Advanced Photographer issue 28 sample edition

THE MAGAZINE THAT TAKES YOUR IMAGES SERIOUSLY

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SERIOUSLY

BLACK BEAUTIESGet moody with your black & white shots

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RAW MASTERCLASS ADDING DRAMA TO YOUR MONOCHROME IMAGES

MUST-HAVE GADGETS Seven pages of accessories to brighten your picture-taking experience

GROUP REVIEW

Unique features make this camera worth a closer look

Shoot images like this – in your living room!SShhoooot iimmaaagggeessss lliikkkee tthhhhhiiisss ––– iinn yyoouuuurrrr lllliiivvviiinngg rrooooooommm!!STUDIO STYLE

COMPARISON TESTBAGS OF BAGS We test 10 of the best shoulder bags for the photographer about town

nique features make this Pentax K-5 II

CANON EOS 6DWould you upgrade to the world’s smallest full-frame DSLR?

THE MAGAZIN

TAKE SIX SIMPLE STEPS TO WORKFLOW HEAVEN

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AP-03-001 (COVER)ljchb.indd 1 1/2/13 16:31:25

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March 2013 ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHER 3

Black & white and portrait photography are two subjects very close to my heart and we concentrate on both of them in this issue. If you want advice on shooting moody monochrome or are keen to set up a home studio, we have the advice and inspiration for you.

Setting up a studio sounds like a serious commitment, both in cost and domestic upheaval. That would be true on both counts, but probably not to the degree that you might think. A studio can be daylit and take up no room at all, depending on what you want to shoot. If you want to get involved more and buy some lights you can get professional quality portraits in a small room with some straightforward techniques. See our feature for advice to get you going.

In Photo Kit, we take a close look at two DSLRs. There’s the Pentax K-5 II, a quality camera with possibly the quietest shutter/mirror action I’ve ever heard. Then there’s Canon’s latest DSLR, the EOS 6D. With so much interest in full-frame photography this entry-level model is attracting a great deal of attention so is this the DSLR for you? Read the test and find out.

I look forward to meeting up with you again next month.

Welcome

WILL CHEUNG FRPS, EDITORWill has been taking pictures since he was 10 years old. His passion for the medium is more intense than ever with a preference for rich black & white images.

GARETH HICKEYStudio portraits are very much Gareth’s thing. A relative newcomer to photography, he started out shooting general subjects, but soon found his forte in the studio, with a preference for simple lighting set-ups and working hard on posing and styling. See www.garethhickey.co.uk

DAVID BYRNEIf you enjoy moody, atmospheric monochromes check out David’s portfolio for inspiration. One of his images nearly won him a national landscape photography contest but his entry was disqualified. For the full story turn to his portfolio. See www.85mm.co.uk

RICHARD HOPKINSRichard is a former photography magazine editor and has huge experience in the medium. He’s a regular product reviewer for Advanced Photographer and in this issue he gets his hands on the Pentax K-5 II and the updated Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens.

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The contributors involved in this issue...

Will Cheung FRPS, Editor

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Contents

4 ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHER March 2013

The cover story...

Inspiration, technique, opinion

Studio enthusiast Gareth Hickey met model Victoria on a previous shoot when she was the make-up artist. “I thought her hair colour would make a striking head shot. I spun my fake wall around to the grey side, which worked well against the pink hair. In Adobe Lightroom, I lightened the grey background in a couple of areas to lift the image a touch.”

Nikon D700, 24-70mm f/2.8, 1/200sec at f/4, ISO 400

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SEE PAGE 62 FOR DETAILS

6 UPFRONT What’s got the industry talking this month? Kit, books and competitions – we’ve got it all covered.

10 TAKE A B&W VIEW: INSPIRATION ‘Almost’ Landscape Photographer of the Year, David Byrne tells us about the five months he spent experimenting in his garden, his subsequent successes – and his near miss.

18 UNFORGETTABLE MONO: CAPTURE For atmospheric black & white photography, simply selecting the mono option on your DSLR or hitting the ‘convert to mono’ command in software isn’t enough. Think texture, tone and quality of light…

24 THE ART OF POSING Putting your model at ease is an important skill whatever your photographic genre, but it becomes vital when you and your model step into the boudoir.

29 EXPOSED Editor Cheung has an idea – a marathon one that could get us all out, shooting, sharing ideas and inspiration. Are you in?

30 STUDIO STUDIES: INSPIRATION A two-hour session to shoot some family portraits left Gareth Hickey hooked on studio photography. Now he shares a well-equipped, dedicated space with two other photographers.

