by Nikon’s free SnapBridge app for Android and iOS Power Nikon says the EN-EL15a battery should provide 950 shots per charge. The camera can also use the existing EN-EL15 Built-in pop-up flash This works with Nikon’s radio-controlled Advanced Wireless Lighting system to control Speedlights off-camera SD card Unlike either the D500 or the D7200, the D7500 has just a single SD card slot WHILE Nikon is without doubt one of the most respected names in photography, it has had something of a bumpy ride over the past year. It was forced to embarrassingly cancel the DL range of 1-inch sensor compacts that it announced at the start of 2016, and some users felt let down by the…

For several device generations, Samsung's high-end smartphones have been considered to be the closest Android rivals to Apple's iPhone – not least because of the excellent image quality of their built-in cameras. However, towards the end of last year, the Korean manufacturer's success story was dealt a blow, when a series of fires caused by a design flaw in the device's battery caused a major PR crisis for the company. As a result, Samsung discontinued its then brand new Galaxy Note 7 flagship model. This spring, there was a great deal of anticipation about the Galaxy S8 models, as it was assumed they would kickstart the Korean brand's comeback. In the run-up to the late-March launch, rumours looked very promising, especially from an imaging point of view. Several prototypes with…

You answered… ADigital Camera 7% B Practical Photography 12% C Outdoor Photography 12% DB+W Photography 9% E Only AP 39% F Other 21% What you said ‘I voted ‘Only AP’ for two reasons: my funds are finite, and unlike much of the competition, it’s not full of Photoshopped HDR images that look like a bad Salvador Dali painting.’ ‘I voted “Other” but I mainly read AP. I buy most issues but not all. If a special issue doesn’t have enough content to interest me, I don’t buy it. I occasionally buy other magazines on the same basis.’ ‘AP is always my first port of call, but some of the other magazines sometimes have useful articles that make them worth buying.’ ‘I subscribe to AP (who wouldn’t?), but also regularly buy…

Angela Nicholson Photographer and journalist Angela Nicholson reviewed cameras for Amateur Photographer and was our technical editor. She’s tested everything from compacts to medium-format cameras. She’s also witnessed the evolution of mirrorless system cameras first-hand. www.angelanicholson.com 1 They have small sensors Although there have been a few smaller-format mirrorless cameras such as the tiny Pentax Q series and the Nikon 1 range, the majority of mirrorless cameras use the same Four Thirds, APS-C and full-frame-sized sensors as are found in most DSLRs. What's more, the recently launched Hasselblad X1D and Fujifilm GFX 50S use the same 43.8x32.9mm sensor as the Pentax 645Z, which means they're medium-format mirrorless cameras. 2 They are aimed at beginners There are mirrorless system cameras that are suitable for use by a wide range of photographers,…

Gary Wakefield Gary, from Portslade near Brighton, describes himself as a semi-professional photographer with a strong interest in landscapes and water. He became seriously interested in photography about five years ago. Visit www.garywakefield.com. Jeremy Walker AP regular Jeremy is one of the UK’s most respected landscape specialists, and a Nikon ambassador. He works all over the world, and runs courses and workshops. In addition, Jeremy works closely with Lee Filters. See Jeremy’s site at www.jeremywalker.co.uk. WELCOME to our new-look portfolio review section, where lucky readers get invaluable guidance and tips from some of the best professional photographers in the UK. The first reader to be critiqued is Gary Wakefield, a keen landscape shooter. ‘I taught myself from scratch watching YouTube videos,' Gary says. ‘After a while I had that eureka…

A good idea, when you go anywhere new, is to look at the postcards on sale locally. They’ll show you the ‘must-see’ sights. Viewed differently, they’ll also tell you what to avoid: the clichés and pictures you probably couldn’t shoot as successfully. Then there is the New York and Paris-based design studio Portraits de Villes (www.portraitsdevilles.fr/en) publishing pictures that you might shoot yourself if you were good enough. You will find almost no clichés or hackneyed subjects: the images get under the skin of the chosen cities in a way that stock photographers seldom do. This image is from its recently published ‘Lisboa’. It could have been taken almost anywhere, but somehow it is very typical of Lisbon: timeless, but up to the minute. There’s the city’s wonderful light, of…

