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Which is your favourite/lest favourite photomag?


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Which photomag do you like/dislike the most? There's quite a

difference. PopPhoto is an oldie, has a schizophrenic layout that

splits stories into three or four parts, finally burying them in the

classifieds. Seems to concentrate on the latest gear, has little to

say about Leica though it has been critical in the past - lenses were

criticised for having "too much curvature of field" - what does this

mean? Can you trust their lens tests? However, Herbert Keppler now

seems to like the M3.

 

<p>

 

My favourite mag is the British Amateur Photographer. Good mix of old

and new gear reviews including Ivor Mantanle's classic camera column;

good pix old and new including some historic ones. (Cultural

difference? Americans go for the newest and latest of everything; the

British and Europeans still value the past? I'm just being provocative

here, any bites?)

 

<p>

 

How about the various Leica magazines, inluding the LHSA one? Are they

worth subscribing to?

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IMO the bulk of photo mags are 75% ads and 25% infomercials. They

are aimed primarily at the tyro and in fact do them a huge disservice

because I've found many errors in them that I spotted easily but a

beginner would not, and might ruin lots of film and their enthusiasm

for photography. Although Outdoor Photographer has a nauseating

amount of infomercials and ads too, they also have columns by people

like DeWitt Jones, Len Rue and Galen Rowell that still give me

insight and are a pleasure to read. So I suppose I'd have to say

that is my favorite commercial mag.

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Popular Photography, circa 1960, when they actually wrote about

photography. It's well worth looking for back issues, and reading

them cover to cover. These days, if I'm buying a photo magazine I buy

Shutterbug, because the content is equally bad to the rest, but you

get more ads for your dollar.

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I like <i>Aperture</i>, <i>Doubletake</i>, and <i>La Nueva

Luz.</i> The rest hvae little to do with photography, they're just

camera magazines, supported by the camera manufacturers, who really

don't care if people use their cameras to take photographs or to

beat other people over the head (or to wear as neck jewelry.)

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For all photography--NO ads, No talk about equipment, optics, film,

technique, process or anything else that detracts from the ultimate,

final purpose of the craft/art of photography (i.e., the photograph),

try "Zoom International" ["Zoom"] published in Milan and available

worldwide.

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favorites: amateur photog for news (they always get stuff first) and

for the cassic camera coverage; classic camera for the real

esoterica; shuterbug for the ads and SHEER BULK; lenswork and B&W;

for the photos; view camera for the writing; and photo techniques --

when it's good, it's real good.

 

<p>

 

least favorite: american photo -- gives photography a bad name;

photographic -- gives magazines a bad name; and photo techniques --

when it's bad, it's REAL bad.

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I subscribe to BLACK & WHITE MAGAZINE; have every issue they've ever

published. I sometimes buy PHOTOVISION from the newstand, and also

subscribe to SHUTTERBUG because of the ads. I'd like to subscribe to

a really nice european magazine (again) because its nice to get a

different perspective beyond the domestic varieties of hype!!

As far as what I don't like - I'd better not comment - there's

a "sacred cow" of the "fine-art" sort, the merits of which.......no,

I'll be nice!!!!

 

<p>

 

Regards,

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It would be difficult to choose one magazine only. THE NATURAL

IMAGE, published 4 times a year, by George D. Lepp, is written by a

pro and is how a photo journal should be. It is a fine mix of

equipment talk as well as demonstration of technique. He does not

have ads and, even though he is probably dining at the table of Nikon

& Canon, he does tell it like it is. He is also into digital, big

time, but in three years of getting this little mag, I have not seen

the word LEICA one time. Lepp is primarily a wildlife photographer.

 

<p>

 

SHUTTERBUG is great for ads.

 

<p>

 

POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY does the best lens tests, ...when they do them

(not enough Leica lens tests).

 

<p>

 

LEICA PHOTOGRAPHY is great. You'll get good info on Leica products.

 

<p>

 

If you've ever been to a real full service magazine store, such as

Borders, you'll probably see at least 20 magazines devoted to

photography.

 

<p>

 

You'll only find info on Lepp's magazine at his site:

www.leppphoto.com

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I used to subscribe to <i>Photo Techniques</i>, but I've let all my

subscriptions lapse. It had a lot of solid content, excellent

columnists, and nice design. There was a run of issues that had

little of interest to me, but I've heard things are picking up again.

 

<p>

 

The worst was <i>Shutterbug</i> (haven't looked at one in years). It

had a few regular contributors who wrote worthwhile material, but most

of it was utter crap. A number of articles were just self promotional

pieces. I'd constantly cringe at the pathetic level of the writing

and editing. And the graphic design and layout was a nightmare--it

looked like something a fifth-grader with a new Mac slapped together.

