Algae or Moss ? — Water plant

I’m not sure what is those green staff on the river bank of Deptford Creek.

Its green color indicates that they are a plant living on the Photosynthesis.

—– though, I don’t care.   I only thought, its green color is beautiful — and

it’s enough for me to click the camera. ( thanks goodness, this lens shows

only the atmosphere, not the useless details — of so-called Realism.   🙂

= often, surface detail mask the true reality. True reality may lie behind. )

This fuzzy lens I used to take those photos were yet another Two Element

Homemade Lens. (toy camera lens with strong concave lens on front.)

( The lens appeared in this blog

before.)

[]

OMG ! Is this Japanese Heavy Metal ? — No, it’s Baby Metal Sir.

Three Vocals of the Baby Metal = Yuimetal, Su-Metal, Mormetal. (16 years old)

(Screen shot photos from — http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2056265/?anc=015)

Past six months or a year so, the name Baby Metal often came to my ears.

Though, my only thought was, It’s a good name for a band = Without using 

any ferocious word, the sarcasm is far more stronger.  —– Yet I didn’t know

they are a Japanese Girls’ band.     When I saw a Japanese news saying that

Baby Metal is going to have a concert in the Wenbury Alena ( 2nd April 2016 ),

I started to wonder what’s the sound like ? = I clicked Youtube links.

Wao ! This is the genuine article.  (Very rare to see among the Japanese staff)

—– Of course, it is a mix of Japanese Kawaii staff in a guise of Heavy Metal, 

still, the impressive instruments, guitar, drum — its danceable rhythm, sound, 

pretty good. (—– the visualization too !)

— And this is the more joky exotic staff (for export to the west)  🙂

( Still, the marriage of Japanese Taiko rhythm and the Techno beat created

quite a drive = my kind of the speed ! )

—– Only a thing I dread about Heavy Metal is, = the long-haired audience

dance = head-banging = the smell of their hair is the hell !    😀  😀

[]

MS Windows -10 ~~~ What a trouble !

Since after Window 10 was released, the notice “available for download” was

keep pesting the screen.  In the net-sphere there wasn’t much report of the trouble.  

— So, I clicked to start download – – – ? ? ?    and again, the process always stopped

in a few minutes. and again. — (My action must be halted on this stage.)  😦    When

I tried again while all the programs were shut down = even an Email was signed-out.

Then, upgrading to Windows 10 started — and took hours to “Configure” “Restart”

and so on again and again.      On the end it was downloaded and start working

though, I realized it’s not on my taste — such as the apps appeared on the start page,  

Store etc may be convenient to some people doing a lots of net shopping  (I don’t

know whether MS is selling those space) but not for me.  And the way to gather the

photos to one place was utterly inconvenient.  I checked the compatibility, such as all

the program or files I’ve been using under Window 7 were still functioning — or not ?

[]

Then, I saw a notice to upgrade Openoffice from 3 to 4 something = and I did —–

though, something was not quite right and too messy. = Openoffice opened under

MS Word ! (Of course, MS is not happy with free Openoffice, instead to buy theirs)

– – – – – On the end I decided to revert back to the Windows 7 again.

– – – – – though, the Openoffice lost function = So, I try to uninstall  and reinstall it

through Chrome.  On this process a malware “Chromium” started to block the 

process and the other malware “Cassiopessa” started to mess-up saying “windows 7 

needs to be repaired = download this” (must be a spyware) = = = So, the battle to 

remove those malwares started !  😦    Chromium was easily removed on the Control 

panel (uninstall program) but, Cassiopessa registered nowhere as a program = So, 

I needed to remove it from the default settings of EVERY browser’s start menu.

— which took to me till morning !

[]

On the end, I’m on the same Windows 7 but without the Openoffice. (I couldn’t 

remove old file as they were corrupted = Computer says “couldn’t find the file” = 

therefore I couldn’t install new files). SO, my conclusion was, if anybody has been

using the Windows 7 or 8 happily, never attempt to upgrade to the Windows 10.  

To buy new PC or laptop with Windows 10 should be OK but not upgrade on a

computer of which many different origins of programs, apps has been installed.

(some of them may not completely be compatible)

And this was the legacy of this Win-10 trouble. = during unload, reload process,

together with malware, the virus got into my laptop — to my WP blog account !

