Had to make an impromptu trip to Los Angles, California to assist a friend of mine back for medical treatment at the VA Hospital in Long Beach. A long trip on New Years Day. Decided to hang there for a few days before returning home. Took a few pictures visiting Venice Beach and Manhattan Beach.
Manhattan Beach
Only had my travel gear with me, Fuji X Pro2 and a XF 50mm f2 for these shots of Surfers.
Venice Beach
Have not used this lens in a while and I really don’t know why as it is a fine lens with great sharpness and contrast especially in the middle apertures f5.6 to f11,
Took a trip on the ferry over the Tonle Sap river today to get out and make some pictures. Using my Fujifilm XT3 and an XF 16-80 f4 OIS WR zoom. The lens is new too me so was really just giving it a workout.
This is a fine walk around and travel lens, no real need to carry anything else.
Certainly not the most expensive 23mm f1.4 lens on the market but what a good little performer IMHO, good contrast and sharpness and works very well with my Fuji X Pro3.
Fujinon xf16-80mmf4 R OIS WR has a maximum aperture value of F4 throughout the focal length of 16-80mm (equivalent to 24-122mm in the 35mm film format). This lens has a minimum shooting distance of 35cm over the entire zoom range, which gives a maximum shooting magnification of 0.25x. The compact and lightweight lens weighs only 440G which is approximately 40% lighter than an equivalent lens for a 35mm format system. When attached to an x-t3 the kit weighs only 979G and 823G when combined with x-t30, making it the ultimate travel combination. This new standard zoom lens features 6.0-Stop OIS, meaning you can comfortably shoot in a wide variety of situations from a Night scene or indoors without worrying about camera shake.Just upgraded to this lens and it looks and functions extremely well giving great images. Very pleased. Yet to try it on my X Pro3 but balances well on the XT3.
Some people always seem to be wanting to upgrade to ”a better” camera because it has newer features or a bigger sensor. I truly find it hard to understand. When I find a camera lens combination that does what I want it to do, I tend to stick with it for a long time and ignore all the new gadget, bells and whistles. The images below, taken today, on what many would say is an obsolete camera, Fujifilm X Pro1. This camera still is capable of excellent quality. Yes it does not have all the ”features” of the newer cameras but it does what it says on the box, takes amazing quality images.
I also took out with me today my ”old” Canon 5D Mk2, another machine that is able to produce high quality images. Its robust and heavy and slower to use that the newer cameras but who cares, it produces images that I enjoy at a price that I can afford, why would I upgrade.
The need to upgrade continually to the next ”best” camera, is a phantasy invented by the camera makers to enable them to sell more cameras, not to enable you to make the best pictures IMO. If you need to upgrade for a specific reason, and can afford to do so, then by all means go for it but think about,clearly, what you need to produce the images that you (and others) may enjoy.
Would I buy one even if I could afford it, the answer would probably be YES.
$6,195.00
47.3MP full-frame black-and-white CMOS sensor Captures amazing stills and 4K video 3-inch TFT LCD monitor with touch control 3.68MP OLED electronic viewfinder with eye sensor Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE connectivity ISO range of 100-100,000 Fast and accurate AF Compact, fully weather-sealed body Compatible with Leica FOTOS app Leica Summilux 28mm f/1.7 ASPH lens. It certainly has an impressive specification, but would I need it. I have never handled the camera but have used Leica cameras in my film days and know just how well constructed they are, but is this just overkill, a rich mans toy. Watch the review below.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/videos/photography/hands-on-review-the-new-leica-q2-monochrom
I just enjoy making pictures of my little adopted person. He really plays to the camera, which makes it fun. These taken with an Fuji X Pro2 + XF 50mm f2. He’s a beautiful kid but also a terrible 2 ….
The word Photography literally means ‘drawing with light’, which derives from the Greek photo, meaning light and graph, meaning to draw. Photography is the process of recording an image – a photograph – on light sensitive film or, in the case of digital photography, via a digital electronic or magnetic memory.
This ability to record, special events in my life drew me to photography. Photos of my children and family become very important to me. This early interest, with a specific goal, led me into photography as a hobby, making images of things that interested me, other than just family. My first venture into photography was of course in the film era, and my first camera, as I remember, was a Polaroid. The instant film was great for family pictures, but I soon found this to be very limiting. I bought my first ”REAL” camera after about six months of using the Polaroid. A little cheap and cheerful Chinon CS that cost me almost a week’s wages at the time. It was a great little fully manual camera with a 50mm lens, it got me into using 35mm film, both colour and black and white. This again led me to go further, developing and printing first my own black and white pictures and then advancing to colour. The mechanics of the process interested me, and I was hooked.
The interest I had developed quickly into an ALMOST obsession, I was out every opportunity making pictures and developing interests in things and places that were interesting to take pictures of.
Film and its development became a constant challenge to both afford and complete, it was certainly not a cheap hobby. The more I did it, the more I found I needed to invest to improve my ability to get the images I wanted. Newer cameras, better lenses or suddenly became a priority. Then a darkroom to get me out of the bathroom. A better enlarger and other kit.
I went through various incarnations, landscape, motor racing, bands, but never really found the things I most liked to shoot until I started to travel.
I recall the first time I travelled to Cambodia, still shooting film, carrying 100 roles of Fuji and Kodak slide film and 50 rolls of Kodak Tri X or Ilford HP5, shooting in this exotic location I found what I most enjoy making pictures of. PEOPLE in their everyday lives or STREET PHOTOGRAPHY.
I had decided after my trip to Cambodia that as soon as I was able that I wanted to move and live in Asia, and use Phnom Penh as a base to travel from and start to develop my interest in picture stories. I had several years to work and wait, and prepare for.
My first major trip after moving to Cambodia in 2009 was a venture in Laos, taking a boat trip down the NAM OU river to Luang Prabang (now impossible due to damns on that river)
I actually bought a new camera just for that trip, a Canon 1D Mk IV and also a Canon 70-200mm f2.8L lens both of which got very well-used and to a degree paid for themselves and the trip. By this time I had stopped using film and most of my Nikon and Canon film cameras were sold on.
I have continued since then to document the street and work with agencies that try to make positive changes for those people who have a difficult life. Photography is my way of telling a story, in one image or many.