SEE PAGE 54 FOR DETAILS

24THE ART OF POSING: Relaxed boudoir shooting

10

56

INSPIRE: Black beauties

LIGHTING ACADEMY: Beauty dishes

AP-03-004-005 (CONTENTS)hbljc.indd 4 1/2/13 16:38:41

Contents

Photo Kit: the latest gear tested

66 CANON EOS 6D Good things come in small packages, right? But does this small, entry-level, full-frame DSLR have what it takes to earn its place in enthusiasts’ kitbags?

75 GADGETS & GIZMOS It’s the little things that make all the difference in life, so one of these handy accessories could be just what you need in your photographic armoury.

82 PENTAX K-5 II If you’re an existing Pentax user, you might already be eyeing up the K-5’s successor; if you’re not, our reviewer’s test of this ultra-quiet digital SLR might make you take another, closer look.

40 DIY STUDIO: CAPTURE Do your homework – with our advice, of course – and you’ll soon be setting up your own shooting space in your front room, so you never have to set foot outside your front door again.

50 RAW MASTERCLASS Add a little drama into your life with this technique. It’ll turn a competent but average black & white shot into a moody masterpiece.

56 LIGHTING ACADEMY Beauty dishes, grids, shower caps and feathering – they’re all up for discussion in lighting guru Adam Duckworth’s latest instalment of our expert guide to lights.

62 NEXT MONTH It’s time to watch the birdie as we showcase professional photos of birds of prey and give you expert advice to photographing the feathered friends in your garden. Plus we ruffle the feathers of the Canon EOS 6D and the Nikon D600 in an intense head-to-head test, run rings around flash and get all trigger happy.

114 AND FINALLY As familiar high street names bow out (and one possibly gets resurrected by dragons), editor Cheung reflects on unchanging buying habits and wonders about the possibility of a sci-fi solution that’s straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster.

88COMPARISON TEST:

Bags for the street

40CAPTURE: Studio style

88 STREET BAGS Picking the right bag for you and your kit needs attention to detail. We’ve paid close attention to 10 bags that could be right up your street.

66CANON EOS 6D Entry level & full frame


GADGETS & handy gizmos

75

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INSPIRATION Mastering mono


LAID TO REST “A shot of the Fleetwood wrecks taken in the summer; I was using an infrared converted Nikon D70. The shape of the boat in the foreground was the main draw of this shot, framing the second boat in the distance.”Nikon D70 IR, Nikon 18-35mm, 1/30sec at f/14, +2EV, ISO 200

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DAVID BYRNEDavid Byrne isn’t necessarily a name you’ll have heard of. But you will. He won last year’s Landscape Photographer of the Year competition before the title and the accompanying £10,000 prize pot was snatched away. He’d inadvertently broken the rules.


In just two years as a serious photographer

David Byrne has already produced an award-

winning body of workWORDS LYNNE MAXWELL PICTURES DAVID BYRNE




“Actually, it was £11,000,” says 43-year-old David, matter-of-factly. “I won the overall prize and the Classic View category. Unfortunately, I didn’t read the regulations and certain editing, like adding clouds and cloning out small details, is not allowed. While I don’t think what I have done to the photograph is wrong in any way, I do understand it’s against the regulations so accept the decision wholeheartedly.

I was blown away to win, but rules is rules. I still had top photographers in the country choose four of my photos for awards; that in its own right is some reward and makes me very proud of my work

“I was blown away to win, but rules is rules. I never actually received the money so I don’t miss what I never had. But I still had top photographers in the country choose four of my photos for awards; that in its own right is some reward and makes me very proud of my work.”

His calm acceptance is remarkable but even more so is his photographic ability. He’s taken the hobby seriously for a mere

two years and only entered the competition on a whim, yet four of his images were selected for the finals. All mono – his favourite style of photography.

“My dad is a mono landscape photographer so he has had the most influence on my hobby; he has taught me the principles of converting to mono, a much more complicated thing than colour in my view but something which I find very easy to understand and do.

“I have always been influenced by photography because my dad, Philip Byrne, is a club photographer, quite successful too. The only reason I didn’t get into photography sooner was because film put me off. The thought of sending it away to




1

1 BOAT HUT “Taken at the same time as the Lindisfarne Boats shot. This is what the view would be if there wasn’t a row of houses in between the boat and the abbey.” Nikon D700, Carl Zeiss 21mm Distagon lens, 1/80sec at f/14, -1/3EV, ISO 7202 DUNES “I took this on holiday in France at Forte-Mahon-Plage. I knew there were some dunes by the house we were staying at as we had been there before.” Nikon D70 IR, Nikon 10-24mm at 20mm, 1/50sec at f/14, +1/3EV, ISO 200

2be developed and not knowing if the photos were any good for a week after taking them never appealed.

