Portbello Market / George’s Camerafare

Situated in a bit west of London, Portobello is a peculiar place. 

Because of their fundamental poorman’s mentality, (in comparison to

the French, Spanish, Austria-Hungarian Empire, untill a victory

over the battle of Trafalgar, (and took over the dominance on the sea)

the England was a poor country)  the English tend to keep junk

= try avoiding to buy new one and spend the money for drink. 

Then, when they die, house cleaner emptied the hose and sold off all

those junks.  Junks came to a sunday market kind, such as Brick Lane,

Bermondsey market etc and bought by an antic dealer and the object  

end up Portobello market.   ( = A rubbish sold at Brick Lane  £5 goes to  

a dealer for £10, then bought by an antic dealer of Portobello for £20 

and sold to a tourist for £50 as a collectables  = everybody made a profit,

and happy = life goes on !)

Though, thanks to a TV program such as  the “Antic Road Show” and

people can find the information in the Net then selling it in eBay.   

So that, good salable item has disappeared from the market. And

these days, what was sold in the market were fakes, copied items,

just fancy, strange designed goods (from China, India, Africa etc).

So, the shops were filled with fancy room decorations.

And I found a shop selling the hand painted = customized shoes.

Strangely, Portobello has only two camera dealers. (as far as I know

since 70s = one in Admiral Vernon Arcade and the other open stall.) 

The dealer used to be in the arcade was my friend Brian. 

And after he retired about 10 years ago, George took over the position.

On the 80s, when Japanese got a boom collecting antic cameras, in fact

it was staged by an antic shop “Soul Trip” who started to sell thousand

of old cameras along side the many magazine articles campaign.  

And the supplier of those cameras from England was, the man in

Portobello, Brian.   Old camera boom in Japan made both

Soul Trip (Mr Segawa) and Brian rich.

The man running the antic camera shop now, George is dealing with

much humble items / junk — still unmistakably it is an Aladdin’s cave.

(simply because, the good collectables has been already sold and not

much left circulating on the market.)

In old days, I bought many old cameras from Brian (include modified

Robot camera using Leiz 50mm F1.5) and I translated the Japanese

article about the first SLR with penta prism = Duflex for him.

(I’m going to write about a 100 years old lens I found in this shop.)

When you see the open stalls selling food, vegetable started to appear,

it is the end of So-called Portobello market.  (further down the street,

you may find the open stalls selling the junk from the daily life. 

Cups and pan sort, even a lady’s underwear.

Is it anything to do with IS terrorists, the polis is taking rather hi-profile.

And this must be The John-Bull.  How shiny !   😀

(Except only one Canon Fisheye, lest of all other photos were taken by

a homemade Mag Lens on Sony A7R.)

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Yet more Homemade Lens — KodaFun Lens

 

As you can see from the following photo, this lens came from a Kodak

fun camera.  Originally, the lens was mounted on the F8(?) sized hole

on the camera body though I used this plastic lens with fully opened

condition. (Hence more halation and the aberrations which I want !)

Even Fun lens needs to be mounted in the precise position.   😀

Basically as a omunifocus lens, it’s creates a kind of certain image

in any distance = in other words, no fun on the Bokhe !

Still the matter is, where to use it.

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Homemade Lens – Mag Lens

Now I got quite few homemade lenses = call them just a fun camera

lens would be confusing, which one ? — I should call them in their

individual name.   So, the lens here happen to be originated from a

SLR’s view finder magnifier, I name it Mag Lens.  

Unlike the other Fun camera lens which is often omunifocus, this

lens has one focal point, its mean needs to be focused by means of

helicoid or a sort.    And I found a zooming helicoid of a Nikon

compact camera will do the job.   So, I hack-saw out the

helicoid part of the camera from its body frame. (Photo above)

With a test of the lens, I found the lens needs to be mounted 40mm

from the image sensor.   Then, I struggled to mount the helicoid to a

body cap, and to mount the lens into the helicoid.  (The photo above,

middle shows how the position of the fixing screw was marked

on the cap.  🙂  )

With a good extension of the helicoid, the lens can give a focus from

the infinity to the x1 macro.  Though, this lens found to have the

biggest halation among all of my homemade lens.   😀

Since the lens was originally a magnifying lens, the quality of the

macro image was quite good.

