Innholdsfortegnelse for 9/19/2023 i Amateur Photographer

It’s easy to convert any digital photo to B&W at the click of a button, but the best photos are previsualised and shot with mono in mind. The outstanding photographers featured in this week’s guide to B&W have all inspired me to put more effort into thinking about colour, or the lack therof, when I’m out with my camera. It has been a busy week for new camera launches and this week we have not one but two new models – at opposite ends of the sensor size range. Both the Panasonic Lumix G9II and Fujifilm GFX100 II are updates of previous models. You’ll find video previews of both of them on our relaunched YouTube channel at youtube.com/amateurphotographerTV. Do check it out! Our cover image this week is by Paul…

Paul Reid Paul has been a professional photographer for over 25 years. His monochrome photography has gained him a large following both on YouTube and Instagram. He shoots film and uses the Leica Q2 Monochrom. Visit www.paulreidphotography.com Create a mood Monochrome creates a mood that can take on a life of its own; colour isn’t the only way to give a movie feel to images. Monochrome can be cinematic too, so look at black & white movies for inspiration and tell stories. Try to get a definite black and white in your images – and make use of editing software to enhance these areas using masks. Shoot in bright conditions Overcast days produce flat light and it’s much trickier to shoot a great monochrome image. The environment can look grey…

Martin Steele has been a photographer for 13 years and lives in Longtown, Cumbria. To view more of his work and find out more about his workshops visit www.martinsteele.net He can be followed on Instagram @martin_ steele_photography AP: Tell us a little about your photography background. MS: Photography for me started back in 2010. I’ve always loved the outdoors and generally spending time in the countryside, and back then I loved my fast cars too, so I initially picked up a camera, a Canon EOS 450D, to take photographs of where I’d driven to as well as the car. This soon developed into taking road trips to take photos of places rather than the other way around and I suddenly found myself deeper into the hobby than I ever expected.…

Photo Critique For those who know me and my photography passions, they will know how that passion is often directed to the work of this amazing woman, Markéta Luskacová. Considered one of the best Czech social photographers to date, since the 1960s she has focused her work on photographing in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, Ireland, and Poland. So many of her series of images are breathtaking in their skill, their vision, and their soul. Her pictures are without doubt some of the most beautiful, despite often capturing the harsh poverty and social inequalities of the times and areas she has worked. Often, her pictures show deep empathy and connection to the moment, while retaining that distance that makes her able to communicate with objectivity. Ireland’s traditions The picture…

ANDY WESTLAKE Technical Editor Our reviews maestro takes a first look at the new Panasonic Lumix G9II HOLLIE LATHAM HUCKER Technique Editor To help you improve your B&W shots, Hollie gets tips from pros NIGEL ATHERTON Editor Billingham is 50! Nigel talks to the founders of the iconic camera bag company JO BRADFORD A new book by smartphone photo expert Jo takes a compelling new direction. She talks to AP’s Geoff Harris AMY DAVIES Features Editor Amy tests the 24mm f/1.7, a compact prime for DX-format Nikon Z cameras MICHAEL TOPHAM Our former reviews editor looks at the Nikon Z 6 and gathers insights from devotees…

Kodak has upgraded the Kodak Ektar H35 half-frame film camera – now called the H35N. The latest version features a built-in star filter to create four-beam flares as well as a bulb shutter and a tripod hole for long exposures. It also comes with a new lens with glass elements, which is claimed to produce sharper photos with more detail. The camera goes on sale at the end of September for £60 in a choice of natty liveries – see retopro.co/collections/all.…

In more competition news, the winners of the 2023 Minimalist Photography Awards have been announced. More than 3,000 images from 32 countries were submitted to the contest, now in its fifth year, with 12 categories including landscape, fine art, architecture, street, aerial, abstract and portrait. The overall winner is British photographer Martin Annand, who also came first in the long-exposure category with his collection of photographs, Ashored. ‘The Minimalist Photography Awards stand as a collective of artists who craft quiet narratives by stripping away distractions, allowing visual stories to emerge from the interplay of light, shadow, and subject,’ explained the founder, Milad Safabakhsh. For the full list of winners, see minimalistphotographyawards.com.…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Favourite early digicams Joshua Waller’s article about “vintage” digital cameras chimed with me, for I have been collecting these devices for some years. I got the bug after first buying an early Fuji FinePix digital compact in a charity shop for £4, and it has gone on from there. I would like to add a couple of my favourites to Joshua’s list – the first is the Fuji FinePix S9500 bridge camera from 2005. Featuring a 9MP sensor, a 28-300mm-equivalent zoom lens with a manual zoom ring, which makes accurate framing very easy, a remarkably clear EVF and a tilting rear LCD screen, it’s a joy to use. A further feature is, wait for it, dual memory card slots. The camera can use either xD cards,…

