12 13 April 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
THE
VEWS
EXPRESSED
IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR
TMED
AL
MTED
TherelativelyhumbleKonicamadeautofocus
availableatareasonablepricefromdayone.
Andrefreshingly,thisisoftenthecasewith
groundbreaking photographic developments
View point
Jon Bentley
©
JON
BENTLEY
D
oproductsthatpioneernew
technologiesneedto be
expensive?Therearemany
commonplacegadgetsthat
startedoutthepreserveof thewealthyfew.
Personalcomputers,mobilephones,car
radiosand,morerecently,OLEDTVsall
launchedwitheye-wateringpricetagsand
tookyearsorevendecadesto comedown
in priceandgainmassappeal.
Happilyit’snotalwaysthecase,asI was
remindedtheotherweekwhenshooting
anitemforTheGadgetShow. Thesubject
wastheworld’sfirstproductioncamerato
featureautofocus.Thisgroundbreaking
technologydidn’tlaunchonanupmarket
SLRbutonthe 1977 KonicaC35AF,a
relativelyaffordablepoint-and-shoot.
MaybethefactthatKonicawasable
toadoptanothercompany’sexpertise
helpedkeepthedevelopmentcostsdown.
ThecamerausesHoneywell’sVisitronic
system,whichdeploysanearlyformof
contrast detection autofocus. Sensors
measurecontrastlevelsin thecentreof
theframefromslightlydifferentangles,
analysingthemwitha microprocessor,and
triggeringthelenstomovetothecorrect
focusingpositionasyoutaketheimage.
Excitingdevelopments
Second-hand,thecamerasarewidely
availableat modestcostandwebought
oneforfilming.Themechanicalcontrols,
focusingsystemandelectronicflashwere
allin perfectworkingorder.Whilethe
autofocusis slowbytoday’sstandards,
thebattery-freeoperationproducesa
satisfyingmechanicalwhirrreminiscent
of someclassictimepiece.
Therearesignificantlimitationsthough.
There’snooptiontofocusandreframe
beforeyoufiretheshutter,soyoursubject
caneasilyendupoutof focusif it’snotin
thecentreof thepicture.Whilea dialon
thefrontof thecameragivesyoua rough
indicationof thefocusdistanceselected,
youcanonlyseeit byturningthecamera
roundafteryou’vetakentheshot,which
is patentlytoolate.Butwhenyouget
everythingright,andluck’sonyourside,it
givesimpressivesharpnessandcontrast.
What’sgreatthoughis thattheKonica
madeautofocusavailableat a reasonable
price.Whichgotmethinkinghowin
photographythisis oftenthecase.The
firstrollfilmwasmadeforthemass
marketKodakBoxcamera,which
becametheBoxBrownie.Theultra-
compactdigitalpioneer,therelatively
cheapCasioExilimEX-S1of 2002,beat
thefirstmoreexpensiveconsumerDSLR
ontothemarket,theCanonEOS300D,
bya year.Today’scomputational
photography- digitalprocessingin
cameratocreatebettershots- is being
mostimpressivelydevelopedin mobile
phonecameras,notsomeinaccessibly
expensivededicatedcamera.
Let’shopeotherexcitingdevelopments
in photographycontinuetoarrivein an
affordableformreadyformassadoption.
Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround
500 wordstotheaddressonpage 14 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.
JonBentleyis a TVproducerandpresenterbestknown
forTop Gear and Channel 5’s The Gadget Show
Above:ThepioneeringKonicaC35AF
Below:A shotofBenBhatia,TheGadget
Show series director, taken with the C35 AF
© MICHAEL TOPHAM
©
CHARLOTTE BELL AMY
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Second-handlove
Wespeaktoprofessionalswhouse
second-hand fi lm and digital models
Filmfavourites
AndyWestlakerevealssomeofhis
favouritesecond-handfilm cameras
Rewindtofilm
JohnWadeexplainstheinsandoutsof
how to use second-hand fi lm cameras
Wepointyoutothebest
second-handdigitalcameras
that are worth checking out
Digital
bargains
In next week’s issue
On sale Tuesday 16 April
© JON BENTLEY
© ANDY WESTL AKE
SECOND-HAND SPECIAL