Winter Cherry (again) – (2)

Just take picture of mere cherry flowers, this set up must be the most swaggering one. 

Still I’m not doing this for ostentatious show off.  simply because, the lens (rear part of a video camera wide converter) has 160mm focal length, hence it need to have quite long extension (therefore, need to use a bellows).  And why I wanted to use this lens here, you will see it in those photos.  Wide converter was made by a reputed good lens maker Tokina, not a jokey Chinese crap.  — I wanted their lens component, not the function of wide converter.  So, I hacksawed it to take a front concave lens out. (which became to the front element of “Wide angle Pinhole Machine“.  And the left over converging lens became a fuzzy long focal lens as you can see it here.  😀 

Those optical devices were designed to give decent requisite function in certain quality, it’s mean, those optics has been designed to eliminate the aberration by combining the different types of lenses — in other words, if the front and rear element was separated, aberration couldn’t be corrected.  

(Photo left = despite of heavy halation, this lens gives quite sharp image.  And having a nice softness.)

So, this rear part of the lens showed quite a blur yet still, it retains the certain sharpness (= It’s a funny lens ! —– I like it though, shame, it’s so awkward to use.)

Ideally those photos should have rather dark blue sky to show white halo around the flowers though, the sky was just hopelessly gray. (Another solution would be, go back there with a flash or LED ring light when the ambient light was getting dimmer. —– I might do it. )

And, to everybody, a Happy New Year for 2017

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Winter Cherry (again !)

OMG, —– when I walked close by, I noticed that, that Cherry is flowering again. —– Since she is flowering every winter, it shouldn’t be any surprise though, when actually face it, still it was a OMG.

Though this time all the flowers are rather high on the branches.  I went back there with “Tele-photo Pinhole” = simply it was the DD Pinhole further extended by the extension rings which made it to 105mm Tele-photo.  (If it was a lens, extension ring will work as a close-up device but for a pinhole, it only makes the effective focal length longer. — in fact, as it will make the image larger, it would have a close-up effect as well though, pinhole has no focus at all, in any “focal length”, if you close to the subject, you will get larger image any way.)  So, what so ever the theory, Pinhole image is Pinhole like image.  Too fuzzy.  Still  if anybody want to see more decent sharper images of the same flowers, I got many many other shot. = please go back to them.   😀

(On the photos above, left and middle were the same flower though, the middle photo was by the Mag lens (and heavily cropped)

I may need to come back with other kind of lenses.  😀

Incidentally, soon after I wrote London weather was mild, suddenly it became cold.  And, this is my first frosty photo of this season. (by the Mag lens)

So, anybody in the cold, Please survive well.

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Fortnum and Mason (+ other)

It seems this is the only a post looks like a festive season.  If you are celebrating, enjoy it.  

Merry Merry something !

(The lens used were Homemade Mag lens on Sony A7R)

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Oxford Street (and Selfridge) Xmas shot

Those photos were taken by the lenses, homemade Mag Lens or Halina wide Lens though, few of them were by the Gaudy Lens on the Tilting Bellows with Sony A7R.

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WW Party on the Boat

WW gathering (some says, it is Wireless Workshop, others say Wednesday Workshop or Wireless Wednesday ? ? ? = since it started as a group hacking into 2.4 GHz Wireless Data link) had a party in a Pub in the Westminster, and to go there we took a boat on the Thames river.

So, from Greenwich Pier we took a boat TRS (Thames River Service).    It was still 4:30 though, it was already after sunset = night voyage.    How fancy !

And we arrived to the Westminster = its mean the foot of Big-ben.

After that, not much to show.  😀

By the way, a white dot on the right end was the Super full moon ! —– though don’t ask any better picture.  The lens was a junk (£5) Canon EFS 18~55 lens on Sony A7 camera — ( it’s mean no F-aperture control = fully open.)   And the shake of the images were not because of the moving ship or I was drunk,  I purposely made them for a sake of the art = believe me.     He he he.    😀

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Robot with Leiz (?) Lens

Among my camera collection, the most peculiar one must be this Robot camera with a Leiz Xenon lens.  Leiz lens though, it was made by the Taylor Hobson.  Taylor Hobson is a British optical, precise engineering company, so why British lens was sold as Leiz Xenon Lens may have interesting story. (You may find.)  And the lens was made for Leica camera and further modified to fit this Robot camera.

  The name Robot came from its spring driven automatic shooting mechanism.  And this particular model has double length of the spring which enable the whole 50 shots in one charge of the spring.  I think this camera was designed to be used on the scientific or military front in mind.  = such as that the camera was mounted on top of a microscope or under a wing of a spying aircraft where the shutter was triggered by a remote cable.

The camera was very well designed and solidly made (= heavy).  Film was loaded to the double cassett of which the film slit will be opened for a smooth winding of the film when the back cover was closed.  36 exposure film (about 1.5 m long) can have 50 shots with its square (24 x 24) format.

80, 90 years ago, 50 mm lens with F1.5 was an exceptionally bright lens and as its optical design was protected by the Taylor Hobson, no way else, Leiz needed to buy it from them. 

Leica lens can be easily used on the Sony A7 camera with a simple and cheap (about £5) adapter. (Photo left)

There are funny mix of the British-German conflict.  The distance scale was in imperial = feet, and it goes down to the closest distance 3.5 feet.

