The Places I would go - 2015 edition

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Like most years 2014 had been a year of ups and downs. I didn't do a lot of traveling in 2014 but my wife and I did go to New York for a week which was great. This year won't hold a ton of travel either. In fact this post obviously was go up in January. However a new addition to the family came a bit early and I just never got the time to finishing writing this until now. That said I though I'd provide a list of some of the places I'd go in 2015 if time and money were no issue. That's okay I normally don't travel until the spring anyway.

Paris 
When we were starting to plan our trip to New York last year there was a bit of a debate. New York or Paris. Since clearly New York won out in the end I'd go to Paris this coming year. I went once when I was in my mid teens but that was quite a while ago now. It might be the most popular destination for tourists in the world but I think that's with good reason. Everyone goes to Paris for their own reasons. For me its the food and get culture institutions like the louvre.  Though I think that's going to be a trend with the rest of this list too. 

Chicago 
I've visited Chicago in the past. It remains on of my favourite American cities though and I'd love to go back there. The art galleries and museums are top notch of course and I'd probably visit them again even though i've been. But like visiting anyplace for a second time there are things missed the first time around that I'd like to get to. I wouldn't feel that pressure though and it would be a more relaxing trip.

Montreal
One of the oldest cities in Canada. The history, the culture and the food. Those are the reasons you visit Montreal I think. I made a brief visit to Montreal in early highschool. However visiting it at this point in my life would be vastly different of course. Like many large cities Montreal is build out of a number of distinct neighbourhoods. Getting around Montreal by wheelchair could bit a little bit of a challenge it seems. Just like Toronto all the buses are accessible but the subway system leaves a lot to be desired. 

Iceland
Iceland seems to be the photographers dream location these days. This is doubly true if you're into landscape photography. I'm more of a street photography but I'm not immune to just how outstanding gouges Iceland looks. If i'm honest I don't know a lot about the country but I that's part of why it's interesting to me. From what I've read Iceland also seems to be reasonably wheelchair friendly too.

Ecuador
I have a few friends who have family in and visit Ecuador each year. I've never been to South America myself and I'd love to make Ecuador the first visit. there The capitol city Quito is a designated UNESCO world heritage site. Ecuador also has one of the highest number of different species of animals for a county it's size. Because Ecuador had Lenin Moreno, a vice president who uses a wheelchair the country is more wheelchair accessible than most in South America. So the changes of being able to get around see what you want might be better than most places. 

Travel Photo Accessories

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Regardless of what camera you take on vacation having some great accessories can make things a bit more enjoyable. I've picked out a few that I think are worth your time and money. Let me know in the comments below what your favourites are and I'll considering add them to the list too. 

Western Digital Wireless Hard Drive

The Western Digital wireless hard drive is something that I wish I had with with me on many of my past trips. Sometimes you just don’t want to travel with your laptop. The problem is then that backup and reviewing your images on the road becomes an issue. This drive lets you directly download an SD card to the 1 or 2 TB drive. Then you connect connect to it via WI-FI a hotspot the drive creates to review your images on a tablet or phone. You can connect up to 8 devices to it at once. It’s also battery powered so you can do this while still in the field if you want. Once you get back home you can use usb 3.0 to more quickly access the files on it.

Joby Gorillapod

I’ve owned a Gorillapod for a number of years now. I don’t normally travel with a full size tripod as I tend not to use one that often. I will however take the Gorillapod incase I want to do a quick night time long exposure. It weighs almost nothing and is pretty versatile considering it’s size. I have the Gorillapod SLR from when I use still using a larger camera. However it still works perfectly with the Fuji X-T1 of course.

Fuji SP-1

The Fuji SP-1 is a fun device regardless of what time of photography you do. It’s basically just a WI-FI instant printer. Polaroid for the digital era if you will. This printer was designed to work with smart phones, android or iPhone via a downloadable app. However it also works with a number of fuji cameras that have WI-FI built in. This includes the X100T and XT-1 among others. The printer is especially fun when you travel. Being able to make a print for someone you’ve just met and made a portrait of is really cool. It can help break the ice and leaves them with something special at the same time. The paper isn't super cheap but I still think it's worth it. 

Good Coat / Rain Gear

You might think this is an odd thing to put on a accessories guide. However trust me you’ll appreciate it when it’s pouring rain or freezing cold and you have to walk 3 blocks to that next attraction you want to see. I picked up a The North Face jacket last fall and it’s made winter outings much more bearable when it's -20 C. For the summer I have a Gor-Tex rain coat which is pretty great. I’m not one who loves to go out and shoot in the rain but when you’re traveling you’re not about to sit around at the hotel just because of some rain right?


Fuji X-T1 - The perfect travel camera?

