Diamonds Are Forever

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R0005279RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO2500)

Weekend – finally time for some sightseeing before I had to fly to KL on Saturday night. In Hyderabad I only wanted to see the Charminar but my local colleague had other plans. We went to the Fort Golcona first.

On the way to the fort I was able to capture some exotic street life. Exotic for those who don’t live in india of course. Two guys changing the wheel of an auto rickshaw while a goat was passing.

R0005177RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. GR (18.3mm, f/4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO400)
 R0005179RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. GR (18.3mm, f/4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO500)

I have seen better roads in my life but our driver was very good and traffic was better than expected. We arrived at our destination before sunset. We paid our entry fee but because I’m white we got a guided tour without asking for it. Of course not for free.

But the guide was great. 54 years old but he ran uphill that we had troubles to follow. No gram of fat and in better shape than most of todays teenagers. He seems to be a great photographer too. I asked him to take a picture of our small group at the top of the fort but despite the 14mm lens he preferred to shoot from some distance. He managed to include the whole building without cropping.

DSCF2886FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/140 sec, ISO200)
 DSCF2924FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/6.4, 1/60 sec, ISO1250)
 DSCF2927FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4.5, 1/60 sec, ISO3200)

Sunsets are short in the South. No chance to take a lot of shots during the sunset or the blue hour. Moments after I took the shot below the light was gone. We ran downstairs to be their on time for the light show.

Before I entered the arena I was asked to pack away my camera. “No photo”.

DSCF2931FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO320)
 R0005197RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO2500)
 R0005203RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO2000)

As you can see I did not follow the rather unfriendly guard. At least I shot without flash or focus assist lamps unlike all the smartphone photographers. The snap focus feature and the very good high ISO performance helped to create good shots in almost no light.

Sure a faster lens or IS would have been even better but currently I don’t have that option. Also not on my Fuji XP1. The 14mm lens is f2.8 too and the 1.4/35 is too long for these type of shots. At the moment I’m considering to get another lens for my XP1. One option is the 18-135 IS as an all-in-one travel lens option ( beside my 14mm lens of course ) but I guess I will get the 1.4/23. I already played with it in the camera store. I love its built quality and its looks. The good – quality, the bad – weight and the ugly – the lens shade. What have they thought? The lens is absolutely beautiful but that lens shade is horrible. I really hope that there will be a third party version like the great lens shades of the 18 and the 35mm lenses.

R0005238RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO3200)
 R0005250RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO3200)
 R0005261RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO1600)

But for now I shoot with what I have and it’s not that bad at all. The Fuji XP1 and the Ricoh GR are the best travel cameras I have ever owned.

R0005276RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD. GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO1600)