On the test shot on A7 camera showed quite sharp image = it convinced me, that the military reconnoissance people desperately wanted this lens on a Robot !

On the photo above left, about 70% to the right, you may see faint red spot, and that part was enlarged on the right photo.

And the same shooting of the same dried Rose on 3.5 feet distance. = photo middle was F1.5 fully open and the right was F6.3. —– Whether the softness on F1.5 was caused by the aberration or internal reflection (ghost) was questionable.   Still, somewhat common with the Zeiss lens’ softness isn’t too bad.  And I’m quite happy with it.   🙂

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Sony Tilt

This is a photo taken by a homemade tilting device for my Sony A7R with Canon EFS zoom, while giving 20° tilt to the lens. 

I wouldn’t proclaim this photo was anything typical or special, still it might be pretty unique to this device.  Since the lens has been heavily tilted, focused area was only in the center and the both end was out of focus.  —– you may say “So what” I would say “Nothing, it was just a character of this device” that all. (Since broken EFS lens has no F-aperture control = it was fully open — still Zoom from about 24mm to 55mm and the manual focus was perfectly usable = not too bad for the lens of £5 from a junk box of a camera shop.

So the device or tilting attachment (which I’ve shown you the work piece on the previous post) was now usable state (though, I’m going to add a semi-automatic iris control for Nikon lens).  The lens mount was Canon EF even though Canon lens has no iris control, but its mount IS to attach Nikon, Pentax, Contax etc mount adapter.  With this device, up to 30° tilt is possible though, how useful is the another matter. Still, when opportunity was there, why not try.  It’s a fun.  😀

(The effect of extreme lens tilt IS, —> think IF one side was extended 15mm more, it’s mean for 15mm wide-angle  lens, it IS an extension for a life-size close-up, while keeping other end of picture still focused to infinity.)

In fact, I planed to make a tilting DSLR device using Canon 5D Mk-II, so that I bought one more Mk-II body to be hacksawed. (and 5D original body for research / test disassemble = so, I end-up to have x4  5D body — then, as I got Sony A7 body able to use it without hacksaw work ===> so, here is Sony Tilt !    🙂

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How silly !

Nik-DD

While checking my own post (I need = notorious trouble of mis-speling), I realized “Wait a moment, why did I need to make a screen shot of Aster flower, while having such fuzzy pinhole — How silly”

Whether you believe or not, I’ve completely forgotten the existence of Double Density Pinhole.  I should insist, this was not a demented memory but the Zen No-mind.   🙂   —– Zen only deals with the things on front = if not on front, it is not exists, since the mind is not clinging the No-existent things.

Anyway, to find the “Pinhole Machine” for Sony A7  and  For Nikon (+ adapter), and had the shot of Aster with ISO 25600 setting.  (More artefact noise would appear with longer exposure = dark evening)

The left photo was a Double density Pinhole. — Nikon type Pinhole machine has Multiple Pinhole as well. (Photo right)

They are the compalison = Pinhole machine for Sony A7 —– As the pinhole is much closer to the sensor, the images are much wider and the color on the edge is sifted to magenta. (Left is DD, and the right was mono-pinhole though, not much present fuzzy effect.

Nik-DD

Pinhole sounds simple and easy to make though, — because it IS such small, very difficult to controle = very difficult to replicate the same effect.

Nik-DD

So, I have to be contented to have this fuzziness on Autumn Color.  🙂

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Exploding Cinema or Firework

Last night was a so called Bonfire night and may be to coincide with it, a cinema session “Exploding Cinema” was held in south London.

I popped out carring A7R camera with a homemade “Mag lens” attached on it.   But as I saw the fireworks over a park,  soon I realized that I put a wrong lens. 

Mag lens makes the largest halation among my homemade lens = bright spot like firework become just a big blob.  Still, that’s what I got then, — never mind, it won’t kill me in any way.

Exploding Cinema has been running by the volunteers, film enthusiasts for the past 25 years.  (And I know the current figurehead, Matt for 20 odd years.  When I met him, he was a visual media technician and I was an almost a dancer in residents of the Fridge Club in Brixton.)  Exploding Cinema is showing all the films submitted without selecting, and running totally independent. (so that, the waiting list said to be more than one year to be shown there)

So, the films shown there were from short comical Anime to professionally made quite serious one. (A film produced by Chris R’s “Drone Strike” was a heavy staff good enough for the big screen.)

And MMM    🙂

When I popped out, the fireworks exploded over my head, —– I found, the lens character of big blob is quite pretty in deed.  Ha ha ha,   😀

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Aster — (Secondly Photo)

Aster (Aster amellus) must be one of the most common flower here.Its name Aster came from its star shape (why the round shaped star was sheen by such astric * shape  is the other problem ! )  😀

Leave such problem to a neuro scientist to argue.   I did some screen shot of its Aster’s image and created the secondly images.

In my policy, I reject the use of Photoshop or in-camera “Effects” kind, because they were the creations of somebody else. Not mine.

So, whether the artefact of “Hi-ISO noise” is a Digital process or a Character of the hardware is a point of the argument.

On process, the screen shot was made with ISO 25600 setting and during the exposure, the focus was shifted to give a blurring effect.

(Originals were shot by a homemade Mag Lens and the copy was made by Gaudy Lens on Sony A7R)

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