Interior shots with the XF 14mm

Hotel entrance (ISO 200, f/8, 1/80s)

During our recent family mini-trip to Granada, we stayed at the picturesque Hotel Palacio De Santa Inés, in the Unesco World Heritage Albaicín district. Its 35 rooms are located in two small 16th century Mudejar buildings, restructured and renovated in 1995 and 2001 respectively. The hotel fascinates by its courtyard beauty because of its fountain, columns, balustrades and in particular, of Renaissance frescos painted by two of Rafael’s disciples.

What better setting can you imagine to learn more about how well the Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 lens handles interior and architectural shots?

Hotel lobby (ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/25s)

Lobby courtyard (ISO 400, f/4.5, 1/40s)

With no side windows at ground level but a lot of bright daylight coming in through the courtyard’s skylight, these images challenge the dynamic range of the X-Pro1 and X-E1 X-Trans sensors. Fortunately, these raw (RAF) files provide a lot of room for optimization in post using Adobe’s Lightroom 4.4RC, and combining detailed highlights as well as low-noise shadow areas is not to hard at all. Just pull’em sliders…

Second courtyard (ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/5s)

Second courtyard (ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/9s)

Working in small, cramped spaces with a 21mm-equivalent wide angle will often require tilting the camera, resulting in the well-known converging vertical lines. These may become an interesting compositional element, as in the following two shots (that again challenge the dynamic range). Alternatively, state-of-the-art post-processing tools like Lightroom incorporate perspective correction features, which were moderately applied in most of the other pictures.

Skylight in lobby courtyard (ISO 400, f/6.4, 1/75s)

Skylight of second courtyard (ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/40s)

I will point out once again that on this family leisure trip I did not bring any tripods, bubble levels etc. as you would normally use for this kind of images. All shots were made hand-held, in a minimum of time, occasionally resting the camera against whatever column or railing was appropriately available. Using a tripod would have allowed smaller apertures (and more DOF) as well as lower sensitivities (and thus lower noise and better dynamic range). But hey, these are X-cameras, so higher ISO settings are no problem, and the 14mm lens gives a large depth-of-field at almost any F-stop!

Upstairs (ISO 400, f/9, 1/30s)

Stairway (ISO 800, f/4.5, 1/30s)

The least I can say is that the XF 14mm prime has not disappointed at all! Just as with the exterior pictures shown in my earlier posts, this little gem keeps amazing me. It has rapidly become a favorite of mine, and will find itself in my bag on many, many occasions. I am really looking forward to give it a run at some ‘real’ architectural work, working from a tripod and taking all the time required for optimal image quality.

Breakfast room (ISO 800, f/3.2, 1/25s)

In the next posts-to-come, we will have a look at that other excellent travel companion, the Fujinon XF 18-55mm zoom. Stay tuned!

Gear notes: Fujifilm X-Pro1 & X-E1, Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8

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More XF 14mm shots from Granada

Continuing our visit to Granada, let’s find out this time what the XF 14mm captured outside the Alhambra.

Cathedral (ISO 400, f/8, 1/170s)

Plaza Nueva (ISO 800, f/8, 1/2000s)

With its wide angle of view, the XF 14mm is ideal for the traditional ‘postcard shots’. You cannot escape from converging vertical lines as soon as you tilt the camera upwards of downwards: so you options are either to keep them as an element of composition, or correct for them in post-processing. If you make your framing generously, you can properly account for the cropping required after strong compensation.

‘Wired’ (ISO 200, f/7.1, 1/40s)

Souvenir shops in the Albaicín (ISO 200, f/6.4, 1/25s)

The wide angle view of the XF 14mm also comes handy in the narrow streets of old Granada, such as throughout the Albaicín Moorish quarter. The 21mm (35mm equivalent) perspective for me is a little too wide for people-oriented street photography, but is works great to capture a broader view of a cramped environment.

Iglesia del Salvador (ISO 400, f/4, 1/35s)

Carrera del Darro at nightfall (ISO 1600, f/4, 1/15s)

Coupled to either the X-Pro1 or the X-E1, this lens performs equally well in low light situation, indoors and outdoors. There are no obvious issues like flare when light sources enter the image. Fairly long exposure times are quite feasible with a little technique (and, to make sure luck goes your way, an extra take or two just in case …).

