Olympus PEN E-P2 in Bangkok 2017!

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*

My thoughts on my Olympus PEN E-P2 as a 2017 camera!!

So as you know i bought an Olympus PEN E-P2 as a camera that i think i would be able to bring everywhere everyday... Just looking for something to at least take better photos than my iphone7+ can do...but of course everybody knows the iphone is the better camera because its with me everywhere everyday in my pocket. No camera no picture! After that trip to Washington and New York with the A7S, i just find that i dont like bringing the A7S with me all the time because it is kinda bulky, but to be honest it is small compare to DSLRs. im just being a nitpick. and i was also impress looking at how small the olympus lenses were compare to my 24-70 Full Frame Sony lens....urrghh yucK!

So anyway, i end up with the PEN E-P2 because i got it at a great deal, its about $135USD plus shipping all the way from Japan. And it took about a week to reach my hands!! yum!

Check out that sexy beast. Its already been fitted with a black color leather skin which makes it more retro-ish looking. I didn't really like the brown grip but it was alright! 

 I bought it together with the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 lens which gets rave reviews although i just found out its also the slowest, sluggish AF performance as well. I can live with the AF speed but moving from a newer camera to older camera does make you notice how slow the performance-wise back in those 2010 days.

 I was actually surprised that the PEN E-P2 looks bigger than the OMD E-M10...not bigger but thicker... but my friend kept saying because of the OMD's black color it makes it look smaller. Probably. 

 The PEN E-P2 is definitely thicker from this top view shot.

 The OMD handles much better. Due to the grip design. 

Such a handsome camera. So good looking.

Aesthetically this PEN ticks all the right boxes...

So the next important question? How is the image quality??

All i can say is the PEN E-P2 takes good photos but not great! Its certainly better than the iphones/androids of the world....

When i say great, that means i am comparing it to the newer OMD (to be fair). As being said a lot in the internet, the newer 16mp m43 sensor (omd em1, em10, em5 etc) is better than the old 12mp.

Where it fails, is low light photos, its quality is something left to be desired...same for its AF performance with the 20mm 1.7. Again....Something left to be desired.

But i knew straight ahead, the world already knows it, this camera is not great at low light but i still think its better than my old Canon rebel 350d. But even at base ISO which is ISO200, there are noise if you pixel peep, zoom in 100%. It baffles me when people say Olympus takes clean images at base ISO. What r they smoking? Their definition of clean maybe differs than mine but i can say there are noise.

Here is base ISO 200. Definitely there's grain/noise. This is zoom in 100%. Shadow noise definitely visible.

The image quality reminded me of my Leica M8. But i believe the M8 is better due to sensor size, but for low light they both are pretty much the same. Theres banding in shadow areas, if you push the exposure...limit to ISO1600 for acceptable IQ. ISO3200 is ok for the PEN and if you convert to B&W it should be fine.

The LCD of the PEN E-P2 also reminded me of my Leica M8/M9. Its very low quality i mean low resolution for 2017 standards. But the problem with the PEN compared to the Leica is you are composing using the LCD, if you are not using the external VF. In bad light the LCD screen will show noise, like snow coming down. The problem with low resolution LCD is you cant really know if you got your focus right. YOu have to zoom in and check. But what i like about the low res LCD is the muted color your picture look like..

So due to the resolution of the LCD, i wont be confident shooting this for a paid job especially weddings. Imagine the horror coming back with blur non-focus photos! 😱

Actually i kinda lost for words, i probably save my thoughts for next post...

Anyway here's a sample photo taken with 20mm 1.7.

The 20mm 1.7 has decent bokeh. i like it. theres a good separation between the subject and the background. This is ISO1000.

So what better way to test the PEN E-P2? Travel of course!! i have a Bangkok trip coming when i just got the E-P2...definitely the camera to bring along!! Why thats the main purpose of getting the E-P2 of course!!

I think i'll save it for the next post! Stay tune!

Another PEN????

Another PEN?
It might sound crazy
But call me maybe...LOL

Anyway, i have yet to give a review of my new PEN E-P2 but let me tell you a secret, i got another one! Yes, another PEN! Just after 2 weeks of getting the PEN E-P2, i got another one. This is whats wrong with me, i would buy all the lower ends PEN when what i actually really want is the latest and greatest PEN, the PEN F but its just too damn expensive!

I think i should post step by step, i guess i have to do my review of my E-P2 first!

Well E-P2 review is next!!

I caught the PEN fever!

I have a PEN, i have a fever, i have PEN fever!
I want a PEN, i have a bug, i caught PEN bug!
OK! Enuff!

PEN i refer here is of course the Olympus PEN series.... which PEN u ask? Well... not the latest and greatest the PEN F, actually i'm in love (or more GAS) with the older PEN E-P2!!