(Lens itself was F2.5 —> If I put an iris 5mm = F8, image would be

even better.)

And, it has a fade and dissolve like beautiful out of focus Bokhe !

With its shallow depth of field, a face on the card changes a lot.

This lens was a hit.

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Stitch Work (2) Disco Pants !

Among my creation hence the possessions, the most bizarre item  

must be my Disco Pants. — It was a BR rail worker’s hi-vis uniform.  

But, because its size was too big for me, I’ve cut the length and used

that cut-off to make the back pockets. = So, the pants was customized 

to a flashy Disco Pants with x5 blue LEDs running light on the thigh

and slow on-off pink and red LEDs on the back pocket. 

To make the pocket, I designed it like a stuffed relief of a nude torso. 

In fact, such design was an excuse to put the LEDs.   As the figure 

was made upside down, it was a puzzle to comprehend what it was.

= all for the fun on the club night. (If it was ordinary geometric

pattern kind, it would be too boring = nothing fun and the others

wouldn’t notice it at all.)

On that time I was an almost the fixture of the club called Fridge in

Brixton. — Good (or bad ?) grown-up in a club, it’s better to have a

fun, and gone to be crazy.  (Anyway, it sound everything crazy =

I was the top dancer there, receiving free entry and the free drinks

— still, never drink alcohol, not mention any drug.  Never mix with

cloud still keep talking with all the staffs, manager, owner. = So that

the cloud mistook me a special security kind or even a real owner /

financier behind.  😀 )

To make the pockets, the material was the cut-off of the leg’s end

and the thread was the thread which I de-threaded from the cut-off.

(This story, use old thread horrified the professional machinists !) 

Because, it’s there and the easiest to use — though it needed to pull

out from the cloth. —– So, the supply of the thread was limited. 

On the end, I had to save the thread = no return stitch. = You can 

see from the photo above.   😀 

Without draw the line on the cloth, stitching was made direct on the

cloth while deciding the shape. = I think, the result wasn’t too bad.

(but I wouldn’t say the stitch work was anything near to perfect).

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You might say,  what an effort, and a waste of the time, just for fun ? ! 

But, I would only answer, why not.   And I’d ask back, spending the 

same length of time, what can you do something  worthwhile and fun,

on yesterday or whole of your life. ?   —– soon you may realize 

that what you been doing was just follow the situation to survive. 

Was that only the life what you can have ?    Open your eyes !

What preventing you to be free was your small pretense to be a

“Respectable decent man” — can you ? —– Really ?

(Though, I wouldn’t guaranty you to get a free entry even if you get crazy. )

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Stitch Work (1)

Coming to the time hard to thread the sawing needle, I became 

aware what I learned from my mother when I was young.

My mother used to make the Kimonos herself.   Often using very

rare expensive silk such as Oshima-tsumugi.  You may feel strange

though, I was sitting and watching her work and when she needed

I thread the needle for her.   Make Kimono is of course done by the

hand stitching. (Even now, all the Japanese Kimono was made by hand

= a kind of tourists souvenir, Happi Kimono may be made by a sawing

machine (in China) but Japanese doesn’t see them are Kimono at all.)

—– Sawing, hand stitching is nothing but an utterly laborious work.

And virtually all the sawing in the Kimono-making is straight line.

Only the exception sometime is the end of Tamoto in Furisode Kimono

(= long sagged down sleeves).   Its mean, no innovative variation or

inventive shortcut kind could ever exist = just keep stitching straight.

= If it was not straight, the fabric distort, so it looks funny and make a

person wearing feel ashamed. So,to a Kimono-maker or needle woman

to become able to do an adequate stitch, it may need to make at least

10 Kimonos for a practice.  (if it was an expensive silk, de-thread and

remake again — very fine needle will not damage the fablic.)

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In the all the traditional crafts or art kind, how the novice to learn is

by way of watching and mimic = to copy what the master does.

Not mention the stitching work, which is push the needle, front to the

back and to the front again ~ ~ ~, mimicking and copy is nothing but

the repeating the same action again and again.

