More Fumbling with Panoramics

Hmmm, must try harder, that's my takeaway from a short outing to New Brighton with the XPan . . . this is going to take time to master.
Equipment Used
Hasselblad XPan with 45 and 90 lenses
Ilford Delta 400
Preview App
Mark II Artists Viewfinder (iOS only on the App Store)
Vlogging Equipment
GoPro Hero 10
Holyland Lark Wireless Mic
iPhone 14Pro
Etsy Shop
steveonionspho...
Contact Details
Email: [e-mail]
Twitter: Steve_ONions / steve_onions
Instagram: steveonions1 / steveonions1
KZbin: / @steveonions

[@largewoody]

I always enjoy your videos and always look forward to the next one. Watching your videos is like being out with a fellow photographer. I don't need to see those unboxing videos or basic how-to videos that are all over KZbin from others. Real photographers go out to take photographers and do the best they can with the conditions of the day. Thank you for sharing your real world experiences in photography.

[@eltinjones4542]

Couldn't have said it better. I totally agree 📷 👍

[@jasongold6751]

Bravo!

[@SteveONions]

Thank you, I’m glad you enjoy them 🙂

[@PedroLeitao]

Very good video!

[@luzr6613]

Nice to see you excited about this madness... great to find new ways to be refreshed. Overlooked in the 'White Vans' commentary was the Jewel in the Crown - the perplexed seagull atop the pole... perhaps thinking 'You what? Is this National White Van Day', or perhaps just pausing in the process of target acquisition.

[@SteveONions]

If it hadn’t been so cold and wet I’d have spent longer exploring the line of vans 🙂

[@kenblair2538]

Another great production, Steve. Very interesting compositions. Thanks. KB

[@SteveONions]

Thanks Ken.

[@simonknights7526]

The picture at 6:50 is fab, as is the Jackson Pollack seashell picture earlier. If I remember correctly, the colour work on the ferry was designed by Peter Blake.

[@SteveONions]

Thanks Simon, the ferry is indeed a Peter Blake design called Dazzle.

[@distagon6052]

The in-flight gulls really made the sea wall picture pop! Thanks for sharing.

[@SteveONions]

Glad you liked it 🙂

[@stevebarnett5048]

Enjoyed the photos Steve!

[@SteveONions]

Thanks Steve.

[@ulyssesnathanialowen3831]

whato stephen .. a question before you cached in the pension and remortgage to pay for the x-pan. do you think about the the offerings from chroma at all ? eg 6*17 or smaller or even, did you think about the cubepan or the instant body to attach lomography instax wide back.. all seem to be considerable cheaper, i realise the 6*17 is a different beast but the cubepan seems to in the x-pan territory?

[@SteveONions]

I ruled out 6x17 as too big and unwieldy, not to mention giving only 4 shots per roll (I’d rather crop down 6x12). I considered the Chroma options and may get one in future if the Xpan dies, but the Hasselblad is something I’ve always wanted and it hasn’t disappointed.

[@madefromfilm]

Great video, beautiful pictures. What aspect ratio is Panoramic? Thanks.

[@SteveONions]

It’s 1:2.7

[@garychatfield6709]

Nice stuff Steve, you got some great shots! Have you thought about Pan F and a tripod? I think a finer grain film would make for stronger images. Just my opinion though mate 😉

[@SteveONions]

Thanks gary. I’m not a huge fan of the slower films to be honest, the slightly coarser 400 shed films always seem sharper to my eye.

[@thenutter2003]

you can get some good shots with that camera like the shells and the one looking out at the breakwater.

[@michaelandrews4403]

Some good stuff here, Mr. Steve; methinks you do yourself down! I can help with the story of the vans, (I was visiting The Wirral this weekend, and drove through New Brighton), as it seemed strange to me, also. Apparently there is a local van hire company that has set up nearby and applied to use a piece of land next to their business, for parking. The Council turned them down so they said, "Right! We'll use the local, free, public parking!" Voila! Many parked, white vans!

[@SteveONions]

Aha, the mystery is solved! 😊

[@richardsimms251]

Enjoyable. Thanks

[@jefferyargentine4453]

How I wish you had color film.

