Innholdsfortegnelse for 1/21/25 i Amateur Photographer

Most cameras shoot colour by default these days, yet for most of us the fact that our photos contain colours is incidental. But colour can be used as a compositional building block just as lines and shapes can be. When we compose our images around the colours themselves the results can be spectacular, as Eric Meola demonstrates this week. Also in this issue we showcase the striking but heartbreaking work of award-winning Palestinian photojournalist Samar Abu Elouf, and revisit the archive of Weegee, whose gritty black & white images of crime scenes and the sordid underbelly of New York between the 1930s and ’50s made him a legend. Finally we test the expensive but technologically state-of-the-art new Sony A1 II. Our cover image was taken by Eric Meola. Read his…

BACK in September, photography and video lighting specialist Rotolight went into administration. The brand is now back, but run by a different company – headed up by former Tiffen executive Daniel Waite. ‘I am no stranger to Rotolight as my other company, Brand Monkey, used to run the digital side, including advertising,’ Daniel explains. ‘Rotolight is now owned and operated under a different entity, with a different management team, and is being run “lean” at the moment. So we’ve streamlined operations and cut costs – as Rotolight always had a strong digital presence, it’s a good fit for our team at Brand Monkey, who play an integral role in growing the brand.’ As well as digital expertise, Daniel stresses his background in manufacturing via Tiffen, along with a good understanding…

HOLLIE LATHAM HUCKER Technique Editor Hollie finds out more about top US colour master Eric Meola’s work AMY DAVIES Features Editor Amy speaks to one of the authors of a new book celebrating the work of Weegee PETER DENCH The AP regular writes about Palestinian photojournalism prizewinner Samar Abu Elouf ANDY WESTLAKE Technical Editor Our chief reviewer tests the Sony Alpha A1 II, Sony’s latest professional flagship MICHAEL TOPHAM In Second-hand Classic, AP’s former reviews editor looks at the Canon EOS 6D Mark II JESSICA MILLER Dep Online Editor Our social media manager selects some more great reader pictures, on page 44.…

WE ARE sad to report the death of Barry Taylor, a former managing director of Olympus UK. Barry died on 2 January at the age of 86, having retired from Olympus in 1998. ‘He inherited the role from importer David Williams, and Olympus became the first wholly owned subsidiary of a Japanese photographic company in the UK,’ recalls Ian Dickens, another former managing director and close colleague. ‘What followed was extraordinary. Allied to top advertising agency CDP and a friendship with David Bailey, the Olympus Trip became a UK favourite, selling over 1,000,000 cameras in the years that followed. Globally, the UK was the only market where Olympus became leader, thanks to Barry’s vision and marketing acumen. He was an exceptional manager, putting people at the heart of his business…

● £91 (1TB), £233 (2TB) ● pny.com The PNY RP60 is a rugged portable solid-state drive (SSD) designed for photographers and videographers on the go. It employs a USB-C connector for use with computers, smartphones, tablets and other devices, promising read speeds up to 2,000 MB/s and write speeds of 1,800 MB/s. With a silicone-coated outer shell, it’s designed to be water, dust and drop-resistant. Most SSDs use the same USB-C connector, but that doesn’t mean they’re all created equal. Instead, they employ obtusely named interface variants with different data transfer speeds. Usually, faster speeds mean higher prices. But with the RP60, PNY is promising the speed of USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, but at a price close to other brands’ USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 drives, which are only half as…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Doing just fine I was a professional film photographer from 1976-2007. I used an early digital camera for some low-res stuff near the end of that period. Last year I became obsessed with getting a new camera. Finally I decided that I would first give some of my existing collection of old digital cameras a chance, on different local trips. My old DSLRs are mostly pre-2008, and still quite nice for just posting online. After doing this review I discovered that two of them have 20 megapixels, which I never appreciated before, and one of them performed well above my expectations. My Nikon D3200 has 24.1MP which is enough for any serious things, though in retirement that isn’t often. It made me realise that I’m doing…

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! ThisPicture.com is an experienced, high-quality framing company with a unique, easy-to-use website. Build single or multi-image frames with a few clicks of your mouse and select from a wide range of frames, window mounts and glazing options. Each frame comes with a three-year guarantee and FREE P&P within the UK. Visit thispicture.co.uk Cold Snap by Alec Waters Nikon Z7II, Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 lens, 1/10sec at f/11, ISO 64, 24mm ‘When I set off that day I wanted to get down to Carl Wark to photograph back up at Higger Tor. I didn’t realise how much snow there was and just how…

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 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 via…

LEICA has announced the SL3-S as the latest addition to its SL System, which combines high-end photography and video features. The SL3-S features a new BSI CMOS full-frame sensor with 24MP native resolution, 48MP and 96MP multishot modes, and a new AF system. The latter incorporates the latest generation of phase detection AF (PDAF), depth map (object detection AF) and contrast detection AF, enabling continuous shooting at up to 30 frames per second with full autofocus support. This makes the SL3-S the fastest Leica system camera ever built. It can also record up to 6K video and offers 3:2 open-gate recording for added flexibility. Portrait-format videos can be recorded in 4K, 9:16 without loss of quality, for example, Leica says, and the field of view in recorded material can be…

ADOBE has announced the latest updates to Photoshop, with a new feature called Live Co-Editing enabling users to work more collaboratively – multiple designers can edit a single Photoshop document across different computers, for example. Live Co-Editing, which is still at beta stage, follows on from other additions to Photoshop, including more sophisticated distraction removal technology and a more intuitive Selection Brush. See www.adobe.com/uk/…

In Europe, quality 35mm camera manufacture in the middle of the last century was dominated by two German giants, Leitz and Zeiss Ikon. Leitz made the Leica, while Zeiss made the Contax. Both were high-end rangefinders with interchangeable lenses. Appearances aside, the main difference was that Leicas had horizontally running cloth focal plane shutters, while Contax used vertical running metal ones. From the outset the Zeiss shutters were known to be problematic, and even in their early years gained a reputation for being unreliable and expensive to service. The Contax I appeared in 1932 and was followed by the Contax II in 1936. Production was halted by the war, but in the West was restarted in 1950, with an improved and more reliable version known as the Contax IIa. As…

Jay Murfitt Get back on race tracks and enjoy life again. Richard Krawiec @KrawiecRichard Try harder to drop the addiction of over-post processing… Tina Prior Take more photos. Upgrade my camera. Practice. Practice. Practice. Enjoy. Caroline Bennett Start a personal photography project about my community. I’ve been thinking about this for a few years and now I feel I have the confidence to do it. Jack Simpson @jack9simpson To do the same as I’ve done for 39 years: take too many snaps, and try to realise when I’ve spent too much time blathering on to retail folks. Andy McDonald Continuing my fine art b&w architecture work mainly, but I am hoping to give some camera club talks as well. Ben Randall @benrand72 Get back into medium format. Dibs Photography To…

‘I seem to have difficulty with reality – to understand things. But photography helps me deal with it.’ I was looking at the work of Wedgwood Stevenson who came to a workshop with renowned photographic artist Mari Mahr at my Photographers Place in 1994 with a portfolio of startling black & white images taken in his home in Staffordshire. Many were of his wife. I have one of those on a wall at home. I asked him about his name, of course. Yes, he was from the Potteries and worked for the famous Spode Works that pioneered transfer printing on to bone china and earthenware in the 18th century. Personal ‘I suppose it was inevitable I would end up working in a pottery factory, but I actually started my working…