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Intro
As a photography enthusiast I get asked from a lot people which camera they should buy. Often they are buying a new camera because they are traveling and want to document the trip. Is there such a thing as the perfect travel camera for everyone? No I don’t really think so. Everyones needs and budgets are different. I’m going to write a few of these posts to give you some options. For the first post though I’m going to tell you what I use and what I recommend for someone who has a larger budget and is really dedicated to taking more than just snapshots on their trip.

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The Past
Since I was a teen traveling with my parents until recently I’ve always used the same general type of camera system. That is a Nikon SLR of some kind and a few lenses. Now of course over the years I made the move from film to digital but the setup was mostly always the same. Mostly recently this was a Nikon D600  Always an SLR with a wide angle zoom as well as a 50mm and a longer lens, often my 105mm if I felt the need to bring it for whatever reason.  Of course this was never a light system to carry but the image quality it provided always seemed worth the trouble.

The Present
This past year I made a jump of sorts. I was tired of carrying around so much gear. I found that my neck was hurting more often. Add to that the fact that airlines were getting more strict with carry on bags and I had some motivation to make a change. So I made a move finally and purchased the start of a mirrorless system. I of course researched all the options to death. Long story short though, in the end I ended up going with the Fujifilm X-T1.

So after all that my current travel system is a Fujifilm X-T1 with 18-55 F2.8-4 and 23mm F1.4 lenses. I think it’s the best travel camera for the photography enthusiast and here’s why.

Feature Highlights
If you want a whole ton of detail about the ins and outs of the X-T1 I suggest you visit my friends over at Fuji Vs Fuji here. However here are the features I’d like to highlight and matter to me.

Compact Size / Built Quality
The Fuji X-T1 is by no means the smallest mirrorless camera on the market. That wasn’t my goal with this system. I wanted something that I felt was compact compared to a SLR. It also had to be well built at the same time and the X-T1 delivers in both those departments. The body of the X-T1 is made of magnesium which means it's strong but light. It doesn't feel plasticly or flimsy at all. It is also weather and dust sealed. That is really only good if your lens is weather sealed as well. None of my lenses are but there are more coming on the market slowly that are.

Like I said the camera feels good in the hands. Sold with a nice grip, solid but not too heavy. Even with a larger lens like the 23mm F1.4 it’s well balanced without the vertical grip.  

Wi-Fi
Wi-fi on a camera is one of those things I never thought I’d use that much. In reality I don’t use it a lot but it’s a ton of fun. I personally use it for sharing out images on the road. I’m able to shoot and then transfer the image right away to my phone or iPad. From there I can post them to twitter, instagram or anyplace else really. I’ve also used images straight out of camera for blog post I write while away from home. The software on the iphone is by no means perfect but it’s simple and tends to work without too many hiccups. There is also a remote release app for the iphone if you’re into that kind of thing. So far I used it once to test it.  

Image Quality
All of what I’ve written about so far wouldn’t matter if the image quality was a let down. Fortunately the camera and lenses deliver. The camera uses an APS-C Fuji’s X-Trans II 16mp sensor. It works a bit different than most CMOS sensors but I’m not going to get into the technical details here. It is not full frame of course like I was used to on my SLR but I’ve gotten over that now. Suffice to say that with good glass the camera produces sharp images with awesome colour right of out the camera. The jpeg processing on the camera is great if that’s something you’re going to use. Personally I don’t use them except for sharing on the road but I do shoot raw+JPG most often.

I have not had the opportunity to shoot with every Fujifilm lens yet though I’ve used several. For your first travel lens I’d say go with the ‘kit’ zoom. The 18-55 F2.8 to F4 is what I used on my trip to New York. It is a good all around lens. It’s not the fastest or sharpest lens fuji makes of course but if you want to take only one lens with you it’s a solid choice. At the time of writing this fuji has announced a new 16-55mm F2.8 zoom lens. It’s not going to be cheap, and it won’t be as light as the 18-55mm but the image quality will be better and it is going to be weather sealed. The 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 seems a decent option too. Though I have not used it and that aperture range is too slow for my liking.

 

Conclusion and Samples
So there are my thoughts on the Fuji X-T1. Not the perfect travel camera for everyone. Some will want something cheaper or smaller. However it's a great pick for most people who are willing to spend more on a good camera that will give them lots of room to grow. It’s reasonably compact, built well and has outstanding image quality. It’s got retro looks too of course if that’s your thing.

Feel free to ask your questions in the comments. I will do my best to address them. Below are a few more sample images taken with the X-T1

Like a lot of my Toronto Fuji friends I purchase my gear at Aden camera. You should too if you’re able. They are friendly and have great prices. Speak to Matthew and let them know I sent you, thanks.

If you’re unable to get to Aden and wish to help the site out please use one of the Amazon links below. Or better yet visit your local independent camera store of choice.

Though I have friends who work for Fuji, they in no way pay me or provide me with free equipment.