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LETTER OF THE WEEK
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Photographic purpose
Editorial team Group Editor Nigel Atherton Geoff Harris Deputy Editor Andy Westlake Technical Editor Michael Topham Reviews Editor Amy Davies Features Editor Technique Editor Hollie Latham Hucker Jacqueline Porter Production Editor Chief Sub Editor/Features Jolene Menezes Acting Chief Sub/Features Amanda Stroud Sarah Foster Art Editor Steph Tebboth Senior Designer Andrew Sydenham Studio Manager Photo-Science Consultant Professor Robert Newman Hollie Bishop Office Manager Special thanks to The moderators of the AP website: Andrew Robertson, lisadb, Nick Roberts, The Fat Controller
Advertising Head of Market Liz Reid 07949 179 200 Senior Account Manager Samuel Shaw 07970 615 618 Production Coordinator Chris Gozzett 0203 148 2694 Chief Executive Officer Marcus Rich Group Managing Director Adrian Hughes Managing Director Kirsty Setchell Printed by Walstead UK Limited Distributed by Marketforce 5 Churchill Place, London E14 Telephone 0203 787 9001 Editorial Complaints We work hard to achieve the highest standards of editorial content, and we are committed to complying with the Editors’ Code of Practice (www.ipso.co.uk/ IPSO/cop.html) as enforced by IPSO. If you have a complaint about our editorial content, you can email us at complaints@ti media.com or write to Complaints Manager, TI Media Limited Legal Department, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Please provide details of the material you are complaining about and explain your complaint by reference to the Editors’ Code. We will endeavour to acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days, and we aim to correct substantial errors as soon as possible. All contributions to Amateur Photographer must be original, not copies or duplicated to other publications. The editor reserves the right to shorten or modify any letter or material submitted. TI Media Limited or its associated companies reserves the right to re use any submission sent to the letters column of Amateur Photographer magazine, in any format or medium, WHETHER PRINTED, ELECTRONIC OR OTHERWISE Amateur Photographer® is a registered trademark of TI Media Limited © TI Media Limited 2020 Amateur Photographer (incorporating Photo Technique, Camera Weekly & What Digital Camera) Email: amateurphotographer@ ti media.com Website: www.amateurphotographer.co.uk. TI Media Limited switchboard tel: 0203 148 5000 Amateur Photographer is published weekly (51 issues per year) on the Tuesday preceding the cover date by TI Media Limited, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Distributed by Marketforce (UK) Ltd, 5 Churchill Place, London E14. ISSN 0002 6840. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval or transmitted in any format or medium, whether printed, electronic or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the editor. This is considered a breach of copyright and action will be taken where this occurs. This magazine must not be lent, sold, hired or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or in any authorised cover by way, or by trade, or annexed to any publication or advertising matter without first obtaining written permission from the publisher. TI Media Limited does not accept responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited photographs and manuscripts, and product samples. TI Media Limited reserves the right to use any submissions sent to Amateur Photographer Magazine in any format or medium, including electronic. One year subscription (51 issues) £155.50 (UK), e259 (Europe), $338.99 (USA), £221.99 (rest of world). The 2015 US annual DEU subscription price is $338.99, airfreight and mailing in the USA by named Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156 15, 146th Avenue, 2nd floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Amateur Photographer, Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc, 156 15, 146th Avenue, 2nd floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscriptions records are maintained at TI Media Limited, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent.
LETTER OF THE WEEK W NS A SAMSUNG EVO PLUS M CROSD CARD NOTE: PR ZE APPL ES TO UK AND EU RESIDENTS ONLY
Publishing team
I see there have been a number of articles written about mental health, recently so I just wanted to share my experiences. In January 1999 I suffered a nervous breakdown and spent three-and-a-half months in a mental institution. This was very terrifying initially, but you soon fit in with the rest of the patients. When I came home, I literally sat and looked at four walls. I didn’t switch the TV on, I just sat. My kids came up with the idea of buying a camera, which I did. Then they suggested setting up an Instagram account – which I did, with their help. I now regularly post on Instagram, and in the short period of time that I have been doing it I’m now at 380 followers. Not bad for a 54-year-old bloke. I travel around using my disabled bus pass, and even go down to London. If it wasn’t for photography, I would still be staring at four walls, or worse. Recently I purchased my second Canon camera, which is much better than my 4000D. But I intend to use them both so I don’t have to keep
Win!
swapping lenses. I spend a lot of time on Instagram and Photoshop. I’ve completed online diplomas for smartphone photography and Lightroom, and I’m currently doing further diplomas on photography and Photoshop. So through gritted teeth, initially, I have truly got the photography bug. There is a message behind my story. That men, especially, shouldn’t suffer in silence. I did, and I was like a ticking time bomb. Eventually the bomb went off and I totally destroyed the family dynamic. So I urge anyone who is feeling low, to seek help as soon as possible. My wife left me, due to my depression, which was a blow, especially as I also have cancer, and I am in fact writing this from a hospital bed, having got my fifth dose of pneumonia. But at the moment, all I’m thinking is when I get out, I can put my smart new camera through its paces. So I wanted to pass on the message that photography has changed my life. It has given me a purpose, and I’ve made a lot of online friends. Dave Varley
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.
It’s a Werra
Michael Kay is indeed correct when he identifies the mystery camera on your 1965 Christmas cover as a Zeiss Werra (Inbox 14 March). It was one of my first cameras and I loved it so much that a few years ago I sought out a second-hand model. It was exactly as I remembered, made by the Zeiss Jena factory in East Germany
Times have changed
I am a new subscriber to the magazine, having returned to photography after a long absence. I will give you an idea of how long if I tell you that my camera back then was a Zenit-B. I read all of the magazines for a few months before deciding I liked the style and content of AP the best. How things have changed while I have been away – digital SLRs, mirrorless, TTL, Nikon’s creative lighting system (CLS), and just about everything else in amateur photography. My Zenit did not even need a battery! I particularly like being able to look at the view through the lens on my tablet and to focus and fire the camera alongside the myriad control functions that tethering allows me access to. Thank goodness for AP and good friends to guide me. One of the major differences today is the ability to keep shooting until you get the photograph you have in mind. Back then it was simply not affordable, and every shot that went wrong was another hit in the pocket. Of course, you wouldn’t know until you developed the film or went to collect your prints, and by then it was often too late to take another shot. What I should like to suggest is a series of masterclasses for all us newbies and those trying to keep up with the ever-changing world of photography. The subjects
(DDR). It has a circular ring around the lens for advancing the film and a rather neat incorporated lens hood that doubles as a lens cap when inverted. The lens is a 50mm Tessa with excellent optics. Needless to say it was eventually supplanted by a Zenit-E SLR, but it gave me excellent service for several years. Ian Macilwain A Zeiss Werra – named after a German river
subscribe 0330 333 1113 I www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 18 April 2020
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