DD-Pinhole on OM-D, M-4/3

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The DD-Pinhole was mounted like the other on OM-D’s body.

(DD mean, Double Density concentric Pinhole.)

= Pinhole inside of other pinhole !

— it’s a philosophical enigma Sir  😀

DD-Pinhole chose the subject and much harder to use

in comparison to Single Pinhole.

Still, its painterly effect is fun to play with.  🙂

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Make Pinhole for OM-D / Micro 4/3

On the previous post, I mentioned about a Pinhole specifically

designed for OM-D.  So, mean while I play with it like a test.

(Real work starts when I got camera’s body cap from China.)

Camera’s body cap goes inside of the mount surface 3.7mm,

it’s mean pinhole could be mounted further 3.7mm nearer to

the image sensor.  (Micro 4/3 camera’s Flange-back is  19.25mm,

-3.7mm would be 15.55mm = it will make rather wide-angle view,

equivalent to 31mm lens on 35mm film camera.)

— but, for the time being, have a test,  just place a panel with hole

on the surface of the mount. (You will see how simple it IS !)

On a flatten beer can,  54mm dia’ circle was drawn. (Photo left)

And the disc was cut out from the tin panel. (Photo Middle)

Then the disc with a hole in the center was stacked on the camera.

(Photo Right)  —– That’s all.  No more, no less.   😀

Voila!  This is the Pinhole image made by the hole on

the beer can.   Left photo was a wide-angle version.

(A concave / diverging lens was placed on front)

And the Right photo was by the pinhole itself. 

ISO 8,000 AV setting — since the exposure was more

than 2 second, a tripod was used.

To push the fun further, I put a Fisheye Adapter for

MobPhone (widely sold for £10 or so)

= So, it’s a Pinhole Fisheye Picture !  (photo right)

And this is the Double-Density Pinhole on OM-D.

Left was the Pinhole itself and the right was with a concave lens.

Now you’ve seen how easy and cost nothing the Pinhole

Photography IS. = So, why not try if you got Canon, Pentax

or Micro 4/3 camera in hand.

(Though, pay attention to the dust)

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Pinhole shot on OM-D

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA /OM-D  M-E1

This was the first street shot of Pinhole on Micro 4/3 camera.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA  = I don’t like this automatic singature,  😦 

ISO was 3200,  AV setting —– just a casual shot.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

My eyes have been trained to see ful-frame wide-angle.

= I don’t like this cropped image = I need to make a

wide-angle pinhole specially for M4/3 format.  ( Because

of the N-M43 adapter, this pinhole is 23mm further

away from the OM-D’s mount, effectively the viewing angle

of those pinhole photos were same as a 85mm lens.

= I should make the one directly attached to

the OM-D’s mount.)

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Location was around the Oxford Street to Soho area.

(The dust on the senser is a headache.)   😀

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Thought on OM-D and AA filter

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Having had an EOS to Micro 4/3 adapter delivered, I tested it on the

Olympus OM-D, E-M1 with Canon Fisheye and broken 18~55 Zoom lens.

(OM-D, E-M1 + Canon EF 8~15mm Zoom at 15mm (F4) )

What I found peculiar was, enlarged image in OM-D wasn’t pixellated

but randomly muddled up. = This must be the Olympus’ solution =

Electronically produced AA filter (Low-pass filter) to avoid the Moire. 

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Then I realized, that the “Cancellable AA filter of Canon 5D SR”

must be this — otherwise, can you imagine “Physical existence of

filter film suddenly dissapear with a flick of a switch ! ” — No,

I don’t think so.  How the camera able to know the original image,

before the image was muddled by the fiter which was already there !

= It mist be an electronically, digitally produced muddling effect

like OLYMPUS is doing here.  —– Just a choice of one more effect

and selling it £ hundreds more price !   What kind of business ? ? ?  

