Came back yesterday from a few days in Hokkaido, where it is considerably cooler than Nagoya.

Upon arriving at Sapporo, it occurred to me that I couldn't find the battery charger for the Sigma. I was certain that I'd packed it, so I assumed that it had fallen out of my backpack on the plane or somewhere along the way. It transpired that it was indeed on the plane where I'd dropped it, and now  have it back. 

However, before I realised that I didn't have it, I'd used up a battery and a half doing some street shooting at night in Sapporo. It was a test to see how far I could push the ISO on the Merrill and still get a presentable picture, and the result was simple: not very high at all. Get the exposure right and you get get away with 800, and on top of that you usually need to convert to black and white. A couple of shots made it through, but most of them were worthless. Still, now I know for sure.

However, that left me with one full battery and one with half the juice left, no chance to charge the batteries I used up in Sapporo...and with the most important shooting opportunities yet to come. If I had been shooting with my old D3S this would not have been an issue because with a new battery, a D3S will give you hundreds and hundreds of shots, quite possibly into the thousands. The Merrill, however, assuredly will not. A hundred shots for the Merrill on one battery would be considered extremely impressive.

This is a little like having a long way to drive while having little fuel left, and driving a very fuel-hungry car like one of those old American muscle cars. You're going to have to drive as economically as possible. In photographic terms, I was going to have to be very selective with my shooting, even more than normal. I did of course have the film camera as well, and I got through 2 rolls of Velvia and half a roll of Superia. The Velvia is being processed and will hopefully be made into a photo DVD later.

Anyway. Here are the results from this exercise in restraint.

The night shots from Sapporo that were salvageable when turned into black and white:

Almost two batteries used up and two useable shots. Not the best hit rate!

The next day (and a few hours of northward travel) we were looking at something far more suitable for the Sigma. The following shots are from Furano and around Biei, two of the well-known scenic spots in the area.

This part of Japan is known for lavender, and it's a major attraction in the summer.

There are also some "sunflower fields" around which have their own little industry.

At another stop, we came across grapes being grown, this being an area known for wine production. Japan's not known for wine, but within the country this is one of the places where it's made.

Finally, we went way up into the mountains (which meant a considerable increase in the number of insects), but the payoff was worth it. The Sigma really started to show what it can do here.

Lastly, some (non-scenic) shots from a small Hokkaido town on festival day.

It was certainly a challenge to shoot with one and a half (infamously weak) batteries, but it really forced me to wait until I was certain of a shot before hitting the shutter. I don't plan on intentionally leaving my charger on a plane to see if I can do it again, but it taught me the value of understanding how to shoot with a very limited number of shots. With a film camera, you at least know how many shots you have left. The Sigma, at least when shooting RAW, doesn't. Or if it does, I've never found out how to turn that function on. As soon as the 3-bar indicator hits one bar, then you're on "every shot you take could be the last one" time. Definitely one way to hone your concentration!

Thanks for looking, keep an eye out for scanned film shots from the area along with some other film stuff.