Magazines M9 users read in UK (or elsewhere)?

[colonel]

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When I can't take pictures I like to read about them

 

Being an "advanced amateur" who like mainly likes to see good pictures, being told camera settings, and given snippits of good advice. I also like gear reviews, but mainly Leica or high end DSLRs.

 

I find most of the DSLR & photography type magazines basic and also review gear I wouldn't consider these days.

The "professional" magazines spend too much time on business techniques and trends which are uninteresting to me.

 

I subscribe to Amateur Photography and like to buy B+W photographer and occasionally Advanced Photographer.

 

I have heard that shutterbug (on import from US) is good.

 

Any recommendations on good/interesting advanced or fine art photo magazines for the M gent or lady ?

[andybarton]

No, but there are loads for the M8 user, and even more for film M users

 

Don't restrict yourself to one particular model. Just ask about the best photographic magazines available - the advice given in them is applicable to any camera, if the magazine is any good.

 

FWIW, I gave up buying camera mags years ago. All they are interested in is the latest Canon or Nikon offering and encouraging everyone to try to take photographs like Joe Cornish. Yawn.

[stunsworth]

Most camera mags are pretty poor IMHO. They tend to be highly gear orientated which probably isn't that interesting if you don't own a Nikon or a Canon.

 

I'd make an exception for Black and White Photography, which is more photograph orientated.

 

There are some decent French magazines - Rsponses Photo and Chasseur d'Images. That often have some very good photo Essays

[jerryharwood]

Hi; I think you would like the US based outdoor photographer- this is an excellent mag, doing what good mags should do; inform the photographer, going on trips, taking photos. Not all digital, but a good mix of both.

I have had this mag for years now, having got totally fed up with the UK crap. As I write for leica, and other mags too, I have a keen interest in photographic articles. I have tried no end of varying style mags, and lately have been really put off by the offerings of such as professional photographer et al. Even the french mags are better ! give it a try, easily available, and worth the small amount they cost.

[Mike Rawcs]

I agree that the majority of photo magazines are poor, regurgitating the same "How to photograph spring flowers - summer holidays - autumn leaves - snow scenes" as the seasons come and go. I do sometimes buy The British Journal of Photography and Professional Photographer, depending on the content of the issue. I'd advise looking online for articles of specific interest and personally like Burn Magazine

burn magazine

and The Click

The Click

which provides links to many other websites with photography oriented content.

 

Mike.

[250swb]

I subscribe to 'B&W Photography' and 'LFI' magazines and only buy 'Amateur Photographer' if there is something desperately interesting (which isn't often).

 

Steve

[framestore]

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I subscribe to LFI

[chris_tribble]

I keep on trying to UNSUBSCRIBE from LFI - it's become a rather tedious ad-mag for Leica IMHO... I did find AG interesting (Picture-Box Media | Ag magazine) but whether this continues following Chris Dickie's sadly untimely death I'm not sure. I also like fLIP (fLIP Magazine for London Independent Photography) - a genuinely interesting show case for innovative work.

 

Otherwise mags aren't really my thing.

[newtoleica]

I had a photo in last month's fLIP so I must echo Chris' recommendation. ;-)

 

Also British Journal of Photography is pretty good, a good solid pro magazine.

 

I have Aperture (US) on sub for my iPad as well.

[ayewing]

I am nearing the end of my free subscription to LFI and debating with myself whether to subscribe. I read the Amateur Photographer occasionally and some of the other mags if they have something that interests me.

 

I still have my Pentax K-5 DSLR and lenses as well as my Leica M9 system so I take an interest in Pentax developments.

[EJohnE]

"c't Digital Photography" magazine is fairly new, and is only up to Number 4 issue so far. It is an

English- language magazine of German origin. Articles are longer than the couple of pages of breathless drivel in most mags. (c't Digital Photography).

 

John.

[spydrxx]

Not in the UK, but used to read some of their photo mags. These days I don't bother to read any photo mags unless I stop in the library and have the time to browse thru one. I find many of the articles repetitive, and the ads drive me nuts (and I don't mean with camera lust).

[bill]

I read AP in the same way as Metro or the Daily Mail. It's something I pick up occasionally to see how the mainstream are thinking. It has dumbed down massively to its absolute detriment.

