Innholdsfortegnelse for 3/7/2023 i Amateur Photographer

7 daysA week in photography THE DAVID Bowie archive, including over 70,000 images, negatives and contact sheets, has been acquired by the V&A Museum. Featured photographers include some of the biggest names of the last century, including Terry O’Neill, Brian Duffy and Helmut Newton. The archive also includes a photo collage of film stills from The Man Who Fell to Earth (1975-76). The archive will be viewable from 2025 at The David Bowie Centre for the Study of Performing Arts at V&A East Storehouse, in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.…

Technique JOIN A PHOTO COMMUNITY Regardless of your experience and level as a photographer, there is always room for growth and learning new skills to aid your photography. Showcasing your work on social media is one step towards engaging with others. But it doesn’t stop there; joining a photography community is a fantastic option for meeting other like-minded photographers, obtaining feedback on your images and exposing your work as well as gaining inspiration from others. Different types of communities There are a number of different types of photography communities to get involved with. These can be online, in-person or a combination of the two. Plus, there’s no limit to how many you can join! Community groups Community groups such as UK Shooters, UKBFTOG, SheClicks, Grain Gurls, Urban Photographers Club…

Our Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023 goes to the founders of a company born in 1973, when newly married young couple Ros and Martin Billingham started a business making fishing bags to help make ends meet. Working alongside their full-time jobs, they worked in their spare bedroom, cutting up canvas and leather pieces by hand, and stitching them using a sewing machine to which Martin applied a foam base to dampen the vibrations to stop their neighbours complaining. From fishing bags to f stops By 1977 Billingham had enough orders to rent a 500 sq ft unit. One day, they became intrigued by a repeat customer based in the US, from whom they found out that their waterproof fishing bags were being used as camera bags by photographers in New…

Tens of thousands of people are members of camera clubs, paying their dues, turning up on a wet Tuesday night for talks, competition and camaraderie. During Covid, clubs embraced new technology and now many of them provide a mix of live and virtual meetings. A new award for 2023, it is linked to the Camera Clubs section of our Amateur Photographer of the Year competition, which we created two years ago. The same club has won it for two years in a row. Founded in 1976, it started out with a membership of just 12. Now averaging three times that from a catchment area that covers north Cornwall and west Devon, we’re betting that Launceston Camera Club is planning to make it a hat-trick in APOY 2023 – other camera…

● £560 ● www.billingham.co.uk Billingham is famed for its top-quality, British-made camera bags. Its Eventer MKII is a beautiful, luxurious large shoulder bag that oozes classic understated style. It’ll hold a camera body with four or five lenses, along with a laptop up to 30cm wide (13in or 14in screen size). The generously padded camera insert is removable, which allows it to do double-duty as a travel bag. Two large front pockets provide plenty of space for accessories such as flashguns and filters. Like all Billingham bags, the Eventer MKII is beautifully made from top-quality materials, which means it will last for decades. The firm’s signature three-layer canvas employs a cotton or nylon outer fabric and a soft liner, with a middle layer of ‘Stormblock’ butyl rubber making the bag…

● £439 ● www.rotolight.com This year, our Innovation award goes not to clever new camera technology or a first-of-its-kind lens, but instead to a unique lighting accessory. We’ve been continually impressed by the way Rotolight has led the industry with its sophisticated LED lights, and in 2022, it again showed off its technological prowess by producing a revolutionary variable softbox for its AEOS 2 light. This unique device allows the degree of diffusion to be electronically adjusted across a 1.5-stop range using Rotolight’s smartphone app. As a result, users can vary the focus and spread of light, while judging the effect in real time from the shooting position. It’s both clever and useful, and there’s nothing else quite like it on the market. Crucially, this innovation doesn’t come in a…

● £749 ● www.sigma-imaging-uk.com While the latest full-frame mirrorless cameras come with significant technological advantages, the downside is that the lenses for them are often larger and much more expensive than their older DSLR equivalents. However, this large-aperture ultrawideangle zoom bucks the trend, providing high-quality optics in a relatively compact design. It’s available for L-mount and Sony E-mount cameras. By limiting the focal length at the long end, Sigma has managed to make a zoom that starts at an ultra-wide 16mm and offers a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture, yet measures just over 10cm long and weighs 450g. In fact, it’s lighter than most 16-35mm f/4 zooms, despite gathering a stop more light. What’s more, it’s more affordable than its direct competitors. Images are sharp and detailed across the frame, even…

● £1199 body only ● www.olympus.co.uk The second new camera from OM Digital Solutions – the company formed after Olympus sold its imaging division – is a replacement for the OM-D E-M5 Mark III from 2019. Superficially it looks very similar, offering enthusiast-focused features and handling in a compact body. However, it includes several updates that make it an even more appealing camera. Weather-sealing has been improved to meet the IP53 standard, meaning it’s protected against dust and rain. This is supported by a good range of similarly sealed Pro-series lenses, including the compact yet top-quality 12-45mm F4 standard zoom. The in-body image stabilisation is now rated for an impressive 6.5 stops of shake suppression. Thanks to its TruePix IX processor inherited from the E-M1 Mark III, the OM-5 gains…

