Night Ride Home

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R0002848RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO140)

This is my last Ha Long Bay post. I promise! I have talked about the long way to get there from Hanoi and here are some shots taken on the even longer way back.

It seems that to get somewhere always means less effort and always is less tiresome than to get back. It was a very long ride. I was tired and hungry but I didn’t want to stop for food.

R0002849RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO140)
 R0002851RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO250)
 R0002853RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO200)

There was plenty of traffic and the fading light did not help in making the trip any saver. I felt ok but mostly because of my excellent driver and the rather massive car. It would have felt different on a bike. I can’t imagine to drive this roads on a scooter or even worse on a bicycle. But the people here have no other choice. They have to use these roads.

R0002856RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO200)
 R0002865RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO560)

Sometimes there are so many lanes and it seems that there is no clear system. Just have a look at the image above. The gentleman on the far right of the picture who comes our way. I increased exposure a little to make him stand out from the background.

I used the Ricoh for all the shots because of its focal length but also because of the nice snap focus feature. No worries that the AF would focus on the dirt on the windscreen or fail to focus because of the dim light. To be able to shoot without worrying about the autofocus is great. I do the same with my Fuji XP1 and the 14mm lens. I use hyper focal technic to get rid of AF delays and it works just great.

I shoot AF since the first SLR, a Nikon F801, I bought with my own money. I like the convenience but sometimes it is best to switch it off.

R0002867RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO400)
 R0002883RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/3.5, 1/80 sec, ISO1100)

After a long ride we arrived in Hanoi. The street were still filled with scooters and cars but I did not shoot a lot pictures. It was dark and I was thirsty, tired and hungry. The Ricoh GR isn’t the best low light camera on the planet but you can shoot in RAW up to ISO 25.600. Something I really miss on my Fuji XP1 which doesn’t go beyond ISO 6.400 for reasons I don’t understand.

It’s not that I want to shoot above ISO 6.400 on a regular base but sometimes I have to. Thank you Ricoh for offering that option.

R0002917RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO10000)