Innholdsfortegnelse for 2/13/2024 i Amateur Photographer

UK ADVERTISING and documentary photographer Owen Harvey has won the inaugural The Human Element photo competition, organised by Time magazine and the American Society of Media Photographers. Harvey won through with an image of David Fuentes, a trainee matador, who comes from a long line of bull fighters. The picture shows David sitting at a table in his grandfather’s home, surrounded by his grandfather’s artwork. Thousands of photographers worldwide entered the contest, which aims to celebrate the diversity of the human experience while touching on timely themes like climate change, gender identity, loss and love. Prizes included more than $16,000 in cash prizes, and a paid photo assignment for Time.…

Amid all the talk about full-frame digital photography, we seem to have lost track of the fact that 35mm (36x24mm) film used to be called ‘small format,’ and medium format cameras accepted exactly the same film emulsions but with much larger frames. In 2023, a medium format mirrorless camera such as the Fujifilm GFX100 II has a sensor that measures 43.8x32.9mm – that means its sensor is around 1.7x the size of a full-frame sensor, which brings many benefits. As the images from the GFX100 II consist of up to 11648x8736 pixels, they can make prints of just under an impressive 1 metre across (98.62x73.96cm, to be precise) at 300ppi. The camera’s huge pixel count gives plenty of scope for cropping without loss of detail but it’s not just about…

I have in my hands the new and very versatile 150-600mm F5-6.3 and the first upgrade since the OM-1 came out two years ago – the OM-1 Mark II. The lens weighs just over 2.2kg, only 150g more than the 150-400mm, but gives an equivalent reach of 1200mm. The zoom is of the push-pull type and the various buttons can control how smooth this action is along with a useful focus limiter. My concern is not specificaton but performance and for that I need the OM-1 Mark II. There is significant physical difference from the OM-1. I have sometimes found the recessed dials quite hard to use, especially in cold weather with thin gloves. OM has responded to feedback and the dials are now rubberised. This might seem a small…

TestbenchIN THE FIELD If you were growing up in the 1970s, rangefinder cameras from the Soviet Union were a popular route into photography. They were robust, cheap and had impressive optics if you got a good example – but reliability and quality control were very variable. Most of my friends had either a Zorki or a FED at some point, before graduating to a single lens reflex as we started earning more money. The Kiev 4A was less common and only appeared infrequently in the camera shop window. I didn’t own a Kiev at the time – as an impoverished teenager I settled for a FED 3L – but I always wondered about them, so when I saw one for sale for around £40 a few years ago I didn’t…

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 On the whole, each manufacturer uses its own proprietary lens mount. Notable exceptions are Micro Four Thirds, shared by Olympus and Panasonic, and the full-frame L-mount that’s used by Leica, Panasonic and Sigma.…

ENTRIES are now open for the Young Railway Photographer of the Year, organised by the National Railway Museum, with AP as a media partner. The portfolio-based contest is open until 31 January 2025, with categories for 18 and under, and 19-25. The theme is Railway 200, and entrants are being asked to submit a set of images celebrating 200 years of passenger rail travel. Shortlisted entries will be displayed at the National Railway Museum in York and at Locomotion railway museum in Shildon, County Durham, in summer 2025, before the winners are announced at an awards ceremony. For more details, and to enter, see www.youngrailphotographeroftheyear.co.uk…

7 daysA week in photography IT’S BEEN a busy week for competition news, with Wildlife Photographer of the Year announcing the People’s Choice awards for last year’s contest (the 59th). UK photographer Nima Sarikhani was amongst the winners, for a powerful image of a polar bear carving out a bed from a small iceberg before drifting off to sleep in the northern region off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. Nima shot the image with a Canon EOS-1D X Mark III DSLR and 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. Staying with Norway, local photographer Audun Rikardsen also charmed the public with an image of moon jellyfish swarming in the cool autumnal waters of a fjord outside Tromsø, illuminated by the aurora borealis. Another stand-out image was taken by Daniel Dencescu, from Germany/Romania. He managed the rare…

For the first time in its 17-year history, in November 2023 on stage at the Winner Award Ceremony in Sölden, Austria, a female photographer took the grand prize at Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2023 competition, the world’s largest imagery contest that celebrates adventure and action sports. Australian photographer Krystle Wright overwhelmed the 50-strong renowned judging panel with her shot of climber Angela VanWiemeersch illuminated in a crack, deep within Long Canyon, Utah, United States. It also won the Innovation by MPB category. On a warm spring day, as Krystle drove towards Coolum Cave, a regular climbing spot not far from her home in Australia, she had a lightning-bolt moment. ‘I’d been stewing on an idea for a couple of years, honestly, a very loose idea floating around my mind;…

Photography is not just about equipment but then where would we be without the incredible cameras at our disposal? Features such as lightning-quick frame rates, excellent image quality even at sky-high ISO speeds and super-responsive, subject-detect AF grab the headlines, but our cameras are blessed with many features that don’t get the attention they deserve. We’re probably all guilty of not exploiting our kit more fully, so we’re going put that right in this feature. Let’s kick off with the basics and how you carry your camera. If you use the logo-emblazoned strap that came with the camera, now’s the time to ditch it and consider other solutions. For instance, if you enjoy street shooting then a wrist strap or an across-the-body ‘pap’ strap makes sense. Straps that convert from…

