FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (35mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO200)

The ride to get here was hard and sometimes dangerous. I have never seen anything like it except on a TV documentation about traffic in India or Bangladesh. There is a clear, archaic hierarchy: big wins. The buses and the trucks ruled the road.

If I had known this I would be stayed at the hotel. I felt sorry for the driver. He lost a Saturday because of me. But I’m glad that I did not know it. Ha Long Bay is such a beautiful place even though thousands of tourists take their toll. High Noon.

RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec, ISO100)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (35mm, f/4, 1/2900 sec, ISO200)

After a nice lady wanted to purchase the tickets for me for about 10 times of the regular price ( I can imagine that it works because the ticket for the 4 hour ride is really cheap ) and after I have enjoyed a strange, pale burger ( see my last blog post ) I entered a small ship that was clearly past its prime. The captain was about seventeen and the only clock on board showed 12 o’clock all the time. But there were a couple of life vests, an orange flashlight and sun hats so I felt save.

FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (35mm, f/5.6, 1/850 sec, ISO200)

There was the chance to buy trinketry and fruits from pirates. Everything was well organized and there were not to many passengers. I was the only one coming from outside of Asia but I got used to be the pink elephant.

It was hot and humid, there was no air-condition and the fans didn’t work but as long as the boat was moving there was a mild breeze. I started to regret that I haven’t bought the 55-200 tele lens when I was in Bangkok. But I was shocked by it’s size and weight. I want my mirror less setup to be as light and compact as possible. The 55-200 is for sure a very good lens but it’s also massive compared to the primes.

Now all I got for the trip was three focal lengths. Speaking in full frame equivalents: 21mm, 50mm on the Fuji X Pro-1 and 28mm on the Ricoh GR. Not a lot at all but surprisingly good enough most of the time. Of course a real tele lens would be nice sometimes. The third shot is a good example. Distant fisher boats in front of picturesque blue hills cry for a long lens but you need to live with what you got. Maybe I will get the much lighter XC version of the lens. Half the weight and half the price! And there will be a double zoom set soon where the Fuji X E-1 plus the 18-55 zoom and the 55-230 can be had for 750.- EURO! That’s almost like buying the 18-55 zoom and get the Fuji X E-1 and the tele zoom for free as the regular price for the 18-55 zoom is still 700.- EUROs!

FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (35mm, f/2, 1/250 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (35mm, f/5.6, 1/420 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO3200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO2500)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO4000)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO3200)

After a short trip we landed at the some caves. I can’t tell you the name. I tried to google it but there are a lot of caves and I expect they look quite similar. It looked impressive but I really would like to see the place in “neutral” light too.

But they caves are a good example of the beauty of digital photography today. It allows you to shoot without a tripod and it also deals with the funky colors and the contrast. No way that my favorite slide film would have handled the contrast. And every exposure would have taken about 2 seconds. And a couple of wasted shots because somebody bumped into your tripod. I saw others taking pictures with their smartphone. Today it’s possible to take pictures in a dark cave with a telephone!

FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (14mm, f/4, 1/35 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (35mm, f/2.8, 1/1800 sec, ISO200)

On my way back I even saw some penguins. I didn’t expect to see them here. I guess we have to blame global warming. We were forced to wait for a young couple who go lost but when they finally made it to our boat the trip went on.

The iPad photographer is from Japan. He’s here for business too. Unfortunately he didn’t speak a lot of English and my Japanese is rather basic 😉 so we spoke with our hands and big gestures. I’m sure he is a very nice guy. Communication is over rated anyway.

to be continued…

FUJIFILM X-Pro1 (35mm, f/2.8, 1/2400 sec, ISO200)