(But this is the only Visible part —– Who knows what is going on behind. =

Security program found nothing — still like this popping-up ! )

You see, how risky those action is.

—————–

PS : On the end, I was forced to use MS Office / Word  (yet I didn’t became payed user)

= at least, MS succeeded to kill-off the OpenOffice.

(I tried to reinstall OpenOffice again without removing old file = I succeeded !)

Though, soon after I’ve installed OpenOffice, this notice Appeared (MS is spying

our every move! ) —– I’m very suspicious this could be a malware made by MS to 

slow down or even block and make us abandon the OpenOffice.

(Otherwise, what was the purpose to do like this ?) 

— By the way, the red cast on the photo above was the tendency of my Canon 5D Mk-III.

(When the subject was bright white, often such red cast appear, which Canon

couldn’t fix.   😦   )

[]

Bizarre Lens on Macro shot

It’s the same lens, Pentax AF Zoom 35~70 F2.8 — with that heavy proxer.

So, the magnification ratio was about 0.5 (at 35mm)~1 (at 70mm).

As you may see, I’m not after the scientific details but the optical softness.

Still, when the subject was on the same plain (within the depth of field)

the lens can capture quite a details.   (All the photos here = F2.8)

(Note, in this photo, left bottom, an egg of the Green lacewing.)

Macro photography is the constant supply of the visual fantasy for me.   🙂

[]

Bizarre Lens – Pentax AF Zoom 35~70 F2.8

Well, the Lens = Pentax AF Zoom 35~70mm F2.8 itself was nothing strange

or I should rather say, Optically superb Lens. — But, the fate of this lens

was rather bizarre.  Originally the Lens was made as a Triangulation AF lens, 

so that the AF motor unit and the battery box were attached to the lens barrel.

It was the early 80s —– and soon, such AF system became obsolete.  

Still, Pentax designed this lens with their full force = Now looks rather modest

35~70 F2.8 Zoom then was an expensive fancy lens carrying £800 (?) price.

And the Zeiss vario-sonnar 35~70 F2.8 for Contax was much more than £1000.

On the market, the Minolta’s new AF camera has appeared then = When I saw

this lens in throwaway price £80 (I think) in the shop  (The quality of this lens

has been well reported.) I bought it and (you may not believe) modified !

( the AF unit was removed and the hole was covered by an aluminium panel) 

After I changed my 35mm camera from Nikon to Contax, the lens I bought  

first hand were 25mm, 85mm and I could use Tamron 90mm Macro and

500mm Mirror as well.  So, I modified this Pentax K mount to Contax mount.  

The Frangeback of Pentax K and Contax are both 55.5 mm but the Pentax

Bayonet is larger, therefore it wouldn’t go into the Contax camera. 

So, I removed the Pentax bayonet and welded Contax bayonet on it. (Photo right)

(Because of the position of a lever, the lens was mounted 90 degree off center.)

This was a test shot of Pentax AF Zoom at 70mm, F2.8 — 1.2 m

And this was a comparison, Canon FE Zoom 24~70 at 70mm, on F2.8 — 1.2 m

And the Pentax AF Zoom at 35mm, on F2.8 — 100m

The Canon EF Zoom 24~70, at 35mm, on F2.8 — 100m

As a lens for general use, this lens is pretty usable even on Canon 5D Mk-III. 

(and this is rather familiar tree.   🙂  )

And familiar landmark in the park.

All those photos were taken at F2.8 (because no auto controle).

—– still, very much usable.  🙂

And this must be a

familiar kind of photo

to the regular readers.

In my view, this is  

a kind of old german 

charactered lens.

(comparable to Zeiss

Planer Lens)

Pentax AF Zoom 35~70 F2.8

at 70mm / F2.8 / 1.2 m

T[]

Dust, Water seal ? — on Canon 5D

As I’ve disassembled and checked the inside of several Canon 5D cameras, I noticed

some peculiar points, the way how those cameras were designed and made. 

There was an almost legendary story, how Canon camera was survived when all

the Nikons has stopped to work under the sand storm in the first Gulf War which

made the press photographers to change their camera like an avalanche.

