Camera Shake / Resonance of Tripod

On the previous post, the top photo taken by 200 mm Lens which was

held against the Camera body, was inevitably shaky and couldn’t been

properly focused.  When I realized that there is Catkins, I set-up a tripod

and 500 mm lens —– but after few clicks, I discovered that the photos

were utterly fuzzy.  => I increased ISO speed hence shutter speed,  still

the situation wasn’t get any better.     

Have look the information of the photo,  left bottom under the Histogram =

O mm lens mean Non-Canon lens, ISO 1600 and Shutter speed  1/2500 Sec.  

This was not off-focused image. ( no double line, typical to Mirror lens there) 

As the photo on the tripod showed the funny shake, I resorted with

hand held.  And strangely (you say), it produced much sharper image.

This time,  ISO 400 and the Shutter speed was  1/ 320. 

It was well known only to few people = a Shake caused by the Resonating

equipment. = In here, 500 mm lens, Canon 5D, and Gitzo Reporter Tripod

almost fully extended has happened to resonated and gave very fine vibration.

(If the extension of the tripod was shortened, there may not be a vibration.

= that is the tricky part of the  [Resonance] = hard to predict though, it is

possible to test => hit the set-up of the tripod with a stick and listen the

sound = if they makes good long sound “Boom” = Resonation suspected ! )

The photo above (heavily clopped image) by the

Tamron 500 mm Mirror lens,  hand held and  

ISO 1600, the Shutter speed was  1/8000 ! = I like a glare of branches.

(Human body is a dumper = wouldn’t resonates —– thanks goodness !)

May be I should find the frequency of this resonating vibration, because

Anti-Vibration system in the lens may not have an effect to higher frequency.

(I tested it with Anti-vibration of 70~200 F2.8 lens though as it got totally

different weight and the balance, the same resonance wasn’t replicated.)

May be I should talk about the Tripod in near future.

[]

Lens Mount Adapter — AF type ? ? ?

Majority of the reader here may not know what this is.  This is a close-up

device called camera bellows. (This one came from a Photo-Slide  

Duplicator  “Illumitron” sold in the 80s. — I think. ) It would extend

the focus of the Lens much further, therefore creates close-up pictures.

(On this photo, Nikon 24mm F2 lens was mounted in reverse direction

to give even higher magnification. )

With full extension of Bellows, 24mm lens can give  x10 image  (Photo Left)

—– with less extension, this image was  x4  (Photo Right)

And those images were the Butterfly’s wing.  (Photo Left / x10 / 24mm F2)

(Photo Right / x1.5 / Micro Nikkor 55mm F3.5) 

Not necessary bellows —– to use any non-dedicated lens on the camera body,

we need to use a “Lens Mount Adapter”.    Especially with the Camera, which

Flange-back was thinner than the lens, such as Canon’s EOS was 44mm and

the Pentax’s  Flange-back was 45.5mm => It would give a margin of 1.5mm

to create an adapter. And the Photo above was the world first “Pentax to EOS”

adapter I made myself, soon after Canon introduced their EOS camera.

(Pentax P-K adapter was Epoxy Glued to a EOS T-mount adapter which was

cut to 1.500mm thin exact.) (Photo Left and the Center) 

There are many Pentax (M-42) to EOS adapters in the Net.  (Photo Right)

And this is the Nikon Adapter = a genuine Nikon Mount Ring from their K-3

ring was screwed on to a EOS T-mount ring which was cut to 1.250mm thin

—– together with the mount ring, it made a 2.5mm thick Mount Adapter.

I put a thin lever to move Nikon’s F-aperture using a wire from a Paper-clip.  

(Photo Center)     And I also made a special Lens Rear Cap with 

aluminium tub to protect this thin lever. (Photo Right)

Untill few years ago, the mount adapter sold in the Net was just a mechanical

adapter though, a type proclaiming to give AF confirmation started to appear.

