Innholdsfortegnelse for 7/2/24 i Amateur Photographer

SIGMA has announced its first Canon-approved RF-mount autofocus zoom lens, namely the 18-50mm F2.8 DC DN | Contemporary. It is an APS-C lens, rather than full frame, and the relatively fast maximum aperture of f/2.8 is available throughout the zoom range. The new lens can also be used for macro and close-up photography owing to its useful maximum magnification ratio of 1:2.8. Sigma further claims that the AF is ‘exceptionally fast and quiet’ thanks to the stepping motor. The lens is relatively portable too: weighing in at 300g and measuring 74.5mm in length, it won’t bog you down too much on your summer travels. Other key specifications include 10 lens groups and 13 elements (1 SLD and 3 aspherical); seven rounded diaphragm aperture blades; a rubber sealed mount and a…

Geoff Harris, deputy editor, chooses Always on Alert by Patrick Nowotny, US Nikon Z 9, 400mm, 1/800sec at f/6.3, ISO 1600 Geoff says: ‘There were a lot of great images to choose from in this APOY round, but this owl image deserves a special mention. The composition is great, with plenty of detail on both owl and tree coming through, without the crop being too tight, or other distracting elements being allowed to appear. The background blur is very attractive too, nicely complementing the other key elements of the image. Either the photographer was very lucky, with this beautiful yet elusive bird appearing at just the right time, or they were patient – an incredibly important quality for all bird and wildlife photographers.’ Hollie Latham Hucker, technique editor, chooses Running Scared…

Technique ROUND-UP With the best instant cameras and printers, you can capture a little analogue magic with your photography. There’s a reason that Polaroid instant film cameras have been popular for decades – they’re terrific knockabout fun, with a lo-fi charm that just can’t be replicated with pixels and screens. Making instant prints is a fantastic way to give your image-making a little physical presence – all the rarer in the digital age. We love instant photography at AP, and our team regularly test and review the best instant cameras – one of our writers recently reviewed the new Instax Mini 99. As such, we’ve had a few debates among staff in putting this list of the best instant cameras and printers together, but as a result, there should be…

Testbench LENS TEST This ultra-wideangle lens for Hasselblad’s medium-format mirrorless cameras is designed for use in a variety of situations, with obvious examples being landscapes, architecture, and interiors. However, the firm also says that it is particularly designed to give great results in low-light conditions, such as astrophotography, urban street and nightscape photography, and night landscape photography. The lens is designed with high-resolution cameras in mind. Hasselblad offers 102MP medium format cameras, including the 907X 100C and X2D 100C, the latter of which I used for this review. It is, of course, also compatible with Hasselblad’s other mirrorless medium format cameras. Whilst this lens isn’t as small as the firm’s XCD 28mm F4 P, it is brighter at F2.5, and wider giving a 20mm equivalent view. It also features a push/pull…

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…

7 daysA week in photography THIS striking image by Tom Learmonth is part of a new exhibition documenting east London’s long-established Bengali community. The ‘I Am Who I Am Now’ exhibition takes place at The Four Corners Gallery, London E2 0QN, until 3 August. ‘By highlighting their heritage, the Bengali Photo Archive encourages viewers, especially the Bengali community, to take pride in their pioneering forefathers who journeyed to the UK, solidifying their presence in east London,’ said archive volunteer Akila Asad. More info at fourcornersfilm.co.uk…

INTERESTED in smartphone photography, but on a tight budget? OnePlus has launched the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite in Europe, featuring a 50MP main camera with a Sony Lytia LYT-600 sensor, a 2MP Depth-assist camera and a 16MP selfie camera. The phone supports 2x in-sensor zoom by cropping the 50MP main camera sensor to capture details with enhanced clarity and precision. The firm states it also has a 5,110mAh high-capacity battery and 80W fast charging as well as a 6.67in 120Hz AMOLED display. Returning to the price, the OnePlus Nord CE4 Lite is available in Super Silver and Mega Blue and is on sale now for a budget-friendly £299.…

A snapshot is a transient thing, a quick photo shot without thought for technicalities or technique. It’s a picture that seemed important at the time, though often more likely to have been here today, gone tomorrow. Snapshots are rarely works of art and were never intended to be. But inevitably, they are representative of certain times, places and people – and eventually they become slices of social history. In 1888, inventor, businessman and entrepreneur George Eastman introduced the Kodak, the first use of that name for the world’s first roll-film camera. The sheer simplicity of its use bred a new kind of photographer, one who might never before have thought of owning a camera, but for whom the ability to take pictures without previous experience offered a new liberation. Snapshot…