(This is the reason why I hate today’s  “Consumer’s cameras”= the

image produced by them were too heavily processed = like having

thick cosmetic and heavy makeup = so, the picture is pretty pretty

and looks too beautiful — it is almost a fraud.)

(Canon 5D Mk-III, EF 8~15mm Zoom at 15mm (F4) )

—– So, I tested the same with Canon 5D Mk-III = In fact, the

enlarged image was X400% (a part of the 6m x 4m enlargement)

(Canon’s image process showing white edge — this tendency is

problematic in their HDR process.)

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Incidentally, I tested that broken EFS 18~55mm lens again here.(Camera was 5D — Photo Left at F4, Middle at F11, Right at F22 )

Considering it IS a broken lens, even without the front element,

the optical quality of this lens is remarkable.

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Pinhole Photo on Micro 4/3 Camera

When I encountered heckle a lot of trouble to do Pinhole Photo

on the Nikon D810, I came to a conclusion “It’s better not to

attempt it other than on the Canon 5D”.

Let alone with the smaller compact cameras. 

Canon has an exceptional capability to deal with any lenses on

their camera = without making a change of the setting or special

operation, with the same AV setting we can keep shooting even

with a Nikon manual lens — (yet, to Pinhole, it needs to cover the

View finder).   

Then, I became aware that the Micro 4/3 camera can be used

with a lens which got no electronic connection to the camera

when I saw my friend was using his C-mount Angenieux cine lens

onto his Olympus Pen digital camera.

(Left = 10mm Cine lens — Center = Double Density Pinhole — Right = Single Pinhole)

—– So, I tried my Pinhole on his Olympus Pen, and the 

camera produced the images (well, — sort of). (Photo above)

In order to explore the possibility, I bought a Micro 4/3 Camera =

Panasonic, Lumix GX7 to be exact. (because, I thought, unlike

the Pen which needs to select the menu to set an ISO and  the

Color Balance, GX7 could access them straight on a dial.)

—– Though, on a test, while shooting 30 odd pictures, I realized

that GX7’s AV setting couldn’t cope with dark Pinhole, regardless any

high ISO (= needed to give a manual long exposure with guess-work) 

And their ISO such as 12,500 could only produce very grainy photo

while spending so many seconds to do the “Noise reduction” = needs

to wait its finish before shooting next. 

(Left = Anastigmat 75mm with Nikon to M4/3 adapter, ISO 3,200, 1/13

Right = the same by Single Pinhole, ISO 25,600, 2.5sec’ )

(Left = by multi Pinholes, ISO 3,200, 8sec’— Right = ISO 12,800 / 1/15

—– Note:  High ISO only creates useless grainy image. = use lower ISO

and give longer exposure could make better image) — Of course,

fuzzy grainy image may suites to the other kind of “Art”  😀

So, I changed GX7 to Olympus OM-D, E-M1. 

On E-M1, it’s much easier to take Pinhole image.

= As long as the subject is not too dark, with ISO 3,200 and the

AV setting  a Pinhole of 0.2mm can make (good) images.

— otherwise, use of a flashlight could brighten the subject well

( if distance was more than 1m, use external flash).

(I was using a set of Pinhole I designed for Nikon and Canon 5D

with  a Nikon to M4/3 adapter.) 

Incidentally, I also found that the Pentax DSLR could take

Pinhole Photo very well. (I tested it with K-1 and I noticed

Sony  a7 series cameras can handle Pinhole amazingly well.)  

I’m thinking to make a Wide angle Pinhole, specially for the

M4/3 camera when I got a delivery of the Body Caps.

(camera body cap for £1.49 from eBay or C-mount to M4/3

adapter for £1.11 from eBay too — though, takes 30 days)

On the next post, I’ll show you some Pinhole street photos.

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EFS Junk Macro for Scarlet Pimpernel

This Scarlet Pimpernel photo was taken by a broken Canon

EFS 18~55mm lens.   How it was made broken, I don’t know, neither

the shop staff who gave it to me did.     Despite its front element was

missing, I had a hunch, this lens works. (Above photo / at 55mm, F4)

In order to mount the lens onto 5D body and test, I needed to

cut off the protruded lens tail. (photo right)

Amazingly, the lens worked —(obviously except autofocus.)