I heard a first hand witness story from a photographer who was one of my pupil

(who became a staff photographer of Reuters and went to the desert.) — What he

told me was that many other photographer’s Nikon were breaking-down while the

Canon kept working~~~ (in fact, before his camera break, he part-exchanged his to 

Canon. = so, I didn’t actually see how Nikon machine was clogged.) — Since this 

event, camera makers are keen to appeal “the Seal against the Dust and the water”

in their camera design. = So as the 5Ds are no exception = claim to have the Seal.

THOUGH, when I opened their body, I saw very little such measure.

= this photo was a 5D Mk-III inside, as you can see, there was no seal or gasket kind

of material on their jointing edge.  = It’s mean, once the body was dropped in the water

the camera has no resistance to it.  — May be what Canon was saying was, “In the

normal situation”, such as a light rain splash = not soaked into the water which IS

regarded as the user’s fault.

If you closely look at the 5D body, such as the Battery cap. (Photo left)

You can see the gasket on its edge which might be giving you a sort of comfort.  

Though, it was just a show-off window display. = If you are serious, have look 

battery chamber of the memory retaining battery on the right-bottom of the body.

(right under the cable connectors = Photo center and right ) = situating the same

bottom of the camera, this opening has no protection against the water at all. =

When the camera was on the table and if the beer was spilt, it seep deep into the

camera body. —– Still, sound strange to you though, today’s DSLR camera is 

quite resilient to the water which is not because of the special design, but the 

nature of its electronic components. (but the image sensor get smear easily)  

Those components and the Circuit Flex are waterproof, which was designed to 

be washed by a solvent and the shutter switch has closed structure. (photo left)

Seemed to be the weakest-point against water is the Dial on the Grip (photo center)

= But the Dial was in a small chamber, separated from the electronic encoder

therefore the water wouldn’t go into the circuit easily (photo right).

[]  

You may not believe though, on my experience, I saved number of  TVs and

electronic goods, mobile phones, soaked under rain water, dropped into toilet,

and so-on, so that, they were even splash washed under the running water.

After completely drained the water, then dry it with hair-drier. (60 deg’ C Max)

(Don’t put the battery and switch-on before completely dry.)

= the most of the case, they recovered the function. = Same can apply to the  

DSLR.  (Hi-zoom compact camera may be much harder to save because the

mechanism is too small and compacted). — So, if you dropped your DSLR into

a water (cleaner the water, the better chance —– muddy water’s sand particle

reduce the chance) = grip the strap and swing, rotate the camera like a gyro 

in the air (if it was 5D camera, remove the memory battery to open the water 

escape.) = with a centrifugal force the water would be shaken off from inside.

(In an old day’s wisdom, put the wet camera into a pure alcohol = replace the

water by alcohol first —– a bottle of vodka may work as well)  🙂

Then try dry the camera as quick as possible. — place the camera in a box and

blow-in hot-air = otherwise a written-off camera could be saved or last few shots

of the assignment could still be taken.    (Though, if you couldn’t succeed, don’t

blame me = As I don’t presume any responsibility here.) Just Hope Good luck.    🙂

[]

Internal Structure of Canon 5D

Some days ago, I got an opportunity to disassemble a Canon 5D body as I’ve bought it almost nothing. (still fully functioning) — Then, what I found inside was rather disturbing — hence I made this post.  

As the people who has been using Canon DSLR may know, new 5DS, 5DSR are having not only 30 Mp large image sensor (for 35 mm full-frame) but also mechanically, structurally much improved design = that’s what they said.

—– While planning, designing, developing new camera, Canon must have a lots of tests and analysis to achieve their objective = at least twice better image quality than the predecessor with its big sensor.  

(Photo above is the inside of the 5D Mk-III)

(And this is the 5D Mk-IV = basic design is the same = plastic mirror box was connected to the tripod screw by a stamped panel and few screws.  — Photo from Lens Rental site)

Though my guess was, when they tested new sensor on the temporally adapted 5D Mk-lII body, they must be realized that the crispy sharpness was not there.  Even if the image of the lens alone on the optical test bench was good, it couldn’t  be replicated if the same lens was mounted on the 5D body —– it’s mean, 5D body structure was shaky and giving blur, deteriorating the image quality.  (Which was not so visible on the 22Mp sensor, but showing up on the 30 Mp.)

