CITY DAILY PHOTO APRIL THEME DAY - MY FAVORITE TOY

My tool, my partner, my art set, my outlet. The Fujifilm X-T5 is the best camera I've ever had. It is hard to tell from the photo but it is surprisingly small and light. Most Fujifilm cameras go full retro on the control dials and they can be hard to get used to if you are coming from, say, Canon, like I did. I love this thing as much as you can love an object.               

OLD LOCATION, NEW TOY

A week or so ago, the wonderful people I work with had a retirement luncheon for me. The core of us have been together for more than 30 years. One of the nice things they gave me was a substantial Amazon gift certificate. I told them that before the day was done it would be used to benefit a certain Japanese manufacturer of optical and electronic goods.

And so, a few days later, a Fujifilm 90mm f 2.8 prime lens arrived. It's something I coveted but wouldn't spend the money on myself. I had to take it out for a test drive, of course, so I went to the usual places in Forest Park. I'm very happy with the focus and clarity.              

WHY I LOVE MY CAMERA (RED WING BLACKBIRD)

I got my first digital camera in late 1999, when the consumer models appeared. They were  what we now call point-and-shoots, Nikon then, until 2005 or 2006 when I made the plunge and got a DSLR, a Canon 5D. Then upgrades and a lot of high end glass. Unfortunately, I was getting older and my spine more crumbly. The weight of two Canon bodies and lenses on the street became too much.

Skipping some intermediate steps, I now shoot with a Fujifilm X-T3, smaller, lighter and cheaper than the Canons. The images are as good or better. I love it. This picture of a red wing blackbird, shot with a 18-55mm lens (1.5 crop factor), was taken in Forest Park yesterday. The crop is at least 90% and it stays sharp. FB does a poor job rendering it. On my computer, there is much more gradation in the blacks.

COLD WET BLAH

Hard to find something to shoot this weekend. The light looked like what happened to a white car that hasn't been washed in a year. But I had something different to play with, a new tripod. It's the best I've ever had. Got it through a Kickstarter project by a company called Peak Design, known for high end camera bags and the like. They set out to make the best travel tripod ever and I think they succeded. You can look it up if interested.

So I took it to sodden Forest Park, put my beloved Fujifilm X-T3 on it, set the ISO to the lowest native setting, 200, then f11 and let the shutter take as long as it pleased. Really like the crispness and contrast here compared to what I would have gotten handheld, probably at ISO 800-1600 and f8 at most. 

              

DRAGONFLY

A shot that almost didn't happen, and would not have but for the alert vision of Mrs. C. We had walked around the corner of the reflecting pool in yesterday's photo and sat on a bench. Dragonflies buzzed all over the water and she noticed one standing still on the low concrete wall. I had the same wide angle lens on my camera, hardly ideal for a close up, and leaned in as far as I could. What you see here is a tiny, tiny fraction of the original image. Cleaned up with de-noise software for sure, but it says something about the image quality of my camera, a Fujifilm X-T3, and lens, a FF 10-24 mm f4.          

Photo Experiment

For most of the last five months I've set aside my trusty - and heavy - Canon 5D Mark III and have been using new equipment. The Canon was getting to be too much weight for my old neck, shoulders and back. I wanted something lighter that would maintain image quality. An old teacher recommended the Fujifilm X-T2.

It's pretty cool. Although it uses an ASP-C sensor (not full sized), I think the image quality is better than the Canon. An interesting feature is that it can emulate many Fujifilm film looks. They have developed many over the years. This picture of the Grand Basin in Forest Park emulates their Acros black and white film, with the addition of a red filter. I like it.

Early flight to New York this morning. Something very unusual to do outside of the city itself tomorrow. Reports by Sunday.