Photo Essay - Mad T Party - A Retro Perspective

With all the madness of Comic Con and other interesting assignments, I haven't had much time for some shutter therapy at my favorite place.  I figure I would just do a little photo essay with a retro feel.  More Cosplay goodness to follow.

Dani Kerry - One of my favorite Alices

March Hare variant.  Really talented bass player

The Great Nathan Shrake as Mad Hatter

Dormouse - Todd McCool

March Hare - Really digging the background

Dani Kerry - Alice

 

Happy Monday

San Diego Comic Con with the Olympus OMD - Another User Experience with the Panasonic 20mm

Important Notes:

1. This is a user based review with no lab or scientific testing

2. All images are post processed in lightroom 4 according to personal taste/preference

3. Images were taken in Raw and converted to JPEG

4. Feel free to ask questions in comments

Comic Con, in short, was simply awesome.  Although I am extremely tired from the pop culture event of the year, I do miss the people and being surrounded by all things nerdy.  

Tuesday Night - The Calm Before the Storm - 45mm @ f1.8

I may have mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to keep my system rather small and compact.  First of all, I knew I would be on my feet all day long and the last thing I need is a heavy system to weigh me down.  I opted to bring just three lenses with me: the Panasonic 20mm f1.7, the Olympus 45mm f1.8 and the Rokinon fish eye lens.  The fish eye had limited use save for panoramic shots of the marina. I still haven't mastered the ultra wide angle, but more on that another day. Because the 45mm performed like a champion, I want to focus on the Panny 20mm as a follow up to my initial user review.  

Walking Dead booth - Panny 20mm @ f2.0

Walking Dead Booth - Panny 20mm @ f2.0

In my previous user review, I had mentioned that the 20mm worked pretty well in bright conditions (specifically during an outdoor hike).  Not to say that the convention hall had terrible lighting, it was not always ideal for the 20mm.  In fact, I noticed on several occasions the glass hunting to lock on to the subject even when shooting wide open at f1.7.  At times I opted to manual focus when my subjects were patient and/or did not seem in hurry.  Luckily, most cosplayers were super cool.  They never complained (outwardly that is) when I took more than one photograph.  

Black Sails booth - Panny 20mm @ f1.7

For the most part, I was shooting at aperture priority mode and limiting my ISO range from 200 to 2000.  I could have gotten away with a lower ISO max, but I purposely wanted to test the alleged banding issues reported by some OMD users when shooting above 1600.  Most of my indoor photographs were taken at the max ISO range and I can fortunately report that not a single shot suffered from any banding. I would like to note that all the shots were taken in RAW and later converted to JPEG.  

Black Widow cosplayer - Panny 20mm @f1.7

 

I refuse to disclose what this is =) - Panny 20mm @ f1.7

There is nothing much to report on image quality even at ISO 2000.  In short, the lens produced sharp images with a little bit of noise at the high ISO range (easily fixable in post). In fact, I would say this lens was ideal for my daily walk-around-the-con lens, though a fast wide angle zoom would have made life a bit easier for composition. Despite my complaints in the beginning, the 20mm ended up working pretty well.  I am, however, excited to see how the second version of this lens stacks up.  Will they improve autofocus speed? Mitigate banding issues when using Olympus bodies? I certainly hope all the answers are YES.  

More Zombies in the Gaslamp Distrct - Panny 20mm @ f1.7

Is it obvious I like zombies - high ISO example @1.7

Below are a few more sample shots taken at the Con.  Thanks for stopping by and for all of those who went to San Diego, I hope you had a fun/safe time.  Hope to run into more micro four-third users at the next con.

So say we all,

Dino  

Sifting through comics - Panny 20mm @ f1.7

Lord of the Rings Nazgul - Panny 20mm @ f1.8

More Walking Dead - Panny 20mm @f2.2

Venom - Panny 20mm @ f2.2

Gaslamp rails - Olympus 45mm @ f1.8

Padres Zombie - Olympus 45mm @ f5.0

San Diego Comic Con...Continued

My partners in crime

Although I want to post something every day, I don't think it is realistic because of all the panels I plan to attend, booth work, and other shenanigans that comes with attending the Con.  The Killerpumpkins team just finished setting up the booth and taking some time to relax before the madness.  It really is strange seeing the Gaslamp District so empty and somewhat quiet.  I am so used to seeing a sea of people wandering up and down the streets like a herd of cows. 

