1 nikonownermagazine.com nikonownermagazine.com 1 NIKON OWNER RECOMMENDS Martin Stones Gypsy Mother and Child. “Taking images of people living in extreme poverty is never easy. No less so with this image of a Gypsy Mother and Child in central Transylvania. I was taken to a family home that was part of a proud gypsy village. The family make beautiful baskets for a living and this is their entire world; one room served as a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and workroom. It initially felt very uncomfortable witnessing the poverty around me, which seemed to border on voyeurism, but I spent some time sitting on the earth floor with the older children, letting them use my camera and showing them the results. We had an empathy, a connection, one that you can only appreciate if you have respect and interest for one another. From that empathy came this image.” Equipment: Nikon D300 AF-S 18-105mm Nikkor f/3.5-5.6G ED Image taken at 18mm f/3.5 1/20 sec. Martin Stones is a former Royal Marine with a lifetime interest and passion for photography and a genuine interest in other people’s lives and their surroundings. He has travelled extensively around the world, always with a camera to hand and a constant ambition to learn about and understand other cultures. He says, “Our landscapes, religions and cultures may be different, but fundamentally we are all the same, with similar aspirations”. As a photographer, he works hard to capture the image in camera and avoid post-production manipulation. 2 nikonownermagazine.com 2 CONTENTS MAGAZINE OF THE NIKON WORLD • ISSUE 68 • 2020 NAMIBIA AND A SAFARI THAT, 06 STRICTLY SPEAKING, WASN’T by John Archer-Thomson John Archer-Thomson and his wife Sally return to Namibia to complete an exploration of the northern part of country that they had been unable to finish in their original visit in 2015. TURKEY – THE TRAVERTINE TERRACES 20 OF PAMUKKALE by Andrew Main Wilson The globe voyager Andrew Main Wilson visits The UNESCO world-heritage site of Pamukkale in Turkey. It is an area of extraordinary beauty that has attracted travellers for over 2,000 years. THE DISCIPLINE OF PRIME NUMBERS 22 by R.J. Ellory The award-winning thriller writer R. J. Ellory makes a welcome return to Nikon Owner with his article on the benefits of using prime lenses. Front cover: 58mm f/1.2 Noct-Nikkor AIS lens by Tony Hurst A NATURAL FISH TRAP by Heather Angel REGULAR FEATURES 34 When the revered natural history photographer Heather Angel was 02 N.O.RECOMMENDS examining her back-up external hard drives, she re-discovered an image 04 EDITOR’S LETTER she had not looked at for a long time. 46 TECHNICAL HELPLINE A LEGEND REBORN: 58mm f/0.95 NOCT NIKKOR 36 by Simon Stafford Founders: Gray Levett & Uri Zakay The latest prime lens to be added to the Nikon Z-system is the Nikon Editor: Gray Levett Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct; Simon Stafford takes a close look at this much Technical Editor: Simon Stafford Senior Features Editor: Gillian Greenwood vaunted lens. Sub-Editor & Technical Writer: Becky Danese Design & Art Direction: Jesse Wilson – Beyond Media Promotion & Regional Groups: Katrin Ruckert Social media management: Fotini Tasiopoulos Administrator: Katrin Ruckert THE TONY HURST GALLERY Forum Administrator: Andy Hewson 48 Words by Gray Levett Contributing Editors: Heather Angel, Becky Danese, R.J. Ellory, Gillian Greenwood, Gray Levett, Simon Stafford, The Nikon F Photomic was the first in a series of metered finders for the John Archer-Thomson, Andrew Main Wilson Nikon F. Tony Hurst captures this black-finish model fitted with an 85mm Contributing Photographers: Heather Angel, John Archer-Thomson, Becky Danese, Sophie Gooders, Tony f/1.8 Nikkor-H lens. Hurst, Cathy Jones, Pat King, Konstantin Kochkin, Gray Levett, Xamuel Rosales, Simon Stafford, Martin Stones, Andrew Main Wilson, Janet Williamson Special thanks: Tim Bates, Mike Clarke, Adrian Cochrane, Z 50 MIGHTY MINI-ME Becky Danese, Michael Eleftheriades, Anastasia Giakintzi, Jeremy Gilbert, Sophie Gooders, Andy Hewson, 50 by Becky Danese Konstantin Kochkin, David Lloyd, Anton Lorien, Veslyn McLean, The design office of Hiroshi Mizukami, Raffi Technical Writer Becky Danese reports on the newest addition to Silvanian, Paul Stillman, Fotini Tasiopoulos, John Nikon's new mirrorless Z system the DX format Nikon Z 50 with its Walshe, Uri Zakay accompanying lenses. Subscriptions: Tel: 020-7828 8971 Int: +44 20-7828 8971 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. GMT Monday to Friday Katrin Ruckert, Subscriptions Secretary, Nikon Owner 40, Churton Street, London SW1V 2LP, England Follow us on: MICHAEL PUTLAND: HIS GENERATION e-mail: [email protected] by Gillian Greenwood Website: www.nikonownermagazine.com 57 Twitter: www.twitter.com/nikonownermag Senior Features Editor Gillian Greenwood writes an appreciation of Facebook: www.facebook.com/nikonownermag Blog: http://blog.nikonownermagazine.com the famed music photographer Michael Putland, who passed away late © 2020 NOCI (Publishing) Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine can be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Nikon Owner last year. assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. 