Innholdsfortegnelse for 3/11/25 i Amateur Photographer

To celebrate 100 years of Leica we’ve put together a very special issue, dedicated to a company that is part of the very DNA of modern photography. There are so many great stories to celebrate, past and present, so read on for a reminder of how the company became the creative and cultural force it is today, along with a tribute to the many great Leica photographers who’ve become synonymous with the brand. We also remind readers of Leica’s heroic efforts to try to save the lives of Jewish people during the darkest days of WWII and, coming back to the present, there’s an overview of the firm’s current line-up, helping you find the right camera for you. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Leica! Nigel Atherton photographed the three cameras and…

DXO has revealed version 5 of its well-regarded raw processing program, PureRAW. Beefed-up noise reduction features come courtesy of the firm’s latest DeepPRIME 3 algorithm, which gains the ability to correct chromatic aberration as part of demosaicing and denoising; you can also selectively fine-tune denoising and sharpening using masks. There’s also a more streamlined interface, the ability to save custom presets, and access to the latest version of DxO’s ‘eXtra Detail’ processing engine and other features when editing images from Fujifilm X cameras. DxO PureRAW 5 is available from 15 April for £109 (new users) or £69.99 (discounted upgrade from PureRAW 3 and 4). See dxo.com…

Have you ever been published in a book or magazine? You said... Glynis Pierson @glynpierson Yes, courtesy of yourselves #APPicoftheweek Ely Cathedral, another of poppies at sunrise in @AP_Magazine and front cover of a local magazine @Fen_SCENE with Koniks in winter. Z70 Photography @z70photo Yes, Amateur Photographer magazine, you may have heard of it. Steve Sulley @SteveSulley1 Yes, Amateur Photographer! Plus Lonely Planet and Practical Photographer magazine. Allan Moore I had a picture published in a local magazine called The Mill. They had a piece on local (to Paisley) photographers and included a shot of mine that I took in Gleniffer Braes, this was in 2021. Ian Hutchinson @ianhutchinson81 Six-page spread in Nikon Owner magazine. ©Nick Allott Photography @NickAPhotos No, but it’s a dream of mine. Jeff Johnson @JeffJohnson41 Yes.…

When Soviet Red Army naval officer and photographer Yevgeny Khaldei pressed the shutter on his Leica to capture The Raising of the Red Flag on the Reichstag in May 1945, he captured an iconic moment which marked one of the great victories of the Second World War. The authenticity of the photograph has been questioned (Soviet censors airbrushed out wristwatches on one soldier because they were indicative of looting). The camera Khaldei used, a 1937 Leica III, is beyond doubt. It was sold at auction in Hong Kong in 2014 for around £150,000. It may be surprising Khaldei used a camera manufactured by the enemy but he used Leicas throughout his career, a testament to their unrivalled quality at the time. The Nazis also recognised the superiority of Leica optics.…

Christian Fletcher Christian Fletcher is a landscape photographer, but he also has an interest in contemporary urban scenes and graphic minimalism. In 2011 the Australian Institute of Professional Photography awarded him both the Western Australian and the Australian Professional Landscape Photographer of The Year titles. His images are on display at his art gallery in Dunsborough, Australia. www.christianfletcher.com.au Please describe your preferred subject matter First and foremost, I’m a landscape photographer, but my work over the past three decades has been extremely varied. I’m interested in industrial and urban photography, and I’ve been making images with these themes since 2010. What is your favourite Leica camera/lens combination? For the past few years, I’ve been shooting with Leicas SL cameras – I’m currently using the SL3. When combined with the APO-Summicron-SL…

These days, I’m probably more of a camera collector than camera user. There are of course collectors who actually use their cameras. Me, I’m one of those who buy a camera, research and write about it, then put it on a shelf and look at it. Every so often, however, a collectable camera comes along that demands to be used. As I discovered some years ago when I acquired my Leica M3. I’ve written about the M3 elsewhere in this issue, from a technical and historical viewpoint. But reading about it will never prepare you for what it’s like to actually handle an M3. Its deceptively simple design is an ergonomic masterpiece. I remember taking mine for a day trip to Brighton, loving its big bright viewfinder; how the wind…

JOHN WADE Our camera history expert traces the 100-year Leica story; and reveals the steps that led to the first Leica PETER DENCH Peter finds out more about Leica’s wartime heroes; and writes about photojournalist John Robert Young GEOFF HARRIS Deputy Editor Leicas have been used by some of the greats over the years – Geoff celebrates them HOLLIE LATHAM HUCKER Technique Editor Hollie talks to pros in different fields, who all capture the world with Leicas ANDY WESTLAKE Technical Editor Our resident chief reviewer guides you through the current line-up of Leica cameras TRACY CALDER The regular AP contributor asks five ambassadors why they love using Leica cameras and lenses…

