Innholdsfortegnelse for 12-Dec-2020 i Amateur Photographer

We talk a lot about autofocus systems and how to set them up to achieve the best results – but there are many situations when AF provides little or no benefit and manual focus is actually better. Modern camera systems make it easier than ever to achieve fine focus by hand. This week we present a handy guide to the when, why and how of manual focusing. History lovers will also enjoy our interview with Jeremy Walker, whose latest project focuses on Britain’s ruins and some of the fascinating stories behind them. We also have an exclusive discount offer for signed copies of the book, so don’t miss that. This is also a good week for fans of rangefinder-style cameras as we test the new Sony Alpha 7C and look…

FUJIFILM has announced a firmware update (version 3.00) for the Fujifilm GFX100, which adds the Pixel Shift Multi-Shot function to the camera. This update allows photographers to create images with 400MP of resolution. Joining the firmware is a new software application, the Fujifilm Pixel Shift Combiner, which combines the 16 raw images created by the new Pixel Shift Multi-Shot function into a single 400MP image. It also facilitates tethered capture capability when used with the Pixel Shift Multi-Shot function. ‘This simple capture-to-edit workflow is a great solution for fine art and still life photographers,’ the company claims. ‘The additional resolution creates images with incredibly accurate colour reproduction that are high in detail and rich in tonality.’ Utilising the GFX100’s 102MP large-format sensor, in-body image-stabilisation mechanism (IBIS) and X Processor 4…

4 Dec 1940 Christmas 2020 may be a little subdued – but things could be worse. ‘The decision to observe Christmas Day this year as a holiday, the only official one of the year, is a wise one,’ wrote Editor FJ Mortimer in his 1940 Christmas leader. ‘It will… provide a welcome mid-week respite that will give an opportunity for such seasonal family gatherings as may be possible under present conditions. Whether the enemy at our gate will take advantage of the opportunity for a special display of frightfulness remains to be seen. But we know that the Christmas spirit is already well in evidence, and in spite of every obstacle the shops are displaying seasonal goods and attracting Christmas buyers almost as in peacetime, restrained no doubt and less…

Better before That was a terrific article on Rosella Vanon and her tips for editing fashion and beauty. I read carefully through her workflows and scrutinised the before and after image sequences, appreciating the subtle but effective changes she explained, all spot-on. Really. At the end of the article, though, I realised that, if I bumped into the model as shown in the final, after, image, I would walk past, muttering, ‘Don’t bother there, my son, it’s just unreal fantasy.’ Yet I would stand transfixed by the model as shown in the first, ‘before’ image, thinking, ‘By ‘eck love, you’re gorgeous, can I take your photo?’ Funny, that. It might explain why I subscribe to AP, and not Vogue. LETTER OF THE WEEK WINS A SAMSUNG EVO PLUS MICROSD CARD.…

1 I spend a great deal of time hanging around waiting for storms to clear, hailstones to stop hitting and rain to ease up. By the time said storm has cleared, the light you wanted may have come and gone so you need to be ready and waiting while it’s still raining, snowing or hailing. You may have the appropriate wet weather gear, but what about the camera? In the past I’ve used a chamois cloth covering the camera and lens, held in place by a bulldog clip and it’s worked well. I’ve now upgraded and have a piece of leather, cut to fit around the camera, with Velcro in each corner. It’s simple, effective and quick to use. Perhaps I should patent it? 2 I have covered many locations…

Half the population of Britain lives within one hour’s drive of the borders of the Peak District National Park, where I live. Tourism has been our area’s biggest employer for decades and is reliant on the persuasive use of photography to attract visitors in order to maintain its economic stability, even during the pandemic. While enjoying being among the hills and dales, visitors indulge in the largest creative pastime in the world – photography. And they nearly always attempt to recreate the images that persuaded them to visit the area in the first place. To do ‘something different’ is rarely a considered option. And I often wonder why. In 2008 the Wordsworth Trust in the Lake District asked me a write an essay for a catalogue to accompany an intriguing…

