A Short Photographic history

 

First Camera

Well someone might be interested to know that the first camera I owned was a Russian Zorki 4 rangefinder bought by my dad as a birthday present (he probably wanted his Olympus back!) The Zorki was a Lieca copy and well made.  This sparked off an interest in photography which was almost in my blood anyway.  as My father worked on ships and slide shows of his travels were a regular thing in our household

A longer reach

In the mid 70s I was into motor cycles so a  rangefinder was a bit limiting ; so a year or so after getting the Zorki I bought a secondhand Practica Nova IB. Solid E German build quality with a Pentax  screw fit meant that I could get some additional lenses a Carenar 28mm and a Paragon 70-210 zoom  was my kit for a year or so.

Fuji SLR

I went to many motor bike or car race meetings as a spectator If it was on wheels I’d go to see it the need for a better camera with auto exposure led me in 1978 to buy  a Fuji SLR,  ST901 with a LED shutter display It was  a wonder of technology at the time.  Digital watches were in and my Suzuki GT380 motor bike had a digital gear indicator WOW!    The high tech metering system was not matched by the old screw treaded lens mount, So a few years later I had the cash to buy an up to date camera.

After some deliberations I decided on a Pentax ME Super. It was light; well made and had a digital display with push button shutter speed selection. I bought a wonderful Tamron 28-50 lens and a 70-210 zoom. I expected this to be a long term purchase but it didn’t work out that way. Firstly the feature on the Pentax which impressed; the new style button for shutter speed proved to be an intense annoyance in manual mode.  I ended up hating that camera after a few weeks use.

Photo Club

It was around the 1977/78 that I  joined the Ordnance Survey Photo Club. In the mid 1970s there were 150 members and we were getting some prestigious speakers the likes of Victor Blackman the Daily Express glamour photographer we had over 300 people ole for that one.  Being a part of a photo  club was a great learning experience. We had (and still do) have some of the best amateur photographers in the region. I had a lot of encouragement and inspiration from fellow members.  It had been a good part of my life for 25 years .

Happy Medium

At around 1982 I became interested in black and white printing I dabbled in  Ordnance Survey Photo Clubs darkroom and soon became hooked!  I bought an ancient 1930s Rolliflex 6x6 camera with a colleague with the intention to share. I soon want exclusive use; so I bought a more modern Rolliecord VB from the 1960s. I loved using this Camera; but on one of my first trips out with it it was nearly the death of me!

 

The Rollei has a viewfinder which shows the image in reverse; this is not much of an issue for portraiture. I was standing by a Welsh railway track watching a steam train approach and at the train approaches the visuals suggested that I should leap to the right to get out of the way. However as the viewfinder was in reverse I came close to leaping to the left in to the path of the locomotive! Thankfully I has the sense to look up!

From the early 1980s I was a keen hill walker, this brought together my love of the countryside and my interest in landscape photography. I was always at the back of any group I was with as there was always a photo to be had. Not all my friends shared this enthusiasm; but  my occasional  slide shows were always appreciated. 

A Cloud has a silver Lining

In 1983 my house was burgled and my camera holdall was stolen.  Inside was all my kit including my Rolliecord filters and my 35mm kit.  The only survivor was my Weston light meter which was hanging on the banisters.  Thankfully I was insured, so was able to replace all my gear.

 

 I saw the error of my ways and replaced  the Pentax with a Minolta X500 and 3 Tamron lenses; a 28-70  a 24 mm F2.5 and a little later  a Tamron 70-210 SP F3.8  This was the basis of my kit for over 10 years: adding a  Minolta X700 my first auto programme camera.  Used with a Tamron SP 2x converter I was able to get some nice shots but It was too slow to be used without a tripod.

I also used a Pentacon 6x6 SLR; with a basket of accessories with a monster 300mm F4 lens given to me by a friend who was left it all by a deceased relative. The Pentacon was a heavy liability; So I bought another Rolliecord as a walk around camera.

I also had  a secondhand Rollei 35 which was a brilliant if eccentric little camera; It was great for mountaineering; which was becoming more of a passion at that time.

I was inspired to travel due to the photography I’d seen at the photo club In the Late 1980s I started to take trips away from Britain, I travelled extensively In France; Spain Switzerland, Italy and frequently visited Scotland;( 25 visits since 1982) I loved the moody dramatic mountain landscapes and also began to take more of an interest In people photography.   Morocco was a particular favourite; but my trips to India and Nepal changed my outlook completely. I saw any  inspiring things in Asia and began to realize that there was more to life outside of Europe.

In 1993 I was on the first day of a trek in the Indian Himalayas. Wandering round a Buddhist monastery the front part of my Tamron 28-70 zoom fell off into the dust. I was mortified!  There wasn’t a hope of getting a replacement in this remote Kingdom of Ladakh. We were going to spend 3 weeks trekking and climbing well away from  any kind of town.  I managed to fix the zoom ring back together and by taping the lens barrel I managed to rescue it.  It lasted the trip But it was beyond economic repair ; so I eventually  replaced it with a Tokina 28- 70. I also experimented with a 300mm F5.6  Mirror lens; but I really wasn’t happy with the doughnuts (the out of focus highlights 

My kit remained the same until around 1998 when a Colleague offered me a Pentax Z1 kit for a bargain price £400 inc 28-70 and 70-200 AF lenses. I also bought a secondhand Pentax P30 as a second manual focus body.  I liked the ZI a lot; it had all I wished for in a camera. It was certainly the best camera I’d owned  up to that date.  I used the Pentax system until  2003; when I decided to go Digital en route to Cambodia.

