Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-10-18)

26 12 October 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

YOUR LETTERS

additiontothekitbag,

andoneI’mpleasedto

usequitesimplywhen

circumstancesseem right.

MikeShaw

Copycat

RegardingthearticleNew

lifeforoldnegs(AP 29

June),I haveover1,000

6x9or6x7120-rollfilm

negativesandEktachrome

transparencies,andstill

shoota little35mmor

120 filmforoldtimes'

sake,andasa challenge.

For120,I shootIlford

XP2monochromeusing

a Polaroid 600 SEwith

Mamiyarollfilmbacks;

mylocalcamerastore

processesthenegs,soI

don’tneeda darkroom.

Todigitisethe 120 film

images(forprintingor

digitalviewing)I have

createda home-builtfilm

duplicatortosuitcamera-

basedcopyingof those

images.Usingmy42MP

SonyAlpha 99 II withan

internalfocusingTamron

90mmmacrolensgives

meexcellent2,400dpi

copies.Mycopieris

custom-madetoensure

the56x84mm120/6x9

imageaccuratelymatches

the2x3camerasensor,

formaximumresolution.

For35mmfilm,I have

a second-handPentax

ZoomSlideCopier.The

re-photographingprocess

is quickerthanif I was

scanning.I usePhotoshop

CCorLightroom 11 to

processthedigitised

images– including

SaturatedFilmEffect

torecoverfaded

Ektachomecolours.Long

livefilmphotography!

Graham Lockerbie

That’sa greatbitofDIY

youhavethere,Graham.

Thanksforsharing.I’m

sureyou’vegivena few

ofourreaderssomeideas

• NigelAtherton,editor

InkpricesandBrexit

WhenI boughta Canon

PixmaPro-1printerin

2015,a setof replacement

cartridgescost£194.71.

Thiswasn’tcheap,but

consideringit included 12

cartridgesthatwerequite

largeit wasn’ttoobad.But

nowa setcosts£273.19,

andwithBrexitonthe

horizontheywillprobably

begoingupevenhigher.

Surelythisis a rip-off?

BillCroall

Mostloyalreaders

Ireadwithinterestand

intrigueyourshout-outfor

loyalreadersandwould

liketojointhelonglineof

enthusiastswhoconsider

themselvessuch.

I’vebeenreadingAP

sincethemid’70sand

whileI havedroppedmy

subscriptiontoa fewother

magazinesovertheyears

APwillneversufferthe

samefate:it wouldbe

likelosinganoldfriend

(onethatcontinuesto

annoyinglyreprobate,and

theninstruct,meonmy

technique,knowledge,

gearchoiceetc,butin a

loving,nurturingway).

PersonallyI don’tthink

there’sa magazineout

therethatcouldcompete

withthebalance,integrity,

information,honestyand

humourthatyoubunchof

fanaticscontinuallycreate

andthenmanagetohave

lovinglyshovedthrough

my letterbox. If this doesn’t

convinceyou,I haveaccess

toa smallbudgettospend

onchocolate-related

items,allof whichcould

mysteriouslyfinditswayto

youroffices.Justsaying.

DavidRichards

Sadly,David,youdidn’t

qualifyasoneofour

longest-subscribing

readers,butyourletter

didmakeussmile.Now,

aboutthatchocolate...

• NigelAtherton,editor

I wasbornin 1941and

havebeenreadingAPfor

manydecades.Ofcourse

somepeoplemyagecan’t

rememberwhattheyhad

forbreakfast,butI reckon

photographicallyI goback

to 1962 whenI bought

myfirst35mmcamera,

a KodakRetinaIIIC.I

currentlyuseanOlympus

OM-DE-M1MarkII with

theZuiko12-100 lens.

LionelBailey

Thankstothemanyloyal

readerswhowrotein to

tellusabouttheirlong

associationwithAP.

Unfortunatelywedidn’t

havespacetoprintallof

them,butweenjoyed

readingthem,andwere

touchedbytheaffection

in whichit is heldbyour

readers– Nigel

Atherton,editor

Misleadingjargon

InInbox(AP 21 Sept)you

invitereaderstosuggest

themostirritating

photograohyjargon,and

NigelAthertonsuggests

thesensorsizeterm‘Four

Thirds’.I reckonthatpretty

muchallsensor-sizeterms

areincomprehensibleand

givenoinformationabout

theactualsize.

Theworstoffenderis the

so-called‘1-inch’sensor

whichsurelyimpliesthat

somedimensionof the

sensoris 1 inch.In factthe

sensoris about0.5inches

wide.Evenitsdiagonalis

onlyabout0.6inches.As

Nigelnotes,theseterms

comefromobsoleteTV

technology,butarenow

simplymisleading.

John Humphrey

Back in theday

AwanderthroughtheAParchive.This

week we pay a visit to October 1978

Pet Safari: A guide to taking photos of animals indoors

NEVERin thehistoryof APhasa coverbeenso

perfectlydesignedtoterrifymodernchildrenasthis

onefrom 11 October1978.Thecovermodellooks

liketheuncleof killerclownPennywisefromStephen

King’sIt, andwearestrugglingtofindanyconnection

withthePhotokinacamerashow,whichwasalso

coveredin thisissue.Turnsoutthereis none,asthis

creepycomicentertainercameaspartof a feature

onItalianphotonovels.Wehopewehaven’tupsetany

coulrophobesoutthere.Otherhighlightsin thisissue

includeda columnona disturbingphotoof a babyseal

(thelaughterneverstoppedin thisissue),a reviewof

Sunpakflashgear,anda guidetotakingphotosof

animalsindoors.Oh,therewasalsoa bigPhotokina

report,revealingsomeof thehottestgeartobe

announcedat theshow,butwhyputcamerasor

lensesonthecoverwhenyoucould have a clown?

Answers on a postcard, please.

1978

Graham has created a custom-made film duplicator

© GRAHAM LOCKERBIE