Innholdsfortegnelse for 4/16/24 i Amateur Photographer

One thing we are not short of in the UK is water, as it’s been raining at almost biblical levels recently. The stuff is everywhere, so what better time to reveal the great images to have made the cut in the Close-up Photographer of the Year water challenge. If you are pining for drier, warmer climes (and who can blame you), don’t miss Mikko Takkunen’s fascinating work from Hong Kong. Meanwhile, classic rock fans will be glued to the saga of how the album cover shots for Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. were taken, and anyone in need of some ‘instant’ gratification should check out the test of the Instax Mini Evo. Those in the market for a high-resolution camera will save money this issue too, as we reveal why…

THE 3,200MP Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera has been completed with funding from the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science. This makes it the highest-resolution astro camera to date. The camera weighs 3 tonnes and can capture an area seven times wider than a full moon. In a more down-to-earth comparison, its optics and sensor can capture a golf ball from 15 miles away. The camera has three huge lenses, with the biggest over 5ft tall, with bespoke filters enabling scientists to analyse near-infrared, ultraviolet, and visible light. These lenses will open for 15 seconds to take each photo, and the camera will switch to the next image five seconds later. It’s hoped the LSST will help scientists get a better understanding of dark matter and…

POLAROID has announced the Go Generation 2, which it describes as the ‘world’s smallest instant camera.’ Along with a smaller body than the already tiny Polaroid Go, the camera features a larger f/9 and f/42 aperture (instead of f/12 to f/56), a higher maximum shutter speed of up to 1/300sec and a more ‘precise’ light sensor for brighter images. The Go Generation 2 also has a built-in selfie mirror, self-timer and double exposure modes, and is compatible with Polaroid Go film. Available now, it costs £79.99 (camera-only), with various bundles also available.…

INTERVIEW Great love affairs don’t always start well, as was the case when Finnish-born photographer Mikko Takkunen landed for the first time in Hong Kong. ‘I got food poisoning and spent my first night sweating in bed,’ Mikko says. ‘I was disoriented from the 16-hour flight from New York. I couldn’t sleep. It was raining for the whole of the first month. I’d never been to Asia, and I thought I’d made the biggest mistake of my life.’ Mikko had flown to Hong Kong to start a job as a photo editor on the Asia desk of The New York Times, a demanding job covering more than 25 countries, including China and India. He found the city overwhelming. ‘I’d lived in London and New York, big cities, but Hong Kong’s…

● £99.95 ● pgytech.com If you shoot a lot of high-resolution stills or video, you’ll probably get through memory card space very quickly. And if you’re in the middle of a shoot when a card fills up, you can’t afford to be scrabbling around in your bag trying to find a clean one. Equally, when it comes to editing your files, you won’t want to wait for ages while they copy across to your computer. If those sound like familiar problems, this unique device might be the solution. PGYTech’s CreateMate combines a storage case for multiple memory cards with a high-speed reader, in a single ruggedised package. The idea is you can clip it somewhere accessible when you’re shooting, allowing you to switch cards quickly. Thanks to the IP54-rated dust-…

Catherine Régnier Trained as a nutritional engineer, Catherine Régnier followed an atypical path that led her to photography in 2022. Almost all her photographs are taken in her village in Normandy and highlight the often-overlooked beauty of nature at our feet. See more at catherineregnier19.wixsite.com/psychoetphotos/blog Mayflies belong to the Ephemeroptera family, which comes from the Greek word ‘ephêmeros’ meaning ‘the time of day’ and ‘ptera’ meaning ‘with wings.’ Ephemeroptera owe their name to the life span of their imago (adult form), which may not exceed a few hours. Note that this is the only species that has a sub-imago (pre-adult) stage to the winged stage, with dull wings and dull body colours, while the imago has shiny, transparent wings and a shimmering body. Of the 2,500 species of Ephemeroptera already…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH OM System Tough TG-7 ● £499 ● explore.omsystem.com This latest model in a long line of class-leading rugged cameras is waterproof to 15m, shockproof against a 2.1m drop, crushproof and freezeproof. The 25-100mm equivalent lens is paired with a 12MP sensor, with in-body stabilisation to combat shake. Viewing is via a 3in LCD. The TG-7 is also one of the few cameras of its type that can record raw files. Reviewed 2 Apr 2024 Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark III ● £1,140 ● www.canon.co.uk This unique zoom compact offers excellent image quality by employing the same 24.2MP APS-C sensor as several of Canon’s DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, along with a 24-72mm equivalent lens. A central viewfinder, fully articulated touchscreen and comprehensive external controls round off a superb…

