Didn’t come back with a whole lot of Bintan Island photos I was pleased with.  Not a whole you can do photography wise at Bintan Island so I used this opportunity to try out two new lenses, the Voigtlander 21mm F4 Color Skopar on my Leica MP, and the Fujinon 55-200mm on the X-Pro 2.  I didn’t take any other lenses and honestly, wished I had my Summicron 35mm but the 55-200mm was quite interesting and made me think a bit more about what I was doing. It’s not really a landscape lens, but I enjoyed it.  You can see reviews of these lenses in the Photography section of this site, just do a search.

I’d take a 24mm (DX) and stick to my trusty 35mm for film.  You can’t go wrong.  The sunsets and sun rises, at least when I was there, weren’t that great, too much haze and not enough colour.  Also tried out a Fuji Disposable Waterproof Camera.  That was a bit shite and won’t be doing that again.  I’ll stick with the Sony FDR X3000 Action Cam for that type of thing any day.  It’s great for Bintan island photos in the pool and on the beach.

As with a lot of beach destinations, it’s just good time to take personal photos of your family and kids, and maybe try out a few new lenses. If you’re in a larger resort like Banyan Tree, try some night shots of the paths that are usually lit up with lights, shoot in black and white and you can get some interesting shots.

What did I learn about from my Bintan Island photos on this trip?  21mm full frame is too wide for me. I should have known this, I’ve had the Fuji 14mm (21 full frame equivalent) and I found that too wide as well and forgot why I sold it.  16mm (24mm full frame equivalent) is only 3mm shorter but to me it makes a huge difference, you get way with a 14mm, too much in my opinion, unless you’re wanting to shoot epic interiors, then the 21mm is fine.

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