Party Train by Fox Photos A group having a Christmas party on an LMS (London, Midland and Scottish Railway) train. It’s about this time of year that Christmas party season is in full swing, with festive gatherings up and down the country taking place. This year, of course, is a little different – though it does appear that this social group is adhering to the rule of six (excluding the server), so it’s perhaps not so unfamiliar a sight after all. The Getty Images Hulton Archive is one of the world’s great cultural resources. Tracing its origins to the founding of the London Stereoscopic Company in 1854, today it houses over 80 million images spanning the birth of photography to the digital age. Explore it at www.gettyimages.com.…

THE 2021 Wisden-MCC Cricket Photo of the Year competition is now open for entries. The contest is open to amateurs and pros anywhere in the world, but images must have a cricketing theme and been taken during the 2020 calendar year. The best images will appear as the first three colour photographs in the 2021 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, with the winner receiving £1,000, and the two runners-up £400 each. Last year’s competition was won by Gareth Copley (see his image above), with an image of Ben Stokes just after he hit the winning runs in the Ashes Test at Headingley. Entries, to a maximum of three per person, must be submitted online at bit.ly/ cricketcompetition , and the closing date is 8 January 2021.…

I’m looking forward to a time when we no longer define camera bodies by sensor size. It will be tremendously liberating not to think of your image-making tool as primarily a full-frame, APS-C, Micro Four Thirds or medium-format machine. The latest generation of ultra compact full-frame camera bodies, like the Sony A7C, are an exciting step in this direction. You can opt for full frame when you want maximum resolution and bokeh effects, and don’t mind carrying larger lenses. Yet you can easily switch to an APS-C crop with lighter lenses when you want more depth of field, extra portability and less back strain. Technological progress means the body weight of the full-frame A7C is about the same as an APS-C A6600 so, when you are in crop mode, there’s…

Peter Murrell, London About Peter Peter is a facilities manager in the City of London. Favourite subjects Initially, influenced by my background in civil engineering and building construction, I shot a lot of architecture. Now, however, I exclusively shoot street photography and portraiture. It’s the ‘unexpected’ that does it and keeps me interested. How did you get into photography? I purchased a Nikon D3100 back in 2011, for the sole purpose of getting some decent photos of our trip to Petra in Jordan. However, I had no idea what I was doing and remember at one point saying to myself, ‘I thought this was supposed to be an entry-level camera!’ What do you love about photography? The excitement of not knowing what’s around the corner, and the people you meet…

‘My core kit has always been Nikon and I used a D810 to shoot most of the Landscape images with. However, rather than use zooms I tend to shoot with just a handful of primes: Zeiss Milvus 21mm, 35mm and 50mm. I find that primes make you explore while zooms make you lazy. In the later stages of the project I also found myself using a Leica M10. The compact nature of the camera and its lenses were ideal for long walks without lugging a large kitbag around. As with any location shoot there are numerous non-photographic items and bits of kit you need: good boots, waterproofs, Ordnance Survey maps, head torch and sometimes silly things like a soft foam cushion to sit on. You try sitting around on a…

THERE’S no denying that the Alpha 7C can deliver fine images, thanks to its superb sensor and autofocus system. It’s also clearly smaller than its SLR-shaped peers, especially when paired with its collapsible kit zoom. However this doesn’t necessarily translate to a significant portability advantage. You can’t pick it up and drop it into a pocket; instead it will just fit into a slightly smaller bag. But the problem is that this modest size advantage comes with considerable compromises. The first casualty of Sony’s downsizing is the abysmal viewfinder, which is smaller even than those on entry-level APS-C models that are a fraction of the price. Secondly there’s the horrible control layout, which requires you to continually wave your right thumb around the camera’s back to change settings. You don’t…

AP picture of the week Wasdale Head by Ade Gidney Canon EOS R, RF 70-200mm lens @ 86mm, 1/1600sec at f/5.6 Ade is a former detective living in Cumbria, and it really would be a crime not to make this arresting image our Picture of the Week. ‘I started taking photography seriously when I retired from the police eight years ago,’ he tells us. Ade has been commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year on three occasions and was recently the first person to achieve a Fellowship with the RPS in the new Landscape genre. He expiains: ‘This was taken on a walk up to Sty Head from Wasdale Head in the Lake District, in between rain showers. This was the only spell of light we had in two hours…