On today’s hi-tech camera, the lens and the body need to work close together.  

The body (or it’s CPU) needs to know Which Lens, What Max F-aperture,

Which setting on the Zoom, Where is the current focus setting, etc etc.  

To give those informations, a circuit board with Micro-controller was

connected through the lens mount contact. (Photo Left / from Sony Lens)

 The Mount Adapter with Focus

 Confirmation has an electronic contact

and the inside having 1.5x3mm  size

Micro-controller which supposed to

give Lens Informations, such as Manual

Focus setting (hence the camera should 

give focus confirmation only) — but, all

the adapter I bought, non ever worked !  

(On the photo, 5 pins of the chip were

connected to each lens contacts ) 

I’ve tested Nikon type,  Contax type,  Pentax type, Olympus etc from many

different suppliers, from £7 to as much as £30 though, no AF confirmation

 but only showed F1.4 was the best.  Others were even worse like photos above !  

I smelled very fishy, I didn’t go any further.  (There is a high risk to damage

the camera  such as —— the report from a user.)

My guess was that, one or two, once or twice it might have worked before

though, Canon up-dated their firmware and blocked them = mass produced

(and fake as well) chip was sold, and the Opportunists are making a money

out of fraud !  (How many people actuary claiming money back ?  😀 )

So, the question is what to do with

such useless and potentially harmful

mount adapter. = as long as

electronically malfunctioning chip is

there, it can’t be used with camera.

—–> The answer is just remove it !  

Put the mount ring on a cooker’s hot-plate

or with any mean, heat it up to about 200 degree C ( Epoxy glue will be soften)

and use a knife to scrape it off.  Then you can use it manual, perfectly, safely.

(Never use wet towel to hold hot ring = hot steam will burn your finger.  

= Use dry kitchen towel instead.   Be be careful not to get burned ! ! ! ) 

Some maker is boasting “Precise engineering” though, I found most of

them were 0.3mm or so thinner = If it was too thick, it may trouble to

have an infinity focus though, if it was too thin, rotate the lens more. 😀  

And some User report saying “Expensive type has better fix (more firm

mounting) —– This is purely a myth.  

My Tamron 500mm lens has double adapter mount  (Tamron to Nikon +

Nikon to EOS / Photo Left)  hence it’s hard to call it anything solid !

—– Still it can create solid sharp image.  => Grip the camera body and

the lens, try shake them = you can see the lens wobble (on the gap of

lens mount it moves more than 0.5mm !). (Photo Right)  

Especially a Zoom Lens, they wobble a lots, and when you shake it,

you may even hear the rattling noise —– If it was made too tight,

lens couldn’t give a quick focus.   😀    Its loose construction was

the norm of the lens and not much trouble in the normal use.

(Your wobbling hand is far more trouble than the loose lens ! )

———————————–

PS: A funny story was that, when I tested “Lens Extension Cable” my 5D

might have changed its firmware settings inside and since then one of the

“AF confirm” type Adapter (For Contax / Sold by EMF) started working !

(Now, time to time AF confirm sign light-up, still

all the lens was treated as 50 mm F1.4) 

[]

Western God — Eastern Heaven

While talking with a Japanese lawyer about the Human-right, the most

fundamental difference in its origin become clear. = The origin of the

Judea-Christian God was such as like Gilgamesh who went to the heaven

and became the God. That’s why even the God speaks the same language

and able to listen a man’s play.

So that, even God’s given Ten Commandment was written in human

language but applicable only to the mankind = not to animals or to the

Great nature.   And because of the God has human origin or a product of

human imagination hence, having the same sentiment and the logic.

Therefore having the same fundamental needs, and expresses its needs as

the right (or in the other words Our EGO) and demanded.

This is a so-called human-right circulated in the western society.

—– You can imagine to live anywhere though, the people accept

you to live there is depends on their attitude = You can not demand.

