Party Time

On the London Underground I encountered very very colorful

bunch of the people.  They said they are on the way to “a kind of Party”

—– later, I found, they are in fact the Government officers !

(Do you noticed, they are wearing 007 type very special glove ?

It might be for Golfing Gold finger’s) 

I guess, it may not be a special disguise for a rather elaborated

intelligence operation but more like for a chemical-physiological  

assessment project to find a toxicity of the liquid substance.

—– anyhow, to avoid me to become a hacking subject of GCHQ,

I shouldn’t go into too much details. 

I wish them having had a very GOOD time

and safely returned to their home now.  🙂

[]

[

Fancy Vinegar Flask ! ——- ? ? ?

Week ago I’ve bought rather fancy item from Lidl shop.  

I don’t know the name which the receipt said Geschenkset.  = Anyhow

this is a Glass Flask to serve Vinegar and Olive-oil on the dining table. 

They were sold as a gift set (for a Xmas ?) —– Olive-oil and a Vinegar

together with a glass flask for £7.99 !

In fact, I was not interested in to

buy Olive-oil nor Vinegar, but

fascinated by the design of

glass which I can use it to

design strange sculpture kind.

Though, watching this many

days, I still couldn’t figure out

“How to make this” —– how a

Glass Craftsman made this !

Simplified description is, “Small glass flask inside of larger flask”

though, it is an utter puzzle to me = How it was made ? —— through a

hole of large flask, inserts a glass pipe with melted glass on the tip-end

and blow it up to make a small flask inside, and weld two together on

the edge of the hole —– though,  as the photo above showed, the neck of

the small flask is not an one-piece straight pipe = inside small flask was

made separately and the outside pipe was welded later.  But how ? ? ?

= If anybody who is reading this knows about the way to make,

please put a comment “How it was done” !

[]

Looks false image ! ?

They are the Photos from Greenwich London though, as you may feel,

somewhat all fishy image.  😀 —– Fishy if not irritating.

It’s definitely wrong —– isn’t it ?

M m m m m ?

Ha ha ha, you got to be joking.

[]

Toy for a Grown-up / Rhythm Indicator

This electronic device is —– I may say, Rhythm-Indicator !

When I was a Disco-King (you believe or not 😀 ) often people (other keen dancer) asked

me a question about the way I dance, which is completely free movement hence virtually

no pattern still exactly follow and synchronizing with the Rhythm —– I needed to explain

what the Rhythm is.

Since I’ve been almost a fixture of the club, I also made enormous observation of the

people’s dance movement.    Among the many funny discovery, the most interesting

phenomenon was, that some of the people dance with the song, not with rhythm beat,

therefore it looks odd and off the rhythm still,  the person was not aware of it but

pretty much enjoying the dance  (in fact nothing wrong with it ! )

And another discovery was that the Spanish moves a moment later than the beat.  (It is

common with the Flamenco Dance, the movement occur not at the tense moment of the

beat, but the moment when its highest tension collapsed ! ! ! )

[]

Anyhow, to talk about the Rhythm in the noisiest environment, it’s easier to show it visual.

So, I made this Rhythm-Indicator  (but only for a Rock beat)   which shows the emphasis of

the 8 beat in red, amber, green, small green LEDs.   And I explained, the movement what

the Rhythm demands, not what I want to move. = So, the movement was the exact reflection

of the music in each moment, not a pattern in fashion  (such as in a film) or choreographed

planed movement. —–  Funny things even among the keen dancer was, that they dance

what they want = regardless the different music, still repeat the same movement !

(= What is the point to have different music.   😀 )

My indicator shows 8 beat, strong, weak so on, and having BPM (speed) controller, and a

Selector for x2 and ½ speed.   The Reset button was to synchronize with rhythm cycle. —– so,

in operation, reset to the first base drum, and adjust the speed to match the music =

Red LED to come coincided with every base drum of following cycle.

Voila’ the rhythm of the music was visually indicated.

—– To put the circuit and the batteries in a thin cosmetic case, I needed to curve the inside

to make a bit more space.    (It was long before SMD components or Lithium battery.)

[]

Though, even in the same music, same song, the speed is not constant and the pattern and the

use of percussion is changing. (that’s the way to make a music more dynamic and exciting).

—– So, inevitably, I had to design more elaborated system such as automatically pick-up the

base drum and synchronize the LED to the Rhythm cycle.

But instead to develop Rhythm-Indicator Mk-II, I changed the direction to design the

Sound-reactive Disco Pendant. = It was a by-product of the Base Drum synchronizing circuit.