“I bought myself a Nikon D40x for Christmas 2009 because it was cheap and if it was a fad it wouldn’t have been a disaster. I spent about five months in the back garden learning how to use it. I used online tutorials and Internet forums to get advice and information and took 10,000 photos of flowers, experimenting with depth-of-field and shutter speeds.”

He then bought a Nikon D300 and started going out with the intention of taking photos, mainly with his dad.

In January 2010 he found out about the international FIAP competitions and

decided to enter one. “At my first salon I had all of the eight images I entered accepted. This spurred me on to enter more. I upgraded my camera to a Nikon D700 at the end of 2011 to get full frame and the incredible high ISO handling.”

Although he shoots anything and everything, from camel festivals to the international Tough Guy Competition at nearby Wolverhampton, landscapes are his first love.


INSPIRATION High-speed flash


WORDS LYNNE MAXWELL PICTURES GARETH HICKEY

IN-DEPTH GUIDE TO...

Gareth Hickey is a self-taught amateur portrait photographer who is so serious about his hobby that he even has his own studio

“I thought Victoria’s hair colour would make for a striking head shot. I spun my fake wall around to use the grey side, which worked well against the pink hair. In Adobe Camera Raw I used the Adjustment brush to lighten the grey background in a couple of areas to lift the image a touch.” Nikon D700, Nikkor 24-70mm AFS f/2.8 at 62mm, 1/200sec at f/4, ISO 400

AP-03-030-037 (INSPIRE - GARETH HICKEY)hbljc.indd 30 31/1/13 19:01:55


INSPIRATION High-speed flash

GARETH HICKEY

In 2004 Gareth Hickey bought his first camera. In 2009 he set up his own studio.The journey has taken him from complete

novice, with a Sony Cyber-shot two-megapixel compact, via a Fujifilm S5000 bridge camera, Nikon D70, D200 and D300S to amateur studio/portrait photographer with a Nikon D700, lots of lighting gear and even more enthusiasm. “I started taking an interest in photography when my son,




INSPIRATION Studio lighting

1

2

1 “I lit Naomi with a single large Elinchrom Octabox positioned directly behind me and slightly above.” Nikon D700, Nikkor 70-200mm AFS, 1/125sec at f/13, ISO 200 2 “I used two Elinchrom D-Lite heads fitted with reflectors fired into white polyboards in front of the model, Sam Gardner, so the light bounced back onto her. I was in effect shooting through a gap in the boards and the lights caused a slight loss of contrast.” Nikon D300s, Nikkor 35-70mm, 1/125sec at f/11, ISO 200

I used it to take a picture of my son. I was so impressed by the picture I took on auto that I went straight out and had it printed – it’s still on display in the house. I did a bit of research and learned all about f/stops and apertures.”

Another bout of camera envy launched him on his Nikon ownership, and his knowledge of all things photographic continued to grow when he joined the Chester Photographic Society.

He was, and still is, a huge motorsport fan and remembers – when memory cards were really expensive – buying a portable storage device and desperately trying to download a full memory card on to it, just hoping it had worked before formatting the card ready for the next race. He spent a summer dragging

his family to various local events in a bid to improve his photography: “If a local country house had an event on, I was there, but I was never happy because of my cheap lenses and all the background clutter in my pictures.”

Then one day, he looked around a local studio – The Bakery – and booked a two-hour session to take some family pictures. He was hooked.

“My cheap lenses were in their comfort zone and produced my sharpest shots, and there was no background clutter to concern me. I returned many times, shooting friends and family, all the while being guided by owner Myk Briggs’ reassuring advice.

“I loved being able to schedule shoots around my growing family; in the studio the

Daniel, was an active toddler. I bought the bridge prosumer model after a bout of camera envy when a work colleague got one, and it was this camera and its more advanced features that got me thinking after



INSPIRATION Studio lighting

Since moving studios I have found a new love of simple window light and always try to use it in my shoots to add variety. I particularly like the shallow depth-of-field natural light allows

best light was always on hand. I also met several photographers through shooting at The Bakery and they told me about sites such as Model Mayhem and Purestorm, which allowed me to meet more photographers as well as make-up artists and models.”

