Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-03-14)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 14 March 2020 21

Annoyingscrew
WhenreadingAndy
Westlake’sreviewof the
LeicaM10Monochrom
(AP, 22 February),I found
myeyesbeingcontinually
drawntowardsthatlarge
singlescrewheadonthe
frontof thecamerabody,
directlyabovethelens
mount,andthereasonwhy
myeyesweredrawntoit is
becauseit wassquint.
Theengineerin mesays
thattheslotin a screw
headlikethatshouldeither
behorizontal(preferably)
orvertical,butnever
squint.If I ownedthis
camera,I wouldbesorely
temptedtotakea
screwdriverandtryand
squareit uptomakeit look
better,whichI amsure
wouldhorrifya Leica
engineer.I imaginethat
thereis a validreasonwhy
theslotis squint,orindeed
whyanuglyvisiblescrew
headis therein thefirst
place.I wouldlove to know.
D Thomson

Thisis thecoverforthe
rangefinder’salignment
mechanism.It simply
doesupuntilit’stight.
Liningupthesloteither
verticallyorhorizontally
wouldmeanunscrewing
it slightly,whichwould
riskit workinglooseand
gettinglost.Onprevious
M modelsthescrewhas
beencoveredupbythe
Leicadot,which
probablyexplainswhy
Leicahasn’tengineered
thecoversotheslotends
upverticalorhorizontal.

PhonesforHugh
Iknowsomereadersmay
questionwhyyoutest
phone cameras but we all

carrya phonethesedays

andusethemforsnaps,so

whowouldn’twanttoknow

whichonehasthebest

camera?Myonlycriticism

is youonlytestedtop-of-

the-rangemodels.I’dlove

toknowhowthemore

affordableofferings fare.

HughPotter

Mysterycamera

Ibelievethatthemystery

cameraonthecoverof

yourChristmas 1965

cover(Inbox, 8 Feb)is a

Yashicarangefinder.

ProbablyanMG1with

40mmf/2.8lens.Yashica

madethousandsof 35mm

fixed-lensrangefinder

cameras.Manywere

seleniummetered.Later

oneshadCdSmetering.

Mosthadparallax

correction,asmyYashica

MinisterIII has.Sadlymany

passedthroughthehands

of idiotswhodisplayed

themin theirshopwindows

wherethemetercellswere

degradedbybeingleftin

stronglight.MyMinister

wasonesuch.Fortunately

havinganuncoupledmeter

theycanbeusedwith

handheldmeters.Most

haveself-timers,although

manyhavefaileddueto

lack of use. And there’s a

filterthread.A goodfirst

camerafora youngster.

BillHoulder

I thinkthecamerais a

Werra.If I amcorrect,it

wasa sturdymachinewith

anunusualmethodof

cockingtheshutter.It was

madein GermanybutI am

unsurewhetherthefactory

wasin theEastorthe

West.TheWerrafeltgood

in thehandandwas

temptingbutI wasalready

committedtoNikon.

MichaelKaye

Manuallabour

DonGoodman(Inbox, 8

February)providedcontact

detailsof a companyselling

printedcopiesof manuals

for‘everycameraand

iPhone’.A quickonline

searchidentifiedseveral

suchcompanies.

I canunderstand

manufacturers’reluctance

toprovidefullreference

manualsforeveryproduct

• includinga manualwould
  clearlyaddtothe
  transportationcosts.
  I wouldliketoadda word
  of caution.Lookingat my
  downloadedmanualsfor
  myDSLRstheystressthat
  ‘noreproductionin any
  formof thismanual,in
  wholeorin part(exceptfor
  briefquotationin critical
  articlesorreviews),maybe
  madewithoutwritten
  authorisation’.I’m
  uncertainwhattheposition
  is abouttheseprinted
  manuals,whethertheend
  user,orthecompanythat
  printedandsoldthem,is
  liableif themanufacturer
  decidestotakeaction.
  JonathanSmith

It’sinconceivablethata

companywouldtake

legalactionagainst

someoneforprintingan

instructionmanualthatis

onlysuppliedasa pdf,

andthusmakingit easier

foritscustomersto

understandhowtouse

itsproducts.Imaginethe

flakit wouldget!Butif it

did,it wouldbethe

supplierofthemanuals,

nottheenduser,who

would be in trouble.

The mystery screw on the front of the Leica M10 Monochrom

ThemysterycameraonAP’s

cover from Christmas 1975

Back in the day

AwanderthroughtheAParchive.

This week we pay a visit to March 1934

‘Why do we take photographs?’ fromTopics of the Week

ONEOFthemostpopularrecurringthemesonAPcovers

of themid1930swashandcolouring,usuallywitha

singlespotcolour,andthisissueis typicalof theperiod.

AmongtheTopicsof theWeekunderdiscussionis the

philosophicalquestion‘Whydowetakephotographs?’It

wasposedtoa groupof pictorialistsbytheevocatively

namedMajorPCBull,whosoundslikethekindof man

whosays‘poppycock’a lot.Heexplainedthatphotography

is ‘merelya wayof keepingourselvesoutof mischiefin our

sparetime’.Furthermore,thecorrespondentreported,

‘MajorBull’sanswerto hisownquestionis thathetakes

photographsbecausehejollywellwantsto.’(Hedidn’t

actuallysay‘jollywell’butyoucanhearit in thetone).

Photographsarenotart,heinsists.‘Wehavenobusiness

to makethemunlikephotographs,andif wedofeela little

thrillof pleasurewhensomeonesaysof ourwork,“There,

now,whowouldthinkit wasa photograph”wemustknow

thatis of thedevil.’It wasnotrecordedwhetheranyone

in the room was brave enough to disagree with him.

1934