NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/50 sec, ISO2800)
Some places are magic. This is one of them. The Kennin-Ji temple in Kyoto.
This is even better than what I expected and we visited this temple by accident. We were on our way to the Kiyomiza-dera temple when we passed by the Kennin-Ji temple. Kyoto has 1.600 temples so it would be a “good puzzle to cross Kyoto without passing a temple”. But it was great luck that we ended up here.
The Kennin-Ji temple is one of the oldest Zen temples in Japan and it is of breathtaking beauty.
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/2, 1/50 sec, ISO1000)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/5.6, 1/50 sec, ISO450)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/50 sec, ISO900)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/50 sec, ISO720)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO4500)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO720)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO200)
The moment I entered the temple I calmed down even though I was excited at the same time. When confronted with so much beauty it is sometimes hard for me to not get overwhelmed. I didn’t take any pictures for a couple of minutes but just soaked in the spirit of the place. I’m aware how affected that sounds but it’s how I felt. Maybe it wasn’t that many minutes after all. I started to shoot and got into a trace like state quickly. I didn’t even bother to switch lenses. I had the 20mm/1,8 attached which was just the perfect lens to cover the temple.
When I started shooting I immediately put my Z8 to silent mode in order to not disturb the peace of the place. It’s a kind of magic to use this big, DSLR like but totally silent camera. AF on the Z 20mm F1.8 S is totally silent too. Silent camera and zero viewfinder blackout, the Z8 shoots more like a rangefinder camera. And even though the camera is rather massive it kind of disappears when I shoot it. I mean that the ergonomics of the camera doesn’t get into my way when I take pictures. I set the camera to aperture mode, the aperture to f8 (or lower in poor light) and let Auto-ISO go all the way up to ISO 25.600 if necessary.
I think it is important to keep the technical side of photography as simple as possible in oder to fully focus on the moment and on composition.
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO400)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO5600)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1100)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO100)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO200)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec, ISO200)
This temple is amazing but a big part of the experience was also caused by the fact that we visited the place early in the day. Come early to beat the masses. That’s what we learned in the first couple of days. The whole experience is vastly different if there are many tourists in Kyoto is definitely the touristic hot spot of Japan. Honestly I think over tourism is a reality and the system is on the brink of a total collapse. I think the Japanese tourist board needs to take measures in order to preserve the sights.
Based on the images I took in this temple you might think I don’t know what I’m talking about. There are hardly any people. Trust me. This trip to Kyoto is not over yet and you will get a better understanding of the situation in one of my next blog posts. Even this temple got crowded when we left but I was already done with my photography. So be aware that those images only show how this temple looks like for someone who get there early.
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO1250)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO360)
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/4, 1/50 sec, ISO72)
One more praise of the Nikon Z8. Except for the picture of the painting in the dark room I have not used exposure compensation on any of the images simply because the camera was smart enough to correctly expose the images. Dynamic range is also very impressive. I created a preset for Lightroom that among other things increases contrast a lot because I prefer a more film like look with deep shadows. If HDR is your thing modern sensors have you covered and the Z8 is no exception. Auto-White balance is very good but not perfect. I think my Fuji X-Pro2 still has the edge here.
That’s it from the first temple in Kyoto. Time for lunch before we will join the masses in one of the most visited places in Kyoto.
NIKON Z 8 (20mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO64)