I’m taking advantage of this little free time to write to you from Don Mueang airport in Bangkok. It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything on this Blog and I apologise for that. You’ve even missed my usual last post of the year with my best photos of 2023! I’ll try to do a little post on that, just to show you some of my work over the last few months. I haven’t been idle, even if I haven’t shared anything with you. For those who are interested, I’ve posted a slideshow on YouTube.

In any case, I’d like to wish you and your family a happy new year in 2024. For our part, we started the New Year in Thailand. We embarked on 27th of December just after Christmas and we’ll be staying there until 14th of January. We’ve been in Bangkok for 5 days now, and now we’re flying north to Chiang Mai, where we’ll be staying for a few days before heading down to Phuket.

Christmas has come and gone, and as I’ve been relatively good in 2023, Santa has put a new lens under the tree for my Fujifilm X-E2. As I’d written in a previous Blog, I was planning to get a 23mm (35mm FF equivalent) because the 7Artisan 35mm 0.95 was a bit big and the focal length was too tight and lacked versatility. I have to say that I love this lens and that it will surely remain my favourite focal length for portraits. So here I am with a TTArtisan 23mm f1.4 on my Fujifilm X-E2. A fully manual, compact lens that cost just €80!

I thought I’d do the whole trip with this focal length. So I left my 18mm f2 and my 35mm f0.95 at home. Nevertheless, I took my Ricoh GRD IV as a backup, because I didn’t know if I’d be able to get used to this focal length. I had no doubts about the travel photos to document our trip, but I had more questions about the ‘Street Photography’ aspect. Even though this trip is essentially about our holiday in Thailand, you know me and I certainly wasn’t going to resist snapping like crazy.

That was the case! Strictly speaking, I didn’t do any Street Sessions. I took advantage of our travels to do a bit of Street Photography. And frankly, there’s so much going on in the streets of Bangkok that just taking the overground metro (BTS) offers enough opportunities for a guy who lives on a small island lost in the middle of the Indian Ocean! Bangkok is an incredible city and it would take me months or even years to get the measure of this megalopolis. You’d have to take your time in the different neighbourhoods and settle down to get a consistent result. Clearly I didn’t have the time, so I made do with what I had.

Let’s come back to the 23mm. It was a very pleasant surprise. I was a bit apprehensive about this change of focal length, as I’ve been shooting exclusively with the 18mm for over 7 years… The transition was fairly straightforward, even though the lens is manual. I think I love having control over the focus, and I think one of the big plus points is the increased battery life! They’ve never lasted so long! I was also happy to get back to Zone Focusing. I set myself at f8 and focus at 3m. That gave me a zone ranging from 1m60 to 20m sharp. When I was shooting with the viewfinder, I had fun changing the aperture and setting the focus precisely. In Street Mode, I often shot with the LCD screen in Zone Focusing mode, as with my Ricoh GRD IV. But sometimes, when the light was lacking and I found myself with larger apertures (I even went so far as to shoot at f1.4!), I manually focus and I have to admit that the lens is really pleasant to use. The aperture dial is notched, unlike the 7Artisan, which is a real plus! The focus ring is also very pleasant and I was able to focus precisely even when walking. However, there’s a little play around the bayonet. It’s nothing to write home about, but it’s worth noting.

As far as image quality is concerned, I’m pretty impressed for a lens that costs just €80. For the way I use it, I get a lot of bang for my buck! It’s light, fast and compact. Everything I need for street photography. And it’s also a focal length that will be more versatile for my family photos, with less distortion than the 18mm. As far as street photography is concerned, the slightly tighter focal length than the 18mm didn’t bother me much. Zone Focusing works terribly well and is clearly the ultimate weapon for street photographers!

While we were having lunch in Chinatown, I went in search of a shop to have my sensor cleaned because it was riddled with very annoying dust … Shooting regularly at f8 or f11, these stains made my post-processing heavy and tedious. On the afternoon of 31 December, I found myself in Mega Plaza Chinatown on the 5th floor having my sensor cleaned. A 5-storey building, just like in Hong Kong. Each floor has its own speciality (video games, figurines, games, electronics, etc.). This top floor is entirely dedicated to photography. Thousands and thousands of second-hand cameras (Leica, Minolat, Nikon, Canon, Pentax, etc.). Both film and digital. And even more lenses! I came across a guy who spent 15 minutes cleaning my Fujifilm X-E2 and didn’t even charge me! It’s a service that would have cost at least €70 in France. So here I am, ready to go into 2024 with a clean sensor! I must say that I hadn’t cleaned it since 2016 …

I’ll leave you with this first Blog of 2024. I’ll try to do a Street Photography Blog as soon as I have the time or the motivation!

All the photos were made with the Fujifilm X-E2 et le TTArtisan 23 mm f1.4.