Amateur Photographer

Our portrait was taken by Mammuth, while our lens group photo was taken by Ian Pack at packshots.biz. ■

Welcome to the first of our new monthly bumper issues, featuring an extra 32-page pull-out-and keep section, which each month will be on a different topic. This week’s issue is all about lenses. Technical editor Andy Westlake assesses the range of le

Each week we choose our favourite picture on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr or Twitter using #appicoftheweek. PermaJet proudly supports the online picture of the week winner, who will receive a top-quality print of their image on the finest PermaJet pap

Fragile presents beautifully crafted pictures of birds’ eggs by the well-known landscape photographer Colin Prior, side by side with photographs of the birds’ habitats. The title of the book reflects both the fragility of the eggs themselves, but als

ADOBE has announced the latest updates to its Photoshop Elements image editor and the video-centric Premiere Elements, with Adobe’s AI technology, Adobe Sensei, driving many of the key improvements. These include the ability to create animated GIFs w

A RANGE of photographic associations, groups and companies have joined forces to form The Coalition of Photographers, with the aim of putting pressure on the government to do more to help photography and video businesses suffering was a result of Cov

FUJIFILM has also revealed a weather-sealed version of its mid-range wideangle zoom, in the shape of the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR. Details were scant when we went to press, but logic suggests the updated lens will share its optical design and vital sta

WITH firmware version 4.0 for the X-T3, Fujifilm is promising that the camera’s autofocus performance will be brought in line with that of its flagship X-T4. The minimum acquisition time has been reduced from 0.06 to 0.02 seconds, while an updated mo

WHEN I first heard about the X-S10, I must admit to being sceptical, as I enjoy using Fujifilm models with analogue control dials. But after a few days trying out a pre-production sample, it’s won me over. This is a lovely little camera that fits nic

BOTH cameras will be available either body only, or in kits with the FTZ mount adapter and/or the Nikkor-Z 24-70mm F4 S lens. The Z 6II will cost £1,999 body only, £2,139 with the FTZ adapter, £2,549 with the 24-70mm F4, and £2,679 with both. Meanwhi

NIKON hasn’t necessarily done anything radical with these ‘mark II’ cameras, but has instead concentrated on fixing the originals’ most obvious weaknesses. Its carefully calibrated set of updates should make both models more attractive to demanding u

ONE QUIRK of the original Z 6 and Z 7 is that they can’t accept a proper vertical grip, instead employing the MB-N10, that simply holds a pair of batteries. Nikon has fixed this with the mark II models, as thanks to a set of contacts inside the batte

NIKON has also unveiled a pair of radio-frequency wireless remote controller sets. These comprise the WR-T10 transmitter and a transceiver that plugs into the camera’s remote socket. Multiple units can be linked to a single transmitter, allowing seve

SPLIT broadly into Fujinon XF and XC models, X Series lenses cover ultra-wideangle to super-telephoto in prime and zoom models. XF models are for enthusiasts and pros. There’s a full suite of primes offering both compact models and heavyweight beasts

Since May 2019 Andy has been shooting exclusively with the Olympus mirrorless camera system. He currently works with the E-M1 Mark III and E-M1X cameras and has a variety of the Olympus Pro lenses in his kitbag. Andy reveals, ‘I was an early tester o

Aspherical lenses use complex shapes to suppress various aberrations. Generally designed using a computer, these elements can’t be produced using the same rotating machinery as the regular elements. Canon uses three methods to produce aspherical lens

MR SAITO joined Canon in 1981 as an apprentice and did various jobs before finding his niche as a lens polisher. As the Takumi, he oversees all lens polishing at the plant (they polish approximately 5,000 lens elements per day at Utsunomiya) and is a

Control the known distortions of your lens by using its profile data from DxO’s archive. At the top right, under Distortions, click Auto, and if you don’t already have the lens data loaded, you’ll be prompted to locate the original file. From that, t

Launch Viewpoint or Perspective Efex, and load in your image. At the top of the interface you’ll see options for navigating and viewing the image. The grid (G) is helpful in showing the extent of skewed perspective. There are also options to show a s

It’s not the most instantly photographic of applications, but ViewPoint 3 and Perspective Efex’s Rectangular and 8 Point tools are great for enabling you to quickly and easily square up pictures of paintings, posters, table tops… anything that you wa

The simplest and most affordable way to protect your lens is to use a clear protecting filter, or a UV filter. These screw in to the lens filter thread and they provide an extra level of protection to that precious front element. It is important to g

During the on-going restrictions on what we are able to do, I’d like to suggest that everyone uses this as an opportunity to reacquaint themselves with past copies of AP. True, the reviews can seem a little dated now, and the Editor looks a little yo

Group Editor Nigel Atherton Deputy Editor Geoff Harris Technical Editor Andy Westlake Features Editor Amy Davies Technique Editor Hollie Latham Hucker Production Editor Jacqueline Porter Art Editor Sarah Foster Photo-Science Consultant Profess

‘WITH the best of the very bright weather passed… it is comforting to reflect that the days when cameras would be put away until the next season are over forever’ chirped Editor FJ Mortimer in his leader, before going on to celebrate the arrival of m

A Samsung 64GB EVO Plus microSDXC with SD adapter Class 10 UHS-1 Grade U3 memory card supports 4K UHD. Offering R/W speeds of up to 100MB/s /60MB/s and a 10-year limited warranty. www.samsung.com/uk/memory-cards. LETTER OF THE WEEK WINS A SAMSUNG EVO

I’ve been a reader since a teenager in the 60’s and a subscriber for many years. So my collection of Amateur Photographer grows ever larger, and at some point I have to, with a heavy heart, cull. It would be so good if I could have each year’s collec

Click on the Create new fill or adjustment layer icon (the half black, half white circle) in the Layers panel and select Black & White from the dropdown menu. In Deborah’s case, the Default conversion reveals a lot of that lovely texture, though lack

If you’d prefer to have 4-way geared control of camera movements, enabling both fore-and-aft and side-to-side adjustment, take a look at the Velbon Super Mag Slider (£80). It’s much bulkier than the NiSi NM-180, and makes do with simple screw fixings

In my most recent article I discussed the modulation transfer function, or MTF, for measuring lens definition. Today I will discuss what can be learned from MTF graphs, in more detail than simply whether a lens is ‘sharp’ or not. Previously, I explai

AF Nikon AF lenses driven from camera AF-S Nikon lenses with Silent Wave Motor AF-P Nikon lenses with stepper motors AL Pentax lenses with aspheric elements APD Fujifilm lenses with apodisation elements APO Sigma Apochromatic lenses ASPH Aspher