Innholdsfortegnelse for 09-Feb-2019 i Amateur Photographer

While you generally can’t use old film lenses on most DSLRs, you may not be aware that it’s a lot easier with mirrorless cameras. Classic glass can be given a new lease of life, helping you build up a lens system for your shiny new mirrorless. As our resident mirrorless sage Andy Westlake explains on pages 16-20, there is a good selection of old lenses out there, and he discusses everything you need to know to get them working on your camera. When you consider how much higher-end mirrorless lenses can cost, there is some serious money to be saved here (and it’s fun). Other highlights of this packed issue include a buyer’s guide to the most effective HDR software, a review of the new Sigma 56mm f/1.4 and a…

I read with interest your article on printing in this week's AP (New Year’s Printing Resolutions, 19 January). I am a Scottish Photographic Federation judge and lecturer and over the past few years have become increasingly dismayed at the decline in the quantity and quality of prints submitted in camera club competitions. For example I have just taken delivery of the images, both prints and PDIs (projected digital images) from a local camera club. There are 55 PDIs, but only 15 prints. As each member is allowed to enter three prints or three PDIs, this means that only five members have entered prints. Over the past couple of years, in my visits to camera clubs to judge their images, I have tried to encourage members to produce prints, and not…

1 Release without lens Many mirrorless cameras won't release the shutter without a native lens mounted, so you'll need to find a menu setting called Release Without Lens (or similar) and set it to Enable. 2 Set up IBIS For bodies with in-body image stabilisation, you need to set the focal length every time you change lenses. Some allow you to assign this to a custom button for quick access. 3 Set up focusing Configure your preferred focus aid, either peaking or magnified view, onto a custom button that's easy to press when looking through the viewfinder. 4 Stick with primes Old zoom lenses tend to have mediocre optical quality, and are awkward to use with in-body stabilisation. In general, primes are a much better bet. 5 Focus wide open…

1 Target a range The new Luma Range control lets you target a specific portion of the tonal range in order to make adjustments to it. Here, for example, the subject's jacket is initially very underexposed. But by lightening the entire image then using Luma Range to restrict the effect to the darker tones, we can lift the area with ease. 2 Use with gradient tools As well as using Luma Range on universal adjustments, we can also apply it to selective adjustments made, using any of the masking tools in Capture One, like the Linear Gradient tool. Here the plan is to reveal more detail in the blown-out sky, so we've initially drawn a gradient then dialled in negative exposure. 3 Control the fall-off The gradient leaves our subject…

Active D-Lighting This useful processing tool is designed to lighten shadow areas and preserve highlight detail when faced with high-contrast scenes. The camera allows you to set Active D-Lighting to ‘on’ or ‘off’ settings. Built-in flash The built-in flash isn’t particularly powerful but can be used to illuminate close subjects. It’s also compatible with Nikon’s Creative Lighting System, which allows you to use the pop-up flash to fire compatible flashguns. Retouch menu Like its predecessor, the D3500 provides an extensive Retouch menu, which includes the ability to convert raw files to JPEGs as well as making a range of adjustments to captured images. Effects filters Accessed from the Effects setting there are 10 digital effects filters: Night Vision, Super Vivid, Pop, Photo Illustration, Toy Camera, Miniature, Selective Colour, High Key,…

Princess Irene of Hochste, 1573-1652, was betrothed at the age of seven to Prince Henry of Nahemöglich but he died before the wedding and no suitable suitor came up again until about 1591, in the shape of the Gräf von Schlechterdings. This was painted to impress him. It clearly worked: they were married the following year. Everything about it, though, has a meaning which transcends the obvious. The symbolism of the white dress is clear, while the glass dome symbolises her carefully preserved (or at least alleged) virginity, as does the unbitten apple, but her pose – leaning eagerly, almost aggressively forward – bespeaks her strength and her impatience with stultifying court life. At first sight, the portrait is over-lit on the left, and might be seen as drawing too…

NOBODY can accuse the new British Photography Awards of starting off modestly, with the first-ever awards evening taking place in the opulent surroundings of London's Savoy Hotel at the end of January. The inaugural BPA attracted a strong field of over 3,700 entries from across the country, with categories including Best Portrait Photographer, Best Drone Photographer, Best Documentary Photographer and Best Selfie Photographer. A People's Choice winner was also named for each category, with 74,000 public votes being submitted. ‘These awards are pivotal in celebrating the rich heritage of our photographic culture,' said the organiser, Hugo Donnithorne-Tait. Several industry luminaries were also honoured for their contribution to photography, including Frans Lanting who was named International Photographer of the Year 2019, and fashion photographer Rankin who bagged a BPA Fellowship. For…