You want to live is your wish though whether you can survive or not

depend on your fate.    Still believing, you can demand to your fate is,

because you know that the fate / God is negotiable, since he is a same

kind having the same mind. 

[]

In comparison, the Easterner has no God but the Heaven (Taoism) or

the Dharma (Buddhism) as the ruling Supreme Power.

But as it has no personified figure or human like character, it remained as an

invisible abstract notion whose power is absolute and to be feared.   Under this

Supreme Power, we exists only under its shadow.  = Nobody has independent

“Right” kind, merely having the given opportunity to stay here.  

But in the same time, this Supreme Power is not a tyrant but the power to

exercise Justice in Rational way. (= If not Rational, its system will not work.)    

Therefore the fate this Supreme Power has given us is the equivalent of

our “Right” (or the Cause of us to exist or not exist = Fate, even as a Death.)

[]

The idea of social system under this Eastern Ethos is = “All the system has to

be operated accordance with this Justice” = abstract notion of “Right or Wrong”

exists in the society as the Absolute Moral which is not negotiable or given a

margin of discretion.   And the most important point of this Eastern Ethos and

its system is, not just applicable to the human but it extends to all the nature.

Therefore, it causes us to exists but in the same time, in the same extent,

it causes the rain or even earthquake to occur = all the dynamism of

the Dharma or Power of the Heaven.

[]

So-called Civil-right has its origin in more or less the same story.   Such as like

King John who was forced to sign the Magna Carta, he was not a man of

Supreme Power = merely yet another Warlord, who happen to be a King then.

So, as a part of negotiation and the expression of power balance, the Magna Carta

was composed. = It was nothing like the God’s given Right to preserve human

dignity but a mare bargain of do and do not.

[]

In comparison, eastern Emperor was the Heaven-chosen Ruler ! (In its legend ! 😀 )

So, his power is absolute and not negotiable at all. —– the trade-off to the ruler is,

he couldn’t make a mistake since he was supposed to be the wisest-man who is able

to see the invisible sign of the Heaven to know incoming disaster etc etc —– if failed,

he would be ousted by the popular up-rise. (This was the Chinese history in the past

4000~5000 years !) —– In contrast, the authority of Japanese Emperor has never

been contested and its blood-line has never broken in the past 2000 years.  So that,

former Palace of the Emperor in Kyoto has no defence structure at all, ie; no high

wall or moat, since it was not necessary as Emperor never made mistake and nobody

ever stand against him.   (Current Palace in Tokyo was originally built for Shogun.) 

(Any short coming occured, it was all due to his courtier or minister’s mistake and

their head could have been chopped off, leaving the Emperor’s authority intact. :-D)

[]

—– in such system, there couldn’t be a prescribed law to guaranty the right of the

subjects, since there could always be the different condition and circumstances.

Therefore, the precedence never be generalised = always, “Such and such year

what was said” and it only worked as a reference. = had no bounding power.

= Everything was depends on the discretion of the Emperor or the Shogun.

So, this was the reason why in the Eastern society there couldn’t be the

development of Human-Right has ever taken place. = Since there couldn’t be

a possibility of negotiation against the ultimate, invisible power. —– but the

western idea of Human-right was made up with a negotiation between the

[Man] and a notion of yet [Another Man with power] therefore, a reasonable

line was drawn as applicable to the both side.

= So, it’s funny to hear that the so-called Western Human-right said to have

divine origin. ( Oh, really, what’s divine you meant ? !   😀 )

(Eastern philosophy never indulge [So-called Equality] = IF it exists, it negates

the fundamental teachings of the Karma and the Moment dependence of the

Dharma (and one’s life).  —– The reason why the Sangha of

Lord Buddha had no Cast in its group was, not because of the notion of Equality

but because of the cause to generate a Cast, the SELF of Previous Life is not exists.

But it doesn’t mean, the person would be born Karma Free. = Far from it,

If The Karma doesn’t exist, the Cause to create the person is neither there.