Next time, we’ll try the XF 14mm at some interior shots.

Gear notes: Fujifilm X-Pro1 & X-E1, Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8

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Granada captured by Fuji’s XF 14mm f/2.8

At the Mirador de San Nicolas, looking out on Alhambra and Sierra Nevada
(ISO 200, f/8, 1/450s)

A couple of weeks ago, we took a short but much needed break from the Belgian winter and from all other things-as-usual. We set course on Granada, a city of UNESCO World Heritage fame that we hadn’t visited before. This was to be a relaxing family trip, so I was told to go tourist-style and leave behind any heavy stuff or tripods.

My travel kit was easy to assemble: first the X-Pro1 with the just arrived all-new 14mm f/2.8 wide angle, then the X-E1 with the 18-55mm zoom, and finally the 35mm f/1.4 just in case. Everything fitted comfortably in my Think Tank Retrospective 7, with room to spare. Sometimes things fall nicely in place…

Alhambra – The Palace of Charles V
(ISO 800, f/8, 1/60s)

Alhambra – The Courtyard of the Lions in early morning light
(ISO 400, f/11, 1/170s)

We found ourselves in a sunny but bitterly cold Granada, with above-zero temperatures between mid-morning and late afternoon only. The wind had a nasty chilling bite. This time of the year the light is very harsh: perfect conditions to challenge the sensor’s dynamic range. The quality of the out-of-camera JPEGs keeps surprising me, it is simply amazing how much shadow and highlight detail is captured and available to be further exploited in post-processing. I did often shoot at a minimum ISO 400 or 800 to maximize the potential dynamic range enhancement.

The Courtyard of the Myrtles, one of Alhambra’s signature shots
(ISO400, f/11, 1/180s)

Tesselations and arabesques 
(ISO400, f/11, 1/180s)

The harsh lighting conditions and the huge contrast between indoor and outdoor scenes however call for shooting RAW followed by careful post processing: that remains the best approach to reveal all highlight detail while maintaining low noise shadow information. Adobe’s Lightroom 4.4 release candidate finally brings us X-Trans demosaicing support at the level of the sensor’s image quality; this software was used for all sample images in this post.

Around the Courtyard of the Lions 
(ISO400, f/5.6, 1/40s)

Around the Courtyard of the Lions
(ISO400, f/5.6, 1/50s)

The Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 proved to be all that is reported by many reviewers and early adopters. The lens is sharp right from its maximum aperture, shows excellent micro-contrast and is virtually distortion-free. Color rendition is superb. Autofocus is more than adequately fast (behaving like a true tourist on this trip, I almost never selected manual focus). Shooting handheld only, I was able to use fairly long exposure times with a very high keeper rate. In one word: the 14mm prime is a pleasure to work with!

Alhambra – Hall of the Ambassadors 
(ISO1600, f/5.6, 1/8s)

Alhambra – Ceiling of the Hall of the Abencerrajes
(ISO800, f/4, 1/45s)

The very wide field of view of course means that perspective distortion always lies just around the corner. Lightroom’s lens correction tools make it easy to compensate when desired, and the image files allowed so without visible loss of quality and detail.

Looking out at the Palacio del Partal
(ISO400, f/5, 1/450s)

The famous fountain in the Patio de Lindaraja
(ISO800, f/6.4, 1/60s)

Let there be no doubt: the 14mm prime is a beautiful lens that is likely to come along on many more trips. And that’s just one of its many potential applications!

Vista from the side gallery of the Generalife
(ISO400, f/11, 1/480s)

Generalife – View on the Patio de la Sultana
(ISO200, f/8, 1/850s)

More images from Granada and its wealth of monuments and sights to follow.

Gear notes: Fujifilm X-Pro1, Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8

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Xpedition

Just two days after getting my Fujifilm X-Pro1, I participated to a Belgiumdigital Shooting Day in the southern Antwerp area. Our route partly followed the ‘Expedition Blue Gate Antwerp’ trail, a discovery tour laid out last year through a historically significant but today largely abandoned section of the old harbor (locally known as ‘Petrol South’).

The gear was brand new to me, but coming from the X100 and having read the X-Pro1 manual long before the camera arrived, the basics were well understood. Just a matter then of getting familiar with the latest toy and two of its new lenses.