—– I’ll show you those Sound-reactive LED Pendant in the coming posts.

[]

Cat’s Toy

While living with cats, I designed many Cat’s Toy. 

or cat’s Teaser.

After all, cats are still the hunter = they chase 

anything moves, though, the birds are a bit too

fast ( still, they brought me 2 sparrows and one

wood pigeon ! —— this pigeon was as big as the

cat, Pino II herself. —– But they are the headache on the “Diplomatic Protocol”

= Gift has to be accepted with full gratitude and has to be eaten.  M m m ?   😀

When they saw a bird they make very peculiar sound like clacking noise “Ka ka ka — ka ka ka”

And flying Butterfly makes them excite most.

= So, I designed a Cat Teaser using the Bird’s Feather which fly like a flapping Butterfly.  

= On the Photo above,  3 Feathers were arranged to make a propeller (to make it rotate)  then

short elastic string was used between Ball-chain and Feathers.   Elastic string gives flexibility

when the feather was caught by a cat (to prevent cat’s nail to break).   And the Ball-chain

allow the feather propeller to rotate.  (—– In short, it is a fly-fishing rod for a cat.  😀 ) 

The game is, moving the feather propeller on front of a cat, but keep it never be caught.

Whole string was tied on top of a collapsible Radio-Antenna, hence it became very small.

In fact, it would give a good exercise to the cats, and to the cat’s owner alike.

= Cat catches it  first, or you pull it a moment before ?    🙂

[]

Battery Story

Battery is an animal among the electric devices because of it is an electro-chemical device

which is using “on-going chemical reaction”inside, therefore it comes with all sorts of

unpleasant temperament.   Despite their name dry-battery, they are hardly dry solid thing

but contain half wet compound.   Such as a common Zinc-Carbon battery, its inside of

Zinc-can  was filled with black Manganese-oxide which was wetted by the electrolytic

chemical, Ammonium-chloride, and while producing electric energy, they produce hydrogen

gas as well.  (Its pressure causes leak, and it could even explode = when they explode,

popped-up cap break the battery case. ! ) 

[]

Even though the battery was evolved into Hi-tech age and instead of humble Zinc, Lithium

is in fashion, still it is the same “electro-chemical device” so that, very fancy activity of the

chemical, such as crystallization cover the electrode etc. could be happening inside etc.

Not only the product (battery) is animal, to produce it is really a messy business.  This is the

reason why, most of them were produced in the country where environmental, health-safety

regulation is not strict.   (Such as to refine Zinc, its process need to use Cadmium which was

washed out to the river, hence in China, Cadmium contaminated rice, food in general is the 

serious but hidden problem)  —– Imagine, when the battery was mas-produced, somewhere

rather low-standard factory, how about the purity of the chemical, or how minute but crucial

additive such as a rare-earth material was evenly mixed = some got more and others got non.

= It is easy to see that why each individual battery is never the same.

[]

The trouble of the inconsistency of the battery become really a big problem in case of

rechargeable battery, especially when it was used in numbers such as 4xAA batteries

in a camera or a flash-light.

The situation is exactly the same in case of rechargeable lithium battery-pack, of which

in most of the case, battery-pack contains 2 lithium cells.  —– After ten of the charge cycles

the difference of each battery started to show-up. 

In case with the  4xAA, and if you are

using a charger which is charging each

individual cell (Individual type has

4 separate LED indicators), you must be

noticed that not all of them become Full in

the same time = some of them takes longer

to be fully charged.  

This is the inevitable fate of the battery =

some loose the original capacity much sooner

than others. ( So, I can say, the reliability is exactly what we have paid.

=  What you can get from a set is, what the worst one gives, not their nominal capacity. :-D)

[]

When the battery has this character, and if you charge them all together, while roughly checking 

the time such as 5 hours, 7 hours kind, or worse  until they become very hot, you are destroying

them. —– When one battery lost the capacity (such as 2500mAH drop to 2000mAH) that battery

become FULL much earlier than others and became hot.   Still if you didn’t noticed and keep

charging, it will be over-charged and makes that battery further deteriorate. — (So, which is the

safest way to charge them.  = Use the charge current  1/10th of the Capacity x 15 hours =

If it was 2500mAH Battery —- 2500 x 1/10 = 250mA current for 15 hours.  = Standard Charge !  )

[]

Even worse situation is, such as 4xAA were

used in an equipment, when the one which

lost the capacity became empty, its polarity

reverse (Yes, + became to – , same as you put it

wrong-way) then other batteries’ energy was

sucked by this empty battery ! —– Of cause,

it devastates that empty battery further =

in fact, kill-off. ( With the same reason, a

battery-pack of rechargeable tool never last

more than a year or two.  