DSLR Lenses Interchangeable lenses come in a huge array of types for shooting different kinds of subjects IN GENERAL, the easiest way to expand the kinds of pictures you can take is by buying different types of lenses. For example, telephoto lenses let you zoom in on distant subjects, while macro lenses enable close-ups of small objects. Large-aperture lenses allow you to isolate subjects against blurred backgrounds, or shoot in low light without having to raise the ISO too high. Meanwhile, all-in-one superzooms cover a wide range of subjects, but usually with rather lower optical quality. Lens mounts Each manufacturer has its own lens mount and most aren’t compatible with one another. For example, a Canon DSLR can’t use Nikon lenses, although you can use independent brands if you get…

SIGMA has announced that it will start producing lenses for the Nikon Z mount, starting with its three existing F1.4 DC DN primes. These are APS-C lenses, designed for use with the Nikon Z30, Z50 and Zfc mirrorless models. The lenses are the 16mm F1.4 DC DN, the 30mm F1.4 DC DN and the 56mm F1.4 DC DN. These lenses are already available for Sony E-mount, Canon EF-M, Fujifilm X , Micro Four Thirds and L mounts. ‘They are designed as crop-sensor lenses, but can also be used on full-frame Z-mount bodies in crop mode,’ Sigma explained. The lenses have specially developed control algorithms for Z Mount, including AF drive and communication speed optimisation. ‘In addition to realising high-speed AF, the lenses also support AF-C (Continuous AF) and in-camera aberration…

DXO has released 492 new Optics Modules for a selection of Sigma and Leica lenses, and the new Pentax KF DSLR. ‘They offer a wealth of individually tailored, laboratory-grade corrections, and they’re available across DxO’s full software stable – PhotoLab, PureRAW, FilmPack, ViewPoint, and Nik Perspective Efex,’ said the company. See the full list of supported cameras at www.dxo.com/supported-cameras.…

David Southern David Southern finds rich pickings for photography both close to home and in the remotest corners of the planet, and he is never happier than when battling the elements in pursuit of a picture. David has worked for the World Wildlife Fund for many years, recording its conservation projects in Colombia, Malaysia and South Africa. He works full-time as a photographer, leading 1-to-1 and small group workshops, writing and mentoring. Visit www.southern photography.co.uk When David Southern was growing up there was no camera in the house, so he would go around snapping his fingers and making mental images. His destiny was clear from the start, but it took an astronomy course at university to really seal the deal. ‘I didn’t have a camera until I went to university,…

Photography can be a solitary, contemplative escape from the world. But it can also be a vehicle to connect with it. To meet with other photographers, collaborate, and support each other. The internet has enabled the creation of thousands of online communities, based upon shared common interests and experiences, with geography no barrier to membership. They communicate through social platforms but also get together in person. Our new Community of the Year award was voted for by the public and we had a huge response. The winning community was founded in 2018, but has already amassed a membership of nearly 12,000 people. Or, to be more specific, 12,000 women. You may have already seen the eight-page feature on SheClicks earlier in the magazine on page 22, where founder Angela Nicholson…

● £2779 body only ● www.canon.co.uk Canon’s original EOS R6 won our coveted Product of the Year award in 2021, so we were very excited when its replacement arrived at the end of 2022. It seems our readers were, too, as the EOS R6 Mark II won our Readers’ Choice Camera of the Year by a clear margin. It pipped the Sony Alpha A7R V and Fujifilm X-T5 into second and third place, respectively. Much like its predecessor, the EOS R6 Mark II boasts an impressive spec sheet while offering excellent handling in a reasonably compact body. Its new 24MP sensor features Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS AF II technology, which enables phase detection autofocus anywhere in the frame in light levels as low as -6.5EV. It offers a standard sensitivity…

● £649 ● www.sony.co.uk Designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras, this large-aperture wideangle prime is available for L-mount and Sony E-mount cameras. As part of Sigma’s I-series line-up, its boasts an all-metal barrel made from precision-cut aluminium, with weather-sealing for greater durability. Yet it’s still relatively compact and light in weight. Operationally, the lens benefits from a dedicated aperture ring with distinct clicks at one-third stop intervals, along with a physical AF/MF switch. The aperture ring is perfectly placed in the centre of the barrel for easy operation by your left thumb and forefinger. This tactile design makes the lens a pleasure to shoot with, in a way that’s often missing from modern autofocus optics. Image quality is excellent, with a fabulous level of sharpness across the frame. Both flare and…