= IS to program the pattern into the brain. = (When the pattern was

imprinted in the brain, the action, include the speech become

automatic = automatic mean “No self”)   When the level of learning =

copying deepen to such automatic level, it’s standard or the quality

reaches to the perfection.   Because the body moves like a precise

machine without the interference of useless thought or emotion.

In this level, there couldn’t be any Ego = no emotion or high-level

thought. — so, you might wonder, what IS the motivation to do it ?

“Motivation ?      What’s the Motivation ?”

— When the task is on front = there wouldn’t be any choice but to DO.

(This situation has been misunderstood as the “Concentration” or

so-called “Mindfulness”. 😀 )

And, is the task really there ? How DO I know when myself is not there =

nor any mind, observing it.   (The people who mistook that the Zen

is a matter of awareness = A way of different thinking, couldn’t

emancipates this trap of thinking therefore couldn’t be escaped from 

this dichotomy = “Observing vs Observed Self” — When the SELF is 

 not there, WHO is observing or aware of it ?) = It’s mean, as long as 

a notion of Zen is there (or you think, you are doing a Zen),

it is not Zen at all.  Zen is being in no-mind = Mushin.

.

This is the situation WHAT the Buddhists call VOID.

— Which I’ve learned from the stitching work when my conscious

was absorbed into the moving needle.

= Effectively my mother taught me the most crucial essence of Zen

without saying even a single word of Zen or Buddhism.(Of course,there

was no word of Zen or even a name of Buddhism exists on the time of

Lord Buddha.  He only showed the way to DO and what he told was the

jokes, then took a rest while sitting quiet.  When the teachings were

“Selfless” it couldn’t be taught using the word “Self” as it’s not exists.

So, he only showed the way to DO without SELF.) 

The people who was not there and only heard about had mistaken that

the sitting (and assumed to be thinking) was the matter.

Then all the misconception and the nix-up were bore out from here.

( — Sitting was just having a rest).

So, you were trapped here.   Are you watching the stitches, or

something encircled by the stitches ?

Oh, naughty you, what are you thinking. It’s just a cloth and the

stitches, still it’s better to be a naughty as we can have a laugh.    

Ha ha ha   😀

___/\___

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OM Cap

Some post ago I mentioned that the lens and body cap of Olympus

OM can fit to the other cameras.   A very funny story behind was,

since I needed a body cap of Micro 4/3rd camera as I wanted to make

a lens for M4/3 camera (MD-E).  I ordered it through eBay, as I found

one bender is selling the lens and body caps together for £0.99 !

While I was waiting the cap arrive here, I changed Olympus MD-E to

Sony A7R = since, compare to 10 mm x 16 mm M4/3 image sensor, A7R

got 35mm full size.   Why settle with tiny toy.  —  Then, I realized

that the body (and lens) cap I received was not for M4/3 camera but

out-dated OM (film camera’s)  = “A’ha that’s why it was so cheap”

This could be a serious trouble though, before I start to complain to

the bender, I found that the OM cap can fit to the latest Sony

E-mount body / A7.  (Anyway, on that moment I no longer had

Olympus but Sony. )

.

The three caps on the first shopping run out soon to make yet another

Pinhole Machine and Toy camera lens. 

Therefore, I re-ordered to the same bender yet more three caps.

—– And, I waited, and waited while having quite hi-tension because, 

the bender might have noticed that he (she ?) made a mistake and would

send me M4/3 cap instead, it means I may need to buy E-mount cap while

paying 4 times more money.  But, I received the old OM caps again !   🙂

I’ve tested few plans to make other strange optics etc to use those

lens caps.   In fact, I got the M42 to E-mount adapter for the same

purpose still, they are more expensive and awkward to work with. 

— anyway, back to the funny story, = I still don’t know whether 

the bender was knowingly selling OM cap as the M4/3 cap or

honestly believing that was M4/3 cap. 

What so ever, I was lucky to have this mishup — and that’s why 

on the postal package, the Omen of that number appeared.

(on the top photo, in the red circle = 1085 )  😀

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Tim Lewis exhibition

Last night there was an opening PV of Tim Lewis exhibition at the

Flowers gallery, Cork street, London.