(Still able to give a focus confirmation on manual setting !)

And on AV setting, F-aperture worked perfect and the

exposure was correct !    Without front element, the lens can still

give pretty good macro image from 1/1 at 24mm to x1.7 at 55mm.

(Though, with dreadful distortion — Don’t ask too much.  😀 )

This image was made on 55mm setting with F-11 /AV.

And this one was, at 23mm setting, F-11 / AV on Canon 5D Mk-III.

—– considering it was a cheap kit lens, broken and came free,

= it wasn’t too bad was it ?    Canon is making pretty good product.

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* * * * *

(Above is the original size and its part enlargement of the top photo)

(Showed sharp detail though the depth of field is very shallow)

PS :  To the untrained eyes, the photos above seems to be unsharp.

So, I show you a photo of a Butterfly Wing and its cropped,

enlarged images, taken by this broken EFS Zoom lens at 55mm F11.

(Photo above = at 55mm setting, F11 — X1.7 magnification)

(Center part enlarged photo of above picture)

— is it sharp enough ? 

(don’t forget, this is not even a macro lens.)   😀

(Of course, if a junk lens could show the same quality, how

the Leica’s Macro Elmar or Zeiss’ Macro Sonner could

justify their price !

—– and, we can’t talk the price of the mass-produced kit

lens and the lens hand-made for few hundred scientists

on the same basis.)

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Beaulieu 8mm Cine Camera

— (Beaulieu 2008s / my Homemade lens on a Nikon to C adapter attached. 

— And the contact pin of the battery was connected to the 4AA cell battery)

One of the regular attendance of the WW Greenwich (SPC.org),

Gordon used be a busy cinematographer, even worked for Japanese

NHK before.    Naturally, he got many  professional cine camera but

all of them are film camera. —– and, he got stock-pile of such

as the Kodak Super 8mm Film even now. 

So, he wanted to create something fancy footage using even fancier

100 years old Lens. 

A French Beaulieu was a well-known cine camera manufacturer

together with, Arriflex, Bolex, Michell etc.    And one of his camera

Beaulieu 2008s is a servo-controled Super 8 cine camera —– though,

electric camera needs a power, but this camera’s (made 1968) special

battery is dead. —– So, he needed my help. 

The information through the Net, < say yes to analog ! >,

I found this camera’s motor has a feed-back generator and

a symmetrically powered Servo-amp = It’s needs + 0 – power,

hence 3 contacts in the battery chamber. (photo above left) 

I tested the camera while connecting the battery just by the

3 crocodile cables. = It’s worked perfect. (after 20~30 years ? !) 

When we deal with this kind of project, we need to see what IS

the main priority ? — To maintain the originality of the “antique”

— or just get a function. 

Neither Gordon or me got a romantic dream to the antic camera

but see it just as a tool. = So, I told him “Just have a 4AA cell

external battery case and connect it by 3 cables soldered to the

contact in the battery chamber”. (forget the nice appearance.  😀 )

So, the battery (as they can be accommodated in the camera’s

battery chamber = Photo above middle) was half sticking out

of the camera, — still, this was the easiest adaptation.

= As long as it is fit to the purpose, just use it. Why not ?

So, Gordon is going to have a test shoot with 100 years old

Ensign Anastigmat Lens ! — Though, now-a-day, to have

a 8mm cine film processed and digitized etc is an awkward,

expensive and time-consuming business = I can not promise

when I can report and show the results here.

Good luck Gordon.

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Ensign Lens Portraits

At WW gathering in Greenwich, while testing Ensign’s Anastigmat

lens on Gordon’s 8mm cine camera, I did some portraits shots

of the people there.

100-year-old lens was stuck on a bellows, on Canon 5D Mk-III.

