The last time I went to Queenstown I only had the Fujifim X100 (original) with me and didn’t shoot a lot with that.  If I was to go now, my whole arsenal would be along for the holiday and I’d probably come back with thousands of images that would sit on my external hard drive waiting to be edited for months and months. (One reason why I like to shoot film).

You definitely need a wide angle here and everywhere in New Zealand, I like to shoot with the Fuji 16mm (24mm DX equivalent), I’ve had the 14mm but it’s fraction to wide and the extra 2mm does make a difference to me.  I bought 21mm Voigtlander Color Skopar F4 for my Leica MP, but that’s also a touch to wide and I should have known better (the Fuji 14mm is 21mm Full frame equivalent).  it was cheap though so no loss and I still have, and can use it on my X-Pro 2 with the M Mount to X Mount adapter.

Plenty of places to shoot from in Queenstown, everybody will head to the Skyline for a start, so when you’re up there, look for places that other people aren’t at. At spots like this there’s almost a place you can find with a different perspective.  If you drive over to to Wanaka, take the Crown Range, there’s some awesome views looking back to Queenstown that are tough to beat.  Also drive to Glenorchy which not many tourists bother going to because there’s nothing there of note, which is why I like it.  On the way there’s rest areas/stopping points you can also get some great shots that a lot of other people won’t have.

If you’re there in winter, and whether you ski or not, head up to the Remarkables.  Pretty spectacular views especially in the middle of winter on a partly cloudy but clear day.  Lake Wakatipu can be like glass on rare occasions, but only in the early morning so head out before sunrise to get the reflection shot or take your ND Filters and tripod.

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