RapidBlues, Bristol About RapidBlues RapidBlues works for the NHS. He says: ‘I love the job that I do, and I feel privileged and very lucky to be part of the ambulance service.’ See more of his work on Instagram @rapidblues Favourite subjects Nowadays, my energy is focused on the ambulance service. I love getting unusual and exciting images of the ambulances that I drive, especially at night, using the street and hospital lighting. How did you get into photography? I started when I was 14, and spent hours in the darkroom trying to get the perfect print. What do you love about photography? Photography helps me unwind and relaxes me. I love it when magic happens, and you get the shot; it gives a rush of happiness. And when this…

Sweet spot The Sweet 22 captures a central sharp spot surrounded by dramatic blur. Mounts Lensbaby produces the Sweet 22 in Canon RF, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, Sony E and L-mount versions. Close focusing The lens can focus on subjects just 12.7cm from the sensor, giving a reproduction ratio of 1:5. No contacts Lensbaby lenses don’t have electrical contacts so the camera cannot record any EXIF data about them. The Lensbaby Sweet 22 has a focal length of 22mm and it produces an image that covers a full-frame sensor. But it can also be used on APS-C format cameras with the appropriate mount, providing an equivalent focal length of around 33mm. Lensbaby makes the lens for mirrorless cameras and it’s available in Canon RF, Nikon Z, Fujifilm X, and Sony…

THE PENTAX 17 has been released by Ricoh Imaging, the first new film camera from a major brand in almost 20 years. That is news in itself, but the Pentax 17 is also noteworthy as it’s a half-frame 35mm film device – frames are shot vertically, delivering images that are 17mm wide (hence the name) and 24mm tall. With full-frame 35mm, they would be 36mm by 24mm. Because it’s a half-frame format camera, the Pentax 17 also doubles the number of exposures you can get from a roll of 36-exposure film – so you’ll get 72 images from a single roll, which will help to cut your analogue-photography costs. There is nothing to stop you from taking horizontal images, too. The camera comes with a newly developed 25mm F3.5 fixed-focal-length…

Casey Hall, Tennessee Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5, Kodak Aero-Ektar 7 In 178mm F/2.5, Kodak Portra 160, 1/200sec at f/4 Film photography has a timeless allure that draws me in for various reasons. The aesthetic quality of film, with its texture, grain, and colour rendition, adds a unique charm to my photographs that cannot be replicated by digital means. Each film stock has its own characteristics that bring an element of surprise and intrigue to my creative process, making each roll a visual journey full of unexpected moments. This unpredictability fuels my passion for experimentation and pushes me to explore new artistic boundaries. Moreover, the film photography community has provided me with a sense of belonging and connection that enhances my love for the craft. The camaraderie, knowledge sharing, and collaborative…

Technique IN THE DARKROOM What previous experience have you had in the darkroom? The last time I was in a darkroom was around 1993 at university and it’s the same darkroom that I use now! (I’m a lecturer on the Visual Communication BA at the University of Brighton, which is where the darkroom is based.) Your work is quite physical, so is this one of the reasons the darkroom appeals to you? Yes, I think there is further physicality to explore at the printing end of the process. Until recently, all the experimenting happened while I was out making a shot. Now I’m beginning to think about collage or image-making that’s not digital just to introduce physical restriction or challenge that might make something interesting happen. For example, I’ve built…

Testbench IN THE FIELD If you became interested in photography at any point in the past 20 years, the chances are that your initial experience was a digital one. The rate of camera development in that period has been truly impressive, and the digital path to imaging is well established as the mainstream technology. Increasingly, however, folk are looking again at analogue techniques – silver-based imaging – as a true alternative to stand alongside digital photography. It’s a route which allows the photographer a lot of individual creativity, as well as being a huge amount of fun, but inevitably you’ll need to buy additional kit in order to explore it. If you are an existing Nikon DSLR user, a very good candidate is the Nikon F100 film SLR, as it can…

● £80 ● kekscameras.com If you love shooting with old film cameras, then you’re probably all too aware of the idiosyncrasies surrounding their light meters. Many cameras from the 1960s and 1970s require long-banned mercury batteries and give inaccurate results with modern replacements. Others have selenium light meters that deteriorate unpredictably with age. So there’s a lot to be said for having a compact hot-shoe light meter, and nothing I’ve seen comes anywhere close to being as portable as the tiny KEKS KM-Q. Indeed this meter is so small that it could be mistaken for a hot-shoe viewfinder. It’s pretty much just a metal cube measuring about an inch each way, and it weighs next to nothing. So there’s no excuse for not popping it into your camera bag. The…