The bottleneck at the Convention Center

Another perspective of the madness

The pictures above remind me of how poorly designed the convention center is for large crowds like Comic Con.  But I don't think I would want it at any other place.  There is just so much history behind this location and the city has truly embraced the culture - roads are lined with Comic Con banners, stores are converted into galleries and some local shop owners even dress up in solidarity with other cosplayers.

  

Art gallery photo of the Flash

Cool Mad poster 

Last year the streets were lined with Wreck it Ralph banner

Regardless of how tired I am today, I am still excited for the days to come.  Hopefully, I'll have more to display in next couple of days. Thanks for stopping by.  

So say we all,

Dino

Comic Con San Diego 2013

San Diego Comic Con - Here we come

Every year around this time, I get the wonderful opportunity to work with John Pelico of Killer Pumpkins at the San Diego Comic Con (both #1433). Even as I write this blog, I am at a loss of words over how excited I am about going back to what could be the greatest pop culture event in California.  Comic Con began in 1970 "when a group of comics, movie, and science fiction fans including the late Shel Dorf, Ken Krueger, and Richard Alf banded together to put on the first comic book convention in southern California".  It started as a one day event that commanded approximately 100 attendees with two "special guests" and has evolved into a week long event with thousands of attendees and hundreds of programs/panels/meet-and-greets with pop and movie icons.  Needless to say the Gaslamp district in San Diego has transformed into something truly special and I look forward to it every year.  

Be sure to stop by booth 1433 and say hi to John Pelico, creator of Killer Pumpkins

 While I am not a cosplayer (short for "costume play", is an activity in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea from a work of fiction - thank you Wikipedia), I can truly appreciate the time, dedication and effort it takes to produce some of these outfits.  Like photography, there are distinct levels of quality and below are some examples. Regardless of their level of craftsmanship, these people really do make the experience so unique and entertaining.  It wouldn't be a Con without them. 

The Good - Little Mermaid 

The Bad -  The Avengers?

The Creative - Thelma, Shaggy, Daphne and Fred

Just simply awesome - Rydia from Final Fantasy II

Meeting nerd celebrities or being at panels with movie/TV stars is another aspect of the Con that I am truly looking forward to.  I have to admit, I have been so busy with my 9-5 job and random assignments that I haven't even looked at the programming.  From my previous experience, meeting people like Chris Gore, Olivia Munn, Kevin Pereira (of the now defunct G4 Channel), Chris Antista (Laser Time Podcast), Henry Gilbert (Laser Time and Cape Crisis Podcast) made my experience so much more memorable.  I can't wait to see who I run into this time.   

THE Henry Gilbert of Laser Time and Cape Crisis - @HenereyG

Chirs Gore of Podcrash and G4 - Princess Leia-ish

Rose Leslie of Game of Thrones - a personal favorite 

A nerd legend - Neil DeGrasse Tyson of Startalk

If there is one thing that tops the cake as the coolest thing I've done at Comic Con thus far, would be the meet and greet with some of the cast and crew of We're Alive.  We're Alive is a serial podcast about a story of survival and more importantly zombies - think of a radio drama that has a full cast of talented voice actors, superb story line, a top-notch production crew and a high quality studio and you've got yourself We're Alive.  Last year, I had the distinct opportunity to share some laughs with the creator over drinks at the local TGI Friday's and I am lucky enough to do it again this coming Friday.  I doubt I'll get anything out of them regarding the upcoming season, but I'm definitely going to try.  

Blaire Byhower and Kc Wayland of We're Alive 

Meet and Greet with We're Alive cast and crew at TGI Friday's 

Jay Olegario - We're Alive voice actor

Overall, I'm just excited to see what's in store these next 6 six days. I am truly lucky and thankful to Pelico family for making me a member of the Killerpumpkins team.  Now to finish packing. Until my next post.