2 nikonownermagazine.com nikonownernikonownermagazine.commagazine.com 3 copy of 100 Years of Nikon with the compliments of the President of the Nikon Corporation Toshikazu Umatate. It is a two-volume set enclosed in a heavy slip case. Charting the history of Nikon from its foundation in 1917 to the present day, these magnificent books contain 973 pages of colour and black & white illustrations together with many thousands of words. It is both a staggering achievement and an invaluable source of information. WHERE LIES YOUR LANDMARK, SEAMARK, OR SOUL’S STAR? GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS (1886) In 1977 my late wife Mally and I were living in one of a row of eight cottages at the Glen, also known EDITOR’S LETTER as Glen House, a Scots baronial masterpiece set CHRISTMAS AT A in a large estate NEW VENUE: comprising of a THE RAF CLUB ON farm and other PICCADILLY buildings in the Scottish Borders. It lay hidden in the hills. Following over a decade of The estate is a natural refuge of 18th century designed holding our annual Grand landscape of parkland and woods that sweeps up to heather Christmas Event at The moorland on all sides. The House, the farm and the cottages Institute of Directors on were built in the 19th century by the Scottish industrialist, Pall Mall, in December Charles Tennant. It was a magical place where all the last year we moved to a rhythms of life in the countryside were just outside one’s sumptuous new venue, The door and could be freely experienced through the changing Royal Air Force Club at 128 seasons as migrating birds returned from far-flung places, Piccadilly, London W1J 7PY. lambs began to scamper in the pastures, summer’s long As many of you will know, days reached further into the night, then the golden leaves we were very fortunate of autumn began to fall, sharp frosts once again painting to have two award- the landscape white before the first snows of winter fell. winning, highly distinguished speakers for My late wife and I had a beautiful black and white Border our special presentation, Neil Lucas and Michael Pitts. Neil Collie called Sam. We would go on long walks across the Lucas, celebrated photographer, director & filmographer, three and a half thousand acre estate along winding paths was a producer with the BBC’s world-renowned Natural through the trees, beside meadows and a nearby loch History Unit for over twenty years and Michael Pitts is where a long wind, carrying bird-calls in its wake, bounced widely regarded as one of Britain’s foremost underwater off the water’s surface. Living there for some time I found cameramen. The sold-out evening was a triumph and that I sometimes lost track of what day it was, what week judging by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we it was and sometimes what month it was. It was a world of received it ranks among the best we have produced. enchantment where stories of the blue folk who danced at night to the music of the wind and the trees We were also were whispered. honoured by the presence of the new My neighbours were mostly a mixture of artists, craftsmen President of Nikon and musicians, including former members of The Europe Mr. Tetsuya Incredible String Band. I loved living there and I met Morimoto and Vice some fascinating people. One never quite knew who President John might turn up. I recall, for example, The Chancellor of the Walshe. Morimoto-san Exchequer, The Right Hon Denis Healey, calling in to see presented me with me unexpectedly and inviting me down to number 11. a large two-volume We talked about books and photography. He was a keen photographer and used an Exakta Varex. HRH Princess g Gray & the President of Nikon Europe, Mr. Tetsuya Morimoto Margaret was also a frequent visitor to Glen House. 4 nikonownermagazine.com The first Christmas I stayed at to see them. I examined the Glen the English singer- one of the contact songwriter Vashti Bunyon came sheets and much to my with her husband and stayed for amazement and delight the holidays. She had released her I found some shots of debut album, Just Another Diamond Sam and me that Cathy Day, in 1970 which barely caused had taken so long ago I a ripple on the music scene. had forgotten all about Disappointed by this, she left the it. It is one of the joys music industry and moved to the of photography that Glen Row cottages, and much of the ensuing three decades one can relive again a were spent raising her children in rural Scotland.