X-Pro Tour (Part 1)

London, France

Having just arrived in France via London I’ll be using these travels to launch a new series of photos along with captions and a little writing from various locations on my blog. I’m calling the series X-Pro Tour (also available via XProTour.com ) There are a few reasons behind this series, not the least of which is sharing my images and travels with all of you. If that is your main interest then please enjoy the photos I post and feel free to email me or leave comments.

Raining in London? Imagine that! We only had a day in London so one must make the most of it. I shot this from the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel on the River Thames. I wanted to capture the feel of a rainy day looking out the window on London. I chose black and white so color wouldn't distract from the texture, especially the raindrops. With a quick flip of the lever I used the EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) for two reasons- very wide angle lens and to double check that I was holding focus and the scene and still be able to clearly make out the raindrops. Fuji 14mm f2.8 1/60 sec f16 ISO 2000. — Raining in London? Imagine that! We only had a day in London so one must make the most of it. I shot this from the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel on the River Thames. I wanted to capture the feel of a rainy day looking out the window on London. I chose black and white so color wouldn’t distract from the other visual elements, especially the raindrops. With a quick flip of the viewfinder (VF) selector I used the EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) for two reasons- very wide angle lens and to double check that I was holding focus in the scene while being able to clearly make out the raindrops. X-Pro2 with Fuji 14mm f2.8 (21mm full frame equiv.) Manual focus, 1/60 sec f16 ISO 2000.

On the photography side of things I will also be providing my thoughts and experiences using the Fuji X-Pro2. For those not that familiar with it, it is Fuji’s latest incarnation of their professional rangefinder camera that also functions beautifully as a conventional mirrorless system. This is backed by a wide array of useful lenses of superb quality. In the captions I’ll provide the story behind the shot along with technical info (non-tech folks just ignore the part at the end of the captions.)

Toulouse airport — After our one day visit to London we arrived in Toulouse. There is this pretty cool hallway on the way to the rental cars. I saw this in my mind’s eye as a black and white but once I saw the color version I vacillated a bit on whether to go with color or black and white. In the end I found the brightly colored signs farther in the scene drew too much attention away from the architecture and side lighting on the woman walking. I guess it’s that whole thing about your first instinct. In any situation where I can use the rangefinder, I do. You can’t beat it for anticipating a key moment because you never lose sight of your subject and you can see what’s going on *outside* of your lens’s view. This simply isn’t possible on anything but a rangefinder. I shot this with the Fuji 18-55mm f2.8-4.0 which one might assume to be a “kit” lens but the amazing quality belies such an assumption. X-Pro2, zoom at 18mm (27mm FF equiv), 1/60 sec. f4.0, ISO 640

It’s difficult to convey the experience of using a rangefinder if you’ve never used one and are used to a DSLR or mirrorless camera. Those of you from the film age, like me, may remember using their grandfather’s rangefinder but unless it was a Leica it’s a whole different ball game now. Once prolific, rangefinders have all but disappeared with the exception of Leica which has always thrived among an avid user base. But even for many pros the price point of a Leica system is hard to justify. In 2012 Fuji introduced the X-Pro1 and the game began to change.

The machine to clean the streets was almost as intriguing as the man running it. In light of the fact that my French is virtually nonexistent this man was very accommodating when I asked to photograph him. This is in the town of Gaillac, our home for the next 3 weeks. Thanks for letting us stay at your house Michael!! Fuji X-Pro2 Fujinon 35mm f2.0 1/160 sec. f8.0 — The machine to clean the streets was almost as intriguing as the man running it. In light of the fact that my French is virtually nonexistent this man was very accommodating when I asked to photograph him. This is in the town of Gaillac, our home for the next 3 weeks. Thanks for letting us stay at your house Michael!! Fuji X-Pro2 with Fujinon 35mm f2.0 (52mm FF equiv) 1/160 sec. f8.0

For me the X-Pro1, although intriguing when it arrived, wasn’t quite there. Among other things I sell very large prints and the 16MP file size was a limitation. So I waited patiently for the X-Pro2 and during that time many more lenses were introduced to go with it.

The London rain followed us to Gaillac but I don't let the rain stop me from shooting. I shot this on the way to a restaurant where I experienced yet another amazing French meal. I'm always hard pressed to decide whether French cuisine or Italian is my favorite in the world! I used the Fuji 23mm f1.4 lens which is a great all-around slice of life lens. 1/60 sec f4.0 ISO 320 with X-Pro2 in RF mode. — The London rain followed us to Gaillac but I don’t let the rain stop me from shooting. I shot this on the way to a restaurant where I experienced yet another amazing French meal. I’m always hard pressed to decide whether French cuisine or Italian is my favorite in the world! I used the Fuji 23mm f1.4 lens (35mm FF equiv) which is a great all-around slice of life lens. 1/60 sec f4.0 ISO 320 with X-Pro2 in RF mode.

I will continue to make X-Pro Tour posts as I log more time on this system. So far I love it! For those of you that read my initial review, Fuji X-Pro2, A Love-Hate Relationship, you found out that in spite of my enjoyment using this camera I had to change my workflow due to Lightroom moving at a snail’s pace when processing the X-Trans files from the X-Pro2 and Adobe’s inability to extract the amazing detail contained in the files. I am now at peace with my new workflow using Photo Mechanic for fast culling and Iridient Developer for getting all that great detail…and using down time to import into Lightroom.

X-Pro_Tour_part1_001 — Here’s a somewhat abstract view of the London Eye. Shapes, forms, and rhythm being the main visual elements here, I stuck with tried and true black and white. Well, OK, the London Eye in the rain is pretty much monochromatic anyway. X-Pro2 with Fuji XF 56mm f1.2 (85mm FF equiv) at f11.0, 1/160 sec. ISO 2000

You may have noticed I posted more black and white than color. Of course many of you know I just love black and white. Another part of this is specific to the X-Pro2: I’ve always advocated setting your camera JPEGs to monochrome to help visualize images for black and white (see my Black and White Photography- Top 10 Tips.) But the X-Pro2 has a huge advantage- namely that its manufacturer also makes film and they’ve built in some really great profiles of their films, my favorite being Acros + Ye (yellow filter.) I find myself leaving it set there frequently- then if I want a quick affirmation or comparison of what I see in mind’s eye for B&W I just flip the VF selector.

More next week!

A bientôt,
Joel

Go to PART TWO

X-Pro Tour (Part 1)

London, France

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