● £260.95 ● www.lowepro.com Lowepro has introduced the PhotoSport X 35 and 45 for photographers who want a backpack suitable for mountaineering and other challenging activities. I’ve been testing the 35, which has external dimensions of 31x24x54cm and internal dimensions of 30x22x52cm. That means it has a fairly narrow profile and it shouldn’t get stuck if you’re squeezing through a narrow gap. The backpack is compatible with Lowepro’s large and extra-large GearUP Pro Camera Box, which are used to hold your camera gear. These are sold separately, but the bag is supplied with four straps to hold one of them in place inside. This ensures your kit is protected nicely, but it means undoing two zips to reach it. There’s a snap-close flap at the top of the bag, which,…

Fujifilm has revealed a premium standard prime to accompany the GFX100 II, the GF 55mm F1.7 R WR. Equivalent to a 44mm f/1.4 lens on full-frame, it promises images with natural-looking perspective, and good separation of the subject from an out-of-focus background. It also includes an aperture ring and weather resistant construction. Optically the lens employs 14 elements in 10 groups, including 2 aspherical and 2 ED glass elements. It measures 94.7mm in diameter, 99.3mm in length and weighs 780g. The minimum focus distance is 50cm and the filter thread is 77mm. It’s due this month for £2,499.…

The Lexar Professional Silver Pro UHS-II SD card, aimed at photographers and videographers looking to shoot in Full HD and 4K video without long transfer times, is now on sale for a competitive £49.29 on Amazon. The Lexar Professional Silver Pro SD card has V60 rating, capacities of up to 512GB, as well as write speeds of up to 160MB/s and 270MB/s read speeds. In an Amazon exclusive, you can buy the 128GB version for £49.29, while the full-fat 512GB iteration will set you back £129.99.…

The Apple iPhone 15 was launched on 12 September – too late for this issue’s print deadline, but see our website for full details. The Chinese government has already rained on Apple’s parade, however, by extending its ban on iPhone usage to employees of local government and state-owned companies (source: Nikkei). The news spooked investors, causing Apple’s stock market value to fall – the big worry is that the ban will be extended to all Chinese consumers.…

7 days A week in photography AP picture of the week Papaver Somniferum No. 5, Oxfordshire by Damian Ward Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 Pro, 1/3200sec at f/2.8, ISO 64 ‘It has been a while since I last saw a field of opium poppies growing locally to me. I believe farmers grow these poppies to supply the NHS with morphine, so these fields tend to be tucked away in secluded places. I opted to use a telephoto lens and concentrate on a small group of the flowers and seed heads. I used a large aperture to reduce the depth of field and accentuate the focus on the flower.’ damianwardphotography.co.uk Twitter: @DamianWardPhoto #appicoftheweek Win! The AP Pic of the Week winner currently wins a…

Reader Portfolio winners receive a one-year subscription to a Gold Portfolio Series website worth £300. UK domain name included. Amazing Internet designs, builds and hosts amazing websites for creative people and companies. It has specialised in creating websites for photographers since 1999 and has services to suit all budgets. Whether you need a simple template-based site for £60 per year or a fully bespoke site, they’ve got you covered. www.amazinginternet.com Jo Whiting, Shoreham-by-Sea About Jo See more of Jo’s work at Instagram.com/jowhiting62 How did you get into photography? I had an old Russian Zenit years ago. Over the years I’ve upgraded my kit so I could take better pictures. After retiring and during the pandemic, I finally had time to really concentrate on my photography. What do you love about…

LAUNCHED 1938 PRICE AT LAUNCH £30 7s 6d (£30.37½p) GUIDE PRICE NOW £80-150 Following World War I, the German economy was in a bad state. One way companies found to survive was by combining their resources with other previous rivals. Zeiss at that time was primarily a lens maker. In 1926 it orchestrated the coming together of four camera companies – Ernemann, Contessa-Nettel, Goerz and Ica. Thus Zeiss Ikon was born. At first the new firm rebadged cameras made by its constituent companies, but within a very short time it was making its own. The Super Ikonta cameras are up there with the best of these. Super Ikontas were made for 127 and 120 size roll films. The 120 cameras offered three formats: 6x9cm, 6x6cm and 6x4.5cm. The 532/16 shoots…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH Olympus Tough TG-6 ● £399 ● explore.omsystem.com 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. Reviewed Dec 2022 Ricoh GR III ● £949 ● ricohgr.eu/en-gb A favourite of street photographers, the GR III combines a 24MP APS-C sensor and a sharp 28mm equivalent f/2.8 lens in a slim, pocketable body. It offers sensitivities up to ISO 102,400 and 4fps shooting, while in-body image stabilisation helps keeps image sharp. Viewing is…