● £2099 ● www.sony.co.uk When Sony first started making premium lenses for its full-frame mirrorless cameras, a common concern was they were too large and heavy. As a result, they often felt unbalanced on the firm’s small camera bodies. In response, Sony has now started to release second-generation optics that combine improved optics and updated functionality with substantially reduced bulk. Its latest standard zoom exemplifies this approach, being almost 16mm shorter and 200g lighter than its predecessor, while boasting sensational optics and gaining additional controls. This is, in fact, the smallest and lightest 24-70mm f/2.8 available for any full-frame mirrorless system, at 696g and less than 12cm long. Yet in terms of sharpness, the lens is nothing short of outstanding, being entirely usable at maximum aperture and all focal lengths.…

● £1349 body only ● www.canon.co.uk Aimed squarely at enthusiast photographers, this is one of the most ambitious APS-C mirrorless cameras yet made. It combines a 32.5MP sensor, ISO 100-51,200 sensitivity range, continuous shooting at up to 30 frames per second, in-body image stabilisation, and 4K 60p video recording. As one of Canon’s first two APS-C RF-mount mirrorless cameras, it’s a real statement of intent, out-specifying all of the firm’s APS-C DSLRs, plus its older EOS M-series mirrorless models. Impressively, the camera also gains Canon’s subject-detection autofocus system from the flagship EOS R3. This is capable of recognising humans (eyes, faces, heads, and bodies), animals, and motor vehicles, and then tracking focus on them as they move around the frame. It works really well. Canon has squeezed this rich feature…

● £1999 body only ● www.panasonic.com/uk Panasonic’s GH line has always been all about exploiting the possibilities of Micro Four Thirds to provide high-end video features in a relatively compact, affordable form factor. Based around a brand-new 25MP sensor – the highest resolution yet offered in this format – the GH6 goes out of its way to offer serious videographers almost every feature they might need. It’s capable of shooting anything from 5.7K at 60fps through to Full HD at 300fps, and can also record in Apple ProRes format, in camera, at 5.7K and 30fps. There’s a full-size HDMI port, headphone and microphone sockets, and the flash sync doubles up as a timecode in/out. An integrated fan helps enable recording times limited only by your power supply and storage space,…

Write to the Editor at ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk and include your full postal address. Please don’t send letters in the post as there is no one in the office to receive them. Replies are from the Editor unless otherwise stated LETTER OF THE WEEK Go ask Alys I loved Alys Tomlinson’s amazing set of mythical and slightly strange photos of Sardinian and Sicilian people and the accompanying interview with Tim Clinch (AP 10 January). Also of great interest was Alys’ comments about projects. The advice to make projects achievable and close to home is eminently sensible. Alys also suggested that if you live by the sea you might want to consider photographing the dog-walking community. This in particular resonated with me because this is precisely what I did for a couple of…

Testbench LENS TEST There are now three proprietary macro lenses available for Fujifilm’s X mount. The latest of these three, the 30mm F2.8, was announced at the end of 2022, and is designed to work not only as a traditional macro lens, but as a more versatile standard lens for everyday usage. Giving an equivalent focal length of 46mm, it’s close to a ‘nifty fifty’, making it well suited to a range of different subjects including street photography, portraits, pets, and of course close-up subjects thanks to its close-focusing ability and 1:1 magnification ratio. As well as that, the lens is also very small and compact, making it something you might want to slip discreetly into a camera bag or even a pocket as an addition to any…

7 daysA week in photography THE SOCIETIES has announced the Canon EOS R50 and the R8 will be seen in the UK for the first time at its London Photo Trade Show, taking place from 16-18 March at the Novotel London West. ‘Canon has also arranged a series of talks on the Live Stage, covering fashion photography and visual storytelling, which will be inspirational to our attendees,’ noted Colin Jones, CEO of The Societies of Photographers. For more information see https://thesocieties.net/convention.…

7 daysA week in photography £20, Hoxton Mini Press, 224 pages, hardback, ISBN: 9781914314353 Featuring the work of more than 23 contemporary photographers, the aim of this moving anthology is to capture what it is to love and be loved in the modern world. Whether exploring first love, lost love, parental love, friendship love or other forms of the emotion altogether, these intimate and compelling portraits come together to form a fantastic collection that gel extremely well. Some of the brightest names in contemporary photography are included, such as Roland Schmid, Paddy Summerfield, Sophie Harris-Taylor, Jess T Duggan, and Deanna Dikeman. It’s a beautiful book which adds to our perceptions of love, with representations across many divides, celebrating connections between all genders, between friends, siblings, parents, children and communities. Perhaps…

