Amateur Photographer - UK 2019-07-12)

subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 6 July 2019 13

dimensional, moving

world as a two-

dimensional, static

rectangle (or square).

A high shutter speed

‘frozen’ water treatment

is no more ‘realistic’ than

a motion-blurred one. I

suspect that one reason

for the popularity of this

technique is that the look

can’t easily be replicated

on a smartphone and so

makes the image look

less like a snapshot

• Nigel Atherton, editor

Parkinson clanger

I write as a regular reader,

an octogenarian, and as

someone with a close eye

for detail. The pink car

published in the Norman

Parkinson feature (Never

out of fashion, 1 June) is

described as a Rover 10S,

but I regret to inform you

that there never was a car

with that designation. In

1957, the then Rover Car

Co. manufactured the P

saloon, which this car

undoubtedly is, with a

variety of engines. The

most likely model is the

Rover 105S, the manual

transmission version, but

it could also be the 105R

which was equipped with

automatic transmission

but produced in limited

numbers. I trust that this

information will set the

record straight.

Geoffrey H Robinson

I never fail to be

impressed by the

combined knowledge

on almost any topic held

within our readership.

Thanks, Geoffrey – Nigel

Atherton, editor

Pentax reliability

In Autumn 2012, I bought

a Pentax K-30 with a

18-135mm kit lens. It

was pleasing to use and

adequate for my purposes.

After just over 3.5 years it

developed a fault whereby,

after turning it on, the

fi rst few exposures were

severely underexposed

(not recoverable), after

which it worked fi ne until it

was next turned off (or on

powersave mode) and on

again, when the problem

repeated itself. Pentax’s

repair estimate of over

£250 meant it was beyond

economic repair. The

problem got worse until

using the camera was not

practical. Less than

four years since buying

the camera, it was

disappointing to say the

least, but I put it down to

bad luck with a rogue

camera and moved on

• what Rover cars used to
  call a ‘Friday afternoon
  product’ before they
  slipped into well-deserved
  obscurity. So I bought a
  K-S2 to continue using my
  lenses. But here we are,
  another 3.5 years down
  the road, and the K-S2 is
  showing exactly the
  same symptoms.
  Can you spot a pattern
  developing here? Are
  you aware of any Pentax
  reliability issues or have

I been exceptionally

unlucky? My cameras don’t

receive rough treatment

or excessive use. I have

had lots; I have never had

one break down before;

andmyCanonAE1,

boughtin themid-1970s,

stillworksfine.SoI don’t

considerI shouldbepaying

fortheserepairsforwhat

appearstobea designor

manufacturingissue.

I havenowdraggedmy

oldPentaxK-r(all12MP

of it, withnoliveview,no

videoandnoWR)outof

retirement.Atleastit still

works.Buyinganother

Pentax is not high on my

list of priorities!

Excellent mag, by the

way. I loved the articles in

the AP 1 June issue: Close

Encounters, Wildlife Watch

and the monstrous Nikon

E2. I’ve been a reader

since 1960. One of our

teachers would put his

copy in the school

library when he’d read it,

and that was it – I was

hooked. Mike Gosling

Sorry, Mike, this is a

known problem with

several Pentax DSLR

models, including both

the K-30 and K-S2, and

Pentax won’t cover the

cost of the repairs. There

are several ‘how to’

videos online showing

how to fi x this problem

yourself, but they are not

reliable and may make

the problem worse.

Perhaps one of our

readers will know of an

an independent repairer

who can fi x them for a

reasonable rate – Nigel

Atherton, editor

The naked truth

In his Viewpoint (AP 22

June) Michael Topham

says, ‘Photographers can’t

bare other photographers

getting in the way’. I should

hope not – especially

in winter!

Jonathan Hunter

Sorry. We should have

picked up on this typo,

Jonathan – that’s the

naked truth – Nigel

Atherton, editor

Geoffreysaidthatthiscaris likelytobea Rover105Sor 105R

Back in the day

A wander through the AP archive.

ThisweekwepayavisittoJuly 2000

The issue carried a gallery of the 143rd RPS Print contest

This week we set the controls for the heart of... no, not

the sun, to disappoint Pink Floyd fans, but to 8 July

2000. The millennial celebrations were in full swing
      and it was a patriotic issue, with the cover bigging up a
      feature on vintage MPP cameras by Ivor Matanle (a
      long-time and very well-regarded AP contributor who
      sadly passed away this year). In other hardware news,
      Joël Lacey tested the Nikon Coolpix 990, which
      illustrated the great leap forwards that digital cameras
      were making. The 990 could record 3.1MP images
      which, although puny by today’s standards, was quite a
      jump from the 1.2MP recorded by the Coolpix 900S
      only two years earlier. Another big feature was on the
      143rd RPS Print contest, which was pushing the
      boundaries then, as now. Other highlights include a
      story on how to take a group shot of a whole village for
      the millennium – it all seems such a long time ago now.

2000

© NORMAN PARKINSON ARCHIVE/ICONIC IMAGES