A dilemma for night street photography
A couple of months ago I shared my experiences doing night street photography on film. I still shoot film and hope to continue this project for some time, but the truth is, my turn around is rather slow since I have not yet master the art of film developing, and getting my rolls develop just take some time. It is the nature of things in our current pandemic affairs.
So I decided to spice things up by making an audacious decision. Should I give this night photography a try with the Nikon D700 and the Nikkor 50mm 1.4g? I have already experienced the joy of using this bulky camera on the streets, and just the mere thought of it created an impulse to try it out as soon as possible. Still I waited until my new Promist filter arrived, to make sure I was properly packed for the adventure.
Finally, all geared up, I was able to negotiate a night out on my own (so is the life of married men) to test this combo, and it was all the fun I hoped and some more, with just a few caveats. The D700 uses contrast detection autofocus, so quite often the lens hunts, and you could miss a shot or two, but that's OK. Also, I was shooting mostly manual to control the shutter speed to get the effects I wanted, but had to continuously check on the LCD to see if I got the exposure as I had expected. Unexpectedly, most of the fun I got happened using Lightroom in the edition process. I loved the colors, how dense they look on the screen, as if pixels carried weight. Pushing the shadows and the highlights in tandem with the white balance created some interesting effects on the photos.
Let me share with you a few of the pictures I edited using the Nikon D700.
Well, I could have stopped right there and continue the project using the marvelous D700, until I got curious about the kind of results I would get using a crop sensor camera, in this case, the FujiFilm X-Pro2. How would the shooting experience compare to the D700? How would the pictures differ? Well, I had to give that a try too. And boy, it was a whole different ball game. The XPro-2 coupled with the XF 23mm 1.4 focuses much faster than the D700, having the viewfinder showing you real time the exposure assures you get the shot you want before making the shot. It was a lighter setup and the size goes unnoticed in the dark. The only thing that bothered me a bit is wishing I had the 50mm equivalent lens on the camera, since when shooting at night you kind of want some distance between you and your subject, to avoid looking suspicious when you shoot.
Nevertheless, the editing part of the process did feel different. The colors of the RAW files looked and felt clinical, somewhat flawless. Not that I should complain about that, on the contrary, the pictures looked good to my taste. But I cannot help to compare how different the edition process felt. It is as if the texture of the Fuji RAW were close to real, and the D700 RAW files felt more film like. Perhaps, it has to do with the pixel density, a crop sensor 24MP compared to a full frame 12MP sensor. What do you think?
Let me share a few pictures using the X-Pro2.
Here is my dilemma, for which I welcome your feedback, and most of all, your experiences on the subject. Perhaps my subjectivity does not le me see beyond my own insecurities. Is there a tangible difference between the pictures taken with the D700 and the X-Pro2? What exactly makes them different? This could all be the rants of a G.A.S aficionado, but I rather risk being foolish, being criticized, just for that one piece of wisdom someone could share that could help me move forward in this process of discovery.
Your comments are much appreciated.
