Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-04-11)

22 11 April 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

voiceda preferencefor
certainfilmstockandI
wondered,giventhe
obviousrenaissanceof film,
if it mightbepossibleto
publishanarticleshowing
thedifferentqualitiesthat
certainfilmstockspossess.
Fora whilenowI’ve
consideredsupplementing
mydigitalgearwitha
mediumformatfilm
cameraandI thinkI just
needa little‘push’.If you
thinkthata newdigital
cameramightsetyouback
a £1,000it’sanoption
thatmanypeoplemaynot
haveconsidered:asa
completeBronicaETRS
costsaround£350and
processingcancostaslittle
as£5,thisequatestowell
over 100 rollsof filmto
purchasewiththe
remainingmoney.
Dependingonyourown
filmconsumptionthiscould
bemanyyearsof analogue
fun– I thinkthat’sworth
thinkingabout.
DavidRichards

‘NapalmGirl’
Asa greatadmirerof Nick
Utandallhehasachieved
throughthewarimageof
‘NapalmGirl’(AP7 March)
I wanttoaska question
aboutimpactand
perfection.Doesa unique
classicimagehavetobe
thebesttechnicallyorcan
shortcomingsbe
overlookedin thegiven
circumstances?
Nick’sawakeningimage,
takenwitha Leica,has
beencriticisedbeforefor
itslackof sharpness,yet
nothingcandetractfrom
theimmenseemotional
reactionsit stirs.Thisone
picturesayssomuchabout
thehorrorsof warand,as
thecaptionsays,it helped
tochangethecourseof
modernhistory.Giventhe
awfulbattlecircumstances,
howmanyof uswould
havesuccessfullycaptured
thishistoricshotasit
unfoldedorhavedelayed
tofocusmoreontheright
technicalities?
Wereadsomuchtoday
abouttechnicalperfection
throughdeveloping
innovations that we might

fallintothetrapof judging

yesterday’simagesby

today’sstandards.

ShaunParker

Decisivemoment

AsI wasorganisingmyold

photosI cameacrossthis

photo(above)of my

secondsonMichaelwhile

ona campingholidayin

August1961.Wewereall

havinglunchin a pubat

thetime.It wastakenona

KodakRetinette,setas

alwaysat 1/100secat

f/11,withIlford 100 ASA

film.I wouldbevery

pleasedif youcouldgive

meyourcandidand honest

opinionof it.

BrianShiers

I thinkyoumadea bitof

dog’sdinnerofit,Brian.

Seriouslythough,it isn’t

technicallyperfectbut

pictureslikethisareall

aboutthedecisive

momentandtheyusually

onlylastseconds.Had

youfiddledaroundyou

wouldprobablyhave

missedit,butyougotthe

shot,andimmortaliseda

greatmoment–justlike

NickUtdid(seeShaun

Parker’sletter,left).

Sellerbeware

Iwasverysorrytoreadof

JayStocksexperience

(News 15 February).It is

veryeasytofallforthese

con-artists.Onlylastweek

someonetoldmetheyhad

sent£4,000toPayPalfor

anitem.I couldnotbelieve

anyonewouldpaythis

amountforsomething

unseen,thenI foundan

apparenttransactionin my

spam folder. But when I

checkedwithPayPalit was

nosurprisetohearit had

neverheardof thebuyer.

Butalsobewareof

long-establisheddealers.

I tooksomeredundant

equipmenttoa second-

handdealerherein

Scotland,whotoldmethey

wouldinspecttheitems

andthenemailmeanoffer

price.WhenI receivedit a

fewdayslatersomeprices

werereasonableand

otherswerenot,soI

replied,sayingI’dreturn

andcollecttheitemsI

thoughtwereunder-

priced.I wasthentoldthe

itemsI wantedtokeephad

alreadybeensold!Aswith

mostthingsthesedays,

youcan’tbetoocareful.

Neverassumeortake

anythingforgranted.

DavidNorris

Whynotshootfilm?

InresponsetoMrAldridge

‘WhyShootFilm?’(Inbox 7

March)I wouldaskwhynot?

Peoplechoosevinylinstead

of MP3,vintagecarsinstead

of modern,andallforthe

samereason– thatit gives

thempleasure.Yesfilm

lackstheinstantgratification

of digital,butis that

necessarilya badthing?A

littlepatienceis a virtue.

Thecostargument

alwaysamusesmeasI can

pickupa decentSLRfora

fewpounds,whichleavesa

lotleftoverforfilmand

processing,comparedwith

evenanentry-levelDSLR.

I shallhappilycombine

shootingfilmanddigitalfor

aslongasI canaffordit

andI’mguessingmany

otherswilldothe same.

Nigel Cliff

Brian Shiers caught this candid moment of his son in 1961

Back in theday

AwanderthroughtheAParchive.This

week we pay a visit to April 1924

Assertive advertising and romantic nostalgia in AP, 1924

ADVERTISINGin 1924tooka somewhatstroppytone

bymodernstandards.‘Herearethetrenchantfacts!’

barkedImperialaboutwhyitsplatesweresuperior.

CitySaleandExchange(SoleAgentsfortheBritish

EmpireforJulesRichardCameras)soughtto‘Correct

a Misunderstanding’aboutitsusedcamerabusiness.

Somepeoplehad‘formedanopinionthatpurchasing

a high-pricecamerasecond-handis in somestrange

mannerundignified,’it said.‘Nowthefactof thematter

is thata largeproportionof ourexchangebusinessis

concernedwithcamerasof thebetterclass.’

WallaceHeatongaveustheparableof thehawkand

thenightingale.‘Themoralis obvious,’it concluded.‘It

is foolishtoimaginethatbywaitingyouwillgeta better

camerabargain.Seizewhatis tohand!Thereareno

betterbargainsin theworldthanthoseofferedby

WallaceHeaton.’

ThankheavensforthelightreliefprovidedbyHugh

Cecil’s‘TheFalconer’,playedwithErrolFlynn-like

panachebyCaptCWRKnight‘whoseKinematograph

lecture“IntheTreeTops”hasbeenattractingmuch

attention at the Polytechnic, Regent Street, London.’

1924

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