= Person wouldn’t come to this world. 😀

Can you ever imagine that you can force the Karma to create you with

the want of Human-right. 😀

(You can not negotiate it with the Karma, but you just follow.   😀 )

___/\___

[]

Graffiti ? in Deptford

I don’t know how to call them Graffiti or Painting.

Anyhow, what-so-ever, They are there as they are.

 

I remember that about 10 years ago, I met artists who got their studio in

the pink building. — They were doing a kind of “community art program”

to paint big garbage bin in the town to black and white “cow like pattern”

= Making the city looks more pastoral and natural !  

—— What an utterly fantastic marvellous idea ! ! !  (I lost a word then. 😀 )

===== Guessing from the pink wall, they seems still there.

(Mind you, I’m writing this without any cynical connotation at all.)   

[]  

Zeiss – 18mm Lens for Nikon

I saw this lens at Camera Cafe —– The test shot in the Cafe showed me

pretty impressive quality. Virtually no Distortion or Chromatic aberration.  

And this lens got the Number 1580xxxx,  the number of my fate. => So,

I decided to buy.  —– Lens itself is well known Distagon 18 mm F3.5 yet

this is for Nikon DSLR = FZ.2 type which has a Microchip built in and works

same as Nikon’s own lens, except auto-focus (still gives Focus-confirmation).

(Lens was designed by Zeiss but actuary made by  Coshina in Japan. ) 

From Camera Cafe, I took the direction south, on foot while shooting

time to time.— I felt the camera (Nikon D810) was working a bit funny.

= taking much longer to show the image though, I didn’t investigate it

on the spot. —– But after I checked the image on the PC, I realized that

D800 had been malfunctioning = gave all the exposure in HDR mode.  

And the photo above was the most severely mal-processed one.  (straight

from CF card)  And the photo below is the normal one. (though, clopped).

For HDR mode, three images in different exposures has to be integrated

= position has to match exactly —– though, the wrong one showed an utter

dislocation of the image and the color has been red-shifted. 

Richard of Camera Cafe explained that the So-called lens-mount adapter

with “Focus Confirmation type = microchip built in” often cause the

camera to malfunction. —– Though, it is too early for me to decide the

cause of this trouble.

(Whether the trouble could be repeated ? — in what condition etc etc. )

South of British Museum = Covent Garden area has many Dance / Ballet shops.  

Royal Opera/ Royal Ballet and the Drury Lane Theatre (which used to

perform “Cats” are there = Mecca of Dance.

And further walk down south => we get to the Waterloo Bridge.  

And the South-bank = Art centre is over the bridge.

It’s a funny installation though, as it was outside of Hayward Gallery,

it must be an art. —– is it ?  —– You got to be serious !    🙂  

—– So, optically superb.  Electronically —– not sure.   

I need to test this 18mm lens further. 

[]

Camera Cafe

They says it’s only one Camera Cafe in the world — may be, but I don’t care.

On the Photo above, end of street is British Museum (This is Museum Street).

Past decade or two, we are seeing less and less camera shops.  Small camera

shop disappeared because of big discount shop such as Jessops.  

And Jessops disappeared because of the internet shopping.

But before, local camera shop was a kind of talking shop and to the regular

faces, shop offering a cup of coffee or two. = So, to have a chat while having

a drink in a camera shop was not unusual sight at all. But digitals changed all.

Unlike a film photography, digital camera gives the result on the spot and

any short-coming become visible at once = anybody can see what’s wrong

and what to do. (if not, try other button = no need to learn, just press it !)

I know Camera Cafe many years —– they even organized a fund-rising

campaign to help Tsunami victims in Japan (gosh, 3 years ago !) = So,

it is a kind of node in the society and a salon to the photographers.  

