Today raised a question to which there probably isn’t a definitive answer. I had been documenting the day with the Fujifilm X-T5 and the 33mm lens. The 33mm / 50mm full frame equivalent offers a great mid-range, prime, field of view at a speedy 1.4 aperture. Everything was going well until we arrived at the Whiterocks Beach.
The sun was beginning to set over Dunluce Castle. It was raining out to sea that created a haze over the surface of the water. The colour rendering of the Portrush sunset straight out of the camera was amazing.
I have returned to shooting both RAW and JPG. I had reverted to JPG only for a while, primarily to save space in Lightroom. Processing the RAW files in Lightroom CC offer a bit more (especially in the dynamics of the skies). You should just be able to see that it is raining out to sea in the above image. I am not sure this was a clear in the JPG version of the image.
The Whiterocks Beach Sunset
The colours look unrealistic. I have seem a number of sunsets on the north coast like this, perhaps it is the combination of rain and the winter sunset.
The X-T5 and 33mm delivered both in terms of image quality but also the focal length sat well with documentary photography. However, a few miles around the coast offered a differing view of the Whiterocks beach. For this view the Fujifilm 33mm constrained the view with much of the landscape being missed by the restricted focal length.
The Whiterocks Beach – Fujifilm 33mm
Attaching the Fujifilm 16mm allowed for a wider field of view but at the cost of the compression around the middle of the frame. The sky being blown out doesn’t help the 16mm case either. Initially I preferred the 16mm version, there is more going on with the sea whoever it all just feels so far away.
The Whiterocks Beach – Fujifilm 16mm
Twitter Poll
Interestingly, I shared both images on a Fujifilm forum expecting that better eyes than mine would conclude on a winner. It didn’t. There were as many votes for the Fujifilm 16mm focal length as there was for the 33mm. With the 33mm I think there is more to consider and process. In some ways if I had have only captured one image with one lens I would be satisfied. Choice introduces doubt.
I still think the 33mm will remain my everyday lens. In many ways I am grateful I have a 16mm that allows me to go wider. Comments appreciated (below).