When the studio closed a few years later Gareth treated himself to a set of Elinchrom D-Lites and started shooting in an empty room at work (he is a dental technician). Although it was cost-free he’d been spoiled by pro studio lighting and an infinity cove so, when approached by a fellow photographer also looking for studio space, they decided to pool resources and rent an 800 square foot industrial unit. “We kitted it out with our existing lighting kit and a few basic home

comforts and it was our studio for the next two years,” says Gareth, 43.

Then, in 2011, a third photographer joined them and the extra funds he brought in enabled them to move to their current studio, a converted barn on the outskirts of Chester.

“This was a real step up; it had a fantastic floor-to-ceiling window and opened up a whole new world of natural light photography. Since moving studios I have found a new love of simple window light and always try to use it in my shoots to add variety. I particularly like the shallow depth-of-field that natural light allows as, having spent most of my time shooting with flash, it’s something that’s not so easy to achieve. I now prefer f/4 to f/8 for my head shots.”


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Part 28

A beauty dishes aren’t appropriate for all subjects, but once you’ve got your head round them you’ll achieve the effect you wantWORDS & PICTURES ADAM DUCKWORTH

If you want to make your subject look beautiful, then just use a beauty dish instead of a softbox, right? After all, you’d think it would do what it says on the tin. But the mistake many enthusiast photographers make is thinking that just using a beauty dish is a sure-fire way to the most flattering portraits possible. It’s true that beauty dishes are used in lots of fashion and beauty photography, but it’s not a cure-all panacea for amazing shots.

A beauty dish works in a very specific way that may be perfect for shooting close-up photos of flawless-skinned models with perfect make-up who will be retouched afterwards, but is often less than ideal for the vast majority of subjects.

Simply put, a beauty dish offers harder and more contrasty light than a similar-sized softbox, with a more obvious fall-off of light at the very extreme edges of coverage. In terms of hardness, a beauty dish usually sits somewhere in between a softbox and a bare reflector. It can show up imperfections more as its harder output creates more defined shadows. Whether those shadows be the natural shadow under or a nose, or the micro-shadow created by a spot, wrinkle or even deep pores in skin.

A beauty dish is certainly not ideal for washing the softest, most flattering light over a less than youthful face. For that, you’d want a softbox with its internal diffuser in place. In its simple form, a beauty dish is a

parabolic-shaped metal dish that fits to the front of your studio flash. But instead of the light from your flash tube directly hitting the subject, there is a circular 'cap' to shield it. So the light from your flash tube hits the back of this reflective cap, then bounces into the dish itself and is reflected forward towards your subject.

How hard or soft the light is, its intensity and its inherent contrast depends on lots of factors. As well as how far away you have the dish from your subject, the quality of light is dependent on the size of the dish and also its internal finish. Typically dishes are available in white or silver, with a silver finish giving a harder, more contrasty effect.

The inner cap that the light bounces off also has a profound effect. On many dishes, this is fixed. But on some you can change this central disc for one of a different colour. Silver is the most efficient, white gives a slightly softer effect, gold warms things up. And some are semi-transparent, so some light radiates directly through while some reflects back. Each gives a slightly different look and it’s worth getting to know how your beauty dish works by experimenting to get the effect you want.

There’s also the depth of the dish to consider. Many dishes come in one depth, but some makers like Mola offer different shapes that change the difference in brightness between the centre and the edge, and govern how quickly the light falls off.

ABOVE The Calumet 27in Beauty Dish costs

£100 and suits mains flash and speedlight use with an adaptor.

A good rule of thumb is that the hardness or softness of the light depends on the relative size of the light source compared to your subject. So a large light up close is very soft. Using a smaller source at the same distance, or moving it further away, makes it harder.

Of course, moving it further away means it may bounce around your studio more so can

fill in the shadows to give the appearance of a softer light source. That’s if your studio has light-toned surfaces to bounce light off. If not, then it will definitely be a harder source with more defined shadows. Nothing’s ever simple.

This general rule still applies to beauty dishes, of course. Comparing two dishes of identical specifications, but one large and one

small, gives a difference in light quality that’s definitely noticeable.

The larger dish up close gives a softer effect, with its light wrapping around the face of the subject more. And the catchlights in the eyes are much bigger and obviously round which is pleasing and natural looking. As it’s in close to the subject, the difference in brightness

SMALL V LARGE

One thing that is relatively crucial to good performance of a beauty dish is the exact positioning of the flash tube inside the dish. This has to be in a specific place or else the dish gives a double edge to the main shadow of the subject, and an unusual fall-off pattern at the edge. That’s why cheaper 'universal-fit' dishes often don’t work as well as dishes designed specifically for your own flash.

