Riding In The Rain

DSCF3469-2FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (27mm, f/5, 1/250 sec, ISO800)

Before I left the hotel I saw massive thunderstorm clouds. I returned to my room to get an umbrella and the rain cover for my camera bag. Then I went out to shoot.

It was Friday late afternoon. Work was done and a weekend in HCMC, Vietnam was in front of me. I got a cold the first night after arrival because of the aggressive air-condition in my hotel room in KL, Malaysia. I still had it when I went out but there was no reason to be afraid. It was 37 degrees Celsius before the rain and still above 30 after the rain.

If you are in HCMC there is one obvious subject: Motorcycles. I have done this extensively in the past but despite I have been here many times I had the opportunity to capture them during a thunderstorm.

DSCF3418FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (27mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO800)
DSCF3424FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (27mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO800)
DSCF3466FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (27mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec, ISO800)

The Fuji X Pro-2 is weather sealed but the Fuji XF 27/2.8 is not. Anyway I would not recommend to shoot any camera in a tropical thunderstorm even if it is weather sealed and with a weather sealed lens attached. Why take the risk? Besides that: There is a reason why there are umbrellas. So I was shooting single handed. Umbrella in my left and camera in my right hand. Thanks to the super small 27mm pancake I was able to use the optical viewfinder of the X Pro-2 which worked like a charm. There is no lag and it’s possible to see what’s outside of the frame. Fantastic! The X Pro-2 is made for this.

Plus there is plenty of resolution which helps with cropping. My favorite frame is nothing but a heavy crop of the image below. Maybe I could have managed to take the shot with a short tele lens too but I doubt it plus I haven’t seen it in the first place.

After a couple of minutes the rain stopped, I folded my umbrella away and continued shooting but I prefer the shots I took during the rain.

DSCF3469FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (27mm, f/5, 1/250 sec, ISO800)