Japan Trip - August 2009

I took 2 weeks to go and visit Japan. Japan may not have the best prices on camera stuff, but they sure have EVERYTHING that you'd ever want.

Rare lenses I never see on the buy and sell here were found in various camera stores I went to. The FA35 was stocked aplenty in big camera stores such as Yodabashi Camera. If you're looking for used lenses or hard to find lenses, Japan is the place to go.

Anyways, as much as I loved the camera shopping there (I even picked up the Pentax 3D Stereo adaptor!! It's just okay...), Japan itself is such a beautiful country with a very intriguing culture. Here are some of my favorite shots:

(My apologies for the small size. I just don't want people using these pics without my permission)



A waterfall in Nikko. Photo taken with the Pentax DA21 Ltd. Stabilized with a Manfrotto monopod and Manfrotto ballhead against a fence railing.



Tokyo Tower as seen from Roppongi. Photo taken with Pentax DA*55.



The A-Bomb dome in Hiroshima. This is one of the few buildings to survive the atomic bomb blast in 1945. Taken with Tokina AT-X 20-35 F2.8, I think.



Kyoto from JR Kyoto Station. Taken with Pentax FA35.



Osaka Castle in Osaka. Taken with Pentax FA35.



JAL Airliner taken from Narita Airport. Taken with Pentax DA*55.



A look outside on the way home to Canada. Taken with the Pentax DA21 Ltd.

[legacyb4]

Hey, you finally posted some pics from your trip!

Very nice results; they could easily be used for postcards/commercial work!

[juanraortiz]

Brilliant pics, great compositions.

[dugrant153]

legacyb4: thanks a bunch! I think using primes really helped me control my compositions in most shots. I <3 my DA*55. However, changing lenses was a pain with the travel schedule we had (and especially if my hands were full from shopping!). Most of the time, we had to keep moving which means I had to get the shot in the first or second take then move on. I wonder if JTB or JAL want these pics... hmmm....

juanraortiz: thanks for the comments!

[and]

nice set from very varied locations around jp, you got a better shot of tokyo tower than I manged. Great location on the first one, Ive been to nikko on 2 seperate occasions both by car and train but dont remember running into that waterfall before.

[dugrant153]

thanks, and. I was lucky enough to have a tour guide who knew the area very well. We took all these different roads to get to all these various waterfalls. If my memory serves me correct, this is... Ryuzu Falls?

Japan is such a nice place. But the 30 C degree heat was a bit much at the time. hehe

[krypticide]

Nice shots! Was there for a month last summer with my girlfriend, will be there again this winter and packing some nicer lenses.

Where did you find the old lenses? The big camera stores?

[dugrant153]

Originally Posted by krypticide

Nice shots! Was there for a month last summer with my girlfriend, will be there again this winter and packing some nicer lenses.

Where did you find the old lenses? The big camera stores?

Nice! Bring a zoom, especially if you're on a tight schedule. It would've saved me a lot of headache of lens switching and a lot of "running to catchup". hehe

I ended up using primes and would probably use primes again Japan is such a great place. So many photo potentials.

The big camera stores have major stock of all the "regular" lenses (well, regular to Japan, which is more than us), but the best place for those old rare lenses are those "3rd floor little room" shops. My favorite one was Map Camera in Shinjuku.

[Jonson PL]

Looking good, but the samples could be even bigger

[ll_coffee_lP]

Great shots! First and last one's are standouts for me. Looks like a beautiful country.

c[_]