Trip to Vietnam + Cambodia : The DA35 Ltd is now my favorite portrait lens

soccerjoe5 · 08-17-2009, 11:52 AM

I just came from a short trip Cambodia and Vietnam with my K-7 and LX3. The trip was great, the people (especially at Siem-Reap) were just the friendliest people, the temples and sights were great:

(From my LX3)

(K-7 + FA50)

The food was fantastic! I love love love noodles and all sorts of street food:

(K-7 + DA35)

As some of you may know, I also made a video using the HD Video of the K-7 and LX3, which I'm really happy with: A take on video at Cambodia

A real big highlight of the trip was photographing strangers for my 100 Strangers Project, which I just wrote about on my blog, and the K-7 with the DA35 just BLEW me away:

I met this interesting fellow at a temple at Cambodia. I approached him and spoke to him a few phrases in their native language (I keep a little notebook with me).

His name is "Ta Kia" and I'm not sure if that's how it's spelled.

I would've loved to know more about him but there was a big language barrier. He looked like one of the caretakers of the temple.

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I met this lady at Siem Reap, Cambodia while taking photos. Her name is Michela and she's from Rome, Italy. She was real pleasant to talk to and she's a documentary director.

I think she's the only documentary director I've ever met.

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This gentleman is Alex. He is also from Rome and was with Michela. He's also an interesting character, as he's apparently a TV and radio show host back at Rome.

How cool is that?

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This man is Phuen. I met him at Siem-Reap, Cambodia. He's injured and lost limbs from a landmine explosion. Now he's going around selling books and things, which I admire, instead of just sitting around begging.

Despite his hardships, I love the expression, his eyes and his smile.

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This is another interesting character I met at Vietnam. His name is Palasse and he's French. He was from Paris, fell in love with Vietnam at his visit and now lives at Saigon.

He's an artist and runs a very cool t-shirt shop that I highly recommend. It's called Saigon T-Shirt Shop and the Papaya Shirts. More expensive but high quality and very good + unique designs. Not the usual cheap shirts that everyone has from the markets.

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I love those portraits and I'm glad I got out of my comfort zone and approached them. I haven't really put the DA35 on its paces until now but I used it most of the time this trip and I love it.

Kudos to the Pentax engineers, such a fine fine piece of glass! VERY sharp wide open and has some sort of magical rendering to my eyes.

Hope you enjoyed the photos! 'Til the next adventure!

Cheers from the Philippine Islands,
Diego

*séamuis* · 08-17-2009, 12:02 PM

absolutely stunning photos mate! boy how I would love to visit Viet Nam. I am envious of both your trip and the lovely photos you have to share with us!

*LeDave* · 08-17-2009, 12:09 PM

Beautiful portraits!

soccerjoe5 · 08-17-2009, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by séamuis

absolutely stunning photos mate! boy how I would love to visit Viet Nam. I am envious of both your trip and the lovely photos you have to share with us!

Originally Posted by LeDave

Beautiful portraits!

Thank you! It's a great place to visit. I can't wait to go back!

Diego

*TKH* · 08-17-2009, 01:09 PM

Love your portraits as mutch as my DA35!
My wife and me + a few friends plan a backpacking tour to Vietnam or Cambodia for next year. Seems a pretty good idea. Perhaps I can buy a K7 on the flight to Asia???
Thanks,
Rainer

soccerjoe5 · 08-17-2009, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by TKH

Love your portraits as mutch as my DA35!
My wife and me + a few friends plan a backpacking tour to Vietnam or Cambodia for next year. Seems a pretty good idea. Perhaps I can buy a K7 on the flight to Asia???
Thanks,
Rainer

Thank you Rainer! You're going to love Vietnam and Cambodia! I hope to go back to Vietnam next year

Diego

*deadwolfbones* · 08-17-2009, 01:18 PM

Incredible portraits, Diego! The DA 35 is an amazing lens.

a a i b · 08-17-2009, 04:59 PM

These portraits are really inspired -- thanks for posting them.

*lbenac* · 08-17-2009, 06:34 PM

Two things I would love to do:
1) Go to Vietnam
2) Take beautiful portraits of strangers

You score on all two

Cheers,

Luc

ll_coffee_lP · 08-17-2009, 08:02 PM

These shots are simply amazing. Very well done!

c[_]

soccerjoe5 · 08-17-2009, 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by deadwolfbones

Incredible portraits, Diego! The DA 35 is an amazing lens.

Originally Posted by a a i b

These portraits are really inspired -- thanks for posting them.

Originally Posted by lbenac

Two things I would love to do:
1) Go to Vietnam
2) Take beautiful portraits of strangers

You score on all two

Cheers,

Luc

Originally Posted by ll_coffee_lP

These shots are simply amazing. Very well done!

c[_]

Thank you all for the kind words, I'm happy you like the photos.

Diego

calle73 · 08-18-2009, 01:50 AM

Great photos and video!!

I have visited both Vietnam and Cambodia and they are both great countries to visit!!

I wish I could go back soon!

I have some photos of both trips on my homepage: http://www.callegrafi.se

dazman · 08-18-2009, 04:36 AM

Great shots, Diego. I like the brief introductions for each photo. The Da35 is a do-it-all lens.

soccerjoe5 · 08-18-2009, 06:11 AM

Originally Posted by calle73

Great photos and video!!
I have visited both Vietnam and Cambodia and they are both great countries to visit!! I wish I could go back soon!

I have some photos of both trips on my homepage: Calle + Fotografi = CalleGrafi

You've got some great photos, thanks for sharing! I'm happy you enjoyed the photos and video.

Originally Posted by dazman

Great shots, Diego. I like the brief introductions for each photo. The Da35 is a do-it-all lens.

Thanks Daz!

Diego

wowtip · 08-18-2009, 06:21 AM

Great shots, and I really liked the video. If people continue posting videos with this kind of quality I might need to get a K-7 for the video, if nothing else.

Did you use the DA35 for the video also?