Tag: Fuji X-T5

Last Couple Weeks

ruminator
While sheltering from the wind and rain of a pop-up thundershower, I noticed the rain on the front glass of the rig. So, I made the capture. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-23 14:41:13, 35mm, 1/170sec, f/2.8, ISO-125, post in PhotoLab with HP5+ conversion.

I am quite busy right now with work and taking care of The Girl and myself. I did manage to get out for a couple of weekends, first to Weber Reservoir with friends. There was no radio play, but lots of conversation, a shared meal, and a pop-up thunderstorm that provided plenty of excitement. Hence, I offer the abstract above.

For the Labor Day weekend, I was invited with friends to active Bald Mountain, just north from Topaz Lake. We decided to make a part of it and took the vehicles up to the summit. There we grilled burgers, had a great time of fellowship, and I played some radio.

I did violate the First Rule, thinking I had brought the Yaesu FT-897D and instead finding the Elecraft KX3 in the black Apache case I picked up. That meant I was limited to 15w of output power, which is stingy for phone operations.

It turned out OK because I was the only operator who activated. The 15w output is plenty for code operations, especially at altitude.

Although the vista is wonderful, the air quality is not. Shot from Bald Mountain during my SOTA activation. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-31 13:19:02, 35mm, 1/400sec, f/8, ISO-125, SOOC.

I did manage to get out Labor Day Monday for a POTA activation, that is already documented previous. That provided some needed recreation, some additional Morse Code practice, and a enjoyable Eastern Sierra outing with The Girl.

I like the combination of bright cloud and dark sky, shot on walkies up near Spooner Summit. Captured with X100VI, 2025-09-04 11:18:32, 23mm, 1/7500sec, f/8, ISO-4000, in-camera Acros-Red film simulation.
The Girl and I are hiking the Eastern Sierra again, after the bear-scare kept me in-town for a few days. I really thought I lost her when I saw her broad ass disappear over the rise downhill from me.

Fortunately, she responded to my calls after she ran out of gas on the chase. She returned completely gassed, but unharmed. I, however, was worthless for the remainder of the day.

On our way up the trail from the staging area, I noticed this cloud peeking through the pines. I thought it might make a nice image in black and white with a red filter. So, I set the camera to simulate Fujifilm Acros with a red filter and made the capture. I rather like the output.

We finished our hike without incident, although I maintain a watchful attitude and work at staying present while hiking that trail now. The first bear I saw on the hike was last year, but at quite a distance. This time, the bear bombed the hill not ten feet in front of me. I was unable to react before The Girl clicked on and bolted in hot pursuit.

I have also seen a coyote a number of times (although not the last couple of summers), but always in the distance. She had a coyote encounter that left her with lacerations (she has earned the “F*()%#ed-up Face” appellation as a result) and the final rupture of the port-aft CCL. The latter required surgery for repair.

The Girl is a beacon for trouble, it seems.

Work kept me busy the remainder of the week. What this weekend will be is yet to be determined.

Life is busy at the moment. I am grateful for God’s gifts in general, and for the work in particular. Life is good.

The Comstock Casino has earned a few visits because of Juan’s Mexican Restaurant housed therein. The tacos and salsa are top-shelf. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-28 17:44:53, 35mm, 1/480sec, f/8, ISO-125, Fujifilm Classic Chrome in-camera film simulation, SOOC.

Frontyard Wildlife

ruminator
Headshot of one of the two fawns that appeared in my front yard. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-05 17:31:43, 300mm, 1/450sec, f/8, ISO-4000.

Last week, I think, I stepped out the front door one afternoon for whatever reason. (I do not remember.) I was startled to see two fawns nibbling at the weeds in my front yard. I greeted them, softly, then returned inside to pick up whatever camera was handy.

The Fuji X-T5 and Fujinon 70-300mm zoom were handy. I stepped back out the front door, quietly, and made a few images while they permitted the intrusion.

I win! Life is good.

Coopers Hawk

ruminator
This Cooper Hawk few into the trees in front of us, scattering the other birds. It waited patiently for me to make an image. Shot with the Fuji X-T5 and Fujinon 70-300mm f/4-f/5.6 zoom.

The day before yesterday, The Girl chased a black bear that bolted across the trail not ten feet in front of us. It was blasting down the hill and she was off before I could even react. There was no calling her off.

Fortunately, the bear was faster. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard her heavy breathing before I caught sight of her. She was working her way back up the hill, totally gassed.

I gave her time to return to me, then checked her over carefully. I found no wounds, but for a couple of light scratches from bombing the brush.

It was too steep to put out water, so we humped back up the hill to more level terrain. Then, I doffed the pack, retrieved her bowl and water bottle, and gave her as much water as she wanted.