And as a second-hand camera shop, they got quite a collection of

Zeiss lenses both for Hasselblad and Contax, on top of more familiar

Nikon and Canon. (as far as I’ve looked around, they are cheaper —–

such as Nikon F4 body, they offered for £250 —– only a while ago, I saw

it £350 at Nicolas of Camden = hence I nearly bought it but I got 150mm

lens for Hasselblad in stead (which I sold same one 25 years ago) (I can

test and use the lens on my current 5D Mk3 but to test Nikon F4, I need

to set up a dark-room to deal with B/W film again = a bit too much   :-))

The technical staff, Richard (photo Left) was a film maker before and

having immense depth of knowledge over lenses and the cameras.  

Very nice man to chat with.  🙂  —– and they got an exhibition space as

well (see the details on their website). 

Looking back the shopping list I did in there (such as Nikon’s 35 mm

PC lens,  Olympus 80 mm Life-size Macro etc etc.) —– I realized, that

I’ve been buying a kind of the item rather unusual = hard to sell

—– it’s mean, I’ve been a good customer to them.  😀

(But in the same time shop is keeping it’s own Reson de etre !)

They are open till 7:00 evening —– the best of the things there IS

they don’t have the restless tourist like customers.  😀

[]

Mistranslation of “MINDFULNESS”

When a person is walking —– in most of the case, the person is

not aware that HE (SHE) has been walking.

—– it is the same situation as you didn’t aware that your eyes has

been busy reading this blog on this very moment.

So, it is crystal clear, unless you become aware and intentionally think 

that you are reading this, your brain is just busy processing the meaning 

what was written, but paying little attention to the fact that who the

person reading this. = It’s mean, the awareness of you, yourself and what

and how you are existing here, doesn’t exists unless you are intentionally

think about it = because, “The existence of the SELF” is only in our mind

= SELF is a product of the one’s thinking. —– Also, it is obvious, once you

started to think about “That I am reading this etc etc” the efficiency of

reading drop drastically.   That’s why “This kind of thinking etc etc” were

called “Zatsunen”(雑念) = useless thinking or destruction. 🙂

[]

Lord Buddha thought exactly the same and came to the conclusion, that we

were designed to live without those conscious = useless thinkings and the

imaginary SELF.    We can be far better-off living and doing without those

“Zatsunen” because, without the destruction we were naturally controlled

by the Dharma.   Live and Do without useless thinking, is Mushin and being

with Dharma is Ichijo. = Then, what is this Dharma here, the Dharma who

controls us.  How this Dharma did know that the person IS walking or reading.

And how and what this Dharma remember how to walk or read, not mention

better way of doing them than our conscious controls.

—– (To cut the story short, I give you the answer here = they are the

subconscious control program, programmed and memorized into our brain

—– some has been even genetically programmed !)

—– This Dharma is the very Mindfulness and to let it control our action or

ourselves also called Mindfulness.

(In fact in my view, the choice of this word “Mindfulness” against the

Pali word “Sati” was the mistake

= it should have been “Retained Dharma” or simply just “Truth”.

—– It seems, all the misunderstanding of the Zen in the west has been

caused by this mistranslation ! = as it had given an impression that it was

the matter of the Mind-set —– but the essence is, NOT having it. 🙂 )

[]

—– Now, the reader who experienced so-called Zen training might have

realized a funny things  “where on earth so-called “Mindfulness Training”

such as that counting and concentrating to the breath etc etc, came from”.

—– I mean even in the ancient time when Theravada Canon was written.

—– In fact, this was the very very evidence of that the teachings of

Lord Buddha had misinterpreted from the beginning !

The Sati in the Meditation is, to let the Dharma made us sit = completely

abandon our SELF and get Mushin and just sit, is what the state of

Mindfulness on the (sitting) Meditation mean.

—– Who got the idea “To Think the breath and Feel the body etc etc”

= intentionally bring a Zatsunen / Useless thinking into the practice. 😀

(—– That was why the other school or sect has invented and since been

using other practice which couldn’t allow any useless thinking while doing it,

such as Shaolin martial-art or carrying a bowlful of water etc.)

