Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-07-26)

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

andvarietyof subjects
thatarecovered.These
aredifficulttimesfor
magazinestocompetein
againstthebackdropof
somuchotheravailable
media,andit is a measure
of AP’squalitythatit
succeedswhileothertitles
haveceasedtoexist.
Onthegeneraltopicof
newtechnology,therewill
alwaysberesistanceto
changebysome.Asan
illustrationI quotesome
editorialcomments
fromFocus, theofficial
newsletterof theReigate
PhotographicSociety,
fromDecember1959.
‘Undoubtedlythe
photographicworld
in generalhasbeen
influencedby“automation”.
Whathasthismeanttothe
photographer?Tothe
ordinarysnapshooter

• whohasbecomevery
  colourconscious– it does
  perhapsmeana larger
  proportionof acceptable
  transparencies.Buttothe
  clubmember,especially
  themoreexperienced
  worker,it meansabsolutely
  nothing.Mostof usprefer
  toknowthattheshotwas
  takenat 1/100thsecat
  F11ratherthanbetold
  “LightValue12”wasthe
  settingandonsomeof the
  moreadvancedautomatic
  modelsonejustdoesnot
  knowwhatis takingplace
  inside“themagicbox”.’
  Sixtyyearson,with
  differentwording,this
  editorialcouldstillresonate
  withmanyphotographers.
  I shouldjustaddthatthe
  newsletterof 1959was
  producedonfoolscap
  paper(whoremembers
  that?),typedontostencils
  and then duplicated on a

Roneomachine.Aseditor

of thecurrentonline

NewsletterI havenodesire

togobacktothatmethod!

PeterFlower

Checkthefirmware

Irecentlypurchaseda

brandnewFujifilmX-Pro

froma well-respected

retailer.It is a lovely

cameraandoneof the

bestI haveeverowned.

However,whenI began

toexplorethemenusas

I learnedhowtousethe

camera,I discoveredthat

oneortwoitemswere

missing.I decidedto

updatethefirmwarein

casethiswasthecause

of theproblem,onlyto

discoverthatthebody

containedfirmware

version2.01whenthe

latestversionwas5.00!

Oncontactingthe

retailerI learnedthatthis

is a problemacrossthe

wholeindustry,asfirmware

canchangesorapidly,and

manufacturersdon’talways

release their products with

thelatestversions.Thisis

perhapsa taleforallnew

userstoconsiderwhen

buyinga camera.The

firstoptionshouldbe

toupdatethefirmware

beforestartingtouse

a camera.It is, afterall,

somethingthatweare

usedtodoingwhenbuying

a newcomputer.

JimOwers

Goodadvice,Jim.That

cameraontheretailer’s

shelfmayhaveleftthe

factorysometimeago

• NigelAtherton, editor

Lessis more

YouclaimthattheCanon

EOS6Dwasthefirst

‘affordable’full-frame

DSLR(Second-hand

Classic, 22June)butI beg

todiffer.I boughtanEOS

5Dkitfor£2,500around

2005 – surelythatwas

thefirstaffordable

full-frameDSLR?I then

boughtmyEOS6Din

2016.However,nowallI

useis mynewCanonRP,

asit weighssignificantly

lessthanmyDSLRs,and

at £1,300I considerit a

bargain,givenitsspecs.

MikeDurrans(Inbox, 22

June)maynotseethe

pointof mirrorlesscameras

butmyold50mmf/1.4,

whichbecametooheavy

formetocarryaround

onmyDSLRowingtoback

problems,nowhasa new

leaseof lifefittedtotheRP.

Andrew S Redding

Checkandupdate
yourfirmware
whenbuyinga
new camera

Back in the day

AwanderthroughtheAParchive.

This week we pay a visittoJuly 1979

Destinations such as Peru offered a lot for photographers

WE’REnotquitesurewhattomakeof thiscover:

maybethearteditorhadjuststarteda ‘hotyoga’class

orsomething,orhada thingaboutleotards.The

skimpycoverlines,meanwhile,lookliketheywere

rattledoffonthewaytoa lunchtimepubsesh– AP

usedtobebasednearFleetStreet,sothisis entirely

possible.Fortunately,thepackageimprovesinside.

WewereparticularlytakenwiththeDaveSaunders

travelogueonPeru,forexample.Thepiecehasa lotof

periodcharm.‘Mybudgetgavemea choiceof oneor

twohotelsforjust£2or£3a night....’Thiswasa world

withoutTripAdvisor,Booking.comandtherest,andit’s

easytogetnostalgic,butonthedownside,gettingto

somewherelikePeruwasmuchmoreof a challenge.

Otherhighlightsincludea usefulguidetoEktachrome

homeprocessinganda testof theMinoltaXG-1 SLR.

Oh,andVictorBlackmanwaswriting about

breastfeeding. Good on him.

1979

EnterthecodebelowviaPhotocrowdtogetone

freeentrytoRoundFive– SmallWorlds

APOY

YOUR FREE ENTRY CODE

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