Oh Wow!!! We’re doing this again? I guess it comes at an opportune moment as I only last week bit the bullet and bought a new lens. This is a Fujifilm XF 100-400mm zoom which will give the equivalent of a 150-600mm in full frame terms. That’s 12 times magnification at full extension! Its uses are obvious – Sports and Nature although I can think of some train locations where the extra reach could produce some good shots.

The first thing was to test the lens and that’s not too hard given that we have a continuous flow of aircraft over our back garden. Here’s an American Airlines Boeing 777 (N753AN) making its way into Heathrow from Dallas Fort Worth…

N753AN over Finchley

…That was an un-cropped shot with the Fuji X-H2s. Here’s another that did get a bit of cropping, The Plod – G-MPSA, a Eurocopter EC-145 – Heading west to presumably assist with tracking some criminal elements…

G-MPSA over Finchley

…Or maybe they’ve heard that the kettle’s on at Elstree 😅 This aircraft was patrolling the fence line at Stansted airport yesterday evening when Air Force One arrived.

And so to last Saturday and a stinging defeat in the FA Cup against full-time pro’s Dorking Wanderers. The new lens produced some great shots. In this one the guys defend a set piece…

Dorking Wanderers 7 vs Wingate & Finchley 2 (FA Cup 2025/26)

…And in this, Ryan lofts an accurate forward pass…

Dorking Wanderers 7 vs Wingate & Finchley 2 (FA Cup 2025/26)

…And finally, Dorking’s players have to do some defending of their own…

Dorking Wanderers 7 vs Wingate & Finchley 2 (FA Cup 2025/26)

A very pleasing debut for the new lens 👍 The one downside is that I won’t be able to use it for night games – our floodlights aren’t that good 😒

Back to other photo subjects and a bit of street photography. This stall on Earlham Street was selling cheap items of jewellery…

Jewellery Stall - Earlham Street

…A contre-jour shot with the Fuji X-Pro2 which accompanied us on our own ring-finding expedition. It also captured this Metroline bus operating the 46 route in Holborn…

Metroline BEL2508 (LJ18 FHD) Holborn

And so to the trains. A trip to Carshalton at the end of last month allowed me to capture this symphony of green and yellow – 377605 arriving on a Horsham to Victoria service…

377605 at Carshalton

…While earlier that week I targeted another of the final journeys for the Class 455’s. Once more 37800 ‘Cassiopeia’ provided the power and is seen passing through Shepherds Bush with 5903 and 5741…

37800 at Shepherds Bush

A pleasant surprise later in the day was Tug – Class 60 – 60096 ‘Skiddaw’ caught climbing up to West Hampstead with an Angerstein Wharf to Purfleet aggregates train…

60096 at West Hampstead (2)

Lets finish with a couple of archive train images. Here’s a Rat – Class 25 – 25189 at Warrington Bank Quay back in 1981…

25189 at Warrington Bank Quay, SEP81

…And a Whistler – Class 40 – 40070 at Skipton in 1979…

40070 at Skipton, JUL79

Someone once quipped “The sun always shone on the old railways…” I can’t claim to believe that for one minute, having spent plenty of damp days under platform awnings, but it certainly put in an effort for those shots 😅

That’s photos from my main transport and football hobbies with a street photo thrown in. You can catch up with other entries for the challenge on Dan’s website, here.

7 responses to “Photos of Your Hobby Part-II — CFFC”

  1. That’s a good lens Martin. I am sure you’ll have lots of fun

    1. I think it is a good choice to expand upon my football photography Brian. I may also be able to get some nature photography done with it too although that may have to wait until next summer.

  2. I hope you enjoy working with that new lens. The first shots look wonderful. I like the shot of the plane overhead, and I love that black and white shot of the jewelry stand. The archive photos are great, too.

    1. Thanks Dan 😎👍I found the new lens a bit heavy and the tripod mount was digging into my hand – fortunately I was able to move it to a better position while still keeping it attached (it can be removed).

      Glad you liked the B&W – The Fuji X-Pro2 seems to be a good camera for street photography with either the 35mm or 23mm lenses.

      For the record, the American Airlines plane was at around 7000ft.

      1. Thanks for the added info.

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