Tokyo-X-VARIO: Portrait of a Photographer

X-VARIO @ 50mm. 1/500th sec F/7.1 @ ISO 1600. Shibuya Crossing. 

I saw the coolest guy coming out of a taxi. He was a taller Japanese fellow, probably about my age and he was adjusting his scarf as he was readying himself to shoot with his super awesome leather-cased twin reflex camera. I wanted to introduce myself to him, but I was so busy looking for my business cards and scrambling with all my camera equipment, he started walking away and disappeared into the busy Tokyo crowd. I frantically chased after him into the Shibuya crossing, wondering which of 5 directions he could have gone to... I chose the North-East corner and headed that way but it was too late. He was long gone. 

But wait! What do I see? Another cool photographer. Completely different looking but similar. The same coolness and determination and in the zone, ready for the next great shot. The first thing I did was show him the Ricoh GR-D IV I was shooting with and asked if I could take a picture of him with my GR with his GR (image posted on my Instagram). Then I decided to shoot with the Leica X-VARIO but at 50mm equiv. This is when I really appreciated having the X-VARIO. The Ricoh GR is a great point and shoot, but not great for a proper portrait. The 50mm angle of view has the right distance to subject and the right amount of compression for a waist-up portrait.


David is from Spain and was enjoying his photo trip in Tokyo, and was readying himself to move on to Kyoto and finally end up in Hong Kong. He was showing me his cool free light meter app and his paid light meter wheel as he develops smart phone applications. It's a perfect app to use, especially when shooting film. Up to now, I metered off my small point and shoot and made a good guess of the exposure on my film camera. With his app, there's no need. Your smart phone becomes an instant light meter. Check it out!

We talked for a bit, exchanged emails and we both continued on our way. Before that, he took a selfie with me which was totally awesome.

Messy hair due to taking off my hat for the picture. Hat Head Taco

Via email he share with me some of the pics he'd taken so far so I'll share with you here. It was nice meeting a fellow photographer and also a fellow GR shooter.  

If you're interested in David's photography or have questions about his iPhone apps (I think there's a Android version as well), please contact him via the App Store under ""Developer Website". He's a really cool guy and speaks English well.

As for me posting a picture of a GR shooter on a Leica project, sorry Leica Canada!! I don't really think Ricoh is your competition anyway, and I was just showing how awesome the X-VARIO is at shooting portraits! I hope that's cool?

Munetake

BHT