Windchill, deep snow and an Xpro 1
I see many questions about how the Fuji X pro 1 copes with dire weather, so here is a write up of a wintery day out in the Peak District.
I got a mail from a friend asking if I wanted to go and explore some climable ice routes in the Peak District, Crowden Clough and the Kinder downfall. The snow had been falling for several days on the tops, and the daily temps over the previous few days had been as low as -10. With that in mind I thought we would get some great pictures. The X pro 1 would be ideal as a travelling partner due to it being so light. I took the 18 and 35 mm lenses, and 3 extra batteries just in case.
The weather was glorious as we advanced up Crowden Clough, and did a nice little ice route up the waterfall. The scenery was majestic,with a real Alpine feel to the day. Negotiating our way across to the downfall we encountered heavy drifted snow, and a biting wind, which left the face stinging. The Fuji performed without fuss, even though it had been covered in snow, as I went head first into a snow packed gully. A quick brush down and the camera was fine. As we travelled across to the downfall the weather changed, and we were soon in the middle of a white out. The wind was now Arctic and it became quite a challenge getting through the deep snow, often 3 to 4 feet in places. Once we had reached the downfall it became apparent that the hellish conditions were not to be trifled with, and we decided to head back down before it got dark. As it was we were coming down Jacobs ladder in the gloom with head torches. The weather changes so quickly you can easily be caught out.
On the plus side, the X pro caught the changing conditions very well, all images were shot in jpeg mainly using the 18mm, I need to get something wider though and itching to get something around the 12mm mark. The camera was covered in snow several times, due to it being around my neck as I plunged into fairly deep snow gullies. I had taken a couple of really good microfibre cloths with me, a quick wipedown and a focus check was all that was needed. The temperature when the weather changed was around -10 with a severe windchill. I only changed the battery once, and took nearly 200 images. So it performed pretty well, all things considered.
A view of Edale from Mam Tor
Starting up Crowden Clough from Barber Booth
Delicate tones and grains of snow
Looking toward Rushup Edge
Deep snow near Edale cross
Wind carved snow
Patterns created by wind on deep snow
The path to Kinder Downfall
Arctic conditions on top of Kinder Low
Snow ridge on Kinder
View from Kinder Downfall toward Hayfield
Time to get off the hill
My Picture wins an Award
Out of the blue came an email from the UKC, a picture of mine had been chosen as a category winner in the UKC/Berghaus 2012 Mountain Photography awards 2012. It was shot whilst I was out on Stanage Edge in the Peak District one summer evening last year. The loneliness of the long distance runner with the route along the Edge stretching out before him. It was taken with a Nikon D3 70-200 f2.8 Vr11. I converted it to black and white as I thought it added more impact.
More of the winners awarded here
http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=5303
Lilies, a softbox, and a Fuji X pro 1
Had been looking at ways to shoot these Lilies for a few days, wanted something different than the standard flower head shot. A few of the heads had not opened so I sort of deconstructed them for this shoot. The lighting was a simple setup, using a Nikon sb800 flash head, in a small portable softbox. Set the flash on manual at 1/125th power. Firing the flash through a yongnuo rf trigger. Shooting with this flash setup could not be simpler set your chosen shutterspeed, needs to be under 250th as the rf trigger doesn't synch above 250th. Adjust your aperture and away you go. I placed the softbox as near as I could to soften the light. The film setting was Astia and all images were taken at ISO 200 with the Fuji 35mm.
A visit to Morecambe
I had often wanted to go to Morecambe, from a photographers perspective it offers a magnificiant view across the bay toward the Lake district peaks. When the tide goes out, the famous mudflats appear, as well as a huge variety of wading birds. The town itself is pretty reminiscent of most UK seaside towns. A view of being forgotten, disowned. With a garish mishmash of failed planning ideas, and oddball paint schemes. I was shocked at how on one side, the sea and the bay offered beauty, and an amazing visual landscape. Then on the other, a town clinging on in a vain attempt at recognition, and a forlorn longing to go back to a golden era of donkeys on the beach, and fish and chips. A town fighting for survival where no one really gives a toss. Maybe Fracking is the answer.
Once again the Fuji X pro was the camera of choice, the Nikons are getting distinctly upset by me constantly choosing this young upstart over them. It offers so much in terms of portability without looking like the obvious photographer. I also shot some images in 1-1 format, reminding me of the good old 6cm by 6cm days. I quite like the format it certainly forces you to think more. I used the astia film settings as I thought this matched the ovedrcast feel to the day, I wasn't after shouty out colours, I wanted something a little more subtle. Funny though as most of the shoot went in monochrome.
The Fuji X pro 1 and Legacy Glass
When I replaced the X100 with the X pro 1, I began to explore the possibilities of using legacy glass, being able to use pretty much any lens from any system is such a bonus with the Fuji X series. As I didn't own a 60 mm I wanted something with a little more throw, a lightweight telephoto and believe me you have hundreds to choose from. Therein lies the difficulty which one do you choose. My choice was based around image quality, a nice wide aperture, and finally portability.
I settled on the Zuiko, as it ticked all the boxes for me, Image quality is great, punchy colour with good contrast and its sharp. The bonus is that its tiny a little over 2 inches tall. It balances well in the hand, and adds very little weight. The great thing about the old zuiko lenses is that the aperture ring is toward the front of the lens, making aperture adjustments is easy. Since the latest firmware additions, manual focus is achieved quite quickly and feels much more positive, using the evf and a magnify setting of 3x allows pretty accurate focus. Although you need to allow for evf wobble.
Nice and sharp with a nicely rendered background bokeh is very pleasant on this lens.
Colour is very natural, with no obvious colour casts, contrast is excellent, and cannot find any evidence of colour fringing. I need to get a nice lens hood for it though.
Overall the lens is a decent performer, and for around £120 for the lens and adapter, gives great bang for the buck. Al I need do now is to save my pennies, for either the 14mm or the Voigtlander 12mm. All the images apart from the lens on camera shots, were shot in raw and converted using the new capture One software, more on this later.
