Fujifilm X-E1 + Fujinon XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS

rented a Fujifilm X-E1 and Fujinon XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS to play around with during a recent family vacation to Sandbridge Island in Virginia Beach.

I rented a Fujifilm X-E1 and Fujinon XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS to play around with during a recent family vacation to Sandbridge Island in Virginia Beach. Although I was disappointed in the camera I did capture decent images for the few days I had the X-E1. Read my review after taking a look at some of the images I captured with this camera and lens combination.

The following have been lightly processed in Adobe Lightroom; auto tone, some cropping, and auto levelling.

Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 18 mm | 160 sec at f/22 | ISO 200
Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/4.0 | ISO 200
Bokeh | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/4.0 | ISO 200
Wednesday 31 July, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/4.0 | ISO 200
Bhavna, Shaan, Kiran, Khürt | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 37.4 mm | f/5.6 | ISO 640

My brother-in-law took this portrait of me with my wife and kids. I wanted to capture some sunset images from the nearby nature preserve. I was concerned that I wouldn't make it to the preserve in time. I handed the camera to my brother-in-law. He still shoots his DSLR in full auto mode.

Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/4.0 | ISO 200

I found it challenging to photograph the flying gulls. It wasn't easy to track the birds using the electronic viewfinder. It's easily done with the optical viewfinder of my Nikon D5100, but I found it quite challenging with the Fujifilm X-E1.

Panorama | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 18 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200

The X-E1 has a panorama mode. In this mode, I held the shutter down while panning slowly from right or left. It took several tries, but I felt I got the hang of it.

Wednesday 31 July, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 18 mm | f/9.0 | ISO 200
Tuesday 30 July, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 18 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Kamran and Sonali | Wednesday 31 July, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Sahana and Sonali | Wednesday 31 July, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 26.5 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 18 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Keeyan · Friday 2 August 2013 · FujiFilm X-E1 · XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS
Kamran | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 50.5 mm | f/7.1 | ISO 200
Keeyan and Jayesh Dada | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Maya digging a hole to Australia | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 23.3 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Fuji X-E1 Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Rahul | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/22 | ISO 200
Shaan | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/4.0 | ISO 200
Gina and Keeyan | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/9.0 | ISO 200
Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 24.3 mm | f/11 | ISO 200
Dipan and Rohan | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Sameer, Jayesh, Jaimini, Mihir, Neha | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 21.4 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Kamran and Sonali | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Sahana and Sonali | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 55 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
Cold water! | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 50.5 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200
The people who hold it all together | Friday 2 August, 2013 | FujiFilm X-E1 | XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS @ 34.3 mm | f/8.0 | ISO 200

Virginia Beach

Whenever I'm shooting or travelling, I have two cameras; my Nikon and iPhone. However, I often shoot more with the iPhone than the Nikon. Perhaps it's the immediacy of it, but sometimes I prefer the images captured on the iPhone to the ones I caught on the Nikon.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel · August 2013 · iPhone 5

My iPhone lens has a scratch, though. Right in the middle of all my images is a small dot. I thought about waiting until I returned from my trip to remove it in Adobe Lightroom.

We left New Jersey around 8 AM and made real-time through Delaware along the scenic Route 13. We stopped in Salisbury, Maryland, just around lunchtime, choosing to dine at Panera. We got to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel around 3 PM and stopped again to look around.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel · August 2013 · iPhone 5

Bhavna and I have crossed this bridge a few times on our way to Virginia for a business trip, but this is our first time with the kids. We stayed for 30 minutes, watching people fish along the pier.

We made it to our destination, an eight-bedroom rental property on Sandbridge, before the rest of Bhavna's family, so we had some time to explore.

We made it down to the beach the next day. It was very overcast but bright—very soft lighting.

The water was cold. Not that it mattered to me. Ocean water must be blue-green before I step foot in it. The older kids and adults enjoyed using boogie boards while I snapped photos of the smaller kids playing in the sand.

We had a storm that night. The beach was a different place the next day. There were jellyfish carcasses along the sand with bits of driftwood and broken shells.

We only stayed a short time at the beach that day. The water felt even colder than the previous day, so I returned to the pool. Everyone else returned an hour later. We splashed at the pool right up until dinner time.

The Charles Kuralt Trail has been established to help people enjoy these wildlands and to recognise the broadcast journalist who shared the delights and wonders of out-of-the-way places like these.