Cycling at Tower Bridge

I was tired from all the walking so i sat down at one of the seating area near the Tower Bridge, there were a lot of people whether cycling, strolling, jogging, photographing, u named it, with my X100S in my hands equipped with the WCL, i tried to capture this cyclist and see if my X100S is fast enough to focus and take a shot. i think it did well here. No hunting by the X100S. Although its a hit and miss, hopefully the X100T improves on that.

From London to Italy and Leicester .... (Part 1 London)

12th July 2014

Its 6.15am and i'm hovering above the clouds of london, it was beautiful up here, the sunrise gave the clouds an orange tint glow and we're circling up here waiting for our turn to land. This is typical of london heathrow traffic, as we circled, there were a few planes visible from looking outside of the plane window as they takes turn to land. While we're up here it reminds me of the scenes from a movie called the langoliers, all you see is clouds blanketing the world below. I should have taken my camera but i'm too lazy to take it out of the bag, and just like that i missed the moment. As we descend into the clouds, i was expecting a little turbulence and to my surprise there was none. And then the city below begins to appear, London, gone was the sunrise, the city in mist and a typical london weather, grey skies. The mood definitely turns dark. The temperature outside is 17degrees celcius, not quite the hot summer but maybe it was just morning weather. I'm still adjusting the time change as my body prepares to prevent jetlag. I do feel like its 6am in the morning, thats a good start.
I hop the next train to Paddington.

I've arrived at Paddington station and it was quite a busy morning. Hundreds of people getting their coffees and catching the next train. There were a few cyclist, in their spandex also getting breakfast, there's burger king and some bagel stations, a lot of options to choose and me i just sit on the cold steel chair thinking what's good for breakfast. Pigeons literally flew past my face and i'm the one who needs dodging. Not from where i come from, a slight move of your hands, and there goes the birds fleeing for their lives.

Its 9am and the hotel check in policy is at 2pm. 5 hours to burn. My fuji x100s sits in my bag and have yet to come out. I'm too tired from the long flight and i need to sleep in a proper bed. Sitting for 16 hours is not cool. Your bottom hates you and your sleeping pattern messed up. I left my luggage at the hotel and head back to Paddington Underground Tube station. First stop, Whitechapel.

I am in Whitechapel to check out the market but it seems that i'm too early as they were just about to setting up their 'tent'. I've been to Shepperd's bush and i think Shepperd's is the better market. I'm talking about street market. cheap ripoff clothings, and stuffs. Its 10am and the weather is about to show its summer. cloudy blue skies and warm sun, here comes summer i thought. As i was taking out my camera and started taking pictures, one guy came to me, he was pushing a trolley full of stuffs, i guess he's one of the sellers there, he said "Brother, no picture please". I said "OK" and just like that, it turned me off, of doing any photography. I guess i am a sensitive guy. I also found out that, that place is quite dodgy. Quite a few hobos, asking for a penny. When one hobo came to me and ask for two penny, and me being the "NO" guy, of course said no, he started swearing and mumbling, all i heard was "Cmon its only 2 pennies". I am totally a foreigner there and for my own safety, I left whitechapel.

June 10th 2015
***at this moment, i have lost my idea for a write up, might as well post some pictures rather than me talking out of my ass, this has been a long overdue blog post LOL***

Time for updates

I sold my X100S and now i'm missing the X100 series. Now i'm GASing for X100T. Why not? the X100S was after all my all time favourite camera. Its simple. One focal length to rule them all. Of course it cant do all types of photography. but for my type of photography, eg. portraits, landscapes, streets, the X100 series is great enough. With the new T model, i hope it fixes and improves all the niggles of the S series. To be honest, i sold the S so i could upgrade to the T. or should i wait for the F series? YOu may wonder why F? because F stands for Fourth but also stands for Five, i'm not sure whats the next naming convention. I'm sure you know that T stands for third? You dont? i dont blame you.... nobody cares what it actually calls. Anyway, i'm not sure if the T is sold here locally. i guess my best next bet is Singapore. but i'm not going to Singapore anytime soon.

I knew i'm gonna get the X100 series again because i kept the wide converter lens. I just love that camera. Awesome IQ, classic looks, although at times i wanna smash it to the ground because it keeps back focus (focus the background instead of subject). But now with face detection available, i hope it does what it does and be good at it. What else is there to be GASing about the T? Wifi implementation.... at first i thought of it as a good feature but not important but then i realised i loved transferring my recently took photos to my tablet and phones and upload it to instagram or just for viewing. I always do that with my Sony Rx100iii. it was indeed convenient! Large LCD is always a good thing. although non tilt, i dont think thats a deal breaker though.

As a taking still pictures tool, the T IS GREAT. but for video? based on reviews its bad although i wont probably noticed because i dun really know wat to look for in video quality. as long its not choppy i'm alright.

