Amateur Photographer - UK 2019-11-15)

24 9 November 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

camerasreadyfor
instantuse.’
Thatstillringstrue.Well,
maybenotsomuchwithall
thesmartphonesaround,
butyougetthegist.
HoweverI thinkMike
Maloneywasa big
omissionfromthelist.
APcameraandlens
testsaresecondtonone,
andI haveboughta lotof
mycamerasandlenseson
thebasisof yourin-depth
andinformativereports.It
wasgreattoreadtheSony
Alpha7RlVreporttoo,in
theissue.Superbasusual!I
hopetobearoundforAP’s
150thAnniversary issue.
DavidCook

You’reright,David.
HugeapologiestoMike
Maloneyforthisterrible
omission.Hewasa very
popularweeklycolumnist
for 13 years,andthe
onlyonetobeawarded
anOBE.Hewasincluded
in theoriginaltextwhen
it waswritten,butthat
paragraphsomehowgot
cutoffthelayoutandthe
omissionwasn’tspotted
tillit wastoolate– Nigel
Atherton,editor

ThefirstissueofAP
I’mcurrentlyworkingmy
waythroughyour 135
Anniversaryissue(AP 12
October)andwasstruckby
a thought.Apologiesif this
is alreadyin thepipeline,
butI waswonderingif it
wasat allpossibleforyou
tomakethatfirsteditionof
APavailablein printform.
I’msureit wouldbean
absolutelyfascinatingread
andevenif theoptionto
downloada PDFis theonly
waythiscouldbedone,I’m
sureyou’dhavea lotof
interestfromreaders.
DavidRichards

A greatidea.Wedid
reprintthefirstissueasa
freesupplementwithour
110thAnniversaryissue.
We’reunlikelytobe
abletodothatagain
butwecouldeasilyputa
downloadablepdfofit
onourwebsite.We’ll
lookintoit– Nigel
Atherton, editor

Don’tforgettheads

Thanksfora fabulous 135

yearscommemorative

issue(AP 12 October).But

whereweretheadvertisers

of yore?In the1960s,it

sometimesseemedlike

thereweremorepages

of advertsthaneditorial.

I recallseveralreamsper

issuefromWallaceHeaton,

andtheirBlueBooktaught

mea greatdealabout

photographywhilstfuelling

teendreamsofmaybeone

day. Therewerealsomany

advertsformailorder

‘developingandprinting’

labs.Myfavouritewas

Fotak,andI hadmany

discussionswithitsowner,

JohnPotter,aboutthe

trendawayfrommailorder

toone-hourminilabs.

Thankstoallyour

advertisersforplayinga

partin yourlongevity!

ColinC Edwards

Anexcellentpoint,Colin.

Withoutouradvertisers

therewouldbenoAP,

andfromtrawlingour

archivesforourBackin

theDayfeatureit’sclear

thatsomeofthoseold

adsareasinterestingas

thearticles.Theyarea

greatbarometerofthe

trendsandobsessions

oftheirday.Perhapswe

shouldrepublisha fewof

ourfavourites– Nigel

Atherton,editor

Moreannoying

jargon

Iama recent‘returner’to

photographyandtoAP.I

dofindtheextendeduse

of jargon– ‘in-house

phrases’ – detracts from

understandingwhatyour

staffaretryingtoimpart.

In anyotherauthoritative

journal,termswouldbe

explainedpriortousing

them.Youseemtoprefer

nottodothis.Forexample:

MicroFourThirds(Isthere

a ‘macro’three-thirdsor

two-thirdsaswell?).Are

notallcameras‘mirror-

less’apartfromSLRs?

Whatis ‘full-frame’?And

theonethatcropsup

relentlessly:APS-C.What

isthat? Well,youdidask!

DrHughAnderson

Tobefair,Hugh,these

arenot‘in-house’

phrases;theyarethe

officialtermsusedby

theindustry.Canyou

imaginehowtediousit

wouldbeforourregular

readersif wehadto

explainthemeaningsof

thesetermseverytime

weusedthem?Theonly

solutionwouldbea

jargonbusterattheback

ofthemagazine.We

coulddothisbutwould

entaillosinganeditorial

pagefora glossarythat’s

repeatedeveryweek.

Giventhatmostpeople

haveGoogle,I’mnot

surethereis enough

demandforthis,butI’d

beinterestedtohear

whatotherreadersthink

• NigelAtherton, editor

I’msticking

withmyDSLR

ItseemswhereverI pick

upa magazineorvisit

a camerashopI’m

bombardedwithphrases

suchas‘mirrorlessis the

future’,‘timeforyouto

switch’,‘DSLRswillbe

extinct’,etc.AlthoughI

appreciatetheadvantages

of themirrorlesssystem,

suchasthesilentshutter,

I will,fornow,besticking

withmyNikonD700

DSLR.It wasrefreshing

toreadwhyprofessionals

willbestickingtotheir

DSLRs(Keepthefaith,

5 October)fornow,and

thatit allcomesdownto

personalpreference.I now

feellikelessof a dinosaur.

Peter Murrell

MikeMaloneywasa big

omissionfromourrollcall

of past contributors

Back in theday

AwanderthroughtheAParchive.This

week we pay a visit to November 1999

An early DSLR impressed the technical team

TWENTYyearsagothisweek,theAPEditorNigel

AthertonwastheFeaturesEditorandthecoverstory

washissix-pagelovelettertohistrustyNikonF4.It

seemshe’dbeentemptedbya newertrinketbut

decidedtostayfaithful,in weddedbliss.[We’re

divorcednow.I tradedit in fora D700– Ed].

MeanwhiletheTechnicalEditorcouldbarelycontain

hisexcitementat thearrivalof theMinoltaDimage

RD-3000(basedonitsVectisAPSSLRs– remember

those?)a tardy 14 monthsafterit wasannounced.

Atthetime,a 2.7megapixelcamerawas‘anexciting

prospect’,anditspriceof £6,000+ VATwas‘well

belowthatof equivalentcameras.’Bythetimeit went

onsalethatpricehaddroppedtojust£3,200(inc

VAT)andit scoreda respectable83%in theverdict,

with16/20forvalueformoney.Thatputs today’s

mirrorless camera prices into context!

1999

YOUR LETTERS