The sound of scooters on the streets, the ocean, the smiling and friendly, busy people, the warm land full of experiences – and not least, the incredibly delicious food. That’s how I remember Bali today.
From July 17th to 30th, we spent our holiday on Bali. Bali is an island in Indonesia, not very large, with a population of around five million. The island lies south of the Equator in central Indonesia, and the climate is warm. Although July isn’t the hottest month on Bali, we enjoyed the pleasantly mild heat – between 25 and 32 degrees Celsius. Bali reaches its hottest season during our winter back home, since it’s located in the southern hemisphere.
Together with Cebastian Rosing, Tappiut Design Studio has received support from Grønlandsbanken to purchase six cameras, which will be used in our workshops. However, before we start holding the workshops, I brought one of the cameras to Bali to test it out.
Since I obviously can’t travel without taking photos, I brought a camera and a few lenses with me. This time, I decided to experiment with a smaller camera than my usual gear – the Nikon Z50ii.
The camera has an APS-C sensor, meaning it’s smaller than the full-frame cameras I normally use. That also makes it lighter and more compact. Nikon designed it with beginners in mind, but based on my experience, I’d say it works excellently for professionals as well. Nikon has equipped it with some of the same features as their flagship Nikon Z9 – for example, an accurate autofocus system and a very capable video mode. And most importantly, the color reproduction that Nikon is famous for really shines through, making editing a pleasure.
The Z50ii’s sensor is a bit older, and many wildlife photographers have been using the same one since the Nikon D500was released ten years ago – and they’ve been very satisfied with it. Honestly, I haven’t noticed much progress in sensor technology over the past years, except in the very best and most expensive cameras like the Z9 and Z8, which use stacked sensors. But I won’t go too deep into that here.
As mentioned, the camera is very light and compact, and so are the lenses I brought – and they’re quite affordable too. For many years, I’ve doubted whether a camera with an APS-C sensor could deliver images as sharp as a full-frame. But during this trip to Bali, I proved to myself that it absolutely can. I was genuinely surprised by how good the images turned out, and that old belief – that “only full-frame counts” – no longer holds true.
My lenses were:
- Nikon Z 16–55mm f/3.5–6.3 VR
- Nikon Z 50–250mm f/4.5–6.3 VR
- Nikon Z 40mm f/2
- Viltrox 25mm f/1.7 Air
These lenses are inexpensive and not weather-sealed, but since I rarely shoot in the rain, they worked perfectly fine for me.
With the 16–55mm, I took most of my photos – street scenes, landscapes, and of course, family moments.
For street and wildlife photography, I mostly used the 50–250mm. When photographing people from a distance, they usually don’t notice it, since I don’t point the camera directly at them. There are two reasons for that: I’m a bit reserved by nature, and I also want my photos to look natural. With animals, it’s different – I can just shoot freely.
The 50–250mm was the lens I used the most throughout the trip.
When spending time with my family, for example at restaurants, I used the 25mm and 16–55mm. With the 25mm, I could take photos without getting too close, which roughly corresponds to 40mm on a full-frame camera – perfect for capturing both people and their surroundings naturally. That’s why the 25mm is such a great lens for environmental portraits.
For landscapes, the 16–55mm worked very well, especially when we were by the beach.
I hardly used the 40mm full-frame lens, even though I had imagined it would be great for portraits – the 25mm turned out to be enough for that.
Photographing in Bali was incredibly exciting because everything was new to me. When I travel and take photos, I always feel a renewed motivation to capture everyday life again – and that feeling was especially strong in Bali.
I returned home with a new appreciation for my camera, and I’m really looking forward to lending it out to my course participants at our next photography workshop.
