What was months in planning and prep came to fruition.

[Edp]

So, when my wife and I decided to plan 7 months ago a trip to visit our daughter that was studying in Spain, it was the start of a long journey and introduction to Fuji.   Up until then I was a Canon user, from the time I was a teenager.   Fuji was never on my radar as a camera system I’d own.   I didn’t want to lug around all my FF canon gear, even stripped down ( I had been using a 5D mkIII), and so asked a bunch of my photography friends what they recommended the X100V as a great travel camera.   Sounded good to me, and the reviews looked good.  I was willing to use a fixed lens for a trip, so I went to buy it.  
 

That’s when I discovered the x100V is rarer than a truthful politician, so searched out an alternate.   I liked what I saw with the X100V, namely the super small size, and so I started looking at maybe the x-pro3.   Well damn, that was as hard to find as the x100V!   At this point I heard about the x-T5 coming out and I figured that I had a shot at getting that at least, seeing how hard it was to find a Fuji product.   
 

I got the X-T5 and was pretty stunned how small it was compared to my canon, and saw it was actually as small as my ancient canon a-1 I had as a teenager.  I was also happy to see the dials and ergonomics was much much like the A-1 and that felt like putting on an old favorite pair of shoes.   I was a bit concerned with using new equipment for a trip, but hey, YOLO.   I had another trip before the one to Spain, and got to really use it at a race event and stress test the usability.   I had also gotten the viltrox 75mm f/1.2 by that time and it was also a good time to test that lens for its ability to AF well.  
 

By now I was fairly comfortable with the camer, but the true raison d’etre for this journey was the Spain trip.   I got back a few days ago and I have to say, the camera and entire ecosystem has brought back the pure passion for photography.  The compactness of camera and lenses made the difference between a chore to take picture (which often results to just using a phone to take a picture) to always having the camera comfortably in hand and joyfully snapping away.   I feel invigorated again to have a camera on hand.  
 

here are some of the pictures so far, and I’m still adding more.   So many turned out well, far more than I would have thought.  

https://edwardpalisoc.smugmug.com/Places/Portfolio/

 

Be kind.  😝

Edited April 21, 2023 by Edp

[jerryy]

Beautiful!

[Edp]

12 hours ago, jerryy said:

Beautiful!

Thank you!   Barcelona/Madrid/Seville were subject rich environments.   I can only imagine what an actual competent photographer could do.  

[mokba]

Wow, nice work.  We are headed to Barcelona, Madrid, Seville and more in Oct/Nov.  You're portfolio are a great intro to what I'm in for,  Thanks!

[Edp]

2 hours ago, mokba said:

Wow, nice work.  We are headed to Barcelona, Madrid, Seville and more in Oct/Nov.  You're portfolio are a great intro to what I'm in for,  Thanks!

My wife studied in Seville for a year as part of an abroad program decades ago, and was a great tour guide 😛.  Absolutely do the cathedral of Seville rooftop tour for access to views not available elsewhere (they are done is very small groups that don’t overlap with others), and get tickets to sagrada familia as early in advance as you can.   The nativity side was the better side to do, especially for the tower access there.  

Edited April 29, 2023 by Edp

[AKA Wayne]

These are incredible. You shots of people in the city are fantastic. I can't fathom how you get some of those shots off. 

[itchy shutter finger]

The comprehensive essence of photography in one collection. Wow! Just Wow!

Very well done, and thanks for sharing this work with us.

[Edp]

Aww jeeeez, you guys are making me blush!  Thanks for the kind words.  

[SGinNorcal]

Beautiful stuff, I really happy to see what my camera is capable of in expert hands.  Excellent detail without being clinical.  What other lenses than the Viltrox?

Edited May 3, 2023 by SGinNorcal
typo

[Edp]

I brought with me the following (and roughly how much each was used)

Fuji 18mm f/1.4 LM WR R - 80%-ish
Fuji 27mm f/2.8 mkII pancake - 10%
Fuji 35mm - f/2 3%
Laowa 9mm f/2.8 - 2%
Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 - 5%

The Viltrox came in very handy when I used it, but tbh, it was a LOT of focal length, and I would probably would have made more use of a 56mm.  Perhaps as an addition, not as a replacement, since the times I did use the Viltrox, it was perfect for the moment.  It's just there were opportunities where I would have loved to have had a 56mm handy, in more situations than where the 75mm came into play.  The cities we were in are very close quarters, so the distances were a bit too close.  Looking back, I could have gone with say a 23mm instead of the 18mm, but then there are a number of occasions where that 18mm was spot on, and frankly, I flat out LOVE that damned lens.  Easy to work with, SUPER IQ and razor sharp, it REALLY sings on the X-T5 because the extra pixels lets you leverage the ability to crop without losing much if anything - so you can shoot with the wider lens and increase the chances of catching things, then compose in post.  When you get only one chance at a moment, that can make all the difference in having enough context to frame the message, vs not having enough (for me at least).