Voyager: Photographs from Humanity’s Greatest Journey £45, TeNeues, hardback, 304 pages, ISBN: 978-396171215 If you have a passion for space exploration, this could be the book for you. First launched in 1977, the twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft have significantly expanded our knowledge of space, helped to correct many scientific theses, and on top of that has produced possibly the most iconic photo of Earth ever created – the famous Pale Blue Dot. This opulently designed coffee table book is something to really sink your teeth into, being so much more than just something to flick through – it’s for those with a deep interest in the subject. The collection of photographs – some of which are published for the first time – means you can experience the mission…

Priced out Your re-booted From the Archive series makes an interesting point in terms of the price of old equipment. The price of a simple flash in 1955, for example, equated to £203 in today’s money (based upon your 50:1 inflation ratio) and this has prompted me to wonder about the prices of more high-end equipment compared with today. It appears that the current average salary in the UK is £29,600, which after tax and NI would leave the recipient with about £1,900 per month. After living costs it’s clear that disposable income does not allow the purchase of exotica such as mirrorless cameras for £2,000 and in some cases double that. Are we really being priced out of the quality camera market now, or is it my age playing…

TO COMPLEMENT the A7C’s small body, Sony has produced the compact, retracting FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 kit lens. It measures 67mm in diameter and packs down to just 45mm long, while weighing in at a mere 167g. By full-frame standards, this makes for an unusually portable package, although still it isn’t remotely pocketable. Unfortunately, the lens offers very limited creative potential. Its zoom range, minimum focus and its maximum aperture are all mediocre, especially when you bear in mind that it drops to f/5 just past the 35mm mark. Regardless of whether you want to shoot sweeping landscapes, shallow-depth-of-field portraits, or revealing close-ups, it’s equally unaccomplished at each. It does boast weatherproof construction, but its exposed front element will just get covered in raindrops unless you buy and fit a 40.5mm…

With the same excellent sensor as the A7 III, the A7C delivers raw image quality that’s a match for anything else in its class. It produces files that are free of visible noise up to ISO 1600, with just a little luminance noise creeping in at ISO 3200. However colour and detail both remain strong on increasing the sensitivity further, with even ISO 25,600 being perfectly usable. At higher settings the quality quickly deteriorates, and while ISO 51,200 is usable at a push, I’d steer well clear of the extended ISO 102,400 and ISO 204,800 options.…

● £39.99 ● www.lexar.com Status An LED lights up red when the reader is connected to a computer, blue when a card is mounted, and flashes blue during file transfer. Card slots Separate slots accept CompactFlash, microSD cards and SD cards. All three card types can be used simultaneously. Connector The reader sports a USB-C port, while the supplied cable fits into rectangular USB Type-A ports. If your computer uses USB-C only, you’ll need a different cable or an adapter. Anti-slip A rubberised, triangular grip on the base stops the reader from sliding around on your desk. IF THERE’S one piece of photographic kit that it’s easy to take for granted, it’s the humble card reader. After you’ve been out shooting, you just pop in your memory card and copy…

Olympus Tough TG-6 ● £370 ● www.olympus.co.uk Olympus’s Tough compacts have habitually won our underwater camera group tests, and this latest model is still the best of its type. It’s waterproof to 15m, shockproof against a 2.4m drop, crushproof and freezeproof. The 25-100mm equivalent lens is paired with a 12MP sensor, and viewing is via a 3in LCD. This is also one of the few rugged cameras that can record raw files. Panasonic LX100 II ● £729 ● www.panasonic.com/uk A high-end compact for creative photography, the LX100 II is based around a 24-75mm equivalent f/1.7-2.8 lens and a 17MP Four Thirds sensor that features a true multi aspect-ratio design. It also boasts a full range of traditional analogue control dials, and the corner-mounted viewfinder is complemented by touchscreen LCD. Reviewed…