BILLINGHAM has introduced its first compact-camera pouch, the TEN-16. It’s specifically designed to hold rangefinder-style models such as the popular Fujifilm X100 series, including the hit X100VI. More generally, it will accept cameras measuring up to about 14cm wide, 8cm tall, and 7cm deep, including the lens. This premium pouch is also Billingham’s first to employ a leather shoulder sling – previously it’s used webbing straps. The shoulder strap is removable, with the TEN-16 sporting leather straps on the back so that you can attach it to a belt. The pouch is available now in black, burgundy, sage or khaki for £129.…

AT THE recent Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Xiaomi announced the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra – note that we named the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, the best advanced smartphone for photographers. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra retains the quad Leica-branded camera set-up and one-inch sensor, but the 4.3x periscope lens has now quadrupled in pixel size to 200MP. Xiaomi claims that it lets in 136% more light than the predecessor, and 200MP should give plenty of scope for cropping. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra starts at £1,299 (16GB, 512GB of storage). In addition, the company showed off a 35mm concept lens at the show, featuring a 100MP Micro Four Thirds sensor, with AF and an aperture range of f/1.4 to f/11; it transfers image data to the phone via a…

Oskar Barnack’s design of the Ur-Leica established what became the dominant film format. Since then Leica has been the most influential of camera companies. It is the only company that has designed three different lens mounts, which were then used by other major optical companies for their cameras. The first was the 39-millimetre thread mount used in the Leica 1(C), the commercialised version of Barnack’s original. It was subsequently used on cameras from many different companies. Leica changed to the bayonet M mount in 1954. This mount was patented, so was not used by other companies until the patent had expired. Then it was employed by Minolta, Konica, Ricoh, Epson, Voigtländer, Rollei and Zeiss Ikon (the last four all being Cosina made). Sixty years later, Leica designed a new mount…

The neat package that arrived from a village near Lewes, East Sussex, contained the book Toothbrush, Passport & Camera: Diary of a Photojournalist by John Robert Young. Blending memoir and travelogue, it delivers a personal and professional look into his life. The book provides an intimate perspective on the challenges and rewards of the profession, giving readers insight into both the technical and human aspects of the job. He reflects on the emotional and physical toll the work can take, as well as the unique moments of connection with people from all walks of life. Inside the book was a gift of two of John’s black & white prints: one of a father dying from starvation with his daughter at a remote clinic in the mountains of Ethiopia (1980), and…

THIS stunning ‘astro-landscape’ image from Easter Island was taken by AP contributor Josh Dury and appears in his new book, 52 Assignments: Night Photography. It will be published by Ammonite Press at the end of April (exact date to be confirmed) and costs £12.99. ‘From comets to meteor showers, auroras to eclipses, these celestial wonders remind us of the immensity of our universe,’ says the publisher. ‘These 52 assignments will show you how to photograph these natural wonders.’ Josh has also been announced as a Sigma UK ambassador, so well done, sir!…

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 Tranquil View of Matterhorn from Riffelsee by Riz Ubungen Sony A7 IV, Sigma Art 24-70mm F2.8 Version 1, 1/250sec at f/5.6, ISO 80 ‘While snowshoeing solo near the snow-covered Riffelsee in Switzerland, I dropped my poles upon spotting a clearing. Stunned by the breathtaking view, I captured this panorama of…

LETTER OF THE WEEK Micro Four Thirds musings The wildlife portfolio by Terry Moore (Reader Portfolio, 25 February) have to be some of the best photos I’ve seen in your magazine. Unbelievably, because they’ve been taken with Micro Four Thirds gear, which, when you look at all the mirrorless offerings around, is quite something. For some time now I’ve had an itch to get another camera. I use a Panasonic G9 body with a Panasonic 14-140mm mk2 lens. I have compared this combo against a Nikon Z7II with an equivalent Z lens and a Fujifilm medium format camera, and there is no difference in quality when the pictures are blown up. If Micro Four Thirds can give that level of picture quality, with its low weight and relative cheapness, I…

Levison Wood Levison Wood is a British explorer, author, and photographer renowned for his extensive expeditions, including walking the length of the Nile, the Himalayas, the Americas and beyond. His book Encounters: A Photographic Journey showcases his photography from all corners of the globe, capturing the diverse cultures and landscapes he’s experienced. Levison has been using Leica cameras to document his travels for over a decade. Visit www.levisonwood.com and Instagram @levison.wood My camera has been an integral companion on my journeys, capturing the diverse cultures and landscapes that define my adventures. My relationship with Leica began in 2014 during my Walking the Nile expedition, when I needed a camera that could withstand the relentless heat, dust, and rain of a month’s-long journey on foot. I invested in my very first…