Carole Baker, Surrey About Carole In a busy life, Carole enjoys closing herself off from everyday distractions and getting creative with her camera. She shoots a range of subjects, but particularly enjoys making high-key black & white flower photos. See more of her work at www.creativecarole.com. How and why did you get into photography? I signed up for an evening class in 2014 (just one term) to take better pictures. I borrowed an old DSLR for the term, and it completely changed my world. Photography has allowed me to create, pause and capture moments in my life. Favourite subjects Anything and everything! The creation of an image is only finished, for me, with the actual printing. High-key images printed on cotton rag/heritage paper is my favourite combination. What do you…

THE PHOTOGRAPHY and Video Show is returning to the Birmingham NEC from 16-19 March. Now moved to early spring rather than September, this pre-eminent show in the UK photography calendar will feature more than 250 exhibiting brands including top camera, lens and accessory makers, and an impressive line-up of speakers and seminar leaders. Confirmed speakers so far include AP regulars Angela Nicholson, Peter Dench and Denise Maxwell, plus Joe Cornish, Tim Flach, Julieanne Kost from Adobe and other big names. There will be lots of talks and seminars for video makers, professionals and analogue photographers, too. Needless to say, AP will have a stand (K207) at this year’s show, featuring a gallery of AP Awards 2024 winners and iconic images from veteran music photographer Jill Furmanovsky. Visiting our stand is…

ACCORDING to the latest data from the CIPA industry body in Japan, shipments of interchangeable-lens cameras reached a peak of 667,747 last September, a big increase from the same month in 2022 and 2021. After crunching latest numbers from CIPA, used retailer MPB is predicting that the retail market will exceed its 2012 peak by next year. Canon’s Imaging Division also announced that sales have risen by 7.2% year on year. See bit.ly/cipalatest…

Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sport, £814 with part exchange Kevin Henderson, Derbyshire I already had an 80-400mm, but found it a bit slow and lacking in reach, so wanted a lens for extra reach at motor sports events as a spectator. I also had a trip to Skomer Island planned, and had read good things about this lens for wildlife photography, a genre I wanted to get more involved in. I am super-impressed with how good the AF is for such a large lens. Although I focused manually for the image here, the lens has no problems keeping up with fast-moving objects, whether when panning or having cars approaching head on. This paid off as it delivered some good-quality shots of puffins on a wobbly boat trip…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Leica lotta loot I read your article on the Leica M11 by Jeremy Walker, with great interest and a slight touch of bewilderment. My understanding of ‘amateur’ as in the title of the magazine seemed clear – a lack of professional skill. However, your piece challenges this assumption. The Leica M11, an epitome of photographic excellence, undoubtedly captivates the imagination. Despite my 45 years of capturing moments through my lens, the prospect of owning such a camera remains a dream due to financial constraints. I can’t help but wonder if a significant portion of your readership shares this predicament. The allure of the M11 is undeniable, yet the financial chasm feels insurmountable. As you cater to a diverse audience, perhaps future articles could explore options for…

TechniqueGET THE BEST PRICE FOR USED GEAR The market for second-hand cameras continues to grow steadily and it’s not hard to understand why. The past few years have seen a cost of living crisis and as photographers, our spending power is being squeezed as never before. Another factor is the quality of cameras and lenses released over the past decade: few genuinely ‘bad’ cameras have been released in the past few years. Let’s start at the beginning. Many specialist retailers will give you an initial free quote before you send in the gear for inspection. While it can be tempting to describe the condition as better than it actually is, in the hope that they’ll be too busy to check and will just cough up, the reality is that you’ll…

GURUSHOTSADVERTISING FEATURE GURUSHOTS, the organisers of the world’s greatest photography games and communities, recently challenged its users to send in their best images on the theme of Photogenic. Amateur Photographeris partnering with GuruShots and we are now pleased to publish the 18 highest ranked photographs by those who entered. Also, remember that you can view all the images that made it into the Top 500 at amateurphotographer.com For more inspiring challenges to improve your photo skills and keep motivated, see gurushots.com…

LENS TESTTestbench One of the attractions of mirrorless systems has always been the promise of smaller and lighter cameras and lenses, especially wideangles. The Viltrox AF 20mm F2.8 FE is, perhaps, a case in point. It’s a remarkably small wideangle prime for Sony E-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras, that measures less than 6cm long and weighs a mere 157g. It’s also astonishingly cheap – it can be bought from the firm’s online store for around £125, including free shipping. To put this bargain-basement price into context, we only have to look at the competition. The closest alternative is the Tamron 20mm F/2.8 Di III OSD Macro, which focuses closer but is rather larger, and costs £299. There’s also the Samyang AF 18mm F2.8 FE, which is similar in size and weight…