—– Buddhism and the Zen is a strange mysterious teachings = not because

it got mysterious teachings but it got strange out of context mix-up and

wrong interpretations. 😀

The trouble is, still many people believing it, like wearing a

“Fashionable” T-shirts which got exotic Chinese character

printed upside-down. (It is in fact, nothing but, the insult to

Lord Buddha.)

___/\___

[]

New year’s First Sunrise — (well, almost)

New year’s First Sunrise —– well, not quite.  It’s the second one.  

Yesterday was a bit cloudy = so, this is in deed, the first opportunity

to take picture though ……… I didn’t even go out of my room,

let alone go-up a hill or a beach to take typical photo.

Worse still, I didn’t even rise a bamboo blind.  Still, with a longer 

lens with its shallow depth of field, bamboo-blind was disappeared.  

And at least, the photo on top is a genuine photo of SUNRISE !

—– but, first of all, why do we bother a day next of 31st of December ?    

or So-called New year’s day.  

It’s not even a Winter Solstice-day = just arbitrarily man-named day

= a products of human imagination.     Nothing absolute !

[]

We human invented so many rules and the patterns for us

to be bound or even enslaved by it.  

Like, if we use English, we have to follow its strict rules.  

Or some of the people created their own God and follow it.

—– so, to take a special significance of the NEW-YEAR’S DAY

—– IS just depends on our mind-set.  

Mind has created “Special Day” and the mind enforce its belief.

—– still, it is only in our imagination.  It might be fun and

able to have a kind of comfort to feel a part of the larger society

though —– we may better to think “Why do I follow this ?”

There could be the other kind of life “If not follow it”.

Enlightenment is to liberate the mind yet I wouldn’t simply say

brake the convention —– to chose the same convention, same

conclusion could be a feasible choice. 

Still, to see it in different eyes, everyday could be a fresh first day.

Have a peaceful and joyful year.

___/\___

[]

Citron-Bath in Winter solstices Day for Capybara !

Japanese Mountain Monkys enjoying hot spring bath is well known.

So, how about Capybara enjoying hot bath in the winter.

And today is the Winter-Solstices, the day Japanese makes Citron

bath to keep good health. = So, Capybara enjoying it too.

This is a Park in IZU ( 2 hours journey south-west of Tokyo ) but

quite few Parks keeping Capybara around Tokyo and all of them are

having a hot bath in the winter time.

(People can watch them without offending, nor Police concerns)  😀

—– It was originally discovered when the zoo keepers was using hot

water to clean the area, a Capybara accidentally found it’s nice to

bathe warm water’s paddle => then it was accustomed to all of them.

Japanese Zoo-keepers just followed what Capybara wanted.   😀

—– Peace for the people over there and to the Capybaras alike.   🙂

[]

Fortnum and Mason’s Xmas Window Decoration 2013

Among the big shops in London which one got the most heavy Gothic

taste may be a point of argument though, in my view, a shop selling

exactly the same things 100 of years = Fortnum & Mason must stand out

in its stubborn position.  —– Started to sell the candles to the palace and

expanded to deal with the Tea and established over the years,

Tea is a Tea = no new model or fashion there.  (Herbal tea is not a Tea !)

So the same shop is standing on the same place, looks the same too.

The design of Xmas window decoration is also heavier than Selfridges,

such as against the children’s tale, Fortnum & Mason chose

Greek Mythology — kind of difference. 

So, their taste for ancient Greek leafy pattern is still continuing though,

this years concept is more casual. = story from the next door.

It seems, even the shop stuck to the old tradition, the north Arctic

frontier, where Santa is based on, having a technological advancement

—– now, Santa is using a cart, instead of sleigh.   (Photo Right )

Santa’s new cart !

Any how, —– it’s fun  😀

(Shot by Canon 5D Mk-III, 24~70 F2.8, Pentax 15mm F3.5)

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