I brought the X100S for a trip to Italy last year. and i loved all the thousands of images that i took but i have to admit i kinda tired lugging it around. but the images taken was worth it.

I can also take pictures like above because the X100S is so damn quiet. Thats what i like about the X100 series. Suddenly i have guts to take candid photos. just because i'm stealthy. Because its basically mute. No sound! You cant do this with a Leica. unless you have balls. I dont. I also respect people's privacy. unlike certain Eric K.  but that's just me, different people different thinking. whatever to get your pictures.

I love this picture. This is how useful and stealthy the X100S can be. I was sitting on the opposite side when i noticed this man reading a book and at times looking out of the window. His face has got that character, the lines, the age, what is he thinking? is he heading home to his loved ones? is he going to work? thinking of the grand children? its a mystery. but from his face you can see he is definitely thinking of something.

Some people may not understand why i took pictures of strangers or why photograhers take pictures of strangers but thats what street/candid photography is all about, they were never your friends or families, just strangers running their daily business, their emotions, just characters, subject of a picture. Its like questioning why Monalisa?

What i dislike about Fujifilm is their aggressive noise reduction. if only we can control the NR manually. Its great to have noise free images but sometimes skins looked like mannequins and thats bad.

Why not X-T10 you say? Sure, its new, classic SLR looks, interchangeable lens, something about the X100 series is just so simple. no need to worry about focal lengths. and size wise the X100 is shorter? the lenses on X-T10 will be bulkier and longer.

I put up my two Leicas for sale. My M8 and M9. and i sell them cheap. especially the M9. too cheap. i think i wanna upped the price a bit. actually i felt a bit of regret selling those. Its a Leica. and i might never owned one of these again. I'm selling my M8 with Voigtlander 15mm about SGD$3000. and my M9 with Voigtlander 40mm at SGD$4200. Actually i'm having second thoughts about selling them but i believe i needed the money. SO far no buyer and i'm not desperate selling.

I love Leica, its like owning a Ferrari. but owning a Ferrari is over the top? not justified? i cant find the words here. any car can go from point A to B, just like a camera, it just take pictures. Leica is too expensive. i can get 3 or 4 Fujifilm and have one Leica.

One reason of selling it is i'm not really good at that rangefinder focusing. i'm just too slow. trying to aligned the patch sometimes it took me a while and the photo opportunity just gone. especially taking pictures of them kids. You cant ask them to stand still. and if you can its not natural. i like candid and natural expression. not created. i'm better off with a camera that can do fast autofocus just like a X100S. Shooting wide open at 1.4 with the M9 is harder for me. if i didnt get the eye to focus the pictures will become blurry or at least the nose is sharp. thats a bad photo in my book. With the M8 is okay because of the smaller aperture at 4.5.

But but but, this Leica M9 that i purchased has a very low mileage. the last picture i took was only at 473 shutter actuations!!!! its a steal! Its in pristine condition. I want to keep it for collection but then i might need money too. Confusing times. I wanna sold off just the M8 but the pictures it took was amazing too. super sharp. although need to put IR cut filter or else all black shirts becomes purple. uweeekkkk... and the M8 is in silver. its super sexy retro look!

Should i sell or should i keep?

I brought my M8 to New Orleans with the 15mm. 

This is where Nicholas Cage is heading when he'll rest peacefully. He's not dead yet. but very much owned this part of the cemetery. 

Jackson square New Orleans taken by Liam Neeson...Not... by Leica M8

The only thing Fuji cant take is sunstar. Correct me if i'm wrong. but i never got the light to burst into a sunstar with my Fujifilm X100S but with the Voigtlander there she is....

And just look at that color noise on the M8. but why peep when you can just watch and look at the picture of the alley.

Oh.... such tough times. 

To sell or not to sell the Leicas.... 

To buy or not to buy the FUjifilm X100T.

GAS comes and goes.

From London to Italy and Leicester ........ (Part 8 Leicester)

I was here in Leicester three years ago and coming back here felt familiar, it feels a bit like home. I didn't really take as much photos as i planned to, only a few snapshots here and there. I was starting to get lazy to bring my camera, after that Italy trip, i felt my shoulder is a bit sore and tired. Rest of the days i didn't bring any bags with me, i just want to travel light.

When i'm in Leicester, i just loved to go to the city centre and just watch all the people go with their day to day business. Chillax sippin Costa coffee and window shopping in Highcross, the big mall in Leicester city centre. Ate the 5pound all you can eat buffet and stroll around in the fresh fruits market. These are the kind of things i do when i'm in Leicester, if i'm not, most of the time i'll be in my hotel. I love Premier Inn Hotel, and the one in Leicester is also located nicely, near the railstation and 5-10mins walk to the city centre malls.