And when we need replacement pack, the same type may no longer in the market.  

That is why the professionals only use such as Makita or DeWalt who keep selling the old type

many years. We never seen the same type again among the cheap Chinese tools.)

This worst situation may not occur in a case of latest DSLR because the camera monitor the

condition of the battery, yet still in its battery-pack, one of lithium cell has deteriorated earlier

than the other = So, when I disassembled old battery-pack which lost capacity and no longer

usable for the camera, I found the one of the cell was still usable = I reconstructed an usable

battery-pack out of 2 old packs. (Think about, it worth £50 ! —– though, I wouldn’t recommend

you to try the same. Unlike a simple battery-pack of rechargeable tool, lithium camera battery

has an additional safety device connected between two cells, hence a bit trickier to work-out,

and any mistake could cause expensive damage to the camera.)

[]

So that, when I buy Ni-MH battery, I buy 2 or 3 sets in the same time, and use them in rotation.

And time to time check their capacity to select best 4, which got same capacity to make a set.

To check the capacity, discharge each individual

battery through 1 ohm register and measure

the time how long it takes the voltage to drop

to o.8 V. —– But for most of the people, this

method is too awkward = So, my advice is,

Buy an “individual charge type rapid-charger”

and check the charging time, when one reached

Full, write the time on the battery, —– if the one

become Full, much faster than others, reject

that one. (It’s mean you need to keep a spare,

ready to replace with it. —– In long run, this tactics is cheaper and even if it is the second class,

there always a spare-set is in hand.)  —– More easier method is = check the voltage of each

battery with Battery-checker before charge them, (Unlike an ordinary test meter,  Battery

Checker measure the voltage while drawing the current, hence it shows the condition At-work)

and mark bad apple (s) and make a selection of  “Good 4s” and “Bad 4s”   😀

—– Yes, battery is really a necessary evil.   Unfortunately I still need them —- a lots.

——————————————-

Photo above is a battery pack which was dead.    Five  AAA type batteries inside,

3 were completely dead. —– Anyhow, I replaced all 5 batteries with new set.  

It is possible to do like this though, I wouldn’t recommend you to do this.

—– Without a use of Spot-welder, it need to use the soldering = the heat of

soldering would melt the insulating washer and would cause chemical leak and

cause much more expensive damage to the camera than the cost of battery.  😦  

[]

Costume design / Flat Panel to 3D Sculpture

I went to a dress rehearsal of performance held at a private club, and took pictures

of this costume though, the club was members only private club,

I can’t give any detail but only show those photos.

Obviously the costume was pains takingly made by many designers, working together, still

I can’t give the detail of who were they, at moment.

—– It was a character in a story, an Eque.

What took my attention of this costume was,

its approach to design the hose head.

The curved structure was divided into each parts,

and formed, shaped, then put together.

—– When I designed something similar, 

a head of Flying Dragon, I figured out the

shape to make it only from the 2 panels, 

= upper part (face) and lower part (jaw), and the

back part of the head was made, cut and bent metal panel. (on top of those, some

additional joint panels, enforcing metal bar etc , still, despite its size and appearance, 

it took only 2 days to make = very simple structure hence easy to make.

—– when designer makes a shape of a horse head, most of the case it would be done by

either Papie-mash or Casted Glass-fiber Epoxy. —– to make it in this way was rather

unusual and looks fun.  🙂

[]

Focus-shifting Muliti-exposure Photo

Don’t worry, You don’t need to clean your specs.

 It’s not your eyes. —– Photo IS fuzzy and it’s meant to be.  😉

——————- (Hey, this is a very very pretty girly picture ! = Click it and see enlarged. 😉 )

These photos were taken by a technique,  Multi-Exposure with Focus-Shift.

—– In order to have an effect = a core image with out-of-focus halo around, I did

it before while camera was set on a tripod.     But this time I did it by hand-held.

I guess, it could be done by Hacking into camera’s operational program and

over-drive the AF motor while the camera is giving the multiple exposure. 