[@yurymelnikov3644]

That was a very dynamic video! As always with Steve, there's a lot to work on. Thank you!

[@SteveONions]

Much appreciated 😊

[@jeff8289]

Hi Steve. The shot of the razor clams was fabulous. I instantly thought of Jackson Pollack. Definitely worth hanging on the wall.

[@SteveONions]

Thanks Jeff, those shells are always gathered up in one place, obviously the tidal patterns deposit them that way.

[@redsphoto6708]

Honestly great photos! I really like the seagull one, the shells and a fair few of the others. Even your 'bad photos' are better than most of my good ones lol. I definitely think the biggest benefit of the Xpan is just how easily you can take it with you for travel. Lets you take nice panos whenever. I wish I had thought of the benefits of a long lens before I'd bought my almost wide angle only 617 camera. Will have to use a 612 back with longer 4x5 lenses some more sometime.

[@SteveONions]

I’m quite a fan of linger lenses and all the other panoramic cameras seem stuck with wideangles.

[@JanneRanta]

Are you going to do vertical shots with the xpan? Those might work in some situations but might be difficult to pre-visualise.

[@SteveONions]

Definitely, they really suit some scenes.

[@janfrosty3392]

Lovely photos Steve, regretting selling my X-Pan II with 45 and 90mm lenses to this day.

[@SteveONions]

I regret selling quite a lot of cameras too 🙁

[@SloopJohnBee-vq6dw]

You are too self critical mate, but every day is a school day. The unexpected shots can be such a joy. Just submitted a vintage car racing shot amongst my entry for local camera club end of season competition. I was seconds from pressing the delete button and then I suddenly saw some potential. Keep the videos coming Steve 👍📸

[@SteveONions]

Very true, I’ve found very old shots that I can’t believe I overlooked at the time.

[@azfactor7875]

Nice to see your progress with the XPan. Do you think that the extreme aspect ratio will lend itself to emphasize a narrative element to your photos? I was just wondering if it might be easier to tell or imply a story by minimizing the top and bottom. Loved the image at 6:37. The tint looks a bit lith print-like.

[@SteveONions]

I’m not sure yet how I’ll end up using the XPan Bob, I’m going to see how I get on this year but I’m hoping to use it more for what it excludes in terms of vertical elements than what it adds to the horizontal.

[@impressionsoflight9263]

I really like the shot of the (razor fish)? I can see that hanging on a wall. I have some 5’ prints of shots I took with the x-pan and Velvia and they really are stunning. Try not to leave it too long between videos, I’m not a young man and I want to see as many as I can before it’s time 😉

[@SteveONions]

I’ll try to get more videos out before you (and I) either exit this world or forget why we’re watching them in the first place! 😀

[@deanlawrence3744]

As said earlier Steve, you are too self critical. Some of the images may not be award winning, but, it's important to see the not quite because you, and we in this case, learn so much more. I'm more used to seeing you shoot 6 x 6, so panoramic must have made your head hurt. Well done on the images, but for this time at least the strength is in the lesson. I can't wait to get back to this location, it really is fabulous.

[@SteveONions]

Thanks Dean. There is so much to shoot at the coast and having Liverpool opposite is a real bonus.

[@jimgraves4197]

Panoramic photos are a whole new experience. You have to work at it to get your mind thinking about the panorama you want to photograph.

[@SteveONions]

I’ll need time to get my eye in Jim.

[@paultaylorphotography9499]

Love that Xpan a van bucket list camera for me I actually handled one last weekend during a street photography session and street ‘tog had one on him so I had a play surprisingly heavy . Some nice shots in there the one you preferred of course but I actually liked the white van X pan shot. Keep em coming mate always enjoy watching you work

[@SteveONions]

Thanks Paul. It is a very solid camera, very much like a small medium format device but with much more compact lenses.

[@paultaylorphotography9499]

@@SteveONions yeah it looks and feels amazing, theres a place in Wellington NZ with one for sale, stupid asking price, so no takers, they've started hiring it out, I'm scared to try it tho' as I know i'll instantly sell a leg and a lung to keep it.