When i'm in the hotel i just watched whats on TV. Usually in the morning, the day started with Everybody Loves Raymond and followed by Kelsey Grammer's Frasier and then the Big Bang theory... i dont remember which channel is which, its something like ITV or E4. and then there's a channel with a plus one at the end, ITV+1, its the same programme delayed by an hour me thinks. Ahhh TVs.... everywhere you go, you'd be watching TV. Genius invention, its actually a mind control machine, if you really think about it....

At 10ish pm, it was dead quiet, zombies might lurk around the corners!

From London to Italy and Leicester ....... (Part 0 Fuji X100S)

I had a trip to London and Italy last month and there are a few blog post that i wrote while i was there, i didn't update the blog on the fly, instead i jot down what i would write on my blog on my tablet, old school style, like a diary kind of style. I wanted to include the photos i took with my X100S on the blog. While the Fuji is smaller and lighter than big SLR, i still find it a drag to carry around, it still gives me sore shoulder. During the trip i wish i could leave my X100s in the hotel but thinking of all the photos opportunities, i just had to bring it. But that is just me. I'm too nitpicky. I love to travel really really light. I dont want to carry anything. I dont want to carry a shoulder bag which i did the whole duration of the trip. and it sores my shoulder. did i say that already? But the images of the Fuji is astonishing. Sharp and superb tonal range although there is one time when it misfocus i would love to smash it to the ground. It misfocus when the moment mattered. Nice........ that was really really frustrating. With the WCL fitted, makes it more heavier. and bulkier. I should have gone with the fixed 23mm, less bulk but i need the wide angle coverage. Bahhh!!

These are my opinions on the Fuji x100s as a travel camera but i'm too overly critical on certain things:-

- Most of the time i use aperture F8 - F14 on a bright sunny day to get the most depth of field, sharp picture front to back. No bokeh needed. and its easier for others/strangers who doesnt know to prefocus to take pictures of yourself/me so that it did not back focus/misfocus.
- Silent mode is best. Unobtrusive street/candid photography. Just let the X100s hanging on the neck and press the shutter button with the thumb while walking/moving.
- Pressing and holding Q button will activate the monitor sunlight mode, a must in bright sunny days so that you could see the LCD properly. Too bad no effect on EVF. I find the EVF to be dim in bright sunny days. but i also did not adjust the EVF brightness in the menu. To me, i find that adjusting brightness and monitor sunlight mode did not give the same brightness. its better with sunlight mode on than increasing the brightness to plus 5.
- I did not use much EVF. i mostly use the LCD for composition.
- I used high speed burst mode for candid photography.
- low light auto focus fail miserably. (smallest focus box) . That was frustrating. i keep getting the RED BOX of DEATH.
- No zoom can sometimes be limited. There are times i wish i could zoom. But i'm fine on 19mm all the time.
- I mostly shoots in JPGs. There are times when i shoot in RAW+Jpg. But 90% i stayed in JPG. I'm too lazy to get into Q menu and change to raw.
- I find the X100S gives me sore shoulder but that could be due to the sling bag that i carried too. But this is definitely better than DSLR.
- I wish i could fit the x100s in my pocket so i dont have to bring a sling bag with me.
- 5% misfocus in bright sunny day. which is annoying. Bright sunny day. Cmon.

I'm sure there are more but i forgot a few.

To summarise, i think i'm better off with a point and shoot smaller camera for travelling/personal/leisure (*i'm looking at you Sony rx100iii*). but thats just me. If it is a paid job, then of course i just need my Fujis!

For my style of photography, which are just snapshots, i better go with point and shoot for travel. i did not take time to think of composition and other photography skills. I think during my travel, time is of the essence, or time is gold, if that is the right quote, i mean there are so many places to go, to explore, i dont have time to take my time with my photography, i need to keep moving, its worst if you're in a group. Everyone else were moving and you're left behind because you were taking photos. and then you have to play catching up. Do that over and over in a day. no fun. so i just compose and take a shot and then move. But i'm too spoiled of Fuji's image quality. I'm looking at the thousand of photos i took during the trip, and the Fuji's IQ is superb! Super, super, super. I'm worried that if i finally indeed buy the Sony RX100iii, i might get disappointed with a 1inch sensor quality. But lets get real, when do i really going to print large? like really large? maybe a family portrait but the other snapshots? i dont think so. Since i like to zoom in, pixel peeping my photos, "occasionally", i might get disappointed with Sony's IQ as i have with my EM10's IQ just because i was spoiled with Fuji's great IQ. I wish Fuji can come up with a pocketable camera and still keeping with the retro design. But rumors has it that Fuji X30 is still gonna be a 2/3 sensor, why not 1inch? I dont care for XE2 EVF on it, i want a big sensor in a small camera and a decent EVF will be fine.

After the trip, i got sick of bringing my Fuji X100s anywhere but the image quality does made me think twice. To bring or not to bring?