We then proceeded back to the trail and then back to the rig. I took the pace easy and she recovered on the way back.

It was a fright that I did not need. I spent much of the afternoon in a state of mild shock, after thinking it likely that I lost her. We stayed pretty close together the remainder of the day.

The following day, yesterday, I had a full schedule and it was relatively cool. So, we walked the linear parkway not far from my apartment. She was able to run about a bit and sniff plenty. We got in a couple of miles of hiking on the flat.

It was good enough.

Along the way, I saw a bunch of birds scatter from the trees in front of us. I figured a hawk had flow in, looking for lunch. Sure enough, the Coopers Hawk above was perched in the tree. It waited patiently for me to make the capture.

Life is good.

Strawberries!

ruminator2 Comments
I worked up a box of strawberries to use for my lunch. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-14 12:38:27, 60mm, 1/70sec, f/8, ISO-12800, post via PhotoLab7 using Fuji Velvia film simulation.

It was actually a few days ago that I bought my first box of strawberries for the season. It had been a couple of weeks (at least) since I hit the grocery store to reprovision. It has also been bloody hot here in Carson City.

I decided that some Greek Yogurt, strawberries, and granola would make a decent lunch without a lot of bulk, sugar, or preparation. So, I bought the first box of strawberries of the season.

The next day about noon, I remembered the strawberries. I got the box out and began working them up, removing the remainder of the flower and cutting them up into chunks. This resulted in a recollection of Wife’s mom, my beloved mother-in-law, and her daughters working up strawberries from the berry patch they kept in their garden.

As I worked up my own, store-bought, berries, I recalled watching the technique and could see myself replicating what I first saw all those years ago. This made me smile and made my heart hurt a little.

Then I remembered strawberry pie. OMG, Mom’s strawberry pie was one of my favorite things. Her blackberry cobbler was right up on that list as well. (Best warm with vanilla ice cream and coffee!) But, my mind went to the strawberry pie with the reddish tint to my fingers from working up my berries.

I then thought “I could make a strawberry pie!” And that made me think of my sister-in-law, whom I had not contacted in a minute. So, after working up my berries and making a parfait for lunch, I sent her a text and we chatted a bit.

They are well, which made me happy. I asked about the pie and she sent me her recipe for the pie and the crust.

Then she sent a little lagniappe — a recipe for easy biscuits.

I usually use frozen Grands as I can make one or two. But, I also long for homemade biscuits and I think I can cut the recipe such that I can make two or three readily. I am going to try.

My mind sometimes goes into a stream-of-consciousness mode. My thoughts leap from one point to another, sometimes leaving even me feeling a bit dizzy.

Also, I think I’ll make a strawberry pie this weekend. I can make it with Sucralose and keep my sugar intake under control.

Mom sure made a killer strawberry pie. When I went to visit, she always made one. With whipped cream and coffee, it was a perfect treat.

Wife, Mom, and Dad are all gone now. It is a pity. They are greatly missed, all of them. They were my family, all by law. But, they might as well be blood. That is how I feel about them.

Godspeed, my loves, Godspeed.

I am grateful to have had those people in my life. Life is good.

So is strawberry pie.

Front Yard Wildlife

ruminator
These two little ones appeared in my front yard. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-05 17:31:22, 70mm, 1/105sec, f/8, ISO-800.

Yesterday afternoon I was working on my folding table in the living room and thought I smelled smoke. It being that time of the year, I stepped to the front door to check. What I found was two fawns grazing on the vegetation in my neighbors’ front yard.

I spoke to them softly, then stepped quickly to pick up my Fuji X-T5 and the Fujinon 70-300mm zoom I had affixed to the camera. Then I carefully stepped out the screen door and made a couple of captures, one at 70mm and the other at 300mm (a head shot I will share later).

I think the lens is a keeper. It provides a useful range of focal lengths in a very compact, if a little slow photographically.

Life is good.

First Quarter

ruminator
I stepped out the front door and made this capture Saturday evening. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-02 20:51:09, 300mm, 1/500sec, f/5.6, ISO-500.

After a YouTube video by Dan Bailey and a subsequent discussion in the comments for his video, I rented a Fujinon 70-300mm f/4-f/5.6 zoom lens from Lensrentals. It arrived Wednesday, but I have had little downtime this week.

I made a few captures with it and this one of the first quarter Moon pleases me. I shot it handheld and used the Sunny-16 rule to set the exposure manually. Focus was manual as well.

I did a little editing with Photolab 7 after the capture, but not much.

The capture below was made a few days ago (maybe Wednesday evening) on walkies with The Girl. We had a beautiful sunset, so I made this capture.

I think this lens might be a useful addition to my kit. It is much lighter than the 100-400mm and will fit into my regular bag for the X-T5.

