Cameracraft magazine – Taking your practical photography further

Tag: film

  • Cameracraft Magazine March/April 2026

    Cameracraft Magazine March/April 2026

    Cameracraft Issue 69 is now free to read in low resolution page turn here!

    • AI enhancement explored – Gary Friedman stares into the face of generative portraiture
    • Lifting the Iron (shutter) Curtain – Zeiss Werra 3 and Zorki 4 before they were retro
    • Is it cheaper to adapt a Sony lens than buy a Nikon equivalent? Viltrox EZ adaptor tested

    In this issue – Tom Hill explains how going back to college changed his photography, David Tymm shows how amazing an iPhone and a big bike can be for an epic US road trip, Nigel Thomas on his favourite ends of the day and night, and Colin McPherson catches a Kickstarter tide.

    CCNo2-2026-144

    We test the Viltrox E to Z fully coupled adaptor which lets you use all your Sony lenses on a Nikon Z body, puzzle over the good points of the ‘not really hybrid at all’ Yashica FX-D 100, check out the ReflectionFrame which uses e-ink to display a changeable picture for months, reminisce with the Zeiss Werra 3 and Zorki 4 from back in the heyday of Iron Curtain cameras.

    Plus, Gary Friedman continues his exploration of AI enhancement for portraits, and we introduce our first crossword – one which uses picture clues!

    Subscriptions guarantee early access, and let us keep the website uncluttered with minimal advertising. It costs just £15 a year, and you get unrestricted downloadable 300dpi files which can be viewed as spreads and which print really well, if you want to keep selected pages or articles that way, using printers such as the Epson ET-8550 in our office*.

    You get the issue download link sent in an email on or just before the 1st of month (Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov).

    * It was bought when these were brand new on the market. We have just refilled GY (grey) which is the most used ink. The print count, which includes A3+ colour like the Landor Phototex adhesive fabric decor we tested in September/October 2025, was 141 black and white and 1081 colour. The remaining Black, Photo Black, C, Y and M are all more than 1/3rd full and the maintenance cartridge is less than 1/3rd used so running costs look very reasonable.

  • Sony ‘HowTo’ videos – a different level

    Paul Genge of Sony UK noted my criticism of the Sony corporate videos. Well, what Sony were not publicizing so well was that Paul has been making some rather homespun but far more valuable and interesting videos – in fact, going beyond the usual remit of Sony staff to do stuff almost off the cuff.

    I remember Paul telling me a few years ago that Sony was most cautious about any publicity material, especially its wording. Even short press releases had to be approved by a management meeting and looked over by the lawyers. That is not unusual with large corporations.

    It’s also, back in the 1970s to 90s, what made Dick Bryant’s job with Minolta so remarkable – he had a roving brief and an expense account and he could travel pretty much anywhere in the world and publish any set of images he wanted (such as his exceptional treatment of Eugene Smith’s Minimata essay). He may have reported back to Osaka but he certainly had a degree of freedom, creative and fiscal, which very few representatives of corporations seem to have today.

    Could Paul convince Sony that uncontrived, honest, genuine enthusiastic reporting and involvement with photographers merited a similar job today? Doing a Dick Bryant?

    Here’s one example, Paul with our friend Gustav Kiburg on Inner Farne in July.

    What you need to do, though, is visit Paul’s complete SonyHowTo YouTube collection (as I write this I think there are 27 short vids up, varying from wobbly and unpolished to pretty good – all well edited, with excellent use of inset illustrations and still photo examples).

    Here’s the link:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/SonyHowTo

    So far Paul’s channel only has 44 subscribers (Sept 1st, I’ll bet that changes) and if you subscribe you can also ask to be notified by email of new vids. Also, you can chat with Paul on the comments sections, and you can probably request subjects to be covered. I think we should ask for – using the Alpha 99 and 500mm G lens…

    – DK

  • NEX-5 with ECM-SST1 mic

    Some parts of this were very close to large PA system speakers; others were close to dangerous loud instruments of war, notable Border fiddle and Scottish bagpipes from the Coldstream town pipe band (not the same as the Guards, this is the locals not their namesakes!).

    Hand-held, mic set to 90 degree coverage not 120 degree. The NEX-5 only offers auto gain, not manual control of sound of any kind. 18-55mm OSS lens, stabilised but not always in stable hands. Widely varying distances from sound source to mic.
    Hopefully a fair view of what the NEX-5 does in this kind of situation; and a view of why, despite the awful weather, I really don’t want to retire to somewhere warm and lose this place!
    – David

  • Kodachrome reaches the final frame

    LONDON UK, June 22, 2009 – Eastman Kodak Company announced today that it will retire KODACHROME colour film this year, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon.
    Sales of KODACHROME Film, which became the world’s first commercially successful colour film in 1935, have declined dramatically in recent years as photographers turned to other, newer KODAK films or to the digital imaging technologies that Kodak pioneered. Today, KODACHROME Film represents just a fraction of one percent of Kodak’s total sales of still-picture films.
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  • Nikon D5000 short film with pull focus

    Though autofocus is not possible with live video in any current true DSLR (the Panasonic GH1 promises this) it is possible to use pull-focus effects with a little planning. We now have a Nikon D5000 – it won the competition for best fine image detail when comparing results frame by frame with Canon’s nominally higher resolution rival. It was also a very good deal, £629 inc VAT with an 18-55mm VR kit lens and a SanDisk Ultra II 8GB SDHC card plus Crumpler Messenger Boy 2500 bag thrown in free (from Jacobs). You Tube sample –

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  • Nikon D5000 first day – quick HD vid

    True to promise, the Nikon D5000 did become available on May 1st in the UK, and my review camera turned up mid-day in time to be photographed and have its battery charged. Taking it out on my walk to the post (regrettably, to send in large sums of VAT and tax…) the sun came out though it was a very cold and windy day. With the sun, the breeze dropped to a reasonable level and on the way back I was struck by the motion of the trees, leaves and flowers.
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  • Canon EOS 500D video test

    The clip originally shown here has been replaced by an edited selection, shot in a mixture of 1080 and 720 modes, assembled using iMovie and written as a 720p final project for YouTube. Don’t mean to cause confusion, some visitors may have linked to this post already, and I do not want to add another post. Please feel free to link directly to the YouTube vid or to this page.

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