Fuji X-E1 and Nikon V2 go on a trip

I just got back from a week's vacation in Bangkok, Thailand, with a short trip to Seoul, Korea. This is the first long trip for both the X-E1 and the V2. In an attempt to keep the kit light, I brought less equipment than when I went to Bali. 

For the Fuji, I had the 18-55mm f/2.8. For the V2, I had the 10-30mm PD, 30-110 VR, and the 35mm f/1.8 ED with the FT1. All the lenses got some use, with the 30-110mm having the least shots and the 18-55mm the most. 

The two bodies and lenses did a good job. There were a few times that I would have preferred a wider lens (too many reclining Buddah statues), or something faster. I thought about renting the Fuji 16mm f.1.4, but in my head, the $100 that would have cost is better spent towards buying the actual lens.

So I'm now looking at the 2k plus photos from the trip. I had to change SD cards once (a 32GB) on the Fuji, and never on the V2 (the advantage of smaller RAW files). Batteries of course were swapped frequently, at least once a day on the body that showed the most use. 

A few notes:

1. The 35mm ED shows a lot of chromatic aberration. There is no profile for this lens in the V2's firmware, so the JPEGs show no correction. A bit of a pain when you want to post photos during the trip and don't have ACR on your laptop.

2. The X-E1's AF can be a bit slow for stealth shots. The V2 never missed a beat.

3. Multi-metering on the Fuji gets confused by backlighting. Spot or average fixes that.

Ecstasy and agony

While attending this year's SuperHero Street Fair, the neck strap on the V1 managed to slip free of the buckle, causing the camera to drop a foot or so to the sidewalk. The hood on the 30-110mm has several scratches and nicks. The left corner of the V1 also has some chips. Not a good day.

The event was more populated with costume revelers this year, making it a constant shoot fest. I used all the lenses in my small bag (35mm, 50mm, 30-110mm, and 10-30mm), with the 50mm getting the least use as it was a bit  too long. I do love how the V1 kit can be so small yet have such breadth and depth. I do wish that F-mount AF lenses were able to use AF points other than the center as focus-and-recompose is a pain for events.

I haven't gone through all the images as 2013 is still calling. In the meanwhile, here are some that jumped out and demanded to be edited.