Attack of the Cosplayers

I spent most of Comic-Con Day 3 shooting photos with the Fuji X-T1. With the Masquerade Ball in the evening, cosplayers descended on San Diego Convention Center in large numbers. As expected, July 11th was by far the busiest—bustling crowds were everywhere, Even at my trolley stop, there were more Conners waiting than the two previous days.

Riding in, I chatted with a Twentysomething, wearing an Apple Watch. I commented how much nicer is his wristband than mine. He asked how I like the timepiece, as he only had his for four days. Turns out, the former Marine who served for 5 years after joining at seventeen works at one of the local Apple Stores. I love go-to people. He had submitted a résumé online, but didn’t get a fast-enough response. So he hauled down to the mall and waited a half-hour to see the manager. Now that is how you get hired. 

Our conversation set an excellent tone for the day, which required lots of hustle from me. I was very dissatisfied with the photos taken on Days 1 and 2 and determined to capture candids and poses of variety. For that purpose, the X-T1 with 18-55mm kit lens proved to be great companion. The X100T, with its 23mm prime, produces better bokeh but to my eyes the photos aren’t nearly as sharp, even when closing the aperture (say, f/4 and higher). Strange, because the sensors are the same.

The X-T1 commands more respect, looking like an old-style film SLR. The diminutive X100T evokes rangefinder to me, but cheap compact to many people being photographed. Out of the box, with the accompanying glass, the X100T produces better portraits because of the attainable shallower depth of field. Focus on the subject, blur everything else. That said, in real world shooting, I get more perfectly focused, superbly crisp images from the X-T1.

From about 10 a.m to 2:30 p.m., I prowled the Convention Center like a shark, shooting anyone who would stop or already was stopped (I love candids of cosplayers on break). Then I moved into line for Room 20, getting inside 45 minutes later during the Grimm panel. I was there for Outlander at 4 p.m., and it was worth the wait.

Then, my day ended. Unbelievably. Unlike the previous six Cons, where I stayed much later on Saturday, I climbed into the trolley just after 5. I wanted to process photos, and it was my birthday after all. You can find the pics, which as I write need to be better organized, at my “San Diego Comic-Con 2015” album.