This precise placement of the circular flash tube is also the real reason why it’s impossible to make a proper beauty dish for a speedlight-style flash with its long, thin flash tube. You can get close to the look, but it’s not the real thing.

For the real beauty dish fan, you can also get a squared-off dish which gives its own unique fall-off at the edges.

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LIGHTING A C A D E M Y


ABOVE A small beauty dish gives a harsher light. The Calumet 16in Beauty Dish at £50 was used for this shot.

ABOVE The bigger beauty dish gives a more wraparound light but the eye highlights are still intense.

between the subject and background will be more pronounced.

As you move the dish further away – and increase the power of the flash to ensure the exposure on the subject is the same – then the background gets relatively brighter compared to the subject. This is the inverse square law in action.

As the light is moved further away, the quality of light hitting the subject is harder with more defined shadows. And the light’s coverage on the background is more even with a wider spread.

Using a smaller dish, the results are replicated except that the light is harder at every stage. At the same distance as a larger

dish, the smaller dish provides a more contrasty, harder light. And as it’s moved further away it gets even harder.

Small beauty dishes used in combination with a larger distance are often used as hero lights for men. It gives a dramatic look that works well with rugged men, but is less flattering for women.

SMALL BEAUTY DISH, NO GRID

LARGE BEAUTY DISH, NO GRID

AP-03-052-057 (LIGHTING ACADEMY)hb.indd 57 1/2/13 13:36:54


Photo Kit CANON EOS 6D

Canon’s entry-level, full-frame DSLR promises a great deal – good resolution, high ISO settings, low light focusing capabilities – so the question is, does it deliver?

Canon EOS 6DWORDS & PICTURES WILL CHEUNG

KEY FEATURES20.2 MEGAPIXELS

FULL FRAME

ISO 50-102,400

WI-FI AND GPS

WWW.CANON.CO.UKMONITOR Pushing the Q button on the back-plate brings up the quick menu – the screen is not touch sensitive. The multi-way control is used to navigate while either the command dial or the input dial are used to alter settings and values. In the case of exposure compensation, the input dial sets bracketing parameters and the command dial is for exposure compensation.

COMMAND DIAL Inside the rotating collar lies another control, a multi controller. For some functions either can be used. For others you use one or the other. For compensation, the command dial is used while for moving around a magnified image preview, changing AF point or moving about the Q menu you need to use the multi controller, but you need to be quite deliberate in its use.

AF-ON BUTTON The AF-ON and autoexposure lock ‘star’ buttons are too similar and too close so easily confused. On Canon’s pro-level SLRs the AF-ON button is bigger. The AF selector is far enough to the right so does not add to the issue. The EOS 6D has 11 focusing points with the centre point being cross-type. By comparison the EOS 5D Mark III has 61 points.

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Photo Kit CANON EOS 6D

RESOLUTION 20.2 megapixelsSENSOR 36x24mm size, CMOSIMAGE PROCESSOR Digic 5+IMAGE DIMENSIONS 5472x3648 pixelsSTORAGE SD/SDHC/SDXC cardsISO RANGE 100-25,600 in 0.3 or 1EV increments, plus ISO 50, H1 51,200 and H2 102,400 as optionsMETERING PATTERNS Evaluative, centre-weighted, partial and spot

AUTOFOCUS 11 focus points. Working range of the central sensor is EV-3 to 18 (ISO 100); other sensors EV+0.5 to 18SHUTTER SPEED RANGE 30secs to 1/4000sec, flash sync at 1/180secDRIVE 4.5fps continuous in normal mode. In silent continuous, this drops to 3fpsMONITOR 3in fixed, 1040k dots, Clear View II TFT LCDSEALS Splash and dust resistantSIZE (WxHxD) 145x111x71mmWEIGHT 770g body with battery

AT A GLANCE SPECS

ANATOMY OF...

Canon EOS 6D

FROM THE BACK

Not much to see from the front. The depth-of-field preview 1 is at 7 o’clock, but the function can be reassigned to one of nine other functions including AE lock and an electronic spirit level that appears along the bottom of the viewfinder. The microphone 2 is under the camera’s name. Like other pro-level Canon SLRs, the EOS 6D does not have an integral flash but external Speedlite control is offered via the camera’s menu.

