Edison And Our “Pond Project”

The FedEx truck brought me a present this past Friday. Either a late birthday present or an early Christmas present. I was a little late to the party in ordering Fujifilm’s latest (at the time) offering, the X-E5. It was announced earlier this year, with pre-orders starting in (I think) June. Being a decision maker often accused of moving at glacial speed, I finally decided to order mine in July (my birthday month), knowing that I would be at or near the end of the queue, with no idea when I would actually receive it. But here it is.

My grandson Edison and I have a little project he calls our “Pond Project.” I don’t remember how it got started, but for several years it has been a requirement during his visits. Our neighborhood has one of those artificial streams, with a pond at the top and the bottom and a pump piping water from the lower pond to the top, for a recurring flow of water. Because of the many trees along the “stream” the water tends to back up in spots, so we venture over there with our hiking sticks and spend some time removing and relocating the clumps, allowing the water to flow more freely.

It was my first chance to use the new camera in the wild, so I set off with the camera in one hand and my hiking stick in the other. On occasion the camera went into my pocket – the 23mm pancake lens is quite small, making the whole camera comparable in size to an X100. I tried out a couple of JPEG settings, and these are a few samples of the results.

The camera operates pretty much the same as previous models, with a few unique quirks. As I figure it out I’ll be able to get a bit more adventurous. I think it is going to make for a great travel camera.