subscribe (^03303331113) Iwww.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 22 February 2020 25
thecomputerI needtouse
my8TBharddrive,which
itnolongerreads!
DaveFoker
Donotfeed
TheByrds
Asoneof yourolder
readersfeaturedin APlast
October(AP 12 October
2019)I drewa wrysmile
whenI sawDamien
Demolder’spieceonThe
HendrixExperience(Final
Analysis, 11January). I
recalla photo(possiblyin a
VictorBlackmanarticle)in
1965 thatfeatureda
groupcalledTheByrds
whowereverycurrentat
thetime.Thefollowing
weekat leastoneangry
readerwrotein threatening
tocancelhissubscriptionif
suchlong-hairedUS
importsortheirilkwere
everfeaturedagain.
Tempusf ugit... Shamethe
photographerof Hendrixis
unrecorded.Someone out
theremustknow.
PaulCooper
Happywhenit rains
Ithoroughlyenjoyed
readingGeoffHarris’s
articleGreatshots
whatevertheweather(AP
25 January).Asa fanof
badweatherphotography
it gavemesomenewideas
to try out. One of the
thingsI liketodoin rainy
weatheris tousea
telephotozoom.It
compressesthe
perspectiveandcanmake
a heavyrainstormlook
evenmoredramaticand
dense.Theshotseen
abovewastakenona
summer’safternoonin
Aberdeen’sUnionStreet.I
tookthescenefromthe
othersideof theroad.
GraemeYoungson
LeicaM10Monochrom
TryasI might,I cannotget
myheadroundthe
financialarithmeticwhenit
comestotheamazingnew
LeicaM10Monochrom,as
testedin a firstlookby
AndyWestlake(7 days, 25
January).Whenhesays‘...
thesky-highpricemeans
thatrelativelyfew
photographerswilleverget
toshootwithone’,he’s
totallyonthemark.At
£7,250forthebodyonly,
witha coupleof lenses
easilyaddinganother
£4k+,youaretalking
eye-wateringmoneyby
anystandard.
Yes,Leicahasloyalfans
forgoodreasonsandits
camerasundoubtedly
producesuperbresults,
butI’mguessingthatthe
buyers’profilesarein a
differentclassfromothers.
Are theybuyingasa
potential
investmentover
time,orarethey
buyingfor
somethingto
knockthe
spotsoffrivals
in picture
terms?
Craig Barnes
A Rolexdoesn’ttellthe
timeanybetterthanany
otherwatch,anda
Bentleywon’tgetyouto
yourdestinationany
quicker.Asa luxury
brandLeicaappealsto
richpeoplewhojust
wanttoshowoff,aswell
astoseriouscollectors
anddiscerning
photographerswho
appreciateitsbeauty,
wanttheuniqueshooting
experiencethatit offers
andwillsomehowfind
themoneytobuyone.
Black& white
printing
TheLeicaM10
Monochrom(7 days,
25 January)is dedicatedto
recordingblack& white
imagesdirectlytothe
camera,havingnocolour
filters.If youarelucky
enoughtoownanM10
Monochromandwantto
printthepicturesoutthe
choiceof printerwill
inevitabilityincludecolour
inks.WillprintingtheLeica
Monoimagesona colour
printersubvertthewhole
pointof havingthecamera
in thefirstplace?
Is theresucha thing
availableasa pureblack&
whiteprinter?
Canthebenefits of a
digitalmono-onlycamera
beretainedwithouthaving
anequallymonodedicated
printertogowithit?
WilliamGraham
Thebenefits ofthe
monochromesensorare
allatthetakingstage– it
givesvisiblygreater
detail,higherdynamic
range,andlower
high-ISOnoisecompared
toanequivalentcolour
sensor.You’llgetallof
theseregardlessofhow
youprintthefiles.
CORRECTION
Inourbookreviewof
PhotographersAgainst
WildlifeCrimein theAP
25 Januaryissue,welisted
anincorrectprice.The
bookcosts£60,andcan
beorderedfrom bit.ly/
pawcbook.
Ausefultip,Graeme,
and a great picture
Craig says why buy sky-high-priced Leicas
Back in the day
AwanderthroughtheAParchive.This
week we pay a visittoFebruary 1977
AP featured German ‘masters’ back in 1977
IT’STOUGHtryingtocomeupwithanengagingAP
covereveryweekandtheycan’tallbegreat,butLordy
- thismustbea contenderfortheworstcoverever.
Somecoverswerefinein theirdaybutjusthaven’t
agedwell,butit’shardtobelievethatthisonewas
everlessthanawful.EditorMartinHodderthenadded
insulttoinjurybydedicatingallof thecolourpagesin
thatissuetomoreexamplesfrom‘GermanMasters’,
includingsomepepperswitha safetypinstuck
throughthem(why?),eggsspray-paintedsilverand
morecreepydollsonuglycoloramabackgrounds.
Whata wasteof a Hasselblad.Furtherinvestigation
providesanexplanation.It waspartof a contentswap
dealwitha Germanmagazineandfellowmemberof
EPP,a forerunnerof EISA.If theLeave.EUcampaign
hadputthesepicturesonthesideof a bustheywould
probably have got even more than 52% of the vote!
1977© GRAEME YOUNGSON