The EOS 6D is busy with buttons but it’s neither overcrowded nor does it look cluttered. The command dial 1 is wonderful, being positive and slick to use, even with gloves on. The inner multi controller 2 is less impressive and needs more care in use. This button 3 is for starting video recording or activating Live View; the collar around the button dictates which function is in use. The Q button 4 brings up the Quick menu while the AF-ON button could be bigger.

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL BUT BIGGER is usually better. So while the majority

of DSLRs sold are APS-C format and the competition from the various CSC formats is getting ever more intense, if you want the best image quality, going for a larger format will pay dividends. Noise performance will be superior as will be the resolution of fine detail. This has always been the case in photography. When film ruled the roost, medium-format held sway over 35mm while sheet film was superior to roll-film, and it’s no different now that we capture digitally.

Going 35mm full-frame is more accessible now than ever before with more models being available and prices dropping. Nikon’s D600 is now selling for £1450 for the body only and that’s £500 under its guide price, while the Canon EOS 6D came out at £1799 body only and it’s already dropped to £1649. We are, of course, still talking big numbers.

The EOS 6D is Canon’s entry-level, full-frame DSLR with the next model in the range being the £2400 EOS 5D Mark III. You might think that entry level means lower specification and indeed the EOS 6D has lost some of the sophistication found on its more expensive brother. Just compare AF systems for example: the EOS 5D Mark III has the 61-sensor system from the EOS-1D X, Canon’s flagship, while the EOS 6D has just 11 AF zones and one cross-type sensor.

On the other hand, the EOS 6D has features that no other EOS DSLR has. Wi-Fi and GPS functionality might not appeal to everyone but can be very useful if you want to upload images to networking sites, to wirelessly control the camera with a smartphone or to keep a track of where your images were taken.

Where the EOS 6D hasn’t lost out quite so much is build quality. The body sits well in the hand and there’s a solidity that belies the camera’s price. The camera does have dust and weather seals too, so while the EOS 6D is not quite in the EOS-1D X class it should withstand hard use.

The EOS 6D’s resolution comes in at 20.2 megapixels with the maximum image at 5472x3648pixels, giving prints 18x12in at 300ppi. If you take just the bare bones of resolution into consideration, its closest rival, the Nikon D600, has more at 24.3 megapixels. We’ll be taking a close look at both DSLRs next month.

Control layout is sensible and the command dial is a pleasure to use – I think it is one of Canon’s greatest design triumphs because it is so quick, responsive and instinctive to use. Another control I found instinctive to use was the movie/Live View button, marked START/STOP.

FROM THE FRONT

FROM THE TOP

Canon users will feel at home with the EOS 6D’s top-plate. The exposure mode dial 1 has a push-button lock to prevent unintentional use, while the on/off switch is straightforward. There are two custom settings too. The AF, DRIVE, ISO and metering pattern selector buttons 2 are used in conjunction with the right forefinger input dial 3 or the right thumb controlled command dial on the back. These features can also be altered using the Q menu.

2

1

3 1

2

12

3

12

3

4

5

AP-03-068-075 (CANON EOS 6D)hbrp.indd 67 31/1/13 18:39:13


Photo Kit PENTAX K-5 II

Now owned by Ricoh, Pentax is pushing forward with upgrades to its already impressive K-5. Has it got what it takes to worry Canon and Nikon? It looks promising

Pentax K-5 IIWORDS & PICTURES RICHARD HOPKINS & WILL CHEUNG

KEY FEATURES

STREET PRICE £800 BODY ONLY

16.3 MEGAPIXELS

APS-C 1.5X CROP FACTOR

IMPROVED AF SYSTEM

UP TO 7FPS FRAME RATE

MONITOR This is the view in aperture-priority AE mode. Emphasising the key settings, such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation, is very sensible and user friendly. Clarity and contrast of the image are very good.

ART FILTERS Like most current DSLRs, the K-5 II offers creative filters for use on JPEG files and, as is often the case, some are more successful than others. Cross Processing with several options is one of the better modes.

EXPOSURE MODE DIAL The usual suspects plus a couple of unusual ones: SV and TAV. In Sv, you pick the ISO and the camera sets both aperture and shutter speed. In TAV, you pick both settings and the camera sets the ISO.