(Single exposure is too short to manually shift the focus. —– In the old days of

wooden camera, the old masters used the same technique to shift a focus while

giving a long exposure.  And the Minolta Alpha 7000 had this effect in their

Portrait Mode to create softer image. ) —– But, I found it was not

difficult to move the focus ring during the few multiple exposure. = Just Do it,

and if not successful try it again —– success rate is somewhat one in four.  😀

(not only how far focus to be shifted, but a trouble of camera-shake is also

a spoiling factor.  = If you are a bad shooter, shoot a lot — one might hit a target !)

————- (This must be a puzzling photo = where it was focused ?  😉 )

Keen reader of this blog might be realized that the post in these days were all connected

behind the scene = how camera can be steadily hand-held etc.  (without having enough

practice and gained a confidence, this kind of photography would be only a waste of time.  

Creativity does not occur out of blue,  it needs to have a base, or incubating ground.  

A practical adjustment  or improvisation may suddenly conceived on the spot but

it is a minute part of the operation.

 

[]

Home-made flower :-D

It’s a middle of September, not many flower left.  

—– Don’t tell me to go to a florist.  I don’t buy flower or plant.  

They should be where they grow.  Unless I found a pot abandoned on the street.

—– (provided it’s not a meter-tall tree.)  —— Then Kinetorori murmured me  

“If no flower, why not make one yourself” —– It’s a his bad habit.

It’s the most un-Zen like practice though, —– I did.  😀 

 (Out of used envelope.)

[]

So, a flower is blooming in my room. (keep blooming for foreseeable future.  😀 )

Buddhists telling us “Live on the moment”

—– though, I took a way against it.  

A photograph is imprisoned to the moment.  

So, to have a Jailbreak of this “Moment”

I made a photo to have rather prolonged span

of time (unlike ordinary photographic norm).  

The photo above consists multiple exposure

while having its focus shifted.  = Yet another

attempt to create fuzzy image —– went

beyond a soft-focus lens,  yet keeping a sharp core of

image, unlike a pinhole photo.  

[]

Camera Stability Test

In the previous post, I talked about the Image Stabilizer a bit though I’m not a fan of it.   Since, I haven’t seen any photo which was benefited from it so far.  May be because, even without it I’m quite capable to shoot good enough picture hand-held. (even 500 mm lens !)

People may get a benefit of its Placebo effects = Peace of mind stabilizes the hand.  😀 

Still,  it was only “Impression from my experience”  —– not from the objective comparison.

—– So, in this occasion I purposely tested it.  

(but I wouldn’t say it was scientifically rigid —– Just clicked the camera as usual.) The test object was a “Pinhole-light” as you can see the photo left. = If the camera shakes, photo will clearly shows its movement at once.

I gave only one click for each speed, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30 but for Image Stabilizer (IS),  further 1/15, 1/8 and 1/4  were tested —– It was free-standing hand-held though, I was using my Chest-pod.  😉 

( Check the image of pinhole on the enlarged photo please)

Canon EF 200~70, F2.8 L IS lens on 5D Mk3  with IS On.  From left  1/125, 1/60, 1/30.   Lens zoom was set to  200 mm.

and further  1/15, 1/8, 1/4 —– even IS couldn’t save a shake on 1/4 .

The same as above but IS Off —– though, it didn’t make much difference.

Further slower speed = 1/15, 1/8, 1/4 —– 1/8 started to show a shake.

(Its horizontal movement showed,  Chest-pod stops vertical shake more !)  = It’s mean, IS made only one stop difference.

Tamron 500 mm F8 lens was tested on Canon 5D Mk3  on 1/125, 1/60, 1/30.

The same Tamron 500 mm was tested on Nikon D810 body,  1/125, 1/60, 1/30.  

Results shows almost no difference on the different camera body.

Canon EF 70~24mm F2.8 big heavy lens was set to 50mm and tested  1/125, 1/60, 1/30.

And small Micro Nikkor 55mm F3.5 lens was tested on Canon 5D Mk3 body.

—– Different size and weight of the lens showed not much difference.  

My conclusion was, as I thought before, the Image Stabilizer makes little difference, it was mare one stop.  (Anyhow for 200 mm lens, hand-held 1/4  (if not 1/8) is a hopeless situation.)  

So the lesson was, that if you are a good shooter, a sharp photo you made was = because you are a good shooter, not because of Image Stabilizer.  And if you are a bad shooter, no Image Stabilizer will rescue you.

 Those lenses are the lenses I tested with.  

Some are the latest current model but 55 mm Micro Nikkor and Tamron mirror lens are more than 40 years old. —— still working perfect (optically  😉 )  

And the kitchen was where I did those test shots.  The shooting distance was about 2m, so, I shot them while standing here (half step forward).  All from the same distance.

[]