SUDDENLY we find ourselves back in the halcyon days of February 2008 (actually, not that halcyon as the global economic slump was looming). Anyway, the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III had just come out, and we were pondering whether its full-frame 21MP sensor would be so good that makers of medium-format film cameras would grovel before it in the dust. No, as it turned out, but this cover certainly grabs the attention. This excitement over breaking the 20MP barrier is also a salutary reminder of how far full-frame sensor technology has come in the past 11 years. Other highlights include a great piece on low-light landscapes by the still-very-relevant Steve Gosling, and a review of the not-so-relevant Olympus mju 790 SW (that's easy for you to say). Meanwhile the prolific Ivor…

Mirrorless camera Almost any mirrorless camera can be used with old lenses, regardless of brand or vintage. Full-frame models such as the Sony Alpha 7 II will make the best use of lenses designed for 35mm film, while smaller sensor sizes will introduce field-of-view crops. Manual lenses Again, almost any lens can be adapted to any mirrorless camera, but manual-focus optics with built-in aperture rings work best, like these Olympus OM lenses. However if you require autofocus, or electronic aperture setting from the camera body, you’ll need a special adapter. Mount adapters At their simplest, these are metal tubes with a mount to fit onto the camera body at one end, and another to accept the lens at the other. More complex adapters may include electronics, mechanical aperture control rings,…

Nikon D850 Christiaan now has the latest class-leading full-frame model from Nikon. Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye ‘Even though this is a DX lens I love the sharpness, speed and reliability – ideal for long exposures and always at hand.' Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 ‘One of the very best wideangles that Nikon offers; perfect for long-exposures and other shots, by day and night.' Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 ‘Relatively heavy but perfect for daylight and air-to-air shots.' Boeing 747-8F The latest freighter version of the intercontinental cruiser.…

WHILE the D3500 inherits much from the D3400 that preceded it, there are some differences which combine to make the D3500 a better camera overall. The redesigned body clearly borrows a lot from the upper entry-level D5600 and the enlarged handgrip helps to make the camera feel more comfortable and better balanced when used with larger, heavier lenses. On top of this, the battery life has improved and the images it outputs are very respectable. Available for around £410 with the 18-55mm AF-P VR lens, or £380 with the non-VR 18-55mm AF-P lens, the D3500 is keenly priced and represents excellent value for money. If you can live without the slightly larger vari-angle touchscreen and more advanced 39-point autofocus system offered by the D5600, then the D3500 is undoubtedly an…

WITH the 56mm f/1.4 DC DN | C, Sigma has produced a very appealing compact prime for Micro Four Thirds and Sony E-mount users. It doesn't dwarf small cameras and those who want a fast prime that's neither too heavy or too cumbersome will enjoy the handling and overall experience of using it. Priced at £399, this optic represents good value for money, especially when you consider how well built it is and the attractive images it delivers. It doesn't provide optical image stabilisation and the focus mode can't be set to manual via an AF/MF switch, but both of these exclusions aren't unusual on a lens of its pedigree. For the price and size of the lens you can't really argue with its overall performance. All in all, this…

If you’d like to see your work published in Amateur Photographer, here’s how to send us your images: Email Email a selection of low-res images (up to 5MB of attachments in total) to appicturedesk@ti-media.com.CD/DVD Send us a disc of high-resolution JPEG, TIFF or PSD images (at least 2480 pixels along its longest length), with a contact sheet, to the address on page 12. Via our online communities Post your pictures into our Flickr group, Facebook page, Twitter feed, or the gallery on our website. See details above.…

THE ROYAL Photographic Society (RPS) has relocated from its cramped HQ on the edge of Bath to much more spacious premises in The Paintworks, South Bristol – a ‘creative quarter' which also houses the Martin Parr Foundation and is close to the city centre and Temple Meads train station. The RPS's new HQ includes a 200m2 exhibition space, along with a 101-seat auditorium, educational facility and admin offices. ‘Our building brings a public exhibition space back to the RPS for the first time since 2001, so that it can show the best of photography to inspire and excite the public,' said chief operating officer Mike Taylor. The International Photography Exhibition 161 is the first show at the new HQ, featuring AP regular Harry Borden and 53 other luminaries. It officially…