The great and talented John Pelico - creator of Killer Pumpkins. Forever grateful to this guy

Also thankful to this amazing person

So say we all,
Dino

User Review of the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 on the Olympus OMD - Hiking Part 1

Important Notes:

1. This is a user based review with no lab or scientific testing

2. All images are post processed in lightroom 4 according to personal taste/preference

3. Images were taken in Raw and converted to JPEG

4. Feel free to ask questions in comments

Runyon Canyon - Hollywood, California

I've been having a lot of fun photographing my hikes with friends and family. With the micro four-third systems being so portable, I found the process extremely fun and the least bit distracting (not once did I think the camera got in the way or made traversing the path difficult).  I opted to take the olympus OMD without the external grip and the Panasonic 20mm f1.7.  I honestly forgot about the lens ever since I purchased the Panasonic 25mm f1.4, but I wanted to to go extremely compact and decided to dust off my very first lens and take it out for a hike. 

Entrance to Runyun Canyon

Size - The first thing I immediately noticed was how small the lens is especially on the OMD.  I immediately did the pocket test and it easily passed with flying colors (tested with cargo shorts), though I would never hike with it in my pocket.  It was most definitely a welcome companion that did not hinder my experience during the hike.  No complaints here.

Bauer free to roam the canyon

Focusing/Auto focus (AF) - I've been very spoiled in this department because of my experience with Olympus m43 primes.  The AF was not abysmally slow, but it wasn't lightening quick like the Panasonic 25 f1.4 or even the Olympus 12mm/45mm. I wanted to see how well it would perform under single AF on a fast moving object like the wonderful Bauer (pictured above) and to my surprise, it held its own.  It focused where I wanted to and came out extremely sharp.  

On a personal level, the manual focus by wire is the only thing that I can't stand about this lens (and that's with most m43 lenses with the exception of certain Oly glass).  This means the focus mechanism is not mechanically tied to the lens, rather electronically.  Any movement on the focus ring is measured by the camera's software, so the ring can and will turn endlessly.  Not having a distance scale or an indicator of where infinity is makes manual focusing somewhat difficult but not impossible.  It's a minor gripe that I can live with.

Panasonic 20mm f1.7 - shot at f2.8

Panasonic 20mm f1.7 - shot at f5.6

Bokeh - The bokeh or out-of-focus blur on this lens is nice and creamy. With wider lenses like the 20mm, you either need to shoot wide open at f1.7, distance your subject from the background and/or get personal with subject in order to get the desired subject isolation with this glass.  Overall, I have no complaints in the bokeh department.

Clarity and Sharpness - The biggest selling point, besides its size, is that the lens produces such clear and sharp images.  Although I do not have scientific charts or tests to truly determine how great this lens is (nor do I care for it), I would say that it gives its bigger brother, the Panasonic 25mm f1.4, a run for its money.  When I purchased the 25mm, I had expectations that it would deliver images FAR greater than the 20mm and in my eyes it really didn't.  

I have also heard reports of the 20mm having banding issues when paired with the OMD under high ISO conditions.  I have yet to test it, so I can't report on this nor take away points from the glass.       

Our very own Director of IT, Jason Aranda - hike leader for the day

Overall, I am very happy with this lens.  Being about 4 years old, it still handles and performs like a champ. The field of view is equivalent to a 40mm on a full-frame camera and is just right for my daily walk-around, hiking lens. This lens is well worth is retail asking price.

I have read several forum posts and discussions regarding this Panasonic lens and the 25mm f1.4.  Given that image quality is about the same (with a slight advantage going to the 25mm) and field of view being immaterially different to me, here's my 2 cents:  If portability and price is extremely important to you, the 20mm wins hands down.  Because I place greater value in autofocus speed and low-light performance (without the risk of banding at higher ISOs), I would purchase the 25mm over the 20mm even if it means spending a bit more money.  

The second part of this review will be based on my experience using this lens on a Panasonic body, specifically the GF-1.  Thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to ask questions down in the comment section.  

So say we all,

Dino