AmateurPhotographer

© JOHNNY FENN
Technical Support
My life in
cameras
Architectural photographer Quintin
Lake discusses the cameras that have
helped him throughout his career
Quintin Lake
Quintin is currently
working on ‘The
Perimeter’, a
photography project
based on him
walking 10,000km
around the coast of
Britain, in sections.
He expects the
journey will take
him around fi ve
years. You can view
Quintin’s progress
at www.theperimeter.uk. Explore his architectural
photography at www.quintinlake.com.
2002
Sinar P2
Prior to the advent of digital,
I needed to master the view
camera and 5x4in film to get the premium
architectural work I was chasing. Ironically, just
when I’d got the hang of it, full-frame digital
matured and I
quickly jumped ship.
Learning camera
movements in this
way was a useful
discipline and had the
unexpected benefit
that now, whenever
I feel modern cameras
are heavy to carry or
complicated to use, I remember
this camera and smile.
© QUINTIN LAKE
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1989
Praktica BC1
After pestering my parents
incessantly, they bought me this
second-hand camera. I used it for my GCSE
and A-level art projects. I only shot black &
white film, which I learned to process and print
in the darkroom. I loved going into that magic
room with its red light and seeing the image
gently emerge
in chemicals.
I recently
looked back
at a few prints
from this time
and all my
images were
dreadful
clichés!
1994
Canon EOS-1
When I started to make money
from photography, I purchased
my first professional body and lens secondhand,
which I used with Fujifilm Velvia
transparency film. I still remember its all-metal
build quality fondly. It must have represented
one of the most evolved
SLR film designs;
like the last Sony
Walkman before
digital took over.
It had the most
beautiful
shutter release
sound of any
camera I
have used.
1989
2002 1994
2003
2013
2003
Canon EOS-1Ds
Coming from a digital-imaging
background, I couldn’t make
the switch to digital fast enough. I could only see
advantages, even in the early days of shockingly
poor dynamic range and limited ISO
performance. Canon’s first full-frame digital
camera gave me a big commercial advantage
in the architectural
photography world
at the time. However,
it also taught me an
important financial
lesson: never to buy
a flagship body new
again. Its value fell
about £4,000 in
one year!
2013
Canon EOS 6D
I’ve never understood why the
EOS 6D doesn’t get more praise.
It does so much brilliantly in a relatively small
ergonomic package. I use it primarily with a
17mm and 24mm tilt-shift lens for architectural
work, and 24-70mm and 70-300mm f/4L
zooms for travel. Its only quirk is that the GPS
drains the battery even
when the camera is
switched off. One
day, I may be
tempted by the
5DS, but for the
time being this
camera gives
me everything
I need.
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