Amateur Photographer – 20 July 2019

subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 20 July 2019 15

and variety of subjects
that are covered. These
are diffi cult times for
magazines to compete in
against the backdrop of
so much other available
media, and it is a measure
of AP’s quality that it
succeeds while other titles
have ceased to exist.
On the general topic of
new technology, there will
always be resistance to
change by some. As an
illustration I quote some
editorial comments
from Focus, the offi cial
newsletter of the Reigate
Photographic Society,
from December 1959.
‘Undoubtedly the
photographic world
in general has been
infl uenced by “automation”.
What has this meant to the
photographer? To the
ordinary snapshooter

• who has become very
  colour conscious – it does
  perhaps mean a larger
  proportion of acceptable
  transparencies. But to the
  club member, especially
  the more experienced
  worker, it means absolutely
  nothing. Most of us prefer
  to know that the shot was
  taken at 1/100th sec at
  F11 rather than be told
  “Light Value 12” was the
  setting and on some of the
  more advanced automatic
  models one just does not
  know what is taking place
  inside “the magic box”.’
  Sixty years on, with
  different wording, this
  editorial could still resonate
  with many photographers.
  I should just add that the
  newsletter of 1959 was
  produced on foolscap
  paper (who remembers
  that?), typed onto stencils
  and then duplicated on a

Roneo machine. As editor

of the current online

Newsletter I have no desire

to go back to that method!

Peter Flower

Check the fi rmware

I recently purchased a

brand new Fujifi lm X-Pro

from a well-respected

retailer. It is a lovely

camera and one of the

best I have ever owned.

However, when I began

to explore the menus as

I learned how to use the

camera, I discovered that

one or two items were

missing. I decided to

update the fi rmware in

case this was the cause

of the problem, only to

discover that the body

contained fi rmware

version 2.01 when the

latest version was 5.00!

On contacting the

retailer I learned that this

is a problem across the

whole industry, as fi rmware

can change so rapidly, and

manufacturers don’t always

release their products with

the latest versions. This is

perhaps a tale for all new

users to consider when

buying a camera. The

fi rst option should be

to update the fi rmware

before starting to use

a camera. It is, after all,

something that we are

used to doing when buying

a new computer.

Jim Owers

Good advice, Jim. That

camera on the retailer’s

shelf may have left the

factory some time ago

• Nigel Atherton, editor

Less is more

You claim that the Canon

EOS 6D was the fi rst

‘affordable’ full-frame

DSLR (Second-hand

Classic, 22 June) but I beg

to differ. I bought an EOS

5D kit for £2,500 around

2005 – surely that was

the fi rst affordable

full-frame DSLR? I then

bought my EOS 6D in

2016. However, now all I
      use is my new Canon RP,
      as it weighs signifi cantly
      less than my DSLRs, and
      at £1,300 I consider it a
      bargain, given its specs.
      Mike Durrans (Inbox, 22
      June) may not see the
      point of mirrorless cameras
      but my old 50mm f/1.4,
      which became too heavy
      for me to carry around
      on my DSLR owing to back
      problems, now has a new
      lease of life fi tted to the RP.
      Andrew S Redding

Check and update
your firmware
when buying a
new camera

Back in the day

A wander through the AP archive.

This week we pay a visit to July 1979

Destinations such as Peru offered a lot for photographers

WE’RE not quite sure what to make of this cover:

maybe the art editor had just started a ‘hot yoga’ class

or something, or had a thing about leotards. The

skimpy coverlines, meanwhile, look like they were

rattled off on the way to a lunchtime pub sesh – AP

used to be based near Fleet Street, so this is entirely

possible. Fortunately, the package improves inside.

We were particularly taken with the Dave Saunders

travelogue on Peru, for example. The piece has a lot of

period charm. ‘My budget gave me a choice of one or

two hotels for just £2 or £3 a night....’ This was a world

without TripAdvisor, Booking.com and the rest, and it’s

easy to get nostalgic, but on the downside, getting to

somewhere like Peru was much more of a challenge.

Other highlights include a useful guide to Ektachrome

home processing and a test of the Minolta XG-1 SLR.

Oh, and Victor Blackman was writing about

breastfeeding. Good on him.

1979

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Andrew Redding uses the RP as it is lighter than his DSLRs