Zenpukuji River Park Cherry Blossoms 2017
I photographed the Zenpukuji River Park cherry blossoms with a new camera in 2017. The new camera was a Fujifilm X-T2. The lens was the XF 16-55mm. Those two together were a match made in heaven. Here are the results.
The session? In the beginning, I only intended to walk around my neighborhood. I wanted to take a few snaps to learn the camera’s controls. In the end, I walked to Zenpukuji River Park, which is one or two kilometers from home. The park surprised me, as the cherry blossoms still looked good.
The flowers were on the way out, but I was pleased to see them. I wouldn’t say the Zenpukuji River Park cherry blossoms are a must-visit, but its trees are nice in spring. It’s a local type of place.
As for the camera? The quality of the pictures was good, actually more than good. They were outstanding. The camera surprised me, though.
I found more dials and knobs on the camera than my old Pentax K-3. So some learning and adapting needed to be done. That was quite okay, but one thing about the X-T2 impressed me.
It was my first camera with an electronic viewfinder (EVF)! That changed my world. I used to think they were gimmicks, but how wrong I was!! Why? What you see on the screen is a preview of the picture you will get. It’ll be the same.
My K3 had an optical viewfinder. When I took pictures, I never knew how they would look. I only knew when I saw them on my computer screen. An EVF lets you know on the spot. It made things so easy. The screen got a little laggy, but attaching the booster grip and enabling boost mode fixed that.
And the 16-55mm lens? Never before have I had such a sharp lens. I read reviews on the internet and watched videos about it on YouTube. My initial experience was what I heard. Yes, it was big, heavy, and had no onboard image stabilization. You lose any weight and size benefits that mirrorless cameras provide.
After seeing my pictures of the Zenpukuji River Park cherry blossoms, I didn’t care because the image quality was so good. The 16-55mm was exciting and worth every penny. But I didn’t tell my wife how much it cost!
Please leave comments and opinions about the flowers or the camera below! And if you own the 16-55 mm, what do you think of it? I’d love to hear some experiences.
Where is Zenpukuji River Park?
It is between Hamadayama (Keio-Inokashira line) and Minami-Asagaya (Metro Marunouchi line) stations. There are three ways to get there:
- walk from the stations. It is a little far, but possible.
- Sugimaru Bus, which you can catch at those stations.
- Kanto Bus, from either Kichijoji or Nakano stations.
Here it is on Google Maps:
Photo gear for this shoot:
- Camera body: Fujifilm X-T2
- Lens: Fujifilm XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
Rohan Gillett
Rohan has lived in Tokyo for 30+ years. He loves photography and plans to capture the entire city.
Here are more cherry blossom articles:
External related websites
- Zenpukuji River Green Area (official website)