Orient Excursionist: aka, yes, I'm an enabler :-D

Several of you referenced interest in the Orient Excursionist in my intro post. It's a tremendous watch with typical (i.e., high) Orient value. It feels exceedingly well made. It has a more angular case and bracelet than the original Mako.













On an 8.25 inch wrist





Lume seams comparable to my original Mako





A little artsy fartsy shot. It is a GMT, but the second zone is set with the 24-hour bezel because the 24-hand is linked to the hour hand.

Sweet watch :-)

bedlam wrote:Sweet watch :-)

Indeed it is, Rahula. I had one for quite a while, and then, like the mook that I am, I sold it. Interestingly, the Excursionist didn't get much WIS love when it was released, since the 24 hour hand is slaved to the hour hand--most collectors sniffed that it wasn't a true GMT because of this. It is, however, built like a tank, and cheap (street price below $200).

Superb pics, too.

conjurer wrote:

bedlam wrote:Sweet watch :-)

Indeed it is, Rahula. I had one for quite a while, and then, like the mook that I am, I sold it. Interestingly, the Excursionist didn't get much WIS love when it was released, since the 24 hour hand is slaved to the hour hand--most collectors sniffed that it wasn't a true GMT because of this. It is, however, built like a tank, and cheap (street price below $200).

Superb pics, too.

Thank you sir! I couldn't agree more. Unbelievable build quality at that price. I too was surprised it wasn't better received, but think you're right about the 24-hour hand. I only realized that fact after I ordered mine, but decided to keep it when I figured it's actually more convenient to change the time by moving the bezel than by having to set the GMT hand itself! I completely understand your regret for selling. I saw the pic, and that Orient blue is sweet!

Just a beautiful watch. Orients are such a great value for the dollar compared to the competition.

Nice looking watch. Love the clean dial.

Nice pics too. 350d, nifty fifty and single light source?

RatRacer wrote:Nice looking watch. Love the clean dial.

Nice pics too. 350d, nifty fifty and single light source?

Thanks! You're VERY close. It's a Rebel XTi, which I believe is the same as the 400d. Don't have the details here, but yeah, the lens was probably the super cheap, but optically excellent 50mm f1.8, with a 12mm (if I recall correctly) extension tube for close focus. Those shots are pretty old so I'm not sure of the lighting, however anything that shows the second hand without blur was probably done with flash bounced off a semi vertical reflector. The others were shot with continuous lighting through frosted mylar (to diffuse).

These shots were done with my current lighting set up, which is two continuous sources (one umbrella, one soft box) shining on mylar diffusers arranged around the watch. Most, if not all, of these were taken with the same body, but a 17-40mm L series lens.

The L lenses do make a difference. All the angular polished planes make reflection and highlight control a pain.

Question:

On the last 2 shots, you have them set to iso100, which gave you a shutter of 1.6 sec. and blurred seconds hands. Why not take advantage of the XTi's ability to handle higher iso/noise and stop it down for a faster shutter?

I think the XTi is really noisy at higher ISO, and I haven't really played around much with noise reduction. I recently got a Canon 5d, with full-frame sensor, and that produces MUCH cleaner images at high ISO than the Rebel, so I want to re shoot a lot of these, and then I'll try your suggestion.

Like the Bernhardt pics...a lot , nicely done.