While walking Sera one evening, we had enough clouds to have a nice sunset. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-01 20:13:22, 70mm, 1/105sec, f/8, ISO-640.

Salt and Pepper

ruminator
While out for breakfast, I noticed the salt and pepper shakers on my table. Shot with Fuji X-T5 and Voigtlander 27mm f/2 at f/4 and processed in PhotoLab 7.

While out for breakfast a few days ago, I noticed the light on the salt and pepper shakers on my table. This resulted in a grab shot using the X-T5 and the Voigtlander 27mm f/2 lens. I selected an aperture that would give enough depth of field for the shakers but provide a little subject isolation.

For this capture, I used the RAW mode and then post-processed the result in PhotoLab 7. The adjustments were all minor and I used a PhotoLab preset for the black and white conversion.

The little Voigtlander pancake lens can do the job if I do mine.

Breakfast was good. The Girl and I had a nice hike after. She enjoyed the bulk of my bacon.

Life is good.

Signs

ruminator
The Girl and I have walked past this sign so many times. But, Sunday evening I noticed to late afternoon Sun illuminating them brightly. Shot with Fuji X-T5 and Voigtlander 27mm f/2 at f/8. No post.

The Sunday evening Sun really illuminated the street signs at the corner of my cul-de-sac. I noticed it a little earlier in the day. So, I determined to take The Girl for an evening walk and grab a capture if the lighting remained strong.

Well, it did, so I did. Along the walk, The Girl had a chance to exercise and to do a little training, sans collar. It was good for both of us.

The capture reminds me a bit of some of Alex Kilbee’s work. He likes angles quite a lot.

Voigtlander 27mm f/2 Ultron

ruminator
This is a daily image of an old deadfall shot with the Fuji X-T5 and the Voigtlander 27mm f/2 Ultron at about f/4. The conversion was done with DXO Photolab 7 with a Tri-X film simulation.

One of my favorite lenses is the Voigtlander 27mm f/2 Ultron. It is a manual focus lens manufactured by Cosina. It also has a chip and contacts to transmit EXIF data about the lens settings to the camera to be recorded in the EXIF image data portion of the digital image.

This lens came to mind a couple of days ago when I was watching a video from a favorite content creator, Chris Orange. He was effluvious about a new TTArtisan manual focus lens in the 27mm focal length that he was using on his X-T5 instead of buying a Fujifilm X100vi.

The X100vi is not a terribly expensive camera — not cheap, but not as expensive as some brands. I have had a few people dismiss my X100v (and now my X100vi) as just an expensive point and shoot. But, it is not that simple. It is a capable camera using the same sensor and IBIS as the X-T5 and offering complete controls if that is what one wants. The fit and finish are top shelf and reminiscent of an older fixed lens rangefinder. The Fujinon 23mm f/2 is very good. It is a good focal length for the camera.

The X100vi (and the X100v before it) is my go-to camera if I do not want to think about what lenses to carry, do not want a large(er) or heavy bag, and do not want to fiddle with which lens to mount. And so, when I want to simply have a camera that is far more capable than a phone camera, this is the one I pick up to carry. It goes into a small Domke bag that was a collaboration between Domke and Fujifilm. There is room for extra batteries and extra SD cards. There is also room for a water bottle.

But, I digress. I have not tested (and probably will not) the TTArtisan 27mm f/2. I have the focal length covered with the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 and the Voigtlander 27mm f/2. I bought the former before I picked up a used copy of the latter. Although I have not done serious testing of either, the Voigtlander tends to get the nod when I want a simple carry (or that focal length) for my X-T5.

I carried it last Friday on walkies. I need to grab frame and include it. The frame below was captured with the Fuji X-T5 and Voigtlander 27mm f/2 (at f/8) with post processing in PhotoLab 7. The lens is plenty sharp and I like the rendering. I should carry the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 along with the Voigtlander and make a few captures of the same setting. I might decide to sell the Fujinon.

Life is good!

A shot of Mt. McLelland using the Fujifilm X-T5 and the Voigtlander 27mm f/2 at f/8. Post processing in PhotoLab 7 to render as Ektachrome 100 VS.

Tri-X Film Simulation

ruminator
Granite found along the trail, Toiyabe National Forest. Shot with Fuji X-T5 and Fujinon 35mm f/1.4 at f/4. In camera conversion to Tri-X 400 film simulation.

I made this capture a year and change ago. We were hiking, probably up near Spooner summit. I came across this bit of granite and decided that the play of light and shadow was interesting. So, I made the capture.

I know that I was playing with some of the film simulations one can readily program into Fuji cameras. I think that the color capture was not what I was looking for.

So, a black and white film simulation it is.

It was a good day. Today is a good day. Life is good.