Lotus Flower

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DSCF5989FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/8, 1/800 sec, ISO200)

Some places are just special. This one is an example.

The Lotus Temple in New Dehli, India. Built in 1986 it is nothing but beautiful. Pure Purity. A truly amazing building. When I reached the place there were already a lot of visitors but nothing compared to the crowds when I left. This is not a hidden gem. According to Wikipedia the lotus temple has 3 million visitors a year. I recommend to go there as early as possible to avoid the masses and to avoid the heat.

DSCF5971FUJIFILM X-T1 (27mm, f/8, 1/600 sec, ISO200)
 DSCF5978FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/8, 1/340 sec, ISO200)

You must take off your shoes but there is a carpet that helps with the hot stone floor. Most visitors from India didn’t seem to have any problems with it but for me the carpet was vital. I guess the people from India would make excellent fire walkers.

But it was not only me who had a problem with the heat. My Fuji X-T1 ran hot too. It didn’t fail but it got very warm. So warm that it was uncomfortable to hold. I understand that there is less surface for the heat to dissipate but this is something Fuji should try to address in the next generation. It is not a big deal in most places in the world though.

Back to the lotus temple. Because it was built in the pre digital photography area when most of us shot slide film I wanted to give the images the typical look. I shot RAW as always and used VSCOs Provia 100F preset and “on top of that” Fujis Classic Chrome profile. I’m still not sure why that works but if apply the Provia preset first and change the camera profile to Classic Chrome in the next step I got a mix of both settings. The Classic Chrome desaturates the Provia setting and shifts the colors. With two clicks and some minor shadow and highlight adjustments I got the look I wanted.

DSCF5982FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/8, 1/680 sec, ISO200)
 DSCF5995FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5, 1/125 sec, ISO1600)
 DSCF5994FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5, 1/125 sec, ISO2500)

It is not allowed to take any pictures inside the temple but I took two when the guides didn’t watch. That’s the big advantage of a mirror less camera. No embarrassing mirror slap. The Fuji X-T1 is not as silent as a Fuji X100T with its central shutter but it is close enough. I never encountered any issues. Not like with my first mirrorless camera, the Sony NEX 5. The Sony was easily the loudest camera I ever owned. It had no mirror but the shutter was extremely loud. There was no way to take an image without drawing attention.

The Fuji X-T1 is as quiet as a mouse and its shutter noise is easily covered by ambient noise. The only thing I must remember before I put the camera away is to set the flaps on my ThinkTank Retrospective 5 bag into silent mode. Otherwise the loudest Velcro tape on earth makes it impossible to retrieve my camera. But I love those noisy and strong Velcros. They make pickpocketing much more difficult.

For me this is the best small camera bag ever. It is made for travel photography. Just like the Fuji X-T1 and the Fuji XF 14/2.8 R. Most of the time I need nothing but this one lens. For this trip to India I only added the Fuji XF 27/2.8 to keep the weight of my camera bag to a minimum. I’m still undecided in between the Fuji XF 27/2.8 and the Fuji XF 23/1.4 R. The later of course is better, its focal length works better for me and it is much faster too. But it is also rather big and heavy and I can clearly tell if it is in the bag or not. I love the 23mm but I admit that I will be the first to trade it for a high quality 23/2 if Fuji decides to make one. The upcoming 35/2 means that there is hope.

DSCF5997FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/5, 1/1900 sec, ISO200)