At the end of May, I traded my trusted Canon EOS5D Mk III for a Fujifilm X-T5. It was definitely a bittersweet moment, as the Canon had become a reliable tool after seven to eight years of using it during my studies. However, carrying it around for all day exploration and photography was really starting wear on my shoulder, so I was looking for something lighter, yet no less capable. After a good couple of weeks of usage, I feel that the X-T5 is very much that camera, and an improvement to boot.

A selection of colour shots around Camden, using the CLASSIC/Neg filter, along with additional post-processing.

It has become something of a habit of mine to pop up to London at the weekends (as possibly previously mentioned…) and so I thought where else to test but Shoreditch & Camden? Over the course of the next two weekends I had a mosey around Covent Garden and Kings Cross for further practice. One thing I would definitely like to expand upon is filming – although I feel like I need to invest in a handheld gyro/stabiliser of some kind. Yet, I have to admit that I’m a lot less comfortable making shorts (let alone anything longer), due to a lack of practice during studies at filming, as opposed to photography, but there is also an expectation I think that once you start to look like you’ve got the kit, people will treat/look/act “out of place”. Then there is also the question that, despite this being the age of the phone camera, and everything being filmed, yet filming always feels a lot more intrusive and inherently personal (not that photography can’t be mind you…). Anyway, thoughts no doubt that will be evolved upon in the coming months.

4 different sequences of street photography moments. The first was taken at the Truman Brewery, off Brick Lane. The second in Brick Lane itself, the third in Compton Street and the fourth at Oxford Circus.

A selection of monochrome shots around Covent Garden, using the ACROS filter, along with additional post-processing.

Back to photography: one thing that I have found incredibly fun are the built-in film presets that offer a facsimile of traditional analogue film as opposed to digital. For the most part I have been shooting in monochrome using the ACROS standard, although when I do shoot in colour, I tend to use the CLASSIC/Neg, ETERNA/Cinema or ASTIA/Soft settings. During these initial practice sessions three things became clear:

• I really need to get used to how I’ve decoupled the auto-focus, as it operates in a subtly different manner to how it was set up on the Canon,

• I would like to start taking a more active approach to using a range of f-stops in many different settings (previously I think I did most of my photography at the widest possible aperture, can’t say for certain though),

• Get used to aligning shots without either an in-built gyroscope, or grid (the Sony as the former, the Canon had the latter). If the Fuji has a grid overlay, I have yet to find it. Still, good practice, and frankly, I think the shots I’ve taken so far aren’t too shabby.

Monochrome photograph of the Gillian Lynne theatre billboard - this is an example of getting used to aligning the old fashioned way. I think the photograph would have been positioned better if it was tilted up further, such that there was more of the billboard, and none of the white cladding beneath it.

This is an example of how I would like to play with different apertures, and thus extend to different capture times, potentially opening up the ability to perform slightly longer exposures during full daylight, for some hopefully fun effects. For instance, even in full daylight, how could I have played with the cyclist's presence with a longer exposure? Would the effect have been positive or negative?

Three shots around King’s Cross with the ACROS monochrome filter. The last example is another demonstration in how tricky it is to align a skyward shot such as this. I enjoy the architecture of this building, even though I feel it is less London and more Los Angeles or San Francisco.