Niall Hampton

Editor, Digital Camera

My first foray into digital photography came courtesy of the Agfa ePhoto 307, following several years of shooting on Minolta 35mm film SLRs. Much has changed since the brick-like 0.35MP ePhoto 307 was on sale – including what I shoot. Initially, this tended to be a mixture of street scenes, candids and landscapes, plus producing work assigned on the various film photography courses I attended in evening classes.

Photography became more involved for me when decent DSLRs became affordable and enabled the magazines I wrote for to reduce their budgets for commissioned photography; if an editorial piece didn’t require a lighting rig to be set up by a professional photographer, then jobbing hacks like me were sent off on a story with a DSLR to shoot it themselves.

With a range of Minolta AF and MD glass already in my camera bag, I originally flirted with the idea of going digital via the Sony A-mount and lens adapter route, but Chichester Cameras did me a good deal on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and accessories bundle; having lusted after an EOS 5 during my days shooting film, it wasn’t a difficult sale. And the 5D Mark III has been a very solid and dependable tool: it is still going strong after eight years, during which I have invested incrementally in Canon’s EOS ecosystem.

My journey with the 5D Mark III has been a productive one: I’ve photographed travel, documentary, street, vehicles, portraits and heritage subjects – and working from home in lockdown gave me the chance to explore still-life and practise studio lighting techniques.

But it feels like the right time to shake things up a bit. Having enjoyed using a Sony A7 III and Canon EOS R this year, I have no reservations about taking the plunge and crossing over to the mirrorless space.

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