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Photo Kit PENTAX K-5 II

STREET PRICE £800 body only, £870 with 18-55mm kit lensSENSOR 16.3-megapixel CMOS sensor, APS-C 1.5x format, PRIME II processor, ultrasonic cleaningIMAGE DIMENSIONS 23.7x15.7mm, 14-bit Raw, 4928x3264 pixels ISO RANGE ISO 100-12,800, expandable ISO 80-51,200EXPOSURE MODES Auto, P, Tv, Av and M, plus Sv (Sensitivity/ISO priority) and TAv (shutter- and aperture-priority)

METERING PATTERNS 77-segment multi-pattern, centre-weighted, spotEXPOSURE COMPENSATION +/-5EVAUTOFOCUS Phase-detect SAFOX-X, 11 points including nine cross-type sensors, improved subject-tracking, sensitivity down to -3EV, AF micro-adjustSHUTTER 30secs to 1/8000sec focal-plane, x-sync 1/180sec, rated for 100,000 cyclesSHOOTING SPEED Single-shot, Lo, Hi 7fpsIMAGE STABILISATION Sensor-shift, up to 4EV improvementSTORAGE SD/SDHC SIZE/WEIGHT 131x97x75mm, 756g inc battery

STREET PRICE £800 b d

AT A GLANCE SPECS

ANATOMY OF...

Pentax K-5 II

FROM THE BACK

Front e-Dial 1 works well with its partner Rear e-Dial, and 2 is the handy IR remote control receiver that doubles as self-timer lamp. AF-assist light is 3 and the lens release button is 4 . Less visible in this view are controls to the side of the lens mount. A lever 5 switches between single-shot AF, continuous AF tracking, and manual focus. Above that is the Raw/Fx button 6 for direct switching between JPEG and Raw, or it can be customised to other functions. Last but not least 7 an external x-sync PC socket.

Lots of buttons, mostly well placed and clearly labelled. Rear e-Dial 1 is grippy and falls nicely under your thumb. Below that is a green button 2 that, in manual mode, sets the metered program exposure settings as a starting point – handy feature. The AF button 3 is a bit low for easy back-button focusing, especially for large hands, with AF point selection 4 in the surround. A single SD slot is under the weather-sealed flap 5 though removing the card can be awkward. The 3in LCD 6 has a high 921k resolution.

THIS CAMERA IS GOOD NEWS, not just for Pentax fans, but for all of us

who believe competition is good to keep Canon and Nikon on their toes, as the K5 II is right up there with them. Pentax has been in the doldrums lately, with business difficulties and short-lived ownership by Hoya, but now growing again under the big Ricoh umbrella. The strength of the Pentax brand and its reputation for quality and innovation, added to the resources of Ricoh, mean that the future looks bright.

The K-5 II may be very similar to the K-5, but its predecessor was always a good camera and the new model adds further refinement. As a gesture of intent from Pentax-Ricoh, it’s impressive – and it needs to be. Currently selling at £800 for the body only, or £870 with 18-55mm kit zoom (shown here), it is not cheap and sits between the Canon EOS 60D and 7D, and Nikon D7000 and D300s. In other words, right at the top of the semi-pro APS-C sector, but with some interesting twists on a good specification.

In particular, Pentax has two more exposure modes than any other brand of DSLR, namely Sv (for Sensitivity) and TAv, that bring full integration of ISO into the settings options – more on that in a moment. Externally, the K-5 II is identical to its predecessor, but with areas of improvement under the bonnet. The AF system is upgraded with a SAFOX X focusing sensor now claimed to work in light as low as -3EV. Only the Canon EOS 6D can match that claim. Other AF improvements include better accuracy with f/2.8 lenses and enhanced focus-tracking of moving subjects.

The APS-C sensor is the same as the K-5, with 16.3 megapixels driven by Pentax’s PRIME II processing engine. It’s basically the same Sony-made sensor as used in the Nikon D7000, amongst others, and that’s no bad thing, while Pentax adds its sensor-shift image stabilisation system, which claims up to 4EV of camera-shake reduction. At 23.7x15.7mm, the crop factor is 1.5x – the same as Nikon and Sony. It runs from ISO 100 to 12,800, expandable to ISO 80-51,200, which is a wider range than anything in its class. Performance is excellent too, as illustrated by our test images over the page.

There is another version of this camera, announced at the same time and costing £100 more – the K-5 IIs. It’s identical, except that the anti-aliasing (AA) filter has been removed from the sensor. This has the potential for slightly improved sharpness, but with the increased risk of moiré patterns appearing when very fine details in the subject coincide with the pixel array on the sensor.

