Hong Kong is a splendid city, where European approach combines with Asian aura. Hong Kong can be hardly compared with any other city. It is so unique, that just around the next corner you find yourself in a completely different atmosphere.
All you want to do is to take your camera and never stop shooting…
I came back to Hong Kong after a long break. This time I came to work. Hectic schedule assumed quite a difficult organisation of my working hours. More than 50 shootings in various Hong Kong restaurants, around 10 flights – and that was in January alone.
The most difficult period coincided with the first month of the new year. I had no single day-off for three weeks, and sometimes had to make several shootings within 24 hours. And I got to know the city by just walking along Hong Kong streets trying to get from one restaurant to another.
And in my case that was not an easy task. Just try to imagine what it takes to walk with a 30-kilo camera bag. I even made a small post about it: About equipment and processing.
But no, I’m not going to complain. That was my own choice, and to say the truth I enjoyed it a lot. This whole story about small inconveniences is only an intro to the main topic of this post: about my favourite camera Fujifilm X-M1 – my faithful companion throughout the day and night in any, even the most abandoned part of Hong Kong.
I’ve already expressed my opinion about mirrorless cameras and travelling. And I’d like to quote my relatively recent post Autumn Krakow with Fujifilm X-M1:
“The forgotten area that only Leica has cherished and carried through decades, is becoming popular again. And I am actually very glad about that, both as a photographer and as a keen traveller. Indeed, a compact camera, which is easily fitted into a woman’s hand and is as good as any amateur SLR camera, is a real gift for a travel enthusiast.”
And while in Krakow, where I had plenty of free time, I didn’t care about camera size and weight, with my pace of living in Hong Kong a heavier SLR camera would become a real problem.
Just think for a second, how critical every extra kilo becomes, when one walks around 15 miles a day, whether on business or as a tourists.
And one more factor I enjoyed in Hong Kong was camera’s small size. Overpopulated city, constant hustle and human traffic jams – It’s not that simple with SLR in this city. As for small Fujifilm X-M1, you just throw it in your bag and forget about it while running and manoeuvring within a human flow. But this is only until you notice something interesting for shooting.
It’s a great practice for a professional photographer to take 2 cameras: a big SLR camera to work, and small mirrorless camera for travel notes and street photography.
I use Canon EOS 5D Mark III in my work, this is the camera I shoot food with. And I use mirrorless camera while travelling and taking pictures for my blog.
And I also use iPhone, of course. I took pictures for my Hong Kong travel notes with these three cameras. I think while reading my posts, you will easily understand where I shot with my phone and where I did use my Fujifilm X-M1.
One more important factor in favour of mirrorless camera is an opportunity to change lenses. You can’t imagine the whole scope of possibilities this option offers. Apart from a kit lens, which I used for the majority of my photos, I took my favourite FUJINON XF 35mm F1.4 R lens.
And I’m always thrilled to shoot portraits with it. At some point, I wanted to forget about my kit lens with its zoom. And sometimes I did leave it in my apartment and went outside to shoot endlessly with my 35 mm lens with its beautiful bokeh. I would recommend to read this post Hong Kong as a location for photo shoots and just to compare the portraits shot with a professional DSLR and with my favourite Fujifilm X-M1.
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