Launched in 2018, the SheClicks group has gone from strength to strength. Many of you may have seen the collective’s latest exhibition at The Photography Show back in September, with the group also having its own stand at the show for the second year running. You’ll also very likely be familiar with its founder, Angela Nicholson. Former technical editor of this very magazine, you’ll still regularly see her reviews and technical articles gracing our pages. I first met Angela when I was working at a different photography publication, and we would later go on to become direct colleagues and firm friends in an industry which was very much dominated by men at the time. When I learned that she was going to set up a group for female photographers it…

Tom Oldham is best known for his superb celebrity portraits from the worlds of music, film and sports, as well as his multi-award winning documentary projects. However, we are honouring him in this year’s award for his Creative Corners project, which began when he did a talk at a school in Dorset. Tom learned to his horror that the school had a budget of just £1.85 per student per year for art supplies. When he got home he emptied his shelves of the books that were just sat there, then asked on social media if anyone else wanted to chuck in some books. He got over 500 books. Word spread and the books poured in. Tom was frequently making trips to King’s Cross to meet people off the train with…

This award was created in memory of our former news editor, Chris Cheesman, who died in 2016. It is given to someone who has dedicated themself to the industry that Chris reported on for AP for 17 years. For the first time, this year’s is a shared award and goes to a married couple, Jason and Abby Mitchell, who have decided to take early retirement after spending their working lives in the photo trade. As the daughter of the founder of the UK’s leading photographic wholesale distributor, Swains International, it was perhaps inevitable that Abby would join the family business. She started out in the sales office, learning the trade and eventually becoming Director of Sales. Jason’s retail career started at Photomarkets in Edmonton. He went on to work at…

● £372 ● www.adaptalux.com Adaptalux Studio is a compact and adaptable modular lighting system for close-up photography. It employs small LEDs on flexible mounting arms which are well-scaled to macro subjects. These plug into, and are powered by, the USB-C rechargeable Control Pod which gives up to 12 hours of light from a full charge. Five lighting arms can be fixed to the control pod via patented magnetic connectors, with their output controlled from a smartphone via the Adaptalux Studio app. Lights are available in five different colours, and their beam angle can be controlled by adjusting a sleeve surrounding the LED. A variety of push-on diffusers and colour filters provide additional creativity and lighting control. Various kits are available, with Combo packs including four arms, three diffusers, and two…

● £2599 ● www.nikon.co.uk Nikon has recently spent a lot of time building up an arsenal of telephoto lenses to complement its flagship Z 9 full-frame mirrorless camera, with pro-spec 400mm f/2.8, 600mm f/4 and 800mm f/6.3 primes all appearing in quick succession. But while these super-expensive optics certainly have their place, we were wowed by the firm’s 100-400mm zoom, which combines a versatile focal length range with lightning-fast autofocus and superb glass. Key features include fully weather-sealed construction and optical stabilisation promising up to 5.5 stops of shake correction. There’s a full suite of controls, including two pairs of customisable function buttons and a dial for changing exposure settings. A small display on top of the barrel shows focus distance, aperture or focal length. Overall, the lens puts in…

● £639-£859 ● www.dji.com/uk While drones bring huge new creative opportunities for photographers and videographers, many are put off by the regulations surrounding their (legal) use, and uncertainty over how these might look in future. The big attraction of the DJI Mini 3 Pro is that it sidesteps all this, with its light weight meaning that you only need to get a Flyer ID and Operator ID from the CAA to fly it in the UK. Then you can use it practically anywhere, aside from restricted zones such as airports. The camera combines a 24mm equivalent f/1.7 lens with a 48MP 2/3in-type Quad Bayer sensor, which brings a significant step up in image quality over its predecessor. It can output 48MP or 12MP stills, or 4K video up to 60fps,…

● £3999 body only ● www.sony.co.uk Sony’s high-resolution A7R-series cameras have become a firm favourite among professional and serious amateur photographers shooting subjects for which detail capture is paramount, such as portraits and landscapes. This fifth-generation model employs the same superb 61MP sensor as its predecessor, but almost every other aspect of its design has been improved. At £3999 body only, it’s very expensive, but it turns out that you get what you pay for. Core photographic specs include a standard sensitivity range of ISO 100-32,000; up to 10fps shooting with continuous AF; 693-point phase detection autofocus; and in-body image stabilisation rated for up to 8 stops of shake reduction. One really handy feature, given the sensor’s huge pixel count, is the ability to record raw files at 26MP or…

● £38 ● www.peakdesign.com PEAK DESIGN is known for making a variety of camera and travel accessories, often with innovative designs. The Leash is the slimmest, lightest and most affordable of its three camera straps, being well suited to small DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. For photographers in need of something more substantial, the firm’s Slide and Slide Lite use a broadly similar design. To fit the Leash onto your camera, you first need to install a couple of anchor connectors. Made of Dyneema cord, each is rated to support 90kg, which sounds like it should be enough. I suspect most people will sensibly attach these anchors to their camera’s strap lugs, but if you’re a fan of carrying your camera by its tripod socket, an adapter for this purpose is…