FROM THE FRONT

FROM THE TOP

All controls are identical to the out-going K-5. Around the shutter release 1 the on/off switch has a further position, marked with an iris symbol, for lens stop-down and depth-of-field preview. Just below that 2 are convenient exposure compensation and ISO buttons. On the left-hand side, the mode dial features the Pentax-exclusive Sv and TAv settings, sensitivity priority (ISO) and shutter-/aperture-priority (see main text). Below that 3 is the metering patterns selector and just under the pentaprism is 4 the viewfinder dioptre adjustment slider.

2

1

3

3

1

2

345

1

5

4

24

6

7

6

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AS WE WERE WORKING ON THIS ISSUE, the UK’s leading photography retailer, Jessops went from administration to closure of its 187 stores in a matter of days. Last year, one of Jessops competitors, particularly in the photo enthusiast sector of the market, Jacobs Photo & Digital, also disappeared with the closure of 19 stores.

Of course, there is any number of reasons for the demise of Jessops. In no particular order, and by no means is this an exhaustive list, you’ve got: the present government’s economic policies including 20% VAT; the previous government’s inability to rein in the banks that got us into this mess in the first place; the banks; the Internet and online shopping; poor management; a stock exchange float that led to what, in hindsight, we can see as a suicidal expansion strategy at a time when consolidation was required; and the behaviour of its customers, ie. us. Whatever the cause – the ultimate outcome was declining profits with no improvement.

I first shopped at Jessops in the early eighties. It was a Leicester-based photography retailer with a rapidly growing nationwide reputation for keen prices, knowledgeable staff, huge stock range and a price list that came with a free magnifying glass. That was the joke anyway.

If you never saw a Jessops price list, it was a large sheet (A1 size, I think) printed both sides in a tiny font that you could barely read – hence the magnifying glass gag. Basically, every item – even the most obscure – available from Canon, Nikon and so on was listed and in stock too. It was brilliant. I used to pore over the price list to decide what items I wanted and then save up for the

EDITORIALLYSPEAKINGEDITOR WILLIAM CHEUNG HAS THE LAST WORD

EDITORIAL TEAMEditor Will Cheung FRPS ( 01223 [email protected] Writer Ian Fyfe ( 01223 [email protected] Editors Lisa Clatworthy and Hannah Bealey

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUELynne Maxwell, Richard Hopkins, Adam Duckworth, Zoe Richards, David Byrne, Gareth Hickey

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CONTRIBUTING TO ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHERAdvanced Photographer is always looking for photographic talent so if you feel your pictures are worthy of being featured on the magazine we would love to hear from you. In particular we want creative pictures showing the use of popular and innovative camera techniques.

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AdvancedPHOTOGRAPHER

once a year pilgrimage to its Hinckley Road superstore. It might sound simplistic, naïve and even a little silly but we were living in simpler times.

It’s probable that if you are reading this, you will recall how Jessops challenged the convention of traditional photography retailing. Inevitably, local photography retailers suffered as Jessops grew because I did exactly what people do now – I used the local retailer as a resource, then bought from Jessops. Then, as now, we all wanted value for money. What goes around comes around.

Where does Jessops’ demise leave us now, apart from lacking a photography retailer on the high street? That, hopefully, will change in time and there are many independent retailers out there doing well – WEX, Park Cameras, LCE, Cameraworld, Calumet etc and smaller outlets too. They too suffer from people milking their product expertise before going off and ordering from elsewhere to save a few quid. It’s not a new phenomenon and it’s common practice in retail, but it doesn’t mean it’s right.

Incidentally, I was chatting to a group of photography friends the other month and the subject of declining photo magazine sales popped up and, importantly, how to reverse that worrying trend. Actually photo magazine sales – I’m talking in total numbers here rather than individual titles – have been declining for many years. In the eighties it used to be that sales of that well-known weekly photography magazine, Another Publication, numbered over 100,000 copies a week; in 2011 it sold just under 19,000 copies a week, so a yearly decline of over four million copies. Anyway, one idea that came up – actually, it was mine – was to take a leaf out of The Terminator, you know that 1985 film starring Arnie Schwarzenegger playing the cyborg sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor, the mother of the future resistance leader. My idea was to send an assassin back in time to bump off Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. No Internet would mean magazine sales staying high and it might even save Blockbusters, Comet, HMV and Jessops.

Right, all I need is a time machine. Hmm!

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ABOVE A couple of letters missing but you don’t have to be a mastermind to work out the message. Sadly, the same can’t be said of how to cure the decline in our high streets.

AP-03-114 (COLUMN)hbljc.indd 130 31/1/13 18:25:47

Advanced Photographer issue 28 sample edition

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