GF55mmF1.7 R WR : Street photography x Alex Liverani

GF55mmF1.7 R WR impression

Luna Park is chaos. but in winter it turns into a kind of wonderland, a glass ball that holds a timeless world, a magnetic, fascinating place, that draws you in and invites you in. At the Luna Park you breathe the sweet air of cotton candy, and the smell of talcum powder mist, creates the atmosphere and the mystery between one ride and another.

To photograph in this place, I chose to use my GFX100S. A large format camera might not seem the ideal choice for a night photography context, but actually, thanks to the new GF55mmF1.7 lens, this becomes the perfect combination.

Today, as I look inside the viewfinder of my camera, i get lost and let myself get carried away…like when I used to watch these rides as a child, with the desire to get on them.

The 55mm focal length with the large format sensor, is equivalent to a 44mm focal length on a 35mm sensor. Simply put, the classic focal length corresponding to our field of view.

I believe it is the perfect focal length in a situation like this. I need versatility, because my gaze can be attracted by street photography situations, and then move on to the need to create posed portraits to subjects which, because of their peculiarities, are interesting for me to photograph. The subjects I have portrayed are not models, when I photograph on the street I love that randomness and uniqueness are the ones that create my images or trigger unplanned knowledge that ends up resulting in a portrait of somebody who was unknown just a few minutes before. When you have the opportunity to photograph people who are not used to standing in front of the camera, you must try to be fast and precise when shooting, and this lens gives me the confidence that I can get the perfect result in a few seconds. I just want to take some pictures of them, make sure that I have portrayed them in their essence and naturalness, nothing more.

I tried to test this new lens to the fullest and take advantage of all its qualities, so I decided to take every single shot at maximum aperture. All the pictures, both the portraits and the non-posed scenes, are taken with a F1.7 aperture and I could appreciate the incredible precision when shooting and the incredible rendering of the file.

Such a large aperture allows you to achieve a bokeh effect suitable for these low-light situations with an unprecedented aesthetic rendering. The natural blur created by this lens is really pleasant and natural, and photographing at F1.7 you can appreciate it at its best.

I was amazed and surprised by the focusing speed but above all the punctual precision of the area in focus in every single shot, not taken for granted when photographing with such large aperture.

These scenes lit only by flashing neon lights are incredibly enhanced by this lens

which gives a very high resolution, but the most surprising thing is the reduced noise even with high ISO. This is definitely the thing that struck me the most, I had no idea that I could get such clean and limpid images in a complicated context like this, photographically speaking.

By using a large format camera we enjoy the advantage of greater depth and more information on the vertical side of our pictures. I think that the 4:3 format is well suited to both horizontally oriented contextualized image situations, but works great for vertically oriented portraiture as well.

The F1.7 aperture allows us to photograph freely without the aid of a tripod. This large aperture allows us to keep fast shutter click and freeze moving subjects in low-light situations. All this is essential in those typical night-time street photography situations, where being able to maintain fast shutter click allows us not to give up any image.

The lens in its size is balanced in combination with GFX100S, offering adequate comfort when shooting, and a non expected versatility in any weather condition. By the end of the evening it started to rain, it is nice to know that you do not have to worry about protecting and covering the lens, as it is suitable to photograph even in extreme conditions.

It is a real pleasure for the eyes to admire the definition and the chromatic rendering of the images made by this lens. Using a large format camera means that we can also decide, if necessary, to abundantly crop our images by playing and reconsidering new compositions that can be attributed to those images, that perhaps we did not considered when shooting.

I think it might be the perfect lens for those who decide to leave home with their own large format camera and a single lens, its versatile focal length allows us to better cover the different situations that may arise before our eyes. I think it will become the lens of my kit that I will use more frequently.