What’s so special about the old petroleum harbor? In 1863, only four years after drilling the first well in the US, Antwerp already had become the largest and best equipped import harbor for oil products in Europe. It kept that status until 1927, when Hamburg and Rotterdam took over.

At the start of the 20th century, Antwerp moves its focus for oil related activities to the south of the city. An area of 100 hectares is acquired and construction work starts: a 300m long concrete pier, underground pipelines, huge fuel storage tanks…  After only one year of operations a big catastrophe happens: one of the fuel tank ruptures and ignites. Immense fires rage for twelve days and destroy the installations almost completely.
Within the year, the infrastructure is rebuilt and industrial activities resume, and with that, the first complaints about oil leaks and the resulting pollution are recorded.

When World War I erupts, the authorities give the order to set fire to the oil tanks and destroy all infrastructure. The arriving German troops will find only a small part intact. After the war, the expansion of Antwerp’s petroleum harbor resumes. By 1920, no less than 233 oil storage tanks are counted. A final extension is realized in 1934. But the area runs out of space for new plants, and oil tankers have grown to a size that the old harbor can no longer accommodate. During the same  year a first new refinery is constructed in the northern harbor. This is the beginning of the end for ‘Petrol South’…

Today, only a few oil-related companies remain active, the rest of the area is dotted with industrial antiquities and derelict buildings. But the heavily polluted site stands on the brink of a new future: a massive cleanup and reconversion effort has begun to turn this part of Antwerp’s south harbor into the place to be for new sustainable and ecological ventures.

It’s not hard to see that ‘Petrol South’ is a visually rich area and a real treat for photographers. So it did serve as an ideal playground to discover a new camera that by itself represents a unique combination of past and future.

Gear notes: Fujifilm X-Pro1, Fujinon XF 18mm f/2.0 & 35mm f/1.4

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Heavenly peace

Little or no blog activity for some time, but that doesn’t mean my cameras have been idle… Most projects though were not for public sharing.

A week ago, I had to kill some time in the beautiful city of Lier. As always my Fujifilm X100 was on my side, and we paid a quick visit to the small but exquisite beguinage. While founded in the year 1258, most surviving buildings on this UNESCO World Heritage Site date from the 17th and early 18th centuries.

Amazing how this place still remains an oasis of peace in the middle of an otherwise thriving city.

Meanwhile, I am (im)patiently waiting for the X-Pro1 to arrive…

Gear notes: Fujifilm X100

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Living the dream

During a recent spring summer cleaning stint, this picture from my olde days gone came out of a dusty storage box.

The funny thing is: I can exactly remember when it was taken, and I have vivid and detailed memories of that day!

The date was December 15, 1960, a Thursday. That makes me just over 7 years young. It was the day of the marriage of Baudouin I, then King of Belgium, with Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón. A public event that was extensively covered by the media, and one of the first major live events on Belgian TV.

We did not have a TV set at home yet (our first one appeared in 1962) so I followed the proceedings via radio. Already fascinated by technology, I had ‘invented’ and constructed this TV camera using my would-be meccano system (made out of wooden parts and plastic screws and bolts, manufactured by a Dutch company named Sio – I still have some pieces!). The contraption was complete with antenna, rotating lens turret and a shaky tripod.

And there I was, glued to the radio commentary for hours, playing my little role in capturing the wedding ceremony for posterity. A dream that – for me – had become reality, and that today is still engrained in my memory.

Gear notes: no idea

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Don’t forget the little ones…

Whenever you have the chance to photograph a richly decorated environment, make sure to leave some time to take another walk through the premises, this time focusing on interesting details and remarkable ornaments. These pictures will complete the ‘overall’ shots and will add to the appreciation of art and architecture.

Gear notes: D700, 24-70/2.8

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Castle +1

Time to go up the majestic marble stairway at the Val-Duchesse castle, and explore the first floor.

From the landing, a small salon leads on to a large and bright hall in Louis XVI style – the Baron room – complete with mirrors and chandeliers.

At the other side, the apartment of former owner Charles Dietrich now has become the ‘Presidential suite’.

Gear notes: D700, 16/2.8, 17-35/2.8

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