X-pro1 and X100s after dark in China

G

George61d

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I recently completed a photo essay following a trip to China. I am really impressed with the AF and high ISO capabilities of the X100s. Outside of the main intersections the streets in Nanjing are a lot darker than we would be used to in most cities in Europe. But the X100s rarely failed to handle it. The only time it struggled was when the subject and I were moving towards each other, but I don't think that is surprising at F2.

I am probably breaking with protocol here but I think an essay needs to be seen in its context so if you would like to see the results click through to http://wp.me/p1JvoT-8e

If you do I would welcome your feedback on the photos here.
 
I enjoyed most of the set, because it felt like the total opposite of what one usually sees with the hyper-crowding of the streets in China (at least this is what I seem to always run into). So to find your images with the streets being far less crowded is quite refreshing.

Are these in-camera B&Ws or did you process them from Raw files?
 
Great shots. I have found street shooting in China more difficult than other places, but you pulled it off really well. Did you scale focus these shots or actually composed with the finder?
 
Thanks agphotography. In Nanjing the only place I experienced crowds was in the tube stations and trains. Otherwise it was not an issue. The only other Chinese city I have been to is Beijing, and it was very different there, not least being the level of air pollution.

I tend to shoot in RAW + Jpeg. Once I have edited down to the shots I want to keep I do post process the RAWs, particularly if the final destination is a print for an exhibition. In contrasty street scenes like these I find the jpeg engine can block up the shadows too much, even when shadows are set to -1. In camera B&W conversions are otherwise very good and my own conversions end up very similar :)
 
YYV_146 said:
Great shots. I have found street shooting in China more difficult than other places, but you pulled it off really well. Did you scale focus these shots or actually composed with the finder?
Click to expand...
@yyv_146 funny you should say that. I did not enjoy shooting in Beijing. There were security guards everywhere. But Nanjing was completely the opposite. Everyone seemed to enjoy having their photograph taken. One of the bizarre things I found was during the student college entrance exams a lot of students stopped me to have their photo taken with me.

On the X100s I used AF 95% of the time. I was surprised at how high the keeper rate was even in really dark streets. For the other 5% i played with MF with mixed results.

I also used Auto 1SO6400 with the shutter threshold at 1/125th. I would not have been able to keep up with the changing light levels as I walked the streets.
 
George61d said:
@yyv_146 funny you should say that. I did not enjoy shooting in Beijing. There were security guards everywhere. But Nanjing was completely the opposite. Everyone seemed to enjoy having their photograph taken. One of the bizarre things I found was during the student college entrance exams a lot of students stopped me to have their photo taken with me.

On the X100s I used AF 95% of the time. I was surprised at how high the keeper rate was even in really dark streets. For the other 5% i played with MF with mixed results.

I also used Auto 1SO6400 with the shutter threshold at 1/125th. I would not have been able to keep up with the changing light levels as I walked the streets.
Click to expand...

I grew up and learned photography in Beijing, and it can be a bit rough, people are a bit more self-conscious, the guards will see a foreigner and become suspicious...I usually wear a school uniform when I go out, even after I graduated. People rarely seek trouble with a high school kid :) Najing should be better, it's a great town with rich history, southerners more friendly, laid-back lifestyle etc. etc.
 
George61d said:
@yyv_146 Do you have a website ?
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It's something I've been think about for a long time...I did try maintaining a Flickr account, now it's also fallen to ruins. Anyways most of my hard drives and negatives are still in Beijing, and I won't be back there for a few years.

I know I'll post something here when I have one, though :)
 
x.z. said:
It's interesting to see how an European interpret the changing China.

Really nice images.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Naturally I would see it from a western perspective. I have not had much of a chance to talk to Chinese people about how they view things changing.
Overall globalization of culture and the role the internet is playing in accelerating it is intensely interesting to me. I have started a long term project on documenting it...through the eyes of a westerner :)
 
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