I have a trip to Singapore coming, again, i might try and get the Sony RX100iii after all. Gadgets are like toys. Big boys toys.

UPDATE: When i first wrote this blog post, i just got back from the trip, and at that moment, i don't feel and i don't want to bring my x100s anywhere with me, but after looking at the thousand of images that i captured during the trip, i think its worth the sore shoulder. i just love the image quality, its astonishing! superb! The details in the JPG is so good. It puts a smile on my face. 

Torn between X100S or X-Pro1

I am heading to London later in the evening, and surely this long haul flight is gonna suck *$$. I love travelling but i hate the flying part. One, there's the long flight, crammed in a confined space, cant straighten your legs, and the elbow resting invasion. its either you or him, that get to rest their elbow on the elbow rest. i love the aisle but this time i got checked in the middle like sandwiches, sitting next to a stranger. I'm socially retard and i'm not good at making small talks. breaking the ice is worst. Two, there's that thing called turbulence. Man, i hate it when the plane trembles, shaking like you're in a cocktail shaker. Thats when you'll remember god. Oh please god, save me. Third, take offs and landings, especially take offs, my mind goes wild when the plane starts rising at 45 degree angle, the plane at full throttle against the wind, i hate my life for seeing that youtube video where the plane take offs and rise to an angle of 90 degree upwards (thats a straight line upwards) and goes round all the way till 180 and boom. i'm not sure if i was looking at a real plane or a big scale model that looked like the real thing. but still that thing look real as sh!t. and me being a worrier, i have a lot of negative things in my mind when flying.

Travelling to London plus Italy, is a photography opportunity, be it street, buildings, landscape and snapshot photography. and dont forget food photography! So which camera is the best? I have the x100s and the X-pro1 but bringing both is not an option. i dont want to lug 2 cameras for travelling. Just not my style. i love photography but i'm not really that 'serious' into it, what it really means is that i'm not about to bring a tripod, 2 cameras, few lenses, and do long exposure shots. Mostly i just get away with snapshots. I want to enjoy more on the travelling, exploring the city and the camera is just for recording the memories. I dont want it to be a burden. and i'm not about to sell a poster of the tower bridge or the tower of pisa. I just need one camera. The ultimate camera.

Both have their pros and cons. I've already decided to bring the X100S but i'm having second thoughts.  I prefer the JPEG images that i got out of it compare to the X-pro1. I found that there's more headroom for editing the X100S Jpegs. and its more punchy and contrasty compare to the X-pro1 but to be honest they're similar but x100s is better/cleaner. Speaking of cleaner thats also the cons of the X100S, the noise reduction is too aggressive at high ISOs. Skins would turn to plastic or wax. I love shooting low light and indoors, thats the worst light for taking pictures of humans with the X100s, ISO bumped up to 3200 - 6400 and humans turns to mannequins. I used to love Fuji skin rendering and when my eyes were 'open', it was actually the effect of aggressive noise reduction. i wish i could turn off the NR or turn off my NR 'eyes'. Maybe future firmwares but i doubt it, it seems that the NR is built into the sensor. Oh wait, they said RAW did not have this wax skin problem. I havent try it though.

The X-pro1 is much more versatile as the lens can zoom. i have the 18-55 kit lens. and its also one of the reason that i didnt want to bring it with me. its just too long. Not DSLR long, but its no compact too. I want a smaller camera, thats where the X100S shines. Its size being smaller than the X-pro1 makes it much easier to bring it anywhere. But since i acquire the Wide Converter Lens, it's always on the camera. and it adds a considerable amount of length. I love 28mm. Just nice wide angle. Really good for taking pictures of the city. More objects/subjects to fit in. But the size of the X100S is now similar to the X-pro1. Arghh. Choices, Choices.

If i remember correctly, the reason i bought the X-pro1 is for this planned trip and GAS. I have a love and hate relationship with this camera. I love it and then i hate it. I just recently used this camera for my evening coffee with friends. and i'm in love with it again. its like an old fling. Sometimes the feelings just comes back. LOL. I love how it feels good in my hands. But i also bought the WCL for my X100S for this trip. WCL is a much more recent purchase. and i love the versatility. 28mm? no problem. 35mm? perfect! But i have 3 batteries for the X-pro1, surely thats enough. I only have 2 for the x100s which i still doubt if its enough for a day. The battery life on the X100s sucks.

Looking at both cameras, i love how handsome the X-pro1 look and i kinda have a change of heart.
Sorry X100s.

You're still coming with me.

Below are photos taken from iphone4 OOC.

Almost similar in size but the X-pro1 is bigger. Sorry for that messy desk.

 X-pro1 is definitely longer and bigger

The WCL fitted to the X100S makes it similar in size to the X-pro1.
Choices, choices

I'm stopping by Dubai on the way to London, i might get myself a Ricoh GR.

Oooops.