 

Most of my photography has been done on fairly modest kit; and some of my best work has been done on a lens so cheap that I am still amazed at the quality.

Cameras

Fuji S5 pro SLR T

he new S5Pro was developed from Nikons D200 SLR.  Fuji's best Pro portrait camera to date,  has  great colours, extended dynamic range and exceptionally good performance at High ISOs. For my style of photography 

1 Fuji S2 pro. *****

This was my first digital camera bought early in 2003.  Image quality and those gorgeous saturated Fuji colours  are what attracted me. The out of camera JPEGs are excellent and the vast majority of my images have been produced that way.

A touch slow by today’s standards; 2fps is not going to be much of a sport camera; but for portraiture and architecture this camera excels. 

The Fuji is looking a bit tired now; but  4 years on I still love the results.  I was  a late convert to RAW format in 2006. The dynamic range, for what is now a 5 year old design, is not far short of the Canon 5d

2 Fuji S7000 ****

I bought this as a backup camera in 2004. Its image quality and colours are good enough to produce a decent 16” x 12” print. At 10x8” it’s hard to tell the difference between this and the S2 Pro. The lens is impressive; with fast aperture and close focusing down to 1 cm. I’d not had so much fun taking shots of flowers and bugs before. The Video performance of great too with near TV quality and acceptable sound.

The downside is the electric zoom is painfully slow, battery consumption and the electronic viewfinder. The EVF is as good as you would get,  with full info and switchable grid but it’s no match for a decent optical viewfinder.

Lenses

I’ll  start with the ones I use most often

Nikon 17-55 F2.8*****  This fast professional wide angle zoom lens; is built without compromise. Compared to the independent lenses like Sigma or Tamron; or the Nikon 18-200  the Nikon 17-55 is large heavy and solid. I use this lens virtually all the time for  for Temples and portraits; it is a recent purchase which  has replaced the 18-200VR  for general use. With almost no wide angle distortion and a fast 2.8 aperture, it is a great lens for low light interiors with impeccable sharpness. 

Nikon 70-200 F2.8 VR***** Built like a tank without compromise; this is one of finest telephoto zoom in Nikons arsenal.  It is the mid range weapon  of  choice for Nikon Professionals.  The lens speed; focusing and image quality is just dazzling. The ability for low light photography using the image stabilizer, means that you have an effective 300mm F2.8  lens  using cropped DX digital. camera   Wide open it is breathtakingly sharp

Nikon 18-200 VR *** ($900approx)

A controversial super zoom; people love it or hate it.  I have a kind of love hate relationship with it.

It has  some excellent qualities; but ….. Its got some big drawbacks too. 

The good things are: the fantastic zoom range; there is nothing else quite like it. Fast focusing  and sharpness even wide open is surprising.  Close focusing is pretty good; it’s not a true macro; but I’ve got some decent bug shots with it.  Image Stabilization or VR works incredibly well with static subjects. It’s very handy if you are in a dark museum or confined space in a temple where a tripod might not be practical. I can get reasonably sharp results hand held down to ¼ of a second at the wide end.

Unfortunately it  is not so good at the 200mm end; as F5.6 is far too slow. If you are taking action in low light using VR then forget it as you will just get a sharp background and blurry people!  Going wide the control of distortion is poor ; making it useless for serious architecture.  Another issue is Bokeh or out of focus areas;  Compared even to my old 70- 300 the bokeh is disappointing ,  It can look harsh and unnatural ; especially if you are shooting against trees.

 

 Sigma 10-20 zoom  *****

I tried this lens out in Feb this year and was blown away by the wide view and relative lack of distortion.  Being light and compact; it is also a little faster than my Sigma 12-24 and also can take filters. This means that you can use a polarizer with virtually no vignetting  at the widest end. It is a unique lens which gives fabulous  dramatic skies and  field of view. Its 2/3 the cost of the Sigma 12-24 with better performance at wide apertures

Sigma 12-24 F4.5-5.6 ***

This heavy chunk of metal and glass has proved to be an architectural photographers dream.  It’s not that fast and needs to be stopped down to F11 to get best results. I bought it as I was doing temples (of course) and odd photography jobs for hotels. The Nikon 18-35 proved useless for that as there was too much distortion.

The Sigma was a revolutionary lens; as the world’s  first rectilinear fisheye  with ZERO distortion.  It’s a bit of a contradiction in terms though  and using a cropped sensor as it only gives me 18mm 35mm; but it will work on a full frame camera.   That is good enough for the purpose , also gives great depth of field and wide open sky effects when getting in close to the subject . It also needs a tripod to get the best results.

Nikon 18-35 F3.5 – F4.5 (£350) **

There were no super zooms available in 2003 so for a wide lens this was the most affordable Nikon option . I have never liked this lens much. its sharp enough; but its distortion at the wide end was disappointing and lens flare also a problem.  It was also not long enough so I was constantly having to change lenses. Its max aperture was slow;  I regretted not finding the cash for the F2.8 version.

Nikon 70-300 F4-5.6 G (£90) *****

I bought this on recommendation from a friend who had taken some great wildlife shots with it. Its cheap; plastic, slow focusing but the images  are surprisingly good. Most of my Lake shots and many portraits are taken with this lens.  I bought this as a stop gap as I was having to buy a complete set of lenses when I changed from Pentax Z1 to Fuji S2.  I was still using it until early 2007 when the lens became loose and rattly and worn out.  

 

 For the future

well I'm not in the market for a medium format Digital camera but mybe a full frame SLR. At present I will keep with my Fuji/Nikon system