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My favorite photomag has been gone for 20 years - Camera 35. 8^(

 

<p>

 

Columnists included Bill Pierce (now to be found at

digitaljournalist.com) and David Vestal (now in PhotoTechniques).

Camera 35 (among other things) gave an entire issue to Gene Smith to

publish his Minamata essay (40-plus pages).

 

<p>

 

I try to keep up with all of the following: Black and White

Photography, Photo Life (Canada), Pop Photo, PhotoTechniques, Amateur

Photographer (UK), Practical Photography (UK), PHOTO (both US and

French versions) - and the Communications Arts (CA) Photo Annual

(August(?) issue each year).

 

<p>

 

My favorite at the moment is Black and White Photography (not to be

confused with the collectors'/gallery owners' magazine B+W

Photography).

 

<p>

 

My least favorite - I don't know. I tend to ignore Aperture (they had

a political/avant garde 'art' attitude going for a while that drove me

away) - Camera Arts - B+W.

 

<p>

 

I pick up Leica Photographie if there's a specific article that

interests me.

 

<p>

 

I have been getting hand-me-down LHSA Viewfinders - mostly esoteric

research on serial numbers and odd accesories. Some of it is very

entertaining - but it's really a historical journal, not an image

magazine.

 

<p>

 

I do like the Brits - for reasons similar to David's. Practical

Photography did the only head-to-head-to-head-to-head comparison of the

Leica-M, Hexar RF, Contax G, and Voigtlander R that I've seen. Plus the

Europeans still give precedence to image content - and especially

story-telling people pictures.

 

<p>

 

PhotoTechniques has occsioanl useful stuff and keeps me on my

processing toes - but it ain't the same without "The 37th Frame."

 

<p>

 

The stand-alone "The 37th Frame" newsletter version is on my must-order

list, but I haven't seen an issue yet.

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Leica Photographie has improved over the past year under a

new Editor and has a few interesting articles on technique and

new gear. Erwin writes for them as well. Pop Photo, on the other

hand, continues to deteriorate and is really 90% advertisements

now. The nature colomn is interesting. The reason they "ignore"

Leica is simple: we are a minuscule segment of the market,

albeit the top portion.

This is a simple BUSINESS decision we will have to live with.

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David,

 

<p>

 

I read CAMERA ARTS, AMERICAN PHOTO, and PHOTO TECHNIQUES. On-line, I

read Frank Van Riper's column in the Washington Post's CAMERA WORKS

section (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/photo/index.html),

Scott Bourne's PHOTOFOCUS MAGAZINE (http://www.photofocus.com/), and

Michael Reichmann's LUMINOUS LANDSCAPE (www.luminous-landscape).

 

<p>

 

There are others that I will pick-up on occasion, but these are the

ones that I read regularly.

 

<p>

 

The only magazine that I dislike is POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY, that I used

to read religously until the folks from MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY took over.

 

<p>

 

-Nick

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PDN, Lenswork, American Photo & CameraArts. CA has a quarterly column by George

deWolf that's excellent. Lenswork is occasionally inspirational. PDN hits the pro market & is

essential for legal & technical (film/equip) news...

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<i>If there were any good magazines available I woldn't be here

making this reply post. I hate them all. Just adds. </i><p>

 

The ones I named above, along with Lenswork, have little in the way

of ads. Your statement seems a bit strong given that you don't

appear to have seen all the magazines.<p>

 

<i>

PDN and CA (Photo District News and Communication Arts). All the

rest are merely for equipment collectors. </i><p>

 

Same kind of statement. Aperture, Doubletake, La Nueva Luz,

Lenswork, none of these are for equipment collectors. In fact, the

first three, which I regularly read, almost never even mention

equipment.<p>

 

What I really don't understand is "reading Shutterbug for the ads."

Reading ads seems like a huge waste of time to me. I'd rather watch

Sponge Bob Squarepants than spend my time reading ads.

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In general, I don' t read photography magazines that review &

discuss equipment. I second the vote for the magazines

mentioned by Mark Lewis (PDN & Comm Arts) and Jeff Spirer

(Aperture, DoubleTake, La Nueva Luz, Lenswork). I read all of

these regularly and between them you get a nice mixture of the

business side of photography, emerging photographers, and

great photo essays. All in all, very practical and inspiring stuff.

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Of the current photo mags I like Camera Arts the most. Few ads, some

technical info, and lots of portfolios. Back in the 70's and 80's

Camera 35 was great. I let my subscription to Aperture lapse a

couple of years ago because they seemed to be concentrating to much

on the 'avante garde', which is not my cup o' tea.

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