POPULAR action camera producer GoPro is attempting to court sales of its latest product, the GoPro Hero 5, with the launch of a ‘trade-up' scheme. Available to US customers only, users can knock $100 off the price of a GoPro Hero 5 Black or $50 off a Hero 5 Session when they hand in their old Hero devices. In the wake of a troubled 2016 when the company suffered losses of more than $370 million and saw its first attempt at a consumer-targeted drone recalled after some examples suffered power failure, the new scheme appears to be an attempt to encourage existing customers to keep buying its products. The company has also been forced to lay off a number of employees in waves, including 270 just last month. The Hero…

NEW iPhone cases and add-on lenses from Olloclip are now available in the UK. The latest cases for iPhone 7 (and iPhone 7 Plus) have also been designed to work with its ‘Connect' system, that lets users snap on additional lenses without having to remove their case or fiddle about with frames. The idea is for smartphone users to get quick and easy access to higher quality lenses that can be switched easily and quickly. So far the range includes a fisheye/macro 15x lens, telephoto 2x lens, super-wide lens and ultra-wide lens. The lenses start at £49.99, and are also available in combos. The Ollo Case itself is available to buy from www.olloclip.com, Apple stores and other major retailers around the nation for £29.99. Combos of iPhone 7 lens sets…

Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS The pricey but impressive addition to Sony’s G Master lens series Get a grip The all-new holder that keeps a tight hold on your filters Lightroom tips Everything you need to know, from fixing noise and sharpening photos, to creating the highest quality images and prints Tickled pink The winners of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year award…

I have written a sonnet about working in the darkroom which I thought might appeal to your readers. Light Sonnet in a Dark Room Slip through a series of blackout curtains And down a passageway, narrow and tight, Into the dark, where life is still certain, To emerge in seductive amber light. Positive negatives unwind and mix. Enlarged and reduced shades of grey appear In sheets laid down in a chemical fix. Images are rung as if from thin air. A smiling young couple, the bride and groom. Ibiza, the ocean's soft setting sun. One birthday candle, a bright party room. Girl and white pony pose with rosette won. Flick a switch, shut the door to day to night. A moment in time now set write with light. Alicia Ince,…

How to isolate the subject WHEN I saw this image by Ludovic Farine, I focused on the human statue and expression of the boy standing next to him. There's nothing else of interest apart from these two, so I chose to crop the photograph to make them really stand out. I used the Adjustment brush, adding adjustments to lighten them selectively. I also combined a global adjustment that reduced the contrast and saturation with localised adjustments that increased the contrast and saturation, so that the localised adjustment cancelled out the global one. 1 Crop the image To start with, I went to the Basic panel, where I adjusted the tone and colour control sliders to lighten the image slightly, but at the same time lower the global contrast and reduce…

Kenro Speedflash KFL 101 Autozoom The 18-180mm autozoom feature comes in handy, and is an impressive feature for the money – Nikon take note, as autozoom is missing on its pricier SB500 Power The Kenro is a solid performer, offering a decent guide number of 58 (ISO 100, 180mm) and a respectable enough recycle time of 2.3 seconds Rear LCD While not as crisp as the rear screens on Canon or Nikon flashguns, the backlit LCD does the job and copes well with bright sunlight – essential when using fill flash Head adjustment For the money, the Kenro seems well made, and the head can be smoothly adjusted to cover all the essential angles • £95 • www.kenro.co.uk Will this Canon/Nikon compatible flashgun light up Geoff Harris ? At a…

Battery With the same DMW-BLH7E Li-ion as the GF7, the GX800 is rated for just 210 shots per charge with the 12-32mm lens, so carrying a spare would be wise. The battery charges through the USB port. Memory card Unlike the GF7, the GX800 uses the small, fiddly microSD format, so it’s best to avoid changing the card anywhere it might get lost easily. However, unless you regularly remove the card this shouldn’t be a problem. Kit zoom The 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS lens adds just 24mm to the thickness of the camera and weighs a mere 70g. Optically it’s not great at wideangle, and the 64mm-equivalent long end is a little restrictive, but despite this it matches the camera well. Custom controls Three physical buttons on the camera’s body are…