More Madeira

strange attraction

Madeira is a place I currently cannot keep away from. I’ve just got back from my last visit, and the next one is all arranged. It’s not just about photography, in fact photography is rather peripheral. I’m not sure just how feasible it is to really capture the essence of highland Madeira, with it’s other-worldly peaks, the remnants of the ancient laurisilva forest, the natural and man-made waterways, the wild weather, all of it. Madeira has certainly climbed up the ranking of trendy destinations recently, and has attracted YouTube wannabe photo-influencers, although thankfully so far not to saturation level. But I’m afraid that could soon change. And why not - Madeira is a dream destination for travel/adventure/landscape photographers, especially those who don’t mind a bit of a challenge (both physically and photographically).

My last trip actually was more challenging than usual. Our two weeks was marked by very unsettled weather, with some astonishingly heavy rain, high winds, fog, but also sunshine. Generally it was more on the chilly side than is usual. This weather had its upsides, giving some incredible photographic opportunities, as well as the chance to have usually some very popular and busy levadas practically to ourselves. However, at the same time, the violent wind and heavy rain made photography quite a fight at times.

Risco Falls, on Levada do Risco. A little wilder than usual. OM System OM-1, m.Zuiko 8-25 f/4 lens

My original idea for this trip was to spend quite some time around the extreme west of the island, towards Ponta do Pargo. On previous trips I’d been taken by the old houses and air of timelessness of the area. Well, time waits for no man, and for good or for worse, Madeira’s remarkable tunnel network has now been extended to this point, making it far, far more accessible, I guess only an hour or so from Funchal on a fast easy road, rather than 3-4 hours on perilous twisty mountain roads. This part of the island appears to be rapidly developing a “boutique tourism” culture, even to the extent of barista coffee bars appearing. It’s on the cusp, I’m afraid. Old houses are being bought up and renovated or demolished and replaced with expensive concrete cubes. As a tourist, it’s sad, but for the locals, at least some we spoke to, it’s welcome modernisation.

Anyway, I took a few shots of old houses and whatever, but far less than I had in mind. This was also due to changed plans due to weather, but I must confess also to a navigation error that led us to explore a rather longer stretch of Levada Nova than initially planned :-) .

Outside Ponta do Pargo village, Ricoh GRIIIx

From the gear point of view, I went ahead with the plan I talked about in my last post on Madeira. I took the Olympus OM-1, with 8-25 (much used), 40-150 f/4 (somewhat used), 12-40 f/2.8 (used a bit) and 17 f/1.2 (never used) lenses. I also took the Ricoh GRIII and GRIIIx, which lived in the left & right side pouches of my Atlas backpack. I also took the Kase magnetic filter set for the OM-1, and a rather clumsy lens shade contraption on a flexible, jointed arm. This actually proved pretty useful as a rain shade! The idea was that I’d use the Ricohs for more casual, spur of the moment stuff, and the Olympus, on or off tripod, for more deliberate work. This is more or less how it happened.

As far as results go, well I’m still editing down but at present I’ve got 86 candidates from 1039 total. Of those 86, far more than I expected are Ricoh shots. There are three reasons for this - first, it is undeniable that the Ricohs produce nicer looking output than the OM-1. That’s not to say that the OM-1 is bad, because it most certainly is not, but the Ricohs, apart from having more resolution, have better fine detail and to my tastes better colour. They’re closer to the Hasselblad X1DII than the OM-1 is. The second reason is that my Olympus 8-25 lens, which I used a lot, appears to be defective, with very obvious heavy softness in one corner. This can be hidden in some cases, where it coincides with low depth of field, or where there is anyway a lot of movement due to wind, but it has ruined some shots. Finally, I may have leant too heavily on computational features and/or image stabilisation on the OM-1, especially ND filters giving low shutter speeds. In particular at wider angles this leads to some bizarre swirly artefacts away from the image centre, despite me using the IS display aid which should alert me if I’m pushing things too far. I don’t know if this is a camera issue or operator error, or a combination of both, but it does make me feel that the OM-1 cannot be pushed quite as far as the marketing suggests in extreme conditions. Actually I had similar issues with HiRes mode and ND filters when in Iceland, so in future I may be a lot less enthusiastic in using these. Finally, I actually had a partial failure of weather sealing on the OM-1, with the EVF misting up inside. I’ve never had any such issues from the original E-1 all the way through to the E-M1 MkIII, all which have been out in torrential conditions, so this was little alarming.

UPDATE: having done some actual research, I’ve discovered that edge softness is a significant limitation when using ultra wide angle lenses under image stabilisation, due to the differential rotation between the centre of the frame, where the stabiliser acts, essentially, and the edges. So there’s (probably) nothing wrong with the 8-25 lens, just with my skillset. And perhaps I’ll learn that carrying a tripod everywhere is pointless if you don’t use it…

Ribeiro Bonito, near the source of Levada do Rei. OM System OM-1, m.Zuiko 8-25 f/4

The above shot was a bit of a disappointment, all in all. The area just above the source of Levada do Rei, deep into the forest, was where I took one of my favourite photos of Madeira a few years ago. This time, I anticipated it weeks if not months before, and had the exact shot I wanted in my head, but it just didn’t come off. The light wasn’t quite right, the water levels were strangely low (considering how much it was raining), but more than these the “photographer” was uninspired and off his game. This photo is about the least poor of a poor bunch.

The combination of portability and output quality of the Ricoh pair is hard to beat. For this kind of environment, the addition of image stabilisation to the GR III series is a killer feature. It makes for a far more flexible camera than the previous versions, and personally I think they handle better than the slightly larger GR / GR II. I was taking shots that I just would not have attempted with the OM-1, for various reasons, and it really paid off.

Abandoned building in the forest, along Levada do Furado. Ricoh GR III

Levada do Furado, Ricoh GR III

So, I’m already thinking about my next trip, and what gear to take. The Ricohs are a no-brainer. I’m debating once again taking the Hasselblad X-System, but the relative inconvenience of the system, especially the likely need to frequently change lenses, puts me off. And I’m toying with the idea of taking the m.Zuiko 100-400 lens, to shift from the generally wide-angle focus of the last trip to more detail isolation. The problem is that the more I end up not taking the Hasselblad anywhere, the more I wonder why I’m keeping it. I’ve invested a lot in it, with more lenses than make sense, even if acquired during the slump period when everybody was selling off Hasselblad to move to Fuji. If I did sell it off, I’ll certainly never be in a position to get back to it if I ever wanted to. The sheer quality of output from the X-System is breathtaking (even though the Ricohs give it a run for its money), but that means nothing if the camera sits on the shelf. I doubt I’ll take it to Madeira. Maybe to Iceland in the summer.

But finally cameras and gear and photography take a distant second place to the experience. Madeira is still a magical place. I hope it stays that way.

Sunset from Pico Ruivo. Ricoh GR IIIx