But why?

If you have been reading this blog for centuries, you know i like my camera to be retro-ish! Only Fuji and Olympus can give me that retro-ish modern camera...or i can just shoot film but i dont want to! My Sony....hmmm...i love what i get out of it but that camera just lacks soul....i just dont feel like fondling that camera hahaha sounds wrong but you camera nerds know wat i meant....

After that Washington DC trip, and whining about carrying the Sony A7S, complaining how bulky it was, although it is considered small compared to large ass DSLRs....i decided to get a small-ish, compact, a better IQ than iphone camera, something that i can carry everyday, everywhere, perfect for travel, a camera that can take a beating, or at least a camera where i can put anywhere, not safely tucked in a padded bag, just like i did with my Sony... getting too much pampered.... i want a camera that i can just put somewhere without care...just like my iphone....

By this time i no longer interested with the Fuji X70, although that is the camera to get...i was scrolling around 43rumors website when i stumbled a retro looking camera, of course the vintage manual lens doesnt help (GAS alert!)....so i search high and low to know which model it was, i know it was the PEN series but i never ever seen it so retro just like the old school film camera....it was the PEN E-P1/E-P2 series! What makes it so retro? the trick was the custom leather skin applied to its body and of course the vintage look lenses...Oh my... i'm in love!!!

Just look at that all black retroish Olympus camera, in all its glory (ignore the ugly fuck lumix)

taken from 43rumors.com

So off to ebay i go and WAT DA EFF, it only cost a hundred-ish bucks! Perfect! So cheap! i never bought a camera this cheap! But instead of the all black i'd go for the silver version so that it looked more retro but somehow i feel a lil bit regret of not buying the black one but i can buy two!! bcos its dirt cheap.... as if i got money to burn! hello credit cards!! VISA must love me!

I'd go with this color....and it already has leather skin applied, but i just hate that brown grip..ah well u cant have it all!

Sure there are marks, dings and scratches, which means it can take a beating and i dont have to love this camera.... sure its an old technology but the photo will come out better than that the iphone... from my research the AF is not as fast as newer Olympus but looks fast enough for me...this i gotta test it myself, soon i do a quick review of this little machine....

It looked small but its probably bigger than i imagined but yeah whatevs,,,, i m already in love!! 

Anyway, why Olympus you say??

Yea i admit i do bash Olympus before but at the time i dunno what i want with my photography....after so many years of taking photos, i only printed a few times and i never printed large....mostly everything is for social media or viewing on the phone/web which the Olympus is more than capable of....

and i always have a soft spot for Olympus.... the miniature size is compelling! I met a guy once he was selling some of his Olympus gears and when he put all the lens on the desk...my gosh they are so small, compare to my Sony lenses...uurrgghh Sony! its effing large!

So yeah, my EP2 is on its way from Japan....and i bought a Panny 20mm 1.7 pancake lens.... because i just love bokeh! although i would prefer a 35mm equivalent since my eyes are already used to it, so 40mm i just need to back off a lil bit....

So theres 2 pancake lenses from Panasonic that almost covers my fav focal length, theres the 14mm 2.5 and 20mm 1.7... thats 28mm and 40mm respectively....perfect! Next in the wishlist is the 14mm, that would be perfect for travel street photogs.

But of course as GAS goes, right after i 'click buy' EP2, i also want the EP3 in black version!! OOOhhhh maaamama

Damn you GAS!!!!

I AM EXCITED!!!!!😱 

Cmon EP2 come sooner!!

Here's a RAW sample file i downloaded from web, edit lightly with lightroom and i am happy with it!! 

So i stop whining and brought my Sony A7S to the States!

So in my previous post i was GASing for the Fuji X70 because of its small compact kinda size compare to my Sony A7S for this trip to Washington DC.... in the end i did not buy it because i'm being wise and saved me $700USD at the same time. haha..Although i keep checking B&H photo and lensrental websites for great deals. There was a used X70 for $500 but in the end since i already brought my Sony, why would i buy the X70.... So i just stop whining and brought my A7S. My argument was hand carrying my Sony A7S for these 2+8+14 hours of flying not including layover. My lowepro fastpack seems to be a great travelling backpack although i hate using backpacks since it would sweat my back more.  Overview of the trip was i didnt get to shoot the milkyway (the original plan) because of lack of tripod and the distance of my hotel from the Washington DC Mall is quite far.

P/S Shopping and taking photographs for me cannot coexist lol. So in the end i think the best camera is still my iphone because its either you got your picture or you dont.

But here are some shots from my A7S....

reminds me of the Shining....pity who stayed at the end....long walk to the elevator 

Although its a bitch to carry this Sony A7S but i love the output id get out of it...