Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-11-30)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 30 November 2019 21

NikonZ 50andits
lenses.In a worldwhere
cameraandlenspricesare
currentlyspirallingit’svery
goodtoseeNikonhaving
theimaginationnotto
pricethisnewcamera
beyondthepocketsof
manypotentialusers.
AndsototheOlympus
centenarypull-out.I’veso
manygreatmemoriesof
theOM-1,andthesystem
it spawned,nowfilledwith
mouldafteryearsof rough
usein equatorial
Africa.And,thoughbeinga
Nikonusernow,an
OlympusToughTG-5– at
oncesocompactand
adaptable– usually
accompaniesmein a coat
ortrouserpocket.Finally,I
lovedPeterDench’slook
at Olympus’swonderfully
imaginativeadvertisingof
thepast,andhispieceon
thetrulyexcitinglifeof
veterannewsmanJohn
Downing.Findingallthese
gemsin a singleAPissueis
exceptional.I congratulate
theAPstafffortheirhard
workandqualityoutput.
AdrianLewis

Inkwaste
I’vebeenusinganEpson
StylusPhotoR2400
printerforover 10 years
andit stillproduces
excellentprints.Thecostof
replacingtheinkreservoir
pads,evenif possiblenow
withsuchanoldmachine,
is expensive,soI boughta
simplekitonlinethatdrains
thewasteinkintotwosmall
pots.It mademyeyes
waterninemonthslater
havingtotip120mlof
wasteinkdownthedrain.It
mademyeyeswatereven
morewhenI calculated
thatthisrepresented£129
worthof discardedink!
I accept that the

manufacturershavenot

founda wayof keepingthe

inknozzlesclearwithout

wastingink.However,each

cartridgeis individually

controlled.If thenozzlesof

onecartridgegetblocked,

is thereanyreasonwhythe

cleaningroutinecan’tbe

appliedjusttothatone,

insteadof alleightand

wastingeighttimes as

muchink?

DavidPelling

Easylife

Canlifebetooeasy?I

recentlychangedfroma

150-600mmTamrontoa

Nikon500mmf/5.6PF.

TheTamrondidproducea

niceimagequalitybutat

whatcost?TogetthatIQ

mybreathingneededtobe

right,thecamera/lens

clutchedtomychest,the

VChavinga gooddayand

thefocuseventually

lockingonaftera good

day’shunting.TheNikon,

handheld,ridiculouslylow

shutterspeed,held

casuallyandvaguelyin the

rightdirection:andtheIQ

is spectacular.I almostfeel

a fraudusingthe500mm.

If youdon’tneedmuchin

thewayof techniqueis that

pleasingornot?

ProfBrianGlenville

Keywords

YourarticleFuture-proof

y o u r fi l e s(AP5 October)

wasfascinatingandtimely

asI havethousandsof

picturesonmysingle

hard-driveandamalso

lookingfora robustsystem

withwhichtocatalogue

these,andfuture,images.

Allthepointsyoumakeare

extremelyvalidbuttheone

thingI’vealwaysstruggled

with,andis onlymentioned

briefly in thearticle,is the

method of fi le naming.

Wouldit bepossibletogive

a fewcompleteexamples,

perhapsfromtheAPteam,

of how,andwhy,they

attributethefile paththey

do?I understandthateach

willhavetheirownreasons

forusingcertainkeywords

andfile namesbuta few

ideasastohowthe

professionalsdoit might

providean‘ahha’moment

formyfossilisedbrain.

DavidRichards

Notomirrorless

Iwasratherreassuredto

readin AP5 October

abouttopproswhowon’t

bechangingto mirrorless.

I’vefeltincreasingly

pressured(allself-imposed,

of course)to at least

exploremirrorlesssoI once

hiredoneandwhilstI do

havesmallhandssoasto

manoeuvrethebuttons,

likeGuyEdwardesI too

don’tliketheelectronic

viewfinderandagreeit’s

likelookingat a computer

screen.It justdidn’tlook

right.Maybealsobecause

it wasa Sony(I’musedto

Nikon)it wasevenmore

frustrating!I cannot

completelydiscount

mirrorlesscamerasandno

doubtI willtrya Nikonat

somestagebutI dolove

myDLSRbecauseI knowit

insideoutandam

comfortablewithit. And

nowI have‘permission’I’m

happyto lugmyamazing

backpackaroundthe

countrysidewithvarious

lensesin situ.Happyto be

calleda dinosaur!

KarinTearle

Backinmyday

ReadingyourBackin the

daysummaryof APdown

theyearsI’mremindedof

a happeningwhenI was

foolishenoughtotakemy

APtoschool.Repairingto

thecloakroomI discovered

myAPwasgone!Withno

sexeducation,manywere

asignorantof sexasme.

Thankstotheimagesin AP

though,I wasprobably

‘desensitised’andnever

felta twingeof arousal!It

wasabouthometime

whenI wasreunited with it.

Bill Houlder

Brianfindslifeeasywith
his new Nikon 500mm

Back in the day

AwanderthroughtheAParchive.This

week we go back to November 1947

In the week of the royal wedding, AP carried this photo

THISweek’sinsidefrontcovercarrieda portraitof

PrincessElizabethandPrincePhilipwiththecaption:

‘Loyalgreetingsfromthe6,000Britishemployeesof

KodakLtd.’Fora briefmomentI triedtorecallif I

knewthattheyhadonceworkedforKodak,beforeI

checkedthedateandrealisedthatthegreetingswere

addressedtothecouple,andnotfromthem– thiswas

theweekof theirwedding.(IncidentallyKodaknow

employsjust1,600peoplein thewholeworld.)You’d

thinktheEditorwouldhavegonewitha royalportrait

onthecoverbutno,hewentwitha catphoto,forno

discerniblereason.Thepost-warAPwasa skinny

affairwithmoreadsthaneditorialpages,mostly

dominatedbydarkroomgear,slideandcine

projectors.APreaderswereclearlykeentoget

maximumvalueoutof theiroldblack-outmaterials.

Photographywasn’ttheonlythingreadersdidin the

dark,judgingbytheproliferationof babypictures in

this issue. Well, it was the start of the boom!

1947