FUJIFILM X-T1 (31.5mm, f/6.4, 1/180 sec, ISO200)
“Everything was better in the good old days.” Bullshit! That’s just the way the human brain works. You forget the bad things and embellish the good ones.
But there is one thing that was clearly better: car design! For me it peaked in the late 60s early 70s. Before the first oil crises and before crash test dummies the cars just looked cool. Fuel economy and safety weren’t important factors. A car had to look good and most cars did. I’m very happy if I see one of them on the road. In the South West of the USA you can still find some in good condition thanks to the climate.
Sometimes you can find big car dumps in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know if car dump is the right expression for this place but I don’t think that those cars are anything but spare part donators. They still look amazing though.
FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/5.6, 1/480 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, ISO200)
The wrecks spanned over a couple of decades but most were from the 70s. Perfect! I would love to have such a car but it would look completely out of place where I live: Twisty, narrow roads, small parking lots and high gas prices. They would make as much sense in Austria as a snow mobile in Bangkok.
But you can dream. Listen to Bruce Springsteen, John Hiatt or the early Tom Waits in such a car while passing the neon signs of cheap motels would be magic. I need to rent one when I’m in the USA next time. Just for one day.
FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/5.6, 1/600 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/5.6, 1/550 sec, ISO200)
I only used the kit lens for those shots because I left my camera bag in the car. It was not a big deal. For such images I prefer the flexibility of a zoom and the kit lens is a very good lens. I would have loved to have 16mm now and then. Maybe I will get the upcoming XF 2.8/16-50. I don’t care if it lacks OIS. I even would prefer it without IS to keep size and price reasonable.
But I can understand the concerns that a lot of photographers have. I was the same. Before I finally purchased the Canon 2.8/24-70 II I went through the Canon 4/24-105 IS and the Canon 4/24-70 IS. I didn’t like the fact that the 24-70 II lacks IS. Of course I was wrong. The 24-70/2.8 II is so much better than the other two zooms and because of the sharp results at f2.8 it can replace primes in most cases. If the Fuji XF 2.8/16-50 is close to the Canon I will get one to replace the kit zoom.
I got used to shoot prime lenses on my Fuji cameras that’s why I sometimes forget about the possibility to zoom in. Look at the EXIF data of these shots. Most are shot at 18mm. I just simple forgot to use the zoom. I should have made more detail shots like the first image but the cars were in a rather poor condition. A lot of rust and broken glass.
FUJIFILM X-T1 (20.5mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (22.3mm, f/6.4, 1/500 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/6.4, 1/600 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (35.8mm, f/6.4, 1/400 sec, ISO200)
Just recently Fuji gave us a new film setting: Classic Chrome. I think it is the best Fuji film setting so far. Initially I liked Fuji’s Velvia setting but changed to VSCO’s Velvia setting when VSCO film introduced their slide presets. Now I also sometimes use Classic Chrome for my shots. I like the high contrast of the Classic Chrome setting and the way it deals with colors. Very well done Fuji!
I almost changed the title of this blog post to Classic Crome but as you know I love to take song, album or movie titles and I was very proud that I found this one.
FUJIFILM X-T1 (18mm, f/8, 1/210 sec, ISO200)