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[nikonstudio]

For those who wish to cover the first segment with some support, porter services are available to bring your luggages right to your accomodation in Magome from Nakatsugawa.

But if your intention is to validate your physical endurance, please bring your 15kg pack along...it does add some sense of reality into a walk that would otherwise be considered a walk in a park.

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We began the journey right from Nakatsugawa Station, some 9km away from Magome. Though signages are rare in between each milestone, you can easily verify that you are on track as long as the "gold" tarmac is beaneath your feet!

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Nikon Z30 with Speedbooster @ 17mm F/4 (2.8) while at Geneos recently.

One key advantage or disadvantage (depending on how one's see it) is the fall-off of image sharpness of such type of image capture technique.

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Still at Kyoto, enjoying the ancient city that seems to have stagnated in time. The extensive use of wood in their buildings could well be due to the elasticity of its nature to withstand the thousands of earthquakes that hit the country each year.

And the frequency and cost spent annually to repair damaged buildings are so staggering that no home insurance agency would dare to even cover beyond half the value of the home should they be damaged! The same applies to the remaining suite of natural calamities Japan faced due to her being located squarely in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

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So we did catch a glimpse of the cherry blosom where sakura flowers bloomed in Kyoto, despite the fact we were unable to locate the secretive Geishas.

The cold that day was brutal as we made a beeline to the warm enclave of coffee joints littered all over the Gion settlement that morning.

Apart from the inclement weather where rain persisted, the vague distinction remains whether some of these altars were for Buddhists or Shintoists. All I could tell is the prevalent use of the Manji (swastika-like) symbol all over these "high" places that should by right symbolizes Buddhism. And then, there's the pigs! Some believe that the use of pigs symbolize the ignorance in the cycle of rebirth?

One convoluted country with a cauldron of religions. Anything else are alienated and taught to be avoided. But nothing beats how gloomy that week was in Kyoto!

[nikonstudio]

Here's the verdict for the definitive lens purchase of mine in 2025 at 28mm F/1.2! The characteristic of this lens tends to emphasize an overall higher contrast of each scene. Frankly, I hardly had to do anything except to export it to the JPG format for upload.

And here my cheap and cheerful headset that I picked up while in Japan...as the second test subject for the lens.

Let's just say 2025 will be the year where lens investment takes center stage? Apart from the open-jaw flight tickets that I have yet to book for second half of the year travel, I should be all set for Buenos Aires!

[nikonstudio]

So, with a good nights rest completed, we headed to Kyoto the next afternoon. Maybe, it was the time taken to locate the next hotel or was it a long detour...I cannot recall what took me so long to get into the old capital that day.

But by the time we checked in, the night has taken over.

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Here's a typical outcome when processing my photos on Adobe Lightroom.

And here's what I will get with DxO Photolabs.

Both derived work were originally captured with my Leica DL109. As you can clearly see, DxO subtlely packs a "contrasting" punch to the pixels, while bootstraping the overall to a bell historgram. The result speaks with a more HDR finesse overall.

So, if you are more into the "naturel" mindset for your photography journey, the you should pick what Adobe offers. Alternative suites like Capture One is not that bad either but its recent cessation of her express edition means you are required to shelf out close to USD500 to keep using her, which, in my opinion, is also not the most intuitive among the lot.

[nikonstudio]

It must have been over a decade since I have been to the local zoo but here's what I saw recently within. Perhaps, its me but it feels a whole lot smaller, now that multiple other attractions have call this location their home in 2025.

Or perhaps its just the sheer size of the other zoos I had been lately?

2024 was just another abysmal year for innovations in photography in my opinion, with nothing on the horizon that either excel in sensor technology or pixel clarity. Everyone seems to be recycling their hardware while devoting to videos and post-processing software, confirming that there's really nothing better manufacturers could offer to us.

The Nikon Z5 II showed us just that, and put nothing on the table in 2025 except on the possibility of giving me a better "take-home" rate from my captures. It currently hovers at around 18% for me and jumps to 25% if I get my act together. But that alone bears no proper ROI if I simply just shoot in higher succession!

What I really need is a breakthrough 16-stop dynamic-range sensor, a 16-bit RAW container and a 1600-shot battery on that bloody mirrorless body!

[nikonstudio]

At just over 600m high, the Wakakusayma summit is just a two hour ascend from Nara Park. Since I was also carrying a 8kg field pack along, that added another 30 minutes.

Look, it will be a shame if you are at Nara only for a day trip as there will be so much you will not be able to see. I would recommend staying for at least a night here so you don't need to rush for the last train or bus.

Let's call this hike a mini warmup to the actual Nakasendo trail which is a few days away!

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Fun fact - Holding an umbrella while cycling in Japan is illegal and can simply be averted with a smart umbrella holder mounted on the handlebar.

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Welcome to Nara Park!

Two stations mark Nara from Osaka - JR Nara or Kintetsu Nara Metro. Both journeys should take about the same time.

To get to the park itself, you can either catch a bus directly from outside JR Nara station or just cover it by foot. I will definitely want to bring my foldies to Japan on my next trip to uncover more!

The Higashimuki Shopping Street'a offers of delightful hot snacks ready us for the trail hikes towards Wakakusayama Hill.

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Avoiding Samsung Products Entirely from 2025!

For long moments, Samsung have been deemed the go-to brand for anything Android, with the rest offering rather lackluster choices, both in selection and quality.

But of late, especially after 2021, every product of hers, beginning from her fold, flip and tab, all seem to have gone downhill in her built quality, with literally every hardware I own of hers failing from either defective screens, broken cables or even having her screen assembly simply self detaching all within a year of daily use!

I have ever since, switched to the Nothing brand for Android, avoiding Samsung entirely. I do not think I need this kind of trouble, especially with the price tag each demand. There's definitely better product brands out there in 2025.

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That's got to be the smallest dishwasher I have seen so far in Japan while roaming in Nara - a town that is about an hour away from Osaka, and where free-romaing deers can readily be seen.

As observed, you can see many earthquake-resistant infrastructure all over the country if you look hard enough, amongst other interesting things.

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Like I said, any place will be considered a paradise if you are there spending, not earning a living from it. The prices of everything has inched up since last year in Japan, with me priotising experience over merely shopping for stuff this time round.

The used market is packed with bargains still if you are a good hunter for them. But again, how many Airpods Max, cameras, laptop or mobile do you actually need?

Heading to Nara next!

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Imagine finding smashed iPhones for sale here in various used shops in central Osaka, among many other weird stuffs readily available to anyone of all tastes.

[nikonstudio]

"Radioactive" Takoyaki balls, sleazy massage parlours, animated hairy crabs may all give you the cringe when you think about it, but it sure beat the humid, hot, sticky weather of the south east asia!

Working off my calorie from that big breakfast at Yayoi (still with free unlimited rice servings) with my Nikon Zfc in hand is how I would recommend your morning to be spent along the Dotonbori canal.

And for good reasons, the used camera market has grown out of favour with foreigners of late, all thanks to the explosive appeal to greedy ebay traders.