Despite the kinetics is rather odd in the art world, quite a number 

of visitors filled the floor and they were curious to touch and rotate

the gear —– and amazed to see how the things move.  🙂

Some of his creations are pretty small but, some are big. 

Still overall concept is always the same, like grand dad made

a toy for a small boy.  In the digital techno age, his creation

stays stubbornly analog and rather rustic and moves purely

for the sake of move. 

Normally, the things move for the purpose of something

= (nature or economics never waste the energy)

car moves, in order to take the driver or passenger A to B. 

The machines do their works.  Apple had to drop because the

gravity pulled him.  But Tim’s Machine moves only to show

its movement.  That’s all.  They were made just for the art.

= So, the visitors seems not a kind of Geek or Otaku.

The exhibition was addressed by the curator, Ann Elliot who 

saw “His work is beautiful” but only wonder the mechanics. 

(Photo above, from left = James (gallery director) Ann and Tim)

Tim (photo middle) and his kids playing with Dady’s toy !

(I would say, he must be much happier than playing with Pokemon.)   😀

People kept talking and talking — even outside (it was a hot day)  🙂

—– The most of the photos here were taken by the Pinhole, either with or

without Fisheye adapter.

Sharper photo was made by a Hand made Toy lens on Sony A7R camera.

 

Covent Garden (1)

I had some shooting around Covent Garden with a friend who

also got pinhole on his Alpha 7-II camera.

(But a photo here on top was a comparison, shot by Nikon

D810 with Zeiss 18mm lens.)

The same objects by the pinhole on A7R camera.

And so on.

Whether you like those moody image or not.   😀

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A7 doing Good Job or just Meddling too much ?

Quite a while, time to time (I don’t remember how many years)

I’ve been taking picture of the sky from my window.  Naturally, its

looks changes season to season, and it’s not necessary a dramatic

beautiful sky.   It’s just a sky.

As I don’t go out for drinking or look for a bottom of the girls,

watching the sky is a healthy alternative (and cost nothing.)   😀

Not just watching but taking photo mean, by a camera.  

So that, my Nikon with 18mm Zeiss lens has been a fixture on front

of the window quite a while.   And, — as I got Sony A7 and the adapter

to fit a Nikon lens to its E-Mount, I tested its 18mm lens on the A7 body.

—– though, the sky over dence leafy tree is a very contrasty image =

to the SONY camera.  (Canon 5D or Nikon D810 just take as it IS)

But, A7 is keep meddling (— are they try to brighten the dark shadow

of the tree ? — how do they know what image I want to have !)

DO they believe that they can make it for ME ? — how patronizing.

— should I say,”Thank you very much” OR “Silly YOU, stop it”  😦

                * * * * *

Exactly the same trend to “Smart Phone” with hundreds of the

Fancy App,  Sony can do many tricks, such as the Panorama here.

(Above was a part of 18mm — 360 degree Panorama

— in my kitchen)  😀

And this was a Panorama made by a 16mm Nikon Fisheye lens

(vertical line shows no distortion !)

— may be a fun to some user though, I’m very sceptic to those

too much Digital intervention.    It’s rather spoils the spirit of

the Photography than enhance it.   Spending more time gazing

 at the PC screen, than to stand against the subject = we are

going into more and more virtual environment and

losing the real touch of the life. 

—– And to the camera company themselves, = if the digitally

stiched-up photo is good enough, who need to buy expensive

wide-angle lens ?

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Photographer’s Gallery

Probably the most well-known iconic figure in the Photographer’s Gallery

must be the guy always sitting there, Alan.  —– In this occasion, he was

captured by the Toy camera lens, costed less than  £2.  —– Still,

considering its humble origin, the photo here wasn’t too bad, isn’t it ? 

Or, I would say, the quality and the quite present softness is superb.

(Did you noticed, there was no focused point or depth of field kind

on the picture = because the lens was omnifocas.)

(And, did you see the man’s face, he was not smiling.  If you thought

otherwise, your eyes are not seeing reality of the life.  Look again.)

But, rest of the images here were taken by my Pinhole-machine.   😀

About the info’ of what they are doing now = please see their website.

This is not a journalistic report but the shadow, what I saw there

and how I reacted.

MMMMMMMMMMM (sometime, I keep my mouth shut)

😀

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