[@erichstocker8358]

Actually I liked a lot of the photos and some I would hang on the wall. So, you did pretty good!

[@SteveONions]

Thanks Erich.

[@paulevans1047]

Steve have you considered Vertical panos? no egg sucking intended

[@SteveONions]

I do like verticals, well suited to forests.

[@lensman5762]

Beautiful photography, Steve. In particularly the one with the sweep and guard house. Those vans were there the last time I was there. It was about 9 am. Perhaps it was the same day as I had beautiful light and sky until about 10 am. some locals were asking me if I knew what was going on. I told them that it might be a national protest or something.

[@SteveONions]

They were a right pain, took up nearly all the parking bays and there was nobody about so not sure what was going on 🙂

[@lensman5762]

Absolutely, they had parked, taken up all the spaces even the ones on the opposite side, shut shop and gone away. A lot of people had driven their cars and dogs to walk them and they had difficulty finding space. Soon all was forgotten as the golden morning light broke through the clouds, a beautiful morning indeed. That guard house has a lot of potential under a sympathetic lighting. One of the flood drain outlets also had glorious colours, almost like Velvia 50, but sadly it was in the shade, although there was enough reflected light from the sand. Didn't stop me using the D810 though.@@SteveONions

[@neileverett5183]

I have just discovered you KZbin channel Steve when I was looking at using older manual focus Nikkor lenses which I have started to do. I very much enjoy you style of photographs and videos. A lot of the areas you photograph are local to me also. I look forward to seeing more of your videos.

[@SteveONions]

Welcome aboard Neil and I’m glad you enjoy the videos.

[@neileverett5183]

Thank you Steve 👍

[@petermaddern6653]

Another very interesting video Steve.

[@SteveONions]

Many thanks Peter.

[@HankTVsux]

What's the story behind that ferry?

[@SteveONions]

It was designed by Peter Blake who did the Beatles sergeant pepper album cover. It’s called Dazzle.

[@katebr1737]

Loved the shells and the breakwater/seagulls. Also really liked the skyline with ferry. Enjoyed the video, it’s good to see real life photography, the struggles and successes!

[@SteveONions]

Thank you.

[@FreezerKing]

That ferry paint design there is by Peter Blake, isn't it?

[@SteveONions]

I believe it is 🙂

[@thomashilmersen711]

Stellar photos, Steve.

[@SteveONions]

Thanks Thomas.

[@michaelmiller641]

Thanks for that video

[@SteveONions]

My pleasure

[@SteveONions]

My pleasure Michael.

[@iNerdier]

Razor clam shells are great.

[@joerg_koeln]

Excellent pictures - as always. Thanks for the insights, they are very inspiring.

[@SteveONions]

Glad you like them!

[@j.f.7509]

Beautiful photography and the panoramic format is fantastic. Thanks!

[@SteveONions]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ruudmaas2480]

Really informative to see these outings with the XPAN. I like the images the most when you create depth with the composition. Specially the image with the Y form at the sea. Really beautiful . Personally I like images the most when you can get the notion of being IN THE IMAGE and not only looking AT THE IMAGE. Somewhat hard to explain for me. So good base creation / seperation of the foreground mid and background in the composition is to my believe also applicable with the panorama format of the XPAN. I hope to see more of this vidoes. Again many thanks for sharing.

[@SteveONions]

Thanks Ruud, I’m hoping to shoot things quite differently with this camera, it opens up possibilities that I haven’t had before.

[@AliasJimWirth]

Love the self criticism, Steve. I learn a lot from that. Thank you. It is quite useful to see what the photographer sees, and how a composition is assessed.

[@SteveONions]

Thanks James. I like to be honest about my images, it’s the only way I’ll improve.

[@danncorbit3623]

I love doing Panos. I have been known to go overboard with Panos that are absurdly long or tall.

[@SteveONions]

I like them too Dann, just not so easy to display on the web.

[@fbraakman]

The lenses seem very sharp, as compared to your other camera lenses. Almost Leica like.

[@janfrosty3392]

Lenses were made by Fujifilm