Amateur Photographer (2019-04-13)

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

CONTENT

FOR

NEXT

WEEK

SSSUE

MAY

BESUBJECT

TO

CHANGE

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