This is the last post from my Portugal trip last year – yes, last year! – in September 2024: photos from my Hasselblad 907x 100c that were stored in my hard drive, waiting to be edited.
It took me all this time. And also a change in my old habits, as explained here.
For this trip I also brought the Sony RX1Rii. As a backup to the Hasselblad and also because I was not sure what camera to bring for the Pico mountain climb.
In the end, I took the Sony because I had no other choice: the Hasselblad failed me.
Recap
Last year’s trip was particularly colourful. We landed in Lisbon, after a few days we went to the Azores. Spent time in two islands: São Miguel and Pico.
Then back to Lisbon, before finally returning to Macau. I just read this recap here myself, to refresh my memory.
It was a wonderful trip with so many activities. We stayed in beautiful places, took several flights… and rented a total of 4 different cars!
So here are my photos from the Hasselblad.
Lisbon
One thing that never changes whenever I travel to Portugal: in the first days after arrival I wake up before sun rise, as a result of both jet lag and excitement.
Preparing my coffee, I get to enjoy the quietness outside from a day that is about to start.
Then the sun rises and all these beautiful colours show off in the clear sky.
I took this photo out in the balcony, while breathing the unpolluted and mildly cold fresh air. Ah!
In Lisbon the Hasselblad stayed mostly at home. I was saving it to be used only in the Azores, looking forward to the beautiful landscapes where this camera would shine.
On the day we departed to the Azores though, I had the Hasselblad in my backpack. Before going to the airport, we had some free time and headed to Belém. Weather was excellent and we went for a walk.
We tried to get a Pastel de Belém (portuguese egg custard) but there was a long queue. It’s called over-tourism and it’s a worldwide disease.
With 100MB on hand, I was able to crop-in for a better framing of the subject in post processing. Hence even with the wide XCD 4/28P lens with 22mm equivalent FOV, I was able to get close.
By the way, since we are on this topic… The magnifying power of this camera is scary.
The power of a medium format, 100MB sensor: two details of the image above. You can actually see my wife in the bottom left of that rear view mirror!
Do we really need several lenses these days? Fujifilm with the latest GFX 100rf is exploring this possibility more than ever. I wrote about this before and with the current technology my point seems even more valid now.
São Miguel
Our first stop in the Azores. We stayed in this comfortable modern house with a double height glass façade and a private front yard where we could enjoy our slow starts with coffee and breakfast al fresco.
Or late snacks at night.
We would go to the supermarket, get some quality cheese, sausages and local specialties.
And a bottle of good ol’ red wine.
We enjoy simple things like this.
These two photos above were challenging. I wanted to capture what we were experiencing. The front yard and the quietness under a clear sky with stars.
I had to go for a long exposure to capture the stars, but then there was this strong floor light over exposing everything.
The first shot is out of focus. I guess with the wine, I was out of focus myself.
Azores is all about landscape and São Miguel was no exception to this. For several days we just drove around to visit all these scenic spots.
The thing is, on our way to whatever destination we would stop several times because beautiful scenery was everywhere. Some grassy fields looked so beautifully unreal, they reminded me of Windows screen savers.
There was this abandoned place called the Monte Palace. It was once a sumptuous 5 star hotel, but it went bankrupt in no time. It’s an interesting story. I wrote a post here, with a bunch of photos from my Hasselblad in case you are interested.
And I’m signing off this post with this shot from São Miguel downtown. This was about the last shot I took with my Hasselblad in this trip. Why?
Well, because a few hours after this shot was taken, the camera just went kaput.
“Lens undetected” showed up in the screen and for the rest of the trip the camera wouldn’t start.
I was obviously frustrated and concerned by this. This camera was expensive and new. How could a prime product fail like this, so easily?
Back to Macau, I went to the camera store and they determined it was something with the lens. Once they swapped to a different one, the body worked 100%. But the lens wouldn’t work with a different body. “Probably the electronics”, they said. Sure. Everything is about the electronics these days.
It took Hasselblad several months to solve my case. Eventually they returned the camera to me with a new lens.
I used to think bringing a back-up camera for a trip was superfluous and unnecessary. But now I can see it makes sense. For the rest of the trip I used the Sony RX1Rii and it worked a charm.
Whatever.
In September this year we will return to Portugal and I will definitely shoot with the Hasselblad again. Call it revenge shooting, to make up the opportunities lost last year.