What Canon boasted about the New 5DS was, not only rethink of the mirror shock damping mechanism, but also much solid tripod fixing. —– But it was too funny to  hear that, when I opened and saw the inside of an old 5D body,  I almost dropped  my jaw, because the design of 5D was the remotest from the solid structure.  

—– I’ve been seeing the inside of cameras more than 40 years thus I know how they were designed and made.   (When Canon developed EOS 1, production team brought a prototype here and asked my advice.  When they asked me which camera was my  favorite, I answered “Contax” a man responded “You can’t have that quality any more” “Why ?” “The man designed the Contax was no longer there.  I am the Man”

= The man, Mr. Morota had been headhunted and came to Canon to develop EOS 1.

—– I guess, he must be pretty annoyed to see the design of 5D series cameras. ) 

[]

When I changed my 35 mm camera, from Nikon to Contax, it was not only I’ve encountered the  Zeiss 85 mm F1.4 lens but also I found that the structure and the way their camera was made, was such solid therefore reliable.

(Preceding to this, I’ve been utterly annoyed  by the erratic behaviour of the Nikon’s motor-drive = always at the most crucial moment, they stop to work. — but they  worked always perfect on front of the Nikon’s Service Engineer.  😦  and  😀  )  

The photo left here was the inside of 20 years old EOS RT body. = You can see the  metal frame of which all the mechanism was built-in and holding the lens mount.  And the tripod screw was directly fixed to this metal frame.  

In contrast, what I found the inside of 5D (photo center) was = the structure framefor Mirror Box and the Shutter was made by injection mold plastic and even a lens mount base was a plastic.  

The photo right shows the almost the same design of 5D Mk-III.

In all those 5D, a stumped 1 mm thin metal connecting the plastic mirror box to the 1/4″ tripod screw on the bottom of the camera. = I couldn’t believe my eyes, IS this plastic camera priced for £3000 ? ? ?  

(Photo left =Lens Mount base, on the plastic frame.

Photo center = Thin white metal alone connects the Mirror Box to the Tripod screw.

= Almostly, the camera body is floating on the tripod !

Photo right = Plastic frame is soft, hence so easy to cut.
— Plastic could be more resilient to the shock with its flexibility but the same flexibility is the enemy to hold the moving shutter and the lens solidly together.

Think about the situation when you use the camera on a tripod, like the photo left = even if a lens was firmly mounted on the tripod (therefore, the lens mount was solid) still, behind the mirror box, the shutter mechanism and the image sensor could be jumping and dancing, because the mirror-box is not rigid, even if its bottom side was having a metal plate.

Imagine a car, when the main chassis was made by plastic, I wouldn’t be impressed by the buzz-word that the outer shell was made by “magnesium alloy” = it’s a cover-up cosmetic.[]

—– (I remember, EOS RT body was not more than £400. = A camera body which has a film wind-up and rewind mechanism, all together  built onto a metal die-cast, was still £400, £500)    In comparison, just a shutter and a sensor were built into a plastic mirror box (+ a bit more electronics and the Memory) cost £3000 !

—– Oh ! C’mon it’s not fair.  = So, it was obvious, so-called new feature in 5DS, 5DSR = “improved anti-vibration and the solid connection to the Tripod” was not a new achievement but a necessary  patch-up against the old shoddy design.  Though, despite the patch-up work, the test report from Japan saying that 5DS still showing high susceptibility to image blur which would negate the crop use of the photo. 

( As a matter of fact, I haven’t checked the “claimed to be” improved 5DS yet.  And I’m not sure whether I would buy this camera in order to see their fix ! )  Reading the Tech Reports here and there —– I haven’t seen any report showing the superiority of New Canon 5DS or SR over Nikon D810 = even on the chart test 30Mp image didn’t show a difference over 36Mp Nikon image —– I wonder  what’s going on and why ?  = It seems better wait till the matter sorted out.  🙂

********

PS:  Related post “Camera stability test” would be good to read.

[]

Yoshizen Phenomena

Alongside the peculiar phenomenon found in the Google Search, such as

“Yoshi – Zappa” which lead to my circular fisheye photo on the top page,

or “Tiny Life Egg” which lead to my photo of the Green lacewings’ Egg

( = on top of the 3.4 million items on their list,)

— the search term “Art Figure – St. Lucia” will have this image

on the top page of the 850,000 items in their listing.