I started selling photos 20 years ago, submitting slides to stock libraries. It was fiddly work, printing off caption labels and shifting the photos around in the frames to correct sloping horizons. Then came online agencies and digital cameras, and the market took off. I focused on Alamy and quit my job as a reporter, dreaming of earning a living with my camera. For a while it wasn't even outlandish. By 2007, Alamy sales alone were paying my rent — $10,000 in gross revenue from just 64 sales, and the commission was a manageable 30% plus a small account fee. The internet made stock photography more accessible to the masses of enthusiasts like me. I was happy to leave bread-and-butter shots of grinning office workers and jogging pensioners to others…

Backing up photos on the move There are several backup options for a photographer on the move. Essentially it is either the cloud or hardware. I don't always have data while travelling so a hardware solution is what I have been looking for, as cheaply as possible. The ideal was the WD My Passport, but at £270 it was a bit steep for me (I still wanted it though and was kind of saving up). An alternative I used a couple of times was a portable HDD connected to a Raspberry Pi with some backup software developed by a guy called Dmitri Popov. However, it was a bit hit and miss and needed a power supply which wasn't always available. Then last week I came across the perfect solution (for…

Native adapters £100-270 Canon, Nikon and Sony all produce adapters for using their SLR-mount lenses on mirrorless models. Aperture setting and optical stabilisation should work as normal, as will autofocus if the lens has a built-in focus motor. However some Nikon- and Sony-mount lenses need to be focused manually. Sigma MC-11 £199 This allows you to use Canon-mount lenses on Sony E-mount cameras while maintaining electronic aperture control, optical image stabilisation and autofocus. Officially it's fully compatible with Sigma's ‘Global Vision' Art, Contemporary or Sports lenses. But in practice, it works with almost any EF-mount lens, although autofocus can be very hesitant with older designs. Techart Pro LM-EA7 Approx. £400 This clever adapter provides autofocus with almost any manual-focus lens on recent Sony E-mount cameras that use hybrid AF systems.…

Nikon D3500 Price £409 (with Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-P VR lens) Sensor 24.2MP APS-C CMOS Output size 6000 x 4000 pixels Focal length mag 1.5x Lens mount Nikon F Shutter speeds 30-1/4,000sec Sensitivity ISO 100-25,600 Exposure modes PASM, Auto, Guide, No Flash, Scene x4, Special Effects Metering Matrix, Centre-weighted, Spot Exposure comp ±5EV in 1/3EV steps Burst shooting 5fps continuous shooting Screen 3in, 921k-dot fixed TFT LCD Viewfinder Pentamirror type, 95% coverage at 0.85x AF points 11-AF point system Video Full HD (1920x1080), HD (1080x720) Memory card SD, SDHC, SDXC Power EN-EL14a Li-ion battery Battery life 1,550 shots per charge Dimensions 124x97x69.5mm Weight 415g (with battery and card)…

As with resolution we achieved better results with manually processed raw files over in-camera JPEGs. At sensitivities under ISO 800 images are clean and sharp. At ISO 3200, image quality does begin to break down more markedly, with elements of luminance noise evident in JPEGs and processed raw files. You still get useable results at ISO 3200, but it’s harder to disguise the effects of noise at ISO 6400 and above.…

Resolution Our Image Engineering Tests reveal the lens is sharper in the centre than at the edge throughout the aperture range. Centre sharpness improves by stopping down from f/1.4 to f/2 and peaks between f/2.8 and f/4. Corner sharpness doesn’t reach the same level as centre sharpness, but does steadily improve from f/1.4 to f/5.6. The best edge-to-edge sharpness is found around f/5.6-f/6.3. Diffraction has the effect of softening images at f/16. Shading Our tests reveal the corners of images appear darker than the centre by approximately 1.2EV. Corner shading becomes less obvious when the lens is stopped down, with edges measuring around 0.7EV darker than the centre at f/2 and vignetting becoming almost completely absent at f/4. Curvilinear distortion With all lens corrections switched off, the lens exhibits obvious…

• £219 • istorage-uk.com Tough build The rugged, rubberised casing is rated to IP56 standard for water and dust resistance. A protective zip case is also supplied. Options The diskAshur2 is available in four colours, and with six HDD and six SSD capacities. Military-grade security Designed and programmed to resist all ‘Brute Force’ attacks. PIN protection A 7- to 15-digit PIN code can be set for both user and administrator. After 15 incorrect attempts the data is wiped. STORAGE may not be sexy but it's a necessary ongoing expense for photographers in the digital age, especially with rising pixel counts and the move to 4K video. While cloud and desktop storage have their place, there will always be a need for a reliable portable device for backing up and transporting…