 

Black and White Photography is a good read, as is the BJP on occasion, but I always check content before buying it.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[earleygallery]

When I can't take pictures I like to read about them

 

Any recommendations on good/interesting advanced or fine art photo magazines for the M gent or lady ?

 

my advice, forget the magazines. Don't read about pictures, look at them. Visit some exhibitions, or buy some photo books by photographers who inspire you.

[Mark2]

I read playboy magazines. After that I practice trying to take photos at the same angle and asking the girl to post in a similar posture. I learn a lot this way.

[dkCambridgeshire]

I subscribe to and enjoy reading BJP. I stopped buying AP many moons ago when they started printing the Ogden Chesnutt columns.

 

dunk

[roydonian]

I read AP in the same way as Metro or the Daily Mail. It's something I pick up occasionally to see how the mainstream are thinking. It has dumbed down massively to its absolute detriment.

 

At the last Photographica I was offered a free copy of AP, but declined for exactly that reason. The last copy I bought was the one with their M9 review (which was not very good). The remainder of the issue was not much better. For example, there was an article showing how readers’ photos could be ‘improved’ by digital manipulation, and I found the originals (after minor WB tweaking) to be far better than the final ‘improved’ versions.

 

Asked at Photographica why I thought the magazine ‘dumbed down’, I told the bemused AP reps that in my opinion the magazine’s ‘voice’ had become too informal and ‘matey’. I’d pretty well given up on the title after buying a copy that on one page was poking fun out of an article published decades earlier – a sort of “He Ha, look how fuddy-duddy we used to be”. Recently I found a long-forgotten file of camera-related documents that had been collected by my father. It contained an AP article that he'd thought worth keeping, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well-written it was.

 

I have mixed views on LFI. At times it reads more like advertorial than editorial. I’m not sure I’ll renew my subscription, particularly if the title is going to be owned by Leica. (My wife’s take on the news of the impending change of ownership was “Given the way it ‘gushes’ over the latest cameras and lenses, I’d always assumed it was owned by the company and that you were getting it free.”)

 

Best regards,

 

Doug

[Tietje]

I have a subscription to LFI which was a present. Once I got my head around the forces of doom imagery and limp reviews I found it a refreshing change from the dreamy landscape/third world portraits/endless Photoshop tutorials, which seem to be the usual fare of whats on offer from mags in the UK, I renewed it the following year.

 

I've read Amateur Photographer ever since it was called Amateur Pornographer in the 1970's. I generally check-out each issue and buy, if I'm going away for the weekend, want something to read or there's some interesting article or review. I like the letters page, the news articles, Ogden Chesnut, and Ivor Matanle's classic camera articles. I've hardly looked at the other magazines on offer. Practical Photography, in "my day" was basically a soft porn mag which was just too embarrassing to read in any public place or in the same room as my folks.

 

I think photography magazines have come a long way since the days of the "Glamour Edition"

[roydonian]

I have a subscription to LFI which was a present. Once I got my head around the forces of doom imagery and limp reviews I found it a refreshing change from the dreamy landscape/third world portraits/endless Photoshop tutorials, which seem to be the usual fare of whats on offer from mags in the UK, I renewed it the following year.

 

What will probably persuade me to resubscribe is that in most issues there will be one or two photographs that have an impact that is like a slap in the face - the reminder of what good photography is all about.

 

Tietje's comment on 'Amateur Pornographer' brought to mind the time in the 1960s when a UK magazine checked all the pics in all the other UK magazines and did a 'nipple count'.

 

The top scorers were AP and the 'Films and Filming' movie magazine. (As a young man in his mid-20s, I was an avid reader of both titles, being interested in both photography and art-house movies.)

 

Best regards,

 

Doug

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Hallo,

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[honcho]

I don't subscribe to any mainstream magazines. LFI subscription came free with my MP purchase some years ago but I found it to be consistently boring and could not be bothered with it.

 

I probably buy 2 editions of BJP in a year, most other magazines seem to be firmly directed at the amateur, gearhead or wannabee market and are of no interest to me.

 

Master Photographer (edited by David Kilpatrick) comes with my MPA membership and usually has some interesting content and portfolios but probably would not be appealing to the majority outside of the target readership as most of us seem to know each other! Likewise The Photographer magazine which comes with my BIPP membership, but may have some wider appeal.