 Really ? —- is this an Art ?

 Isn’t any better art work or painting of

 St. Lucia exist in the world such as the 

 Spanish old masters religious paintings ?

 —– I have no idea how the algorithm of google,

 worked-out to select an image of a twisted wire.

 Never the less, this is the Google certified “Art”

 on top of the million items.    😀 😀

 Even more peculiar phenomenon was, the artist

can recognize this as an art in one glance,

while holding the breath.   (If you think otherwise, you are not the artist.  😀 )

[]

The same question again.    Is this an art or even a sculpture ?    If this was a

sculpture, where IS the sculpted substance ?   We are seeing a mere contour of

something.   Something of What ?

—– to see, it was a frightened woman while she was hit by a blue line (purported

to be a lightning from the God)  🙂    was in fact in the mind of the viewer.

—– otherwise it was just a twisted wire.  —– And in its contour, we are seeing a

woman’s body — are we ?   Where is the body. = it IS just an empty space between 

the wire isn’t it ?  —– You believe this or not, this is the very ZEN Buddhism.

(In the term of the liberated mind and the eyes,  the mind of complete selfless 

Buddhist is very close to the complete open minded artist. — and the children.)

[]

What you are seeing is the wire and the VOID between.   Seeing the twisted wire and

in the same time, to see it was a figure of the woman in one glance. (Without hear or

read any explanation still capture the meaning instant, by a naked subconscious.)

To know the meanings in one glance while seeing its twisted wire as it is.  = This is 

the clear eyes and the mind.   Indeed, this is what the Buddhism teaches.  We might

be seeing just a contour or shadow, and the substance may there or may not =

Who can see everything anyway ? = and, does it a matter ?

—– as long as we can see its clear face and the meaning, we know what we have to do

and how to live without being bothered by a wrong thinking.

This IS the very enlightenment.   (You may say what is the difference between a wrong

thinking or delusion to the clear mind. = the former was a result of the thinking with  

a lots of desire and the greed kind so on, and the later will come only on the moment, 

without thinking, like as an intuitive, spontaneous reflection.

(= this is the reason why, Zen never give a second thought or negotiation.) =

The interaction of the million factors in the Karma gave very reflection of very moment.

And that was what the Dharma gave the person to pick.  —– this Confidence “To be with

the Dharma” is the core of the Enlightenment, hence no hindrance in the life though,

on the face, it looks the life just as it IS = it’s mean no fancy magic or mysterious

supernatural manifestation = hence it was described as common and ubiquitous

as a Dog Shit. = if anybody was saying something “Special Enlightenment” it is a sign

of that the person haven’t learnt what the Zen Buddhism IS.)

[]

So, look at the photo again.   What do you think of this. —– do you see, is the VOID

between the wire, still a meaningful existence ?  (or the illusion ? = Did the Google too,

saw the illusion and said that this IS the Art ? ? ?     Ha ha ha ! )

___/\___

PS[]

Chinese Food Scare ?

I bought this Tofu on March thinking to use soon though, I don’t remember

why but anyhow, it went out of sight in my fridge —– when I discovered this

a week later, it seemed perfectly alright to eat —– though, wait a moment,

Tofu used to be last less than a week even before open the package while the

water getting yellowish murky and the package got ballooned up.

—– with a serious doubt, I decided to experiment to watch this Tofu.

—– FOUR months past.  The Tofu looks exactly the same to the beginning.  

There is a kind of “Wisdom” to watch, such as a bread. = in the original plastic

bag, if the loaf of bread didn’t mold after 4 days, don’t eat and stop to buy

that bread because the food preservative is too strong.

