Tokyo-X-VARIO: Final Look @ Leica X-Vario

X-VARIO @ 31mm.   1/15th sec F/4.1 @ ISO 400.  JR Yamanote Line, Tokyo.

Playing with a test camera in a city like Tokyo is a lot of fun... but all good things come to an end. I'm finally back home and now starting the daunting task of going through all my pictures. When you're gone for a month you tend to take a lot of pictures... thousands in fact (2583 to be exact, minus film rolls and iPhone pics). To get a good idea of a camera's characteristics of capturing an image, you need to do more than chimping (a sneak peak at back LCD screen). You need to open up the files and take a good look, trying to find specific qualities (not just resolution and colour accuracy) and image distinctiveness that make the pictures stand out. I did so with the Leica X-VARIO and I've come to appreciate the camera and the images I was able to create...

Tokyo X-VARIO: Shooting Light in the Dark

Leica X-VARIO @ 28mm zone focused. 1/60th sec F/3.5 @ ISO 1600. RAW image converted in CS5 and cropped and adjusted in Photoscape. Shot in Sugamo, Tokyo.

I love shooting at night. I know technically its more difficult, but if you can get the exposure right, and you know how to shoot RAW and adjust later in post production, you can capture amazingly moody images of typically normal scenes. The reason? Light. Unlike daylight, where the light is coming from a single point, or on a cloudy day where the light is diffused and flat (and often boring), night allows for multiple light sources, direction, colour and shadows. But how can you use this to your advantage when shooting?

Tokyo-X-Vario: Shooting Motion and B&W

X-Vario @ 70mm equiv. 1/30th sec F/6.4 @ ISO 3200. Handheld through a window. 

Sometimes you think a shot is impossible. You're tired. It's dark. You have to handhold a 1/30th of a second shot at 70mm with no image stabilization. But there's a really cool looking guy standing very still, obviously waiting for someone along a busy sidewalk. You know it'll be a great shot from the angle you have (upstairs at a McCafe in Harajuku looking down) if only you can keep the shot still. I took about 10 shots, but this one was the keeper. I'm happy I decided not to give up on the camera and its ability to capture the image that I had in my head. 

Tokyo-X-Vario: More Night Shots with Leica

X-Vario at 28mm equiv. 1/30th sec F/3.5 @ ISO 800. Manual focus and exposure

Tokyo-X-Vario: Shooting at Night in Ginza

Leica X-Vario at 28mm equiv. 1/15th sec F/7.1 @ ISO 1600. Leaning camera against light pole.

I thought I would continue testing the X-Vario at night to prove that it is possible to get great shots without having an F/1.4 lens or image stabilization (optical or sensor based). We use these types of specs as tools, but sometimes we need more than tools to get great images. In fact, sometimes limits help us to come up with unique solutions, and often we create images we would never have done with cameras with more tricks and specs. 

I like the mood of artificial lights at night, and how the direction of light is also very different from natural daylight. However, to capture this type of lighting correctly, you have to shoot at the right shutter speed. I find that shooting at night at super-slow shutter speeds is great for creating a sense of  motion. 1/8 to 1/120th of a second is best for painting this motion , such as moving cars or people. How is this possible with the X-Vario?

Tokyo-X-Vario: Shooting at Night Handheld

Leica X-Vario in AV mode. 1/20th sec F/6.4 @ ISO 800. Focal length at 70mm equiv

I've been in Tokyo for a week but I've only just started taking pictures with the Leica X-Vario. I was sick before I left Vancouver and I was sick when I landed, and I've been sick all week. I'm only now starting to feel a bit better so it's time to get shooting. The first thing I wanted to test was night shooting with the X-Vario. So many complain that with such a small aperture and no optical or sensor based image stabilization, shooting at night would be next to impossible. I didn't agree so I thought I would give it a try.

Birks Building at Night with Fujifilm X-E1

I saw my bus coming and I was really tired, but I wanted to get this final shot before I ended my long day of testing the new Fujifilm X-E1 camera through the streets of downtown Vancouver. It rained all afternoon, so I had to take most of my images with an umbrella in one hand and the camera with the other.  I've taken a picture of this building before, but I'm a sucker for blue lights. I just had to get this shot! I ran across the street, waited for traffic to die down, and fired off a few shots at iso 1600 and 3200. Both iso speeds looked great, easily printable to 16 x 20; but the above shot (1600) had the right amount of people and the least amount of traffic...

Kitsilano Public Notice Board Gone Wild!!

 
In theory, the design of this public notice board is very functional: it's 4 sided, and each side is double-sided. However, since it's outdoor and public, I assume nobody monitors or needs permission to post. You can see the results. Madness!! You can't really read or find anything in this chaos. In some spots, it looks like the bottom posting has 6 others postings overlapping and/or on top of it!! Standing in front of it, I was overwhelmed...nothing stood out... it's amusing to look at, and makes for a great photograph, but if I had something to post, I wouldn't post it here!!

