Traffic at Siam. Shot with PEN E-P2 ISO800 with 20mm 1.7 Lumix lens
i feel like im lost for words.
But i have to write about my Bangkok trip with the Olympus PEN E-P2.
How was it as a 2017 go everywhere camera?
That is the reason why i bought the E-P2 in the first place.
Since i'm lost for words....
*WARNING* PLENTY OF PICS*
Anyway, lets talk about Bangkok!
I'm here for the Foo Fighters concert...
That was one awesome show! Seeing Dave Grohl live, its like a dream comes true....
Not so much sight seeing as i only stayed at one area, namely the Siam area, where the shopping malls are closely located. Pretty easy to reach as i only stayed nearby at my currently favourite hotel IBIS Siam. Its just next to MBK, an oldie but goodie famous shopping mall. All the malls are connected to each other via skywalk (a pedestrian bridge) and the BTS(tubes/mrt/train) is here too!.
This year alone i went to Bangkok 3 times already.... First is for the GnR concert...thats a fun show too! Second is an impromptu visit... And Third is this blog's contents...
First trip i stayed at the Asoke Sukhumvit and Thonglor area....
While its ok there, i prefer staying near MBK now...from now on i'm just gonna stay MBK area.
If you like clubbing n bars, Thonglor is definitely the place to go...
That's my favourite hotel, ibis hotel. Good for solo and couple travellers. Family? not so much. as the rooms are quite small. But the location is super good, if you want to be close to the malls and BTS.
The Thai people are still mourning for their king.
The view from my room.
BTS just in front of hotel.
The IBIS of the PEN E-P2 is not as effective as the newer models. thats understandable. This is at 1/60 shutter speed..hmmm...i must have been shaking a lot....or i did not stop still... I didn't realise there's a puppy in the middle of the lane.
I just love shooting sign boards!
Man, looking at traffic.
I'm using the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 lens. It is very famous for being a slow performer. Although at times i think the speed is "liveable". Im not shooting sports anyway. But combine with the old E-P2 the slowness is noticeable.
This is SOOC ISO800 PEN E-P2.
When you're in Bangkok, you must try Cha Yen (Thai Iced Milk Tea) and of course Tom Yum Goong! F*#k Your McDonalds..
Pretty Cool Vespa.
Thailand's Tuk Tuk... They are much expensive than your regular taxis! These guys r frikkin rip off. My advise stay away.. i'd rather use the motorbike/scooter taxi.. short distance only 20BATH!
These Thai Pancakes are the real deal....pretty sweet though!! you have to get the crispy warm ones!! These ones you can grab it at MBK mall!
A shout out to my favourite Coffee Shop located in MBK, Cafe Amazon.. They served pretty good coffee. Screw the starbucks and the coffeebeans. Those shops are crowded anyways. Cafe Amazon is less popular and thus less people but hey their coffee is goooooooooodddddd!
Talk about Vintage... I just love vintage scooters.
When pedestrian lane becomes a scooter lane too! These streets are full of Soccer Jerseys! But mostly are Thailand's soccer teams. You can make custom sizes/names/numbers, you know the lot!
Again with the vintage scooter.... oooh mama
The dynamic range of the PEN E-P2 is quite OK. You can lift up the shadows but beware of shadow noise though! Highlights are pretty hard, i mean all cameras struggles with burnt highlights, so try not to burn highlights. Not a great example but you can see i can lift up the shadows to expose more of the plants on the left side. I can recover a bit of the highlights. Now you can see cloud structures! I shoot RAW with the E-P2. Base ISO 200 definitely has some noise..
I just love signboards!
The thing i noticed my workflow with the E-P2 is i do a lot of sharpening.
I just find that the E-P2 files needed a touch of sharpening.
I rarely do any type of sharpening by the way. Almost non existent.
The hectic traffic in Bangkok. Where you wanna go?? Left, Right, Straight??
The Calm Before The Storm
Pretty Wires!
I fucking hate the SIAM BTS Stop. Its too crowded!!!!!!!
I try to limit my ISO at 1600. When you convert to Black n White, the noise added grit to the pictures which i liked.
Trying my luck shooting at 1sec handheld. I am surprised it is quite good! Motion blur of course but usable.