[]

Coincidently, there was a news in a Japanese site transcribing a news from a

Chinese paper,  Global Times ; 

【海外発！Breaking News】もはや塩も信用でき

ない国。防腐剤たっぷりの有害な塩が7年も流通。

北京の工場を摘発。

2015年07月12日 12:55 by Joy横手

偽物の塩で7年も荒稼ぎ（画像はイメージです）

偽装問題をはじめ、食品に関する危険なニュースがあまりにも多い中国。塩ですら信用できない商品が

出回っているようだ。有害物質をたっぷりと含んだ塩を7年にわたり生産していた工場が摘発され、

波紋を広げている。

中国の英字新聞『Global Times』によれば、このほど中国・公安部の指導のもとで北京市および江蘇省の

警察が行った4か月にわたる抜き打ちの商品検査により、有害な塩を生産し ていた北京の工場が摘発され、

22人の逮捕者が出たもよう。悪質な塩は7年にわたり北京、天津、江蘇、河南、河北、安徽、および山東と

いった都市、省に流 通していたという。

毒入り塩により摘発されたのは、北京市大興区の床面積がたった8平方メートルという小さな工場。

パッケージに「食用塩」という偽のラベルが貼られていたが、中身には亜硝酸塩（防腐剤）がたっぷりと

含まれていた。1トンあたり400～450元の価値しかないものを彼らは800～1,000元の値で2万トンも販売

していたことから、江蘇省泰州市・公安局のZhu Jinhua氏は彼らが大変な利益をあげていたとみている。

また北京の「中国農業大学」で食物科学・栄養技術学が専門のFan Zhihong教授は、「致死量には

至らない程度の亜硫酸塩、その他の化学物質が含まれていると思われる。そうした悪質な塩は

一般消費者が購入する販売店 向けではなく、大部分が食品加工工場向けであろう」などと述べている。

——————–

Which said, a factory was discovered who has been selling an industrial chemical,

a mixture of Sodium nitrite and common salt packaged as a Cooking Salt.

My guess was that, this factory didn’t pay enough money to the local police, that all.

—– many stories of the Chinese Food Scare were too well known.    Such as that

famous Melamine Milk or Swage Oil were the name but feeeeew.    As a matter of fact,

since the scandal of Swage Oil, I stopped to buy any Chinese food using any oil, not

only Sesami Oil kind but even to Fried fishball.   (The circulation of Swage Oil for mix

was said to be too widely spread and impossible to trace).  

—– The trouble is their mentality.

[]

Jessop’s Fun-camera Lens

I found yet another fun-camera (One-time use Camera / Camera with Film)

in an Odds and Ends Box of a Camera shop. (for a couple of pounds)

This time it was a Jessop’s product though, since Jessops disappeared many years 

ago, this product was also pretty old.   Old enough to be rotten deep = supposed be 

an unused battery inside was completely corroded and the chemical has been leaked.

Branded Jessops though, it was a Chinese made = hence cheap battery was rotten.

This was an interesting product.   As a Chinese made, it could be a complete

Copy-cat product though,  the Jessops then was a well known English company 

= they could be an easy target of a lawsuit for a Copyright infringement.

So, they didn’t copy the lens by taking a mold —– instead, they put their own

Two-element Lens for this camera.     When Japanese film company, Konica,

Fuji, invented the disposable camera (one-time use camera), they designed the

omnifocus lens using pretty fancy aspherical design.

And to make the camera able to take photos under different lighting condition

with fixed shutter speed (about 1/60th second) on ISO 100~200 film, the

lens has to be about F4~3.5.  Especially after flash light was incorporated,

to have a reasonable picture for 3m, the lens can’t be smaller. = It’s mean,

pan-focus with smaller F-aperture was not an option, therefore, they had to

design sophisticated aspherical lens which could produce a reasonably well

focused image in any distance with F4 diameter (7~8mm).

—– But, without using aspherical lens, Jessops opted to the simple two lens

design with smaller F8 aperture setting, while taking advantage of the

higher ISO sensitivity of 400.

 The trick here was,

 F4 x2 = F5.6  F5.6 x2 = F8    while

 ISO 100 x2 x2 = ISO 400 (the same)

 —– and F8 can give much deeper

 depth of the field

 (= Pan focus effect using ordinally 

 lens though, F8 is not enough for

 close focus). 

 I tested this lens attached with rather

 heavy concave lens to extend the 

 original 27mm focal-length to 44mm, 

in order to use on the Canon EOS, (Photo left)

(thus, 3.5mm lens diameter, now gives F13 = pretty dark to see the finder image)

 

—– Not only that, the image produced by this lens was utterly rubbish. = when F13

lens could make only trash image while having no fancy fuzziness (F13 couldn’t 

have any chance of nice fuzziness) = there wouldn’t be any point to use this lens.

—– Well, not all the experiment has been a successful one.   😀

[]