Hong Kong at Night

So many taxis in Hong Kong. This is late, late at night, as you can see there's no people around, but still taxis crawling everywhere!!


This is rare to see in Hong Kong. Dead street with almost no cars.....


On the last night in Hong Kong, while everyone else wanted to just pack, eat, and relax, I wanted one more night to enjoy the lights and the buildings and the crazy transportation system (taxi's, trains, buses, ferries, etc.). Here are just a couple of shots.Taken through the window of a double deck bus. You can tell from my shooting angle, as well as the funny way the street lights flares up in the bottom picture.

A Rainy, Late Night Walk in Ikebukuro

I've walked by the Toyota Amlux Auto Salon a million times on numerous trips, but always through the glass late at night. When I have time to go, I'm with my wife and she doesn't want to go, and when I am finally alone to do what I what, everything is closed, except for bookstores. Actually, that's why I was out, to go pick up a magazine to read at night before going to bed.....

Entrance into Sunshine City entertainment district late at night. Tokyu Hands had already closed. Too bad.....

Bikes everywhere, and getting wet.......

Even in the darkest, most isolated alleys, there's always a pop machine to save the day, including hot drinks and soups. Corn chowder anyone?

Another pop machine working hard when everything else is closed.......

Bars and food establishments are everywhere and open late. Too bad I don't drink, or do I like to eat late.......

They can't just have one pop machine on a sinlge corner, but to make sure that traffic from both directions see their products, they put the exact same machine facing out on each corner for all to see.......

Late Night Ride Through the Park

Last year I rode through the local park and noticed they left the soccer field lights on. At the same time, fog was just settling in across the park. It felt surreal. It looked as crazy as the picture shows, like I was walking on the surface of another planet, or inside a scary movie or something....... I think the empty bleachers is what makes it all the more creepy..... and how the flood lights substitute for a full moon.......

Tokyo at Night

Shinjuku Station facing West


Shibuya, just up the street from 109... Kitamura Camera to the right! Great used section!!


Nissan Showroom in Ginza.... no people in the way at night


Just South of Ginza


Marunouchi area, near Tokyo Station


Still Marunouchi area



Same......








Roppongi Hills light show


Roppongi Hills


Tokyo Station area


Shinjuku West government building public observatory.... it's free!! Who needs Tokyo Tower?!?!

I've been sick at home for almost a week (well, a work week) and I've become sick of being sick, and tired of being tired, and bored of being bored. I thought I'd look back at some old pictures to re-live some of my recent trips. I thought I'd share some night shots of Tokyo. I'll post something more interesting (people or food, or both), but please enjoy these pics for now.....

Harajuku & Omotesando @ Night

There's a certain peace when shooting at night, especially in areas that are usually populated during the day. Not so many people....Harajuku and Omotesando look like ghost towns at night in the retail areas... the only thing is I have to shoot at a higher iso, and sometimes I get blurry shots...

Day 18: Main Street

Third day in Whistler, and I spent from 8am to 4pm snowboarding. The pictures I took up at the mountain were more smiley tourist shots, and my mind was not in photo-blog mode. I was in "don't fall on my face while trying to go from heel to toe edge" mode...... anyway, after getting back to the apartment, taking a shower, going out for dinner and then back to the hotel, it was pretty late. After looking at all my pics during the day, including food pics at the restaurant, nothing was blog-worthy. So I trekked out late, hunting down a good shot. Not unlike the night before, I took lots of shots at dark, empty store windows, lights and buildings, and finally I took the above shot. I love the halo around street lights, especially the type that arches straight down. I waited for a car to pass by just to add a bit of something to the picture.... I did want something or someone under the street light.....a couple kissing under the light would have been too cliche...... how about a young kid doing a headspin on a sheet of cardboard? How about a clown in full circus-garb?

Day 17: Pose for me Rose

I love window displays at night. There's something eerie about a display that is so animated and meant to attract attention, but late at night and long after the store is closed, it's sort of out of place. It's like running into a clown in a dark alley. Out of context. I also always shoot in black and white to accentuate the shadows.... it increases the mood of the already moody picture..... by using focus blur, it makes the model look 3 dimensional, even though its just a flat image. I also shot from an angle to avoid window glare and to distort and compress the space between the objects in the picture......

Day 16: Glow in the Dark Inukshuk

What a long day!! Work all day, and then scramble to pack to go to Whistler, go to a buddy's house to pick up snowboard equipment, fill up gas, and then finally off at 7pm!! We rolled into Whistler at 8:30pm, and it was snowing hard. As we drove in off of Highway 99, what greeted us was a big, illuminated Inukshuk, a remnant of the 2010 Olympics.

After dropping off our luggage and settling in and relaxing a bit, I ran outside in the snow to take this picture. It was cold and wet, but I was well prepared. I braced myself against a light post so I could still shoot at iso 200, a wide open F 2.0 and a slow 1/6 of a sec. You can see the snow coming down in the top right of the image, falling like stars...... not a great image, but good enough to make the blog. I was too tired to run around the village at 11pm to look for the perfect picture.......