CAPTURE NEW HORIZONS

In Dusseldorf we came across a toy shop with a window display of old wind up tin toys.  Robots, cars boats, flying saucers, jack in the box and other toys that were straight out of the 1950s and 60s.   These toys were modern, not antiques, but it did bring back memories of the wind up clockwork robot I used to have as a child. It was very nostalgic so I took some shots of the display through the window on the X-Pro2 and XF16-55mm f2.8, making sure that the reflections from the glass were minimised or eliminated all together.

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to go to the city centre in Dusseldorf so I took the X-Pro2 and the 16-55mm f2.8 along for the ride.  I decided to switch to shooting JPEG only and decided to choose Classic Chrome as the film simulation as it was a bright, crisp winters day in that part of Germany. Dusseldorf has been undergoing a lot of building work as the city centre is transformed with some of the tram lines being diverted underground and a new pedestrian only area.  Once the work is completed it will be brilliant but at the moment there is still a lot of work to do. We also got the chance to go up on the ferris wheel that was in the city centre and gave us a birds eye view of the city. Walking around with the X-Pro2 is great, it is a great camera for shooting street images.  The XF16-55mm f2.8 is a rather large lens for the camera but it worked well.  Perhaps I should've packed the 18mm f2, 35mm f1.4 and 56mm f1.2 primes instead but I didn't want to...

I have been using the XF90mm f2R LM WR telephoto for the past two months and I have to admit that when I received it I was left wondering where it fitted in my lens line up.   I currently have the wonderful XF50-140mm f2.8R LM OIS WR, which is one of the best telephoto zooms I have ever owned, and I have the XF56mm f1.2R with its brilliant ultra fast maximum aperture that produces bokeh to die for.  So why do I need a slightly longer telephoto prime which was just one stop faster than the 50-140mm and only one stop slower than the shorter telephoto prime?   Well after two months I am here to tell you that I am sold on the 90mm.  It is fantastically sharp with brilliant bokeh and, with its quad linear motor, the AF is quick and accurate on both the X-T1 and X-T10.  The build quality is also top draw, as you would expect from a Fujinon XF lens.  So what has changed my mind? The 135mm equivalent focal length is perfect for a lot of subjects that I ...