TRACY CALDER CUPOTY co-founder Tracy brings us tips from the winners of the latest CUPOTY CHALLENGE GRAEME GREEN Top photographer and author Graeme interviews Mikko Takkunen about his new book on Hong Kong STEVE FAIRCLOUGH Steve shares the story behind the Born in the U.S.A album cover, shot by Annie Leibovitz MICHAEL TOPHAM AP’s former reviews editor reassesses the Sony A7R III full-frame mirrorless camera ISABELLA RUFFATTI Online Writer Isabella tests the Mini Evo digital camera that gives instant prints DAMIEN DEMOLDER Former AP editor Damien tests the Colbor CL220R, a useful, low-cost lighting head…

7 daysA week in photography It’s only spring but this year has been dominated by the excitement around one camera – the Fujifilm XI00VI, a premium compact with retro/classic styling. Describing it in this way, the camera sounds unremarkable, as other makers, notably Olympus/OM Systems, have been bringing retro-styled models to market for years. What’s ignited the firestorm of excitement though is the fuss made about its predecessor, the X100V. It already had admirers, but it effectively sat there for a couple of years before it started to get bigged-up by TikTok and Instagram influencers, intoxicated by its cool looks and convincing film simulations. Covid also contributed, as supply chain factors meant the camera became very hard to get. Fujifilm is now busting a gut to keep up with demand…

LAUNCHED 1939 PRICE AT LAUNCH approximately £10 GUIDE PRICE NOW £20-30 Made of Bakelite with chrome trim and squared-off corners, the Argus C3 looks like an Art Deco brick. More than two million were produced. Top right of the front is a dial to set shutter speeds of 1/10–1/300sec. Top left, another dial protrudes above the height of the body to be rotated by a finger whilst looking through the rangefinder window to the side of the viewfinder. As well as coupling to the rangefinder the dial is connected via a gear wheel to the focusing ring of the 50mm f/3.5 Cintar lens. Bearing in mind, however, that the further apart rangefinder windows are placed, the more accurate the mechanism, the fact that the C3’s windows are only about 5mm…

I was looking at this photograph on my computer screen when my wife walked into the room. ‘I like that, it’s fun, it would look nice in the lounge,’ she said and she’s right. She always is. I found some colour stock shots on Alamy showing the arrow lit up in red and gold neon. That is fun. The location of the image is the Route 66 Casino Hotel west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. No American road is as iconic as Route 66. Starting in Chicago, Illinois, it snakes cross-country to Santa Monica, California, a highway rich with brazen motels, quirky roadside diners and stretches of desolate landscape. Many directors have used Route 66 as a backdrop for their films. Easy Rider (1969), starring biker-hippies Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper,…

THE NATIONAL Portrait Gallery has announced that the prestigious Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize is now open for entries. Portrait shooters have until 10pm (BST) on 7 May 2024 to enter. The competition is open to photographers worldwide aged 18 or over, with a grand title prize of £15,000. An exhibition will be held from 14 November, featuring the winning and shortlisted photos. See bit.ly/taylorwopens…

Apparently, every second breath we take comes from the ocean. It’s a sobering statistic, and one that makes caring for our oceans and waterways absolutely vital. Photographers have an important role to play in alerting us to the state of the natural world, and one way of doing this is to celebrate what we stand to lose if we continue to treat our oceans and rivers as waste receptacles. A few weeks ago, I got chatting to two underwater photographers. We discussed the impact of climate change, sewage and other pollutants on wildlife, but we also talked about the sheer wonder of discovering something new and the absolute joy of being submerged in water. I was struck by their calm, relaxed demeanour – being in or around bodies of water…

7 daysA week in photography AP picture of the week Milky Way and the Fairy Pools by Dave Lynch Canon EOS R5, 15-35mm f/2.8 lens at 20mm, Foreground: 302sec at f/3.5, ISO 800, Sky: 20 stacked images at 10sec at f/3.5, ISO 6400 ‘I escaped a cloudy Aberdeen for 24 hours to shoot this image of the Fairy Pools on Skye. I camped near to the pools and set my camera up for seven hours of star trails, went to bed then got up at 3.30am to capture this Milky Way shot when it was in its optimal location.’ Instagram: @daveloslynch38 #appicoftheweek Win! The AP Pic of the Week winner will receive a beautifully framed print of their winning image worth up to £100. If you Love it, Frame it!…