(150mm F7.7 lens, focusing on a bellows wasn’t very easy)

— still, the camera like this makes the people smile.

Mike and John

James, Gordon and Paul

Mike, Albert and Roman

The hands (what else ?) 

Those pictures were the clopped cemter image of the 3″x4″ of

the image size, the quality was good. (Just like most of the lens)

(But as the image of this lens was too ordinary, it has no point to

chose this lens while an ordinary lens gives full auto and F2.8. 

😀 )

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Ensign !

Oh my goodness, after 43 years, Britten leave the bunch of Europe.

—– After 43 years mean, a year before I came here, Brit joined EC.

It was just after the oil shock and the time Britten was in a doldrums. 

(Before North-sea Oil boom)

Still, something amazed me of this country then was that as the law 

was changed, the gay couple became eligible to have a council housing

like a married couple. (otherwise, single man was almost impossible

to get it in the priority queue = single mother, disabled, married with

children —- has higher priority) (Though, I didn’t know whether it

was due to the European regulation or trend of the human right issue)

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Ensign is a national flag on the (battle) ship, so it symbolize somewhat

patriotic though I’m not talking about the politics here —– but

an old camera called Ensign made by the Houghtons, England.

Ensign Anastigmat Lens 6″ (?) F7.7

( A fog on the photo above was caused by a fungi and no coated lens)

Yet this is just a mediocre old camera made around 1910s and the

lens was a common anastigmat lens.  Nothing special or remarkable.

(If the lens was giving visibly too distinctive image, no one would

buy such camera.   😀 )

My friend Gordon wanted to use this lens to shoot on his

8mm cine camera. (so, I was asked to modify it to C-mount fitting)

The camera got the same design of the then trendy (!) folding camera

of a quarter plate size (4″x3″ = its contact print would make a post card).

The photo above left showed yet another old camera of the same era,

which I have talked about before.

The name of the lens Anastigmat mean, Ana (non) Stigmat (optical

aberration showing  cross-shaped ghost image) and designed to

eliminate not only Stigmat but also the other aberrations as well.

 (only in the certain level — just able to produce good enough

image = like the photo on top)

Strangely this lens doesn’t say what focal length — still, the maximum

F-aperture seemed to be F7.7 and the diameter of the lens is about

19~20mm —> 20 x 7.7 = 150mm —– and the 150mm lens for 4″x3″ 

size will make about 45° angle of view = good for full length portrait shot

on 2m distance.

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To dismount the lens (together with shutter unit) it needs to use

caliper like tool from the back of the lens. (Photo above right)

Lens (and shutter together) was stacked on front of the bellows,

and 150mm lens for 35mm camera is a good telephoto lens.

—– but mind you, here only the center of the lens

= best part was used.

So, the image quality is not too bad other than the foggy halation

caused by the fungi.   But, neither the pleasing softness was there

— just an ordinary image.

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People might have a false dream toward the old lens which could

create an archaic nostalgic image though, most of them would

make just ordinary image  only with foggy halation, caused by the

non-coated surface reflection if not a fungi. 

Because the visible difference on the image was created by the

uncorrected aberration which has to be (more or less) corrected 

except the very old primitive design such as the Petzbarl lens of

the Dageleo type era.     And, even if the lens happen to have an

aberration, it’s not apparent on the cropped center of the image. 

In fact, the false impression of the nostalgic image was made by 

the low resolution of the old film / plate, it may not be replicated

on a modern DSLR.

(Old film’s latitude was much narrower = shadow details lost but

with the halation inside of film emulsion, edge of the dark part

was eaten and together with the halation on the lens surface

made the image looks rather soft = created the image like a copy

of an old cinema frame = this is the reality of nostalgic image.)

c.

The same Meadow by 2 Element Toy Lens

Somewhat the same kind of photos again.

But with 2 Element Toy camera Lens.

This lens can make a bit more detailed image than Gaudy Lens.   🙂

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