ISO200 and at f9. WTF!!
My Fav Mall for this trip.. at first i was really looking forward to go to the Sunday Market..and then the heat and the tiredness overcame me, so i just go to nearby MBK, because it have most of the stuffs that i want from the Market... im sure the market has more choices and probably cheaper but i wasnt looking for anything specific.. so in the end i'd just stayed back....i was occupied with something else too, thats for another blog post..
This is Thailand's trademark dessert.... There are so many variants but the same basic ingredients are used. Sticky Rice with Mango and Coconut Milk! Yum!
Trying my best at Stealth photography...capturing the moments of a stranger getting lunch. Excuse the grain. It was added for grittiness.
I've met my good buddy who happens to visit Bangkok. He's a photographer as well, so he asked me to join him shooting a model. Why not??!
It was too hot and bright, my E-P2 cant shoot wide open at f1.7, the shutter keeps on blinking, if only there's a ND filter built in. This is at f2.8. I would prefer more bokeh than this.
I've always wanted to shoot a fashion model... so i guess the stars aligned and my wish came true.
This is SOOC! When the light is right.... everything's right
There happened to be a weekend street market at this area....
The owner was kind enough to let us take a photo of her puppies...
Thailand's GOT Talent... drumming away in the streets..
Here is my friend's Fuji X-Pro2. I love Fuji but compare to my Olympus, it is a tad bigger.... I cant stand long protruding lenses.. But I love Fuji IQ so i have to make some compromises... size vs iq. i choose size. The olympus is small to carry which is a joy. combine with a pancake lens... Its a good bring everywhere camera. The Olympus IQ is good enough for me.
Check out that awesome ice cream! On a hot day eating ice cream is heaven on earth.
Here's a funny story... we were strolling around at the streets and nowhere to go..it was frikking hot and i want to be in an air-conditioned place...
So I asked my friend, "Where are we going?"
He said "After you!"
So i was like, "Let's go to the mall, its frikking hot!!"
But he keep strolling around the streets, didn't enter the mall.
i mean WTF, Cmon its hot, lets go to the mall
he keeps saying after you....
in the end we came to this ice cream place, and its called "After You!"!
Anyway this place is packed!! and people are queuing to dine here...
Good business indeed!
Afterwards we meet up with my friend's friend who likes to model as well...
So how does the Olympus PEN E-P2 performs??
In good light the IQ is pretty good, a little less sharp than i like...
The AF i cannot say much because i only tested it with the famous slow lens the Panny 20mm 1.7.
But this combination is quite slow for today's standard. But i think it's liveable. As long you're not shooting sports or kids running around.
As you can see, shooting a fashion model/static object is fine.
The LCD is a low resolution sometimes, most of the times, its hard to see the IQ/sharpness of the photos you just took. I always wonder how it would look like on my laptop screen. Do i get it sharp? is it blur? Most of the time its fine but you're just not confident enough just by looking at the LCd screen.
And i will not be confident shooting weddings with this camera. While it can, i'd rather use a better camera.
While face detection works, sometimes i cant get pin sharp eyes but this may be due to the fact that i shoot the Panny lens wide open at f1.7. The moustache is sharp but not the eyes. u get what i mean? If there's an eye detection it would be better. or i just shoot at f2.8 but that defeats the purpose of a 1.7 lens. Yes yes yes, i like shooting wide open.
Its not an indoor camera.
If shooting at shutter speeds such as 1/15, 1/20 expect motion blur. The newer Olympus can shoot at that speed pin sharp.
Now i can understand when people say the 16mp sensor is better than the 12mp sensor of the E-P2.
16mp sensor definitely to go.
The response and performance of the newer models is just so satisfactory!
My conclusion for my PEN E-P2 is like Mick Jagger would sing ...
"I cant get no satisfaction"
While it is a capable travel camera as long as the light is good, but the corner of my heart tells me that im not satisfied. Thats why i bought a new PEN model here in Bangkok!!
Anyway im gonna leave you with a fashion shoot i did using the E-P2 with the 20mm 1.7 Panny.
Here onwards i use the orange n teal technique... which i kinda dig. you can find a lot of tutorials on youtube.
*please dont use the photos without permission*
