Mountain Tool box

Ideally, in here I should put a story and the photos from mountain or

at least a kind of hill walking.    Ideally from Scotland or North Wales —

if not, at least South Down somewhere. — That’s what I’ve been thinking

though, now I would say “Shame” it may no longer a viable idea.

I missed the boat.

= As a consequence, quite a few of my possessions became redundant.

(Still, such as a tent could be used for a camping, and a cooking burner

for a party use etc — typically, a multi function knife is in my daily use.)

Among those who became redundant, my Mountain Tool Box must be the

top of “the object de reminisce”.  

This was a Box accompanying me almost all of my active life more than 55 years

and in the mountain, this box could acted as the last resources for a survival. 

(Over so many years, many of the original members were broken or replaced

by the better tool. —– So that, in the photo above, only a Pocket Torch Light,

2 Screwdrivers, a Tweezer and the small boxes with its contents remain original.)

Specially designed Sewing kit in a match-box (left photo )

Screws and the Nats etc and a Razor blade (center photo) = (If 

anybody got Appendicitis, this Razer could be used for operation)  🙂

Spare-parts for Oil Burner and the Rivets etc (photo right)

Burner then was either kerosene use Radius, or white spirit use Phoebus.

And in the Alpine Club I only know how to repair, hence kept the spare

parts.  So, this box was expected to have everything for repair work. (from

mending a Climbing Boots, stitch-up the Tent to tighten-up loose gear)

And in the mountain, able to put a

fire could be the most crucial matter

for a survival.  Keep a match dry was

always a headache.

(Cheap gas-lighter wasn’t common then)

So, I kept a gas-bombe type gas lighter

for the last resources.

(After over 50 years, gas-bombe is still full !)  —– and I reflect, it wasn’t a bad 

start for a Hi-school boy to prepare and organize a Tool-box in this extent while

giving the detailed foresight of what sort of repair work could happen.  

—– And it made me think, “Is this kind of mindset (prepare to fight-off all

the trouble beforehand) affected the Karma to exclude me to get an accident”.

= It is the question, when the burner was broken down —– frozen to death is

a natural fate, or the Karma gave me the way to fight-off ?   Good Question.

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Artcore Int’ Exhibition

There is an Exhibition of the Artcore International at the Bird’s Nest Pub in

the Deptford, London —– in fact, it coincided with their event called Nestival

with a lots of live music.  

You may find a lots of info’ here.     

https://www.facebook.com/events/382090185319668/

In fact, what exhibited there was a collection of weird images = almost

obsessively,  painstakingly created drawings, sculptures.

(thanks goodness not a kind of “So-called” conceptual art but has substance)

(sorry, so many artists and their works, I couldn’t name and credit each one

= if you are interested in, please visit there as it’s opens till 26th Sept’ )

The exhibition was organized by Joefur and Kevin who were the 

artists of Minesweeper Collective.   The Tyre Creature, (Photo above)

= Dragon ?  or huge Rezard ? looks amazingly realistic.  🙂

(Sorry, this picture = lefthand side = Top )

As I reported before, Deptford (next to Greenwich) is a weird artistic town.

  <<   https://yoshizen.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/deptford-art-or-odd/

  <<   https://yoshizen.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/graffiti-in-deptford/

  <<   https://yoshizen.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/spiritual-deptford/

So the Bird’s Nest seems to be a kind of community center, gathering point.

And it is a rare kind of pub always playing Punk, Sexpistol like music —–

the reflection of the local folks’ psych.   Good !     🙂

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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.)

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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 !    😀  😀

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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 ?

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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 !

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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.   😦   )

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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.   🙂

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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

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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).

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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.    🙂

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Can Zen change a person to Liberal

Very fundamental question — Can Zen Buddhism change a person to be more

open-minded liberal personality, or a person who IS open-minded, come to Zen ?

= in other words, that person has been born to be a liberal by own Karma already.

Zen or Das Kapital may have played little role to make one’s direction, only gave

an excuse and a cosmetic to the life.

— In my early post, I wrote, I came here by coincidence though, from the start,

I was born to be a son of Zen priest.   Like it or not, Zen family has the Zen principal

and such atmosphere anyway.   So, standing here as I am, was that because of

nurture or my nature IS questionable (pointless) question.

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In scientific theory, decision making in the brain “which one to choose” or “do I take,

or not” was driven by the the Dopamine reward system = choose correct direction

would be rewarded by the seclusion of the Dopamine = so, feel satisfied and happy.

—– But, this selection, “Which choice would be rewarded” was not necessary

rationally decided by the data book’s logic.  

We might thought, such as the choice to be a Liberal or Conservative kind is highly

intellectually complex matter therefore it must be concluded by the big data-book

(thus lots of experiences and the learning required = So that, a long practice of Zen

would affect) —– though, contrary to this, a Gene affecting the person to be Liberal or

Conservative as one’s nature, seemed to be found. (was what they says — can be true !)

Can genes make us liberal or conservative?

Aristotle may have been more on the money than he realised in saying man is a political animal,

according to research linking genes with liberal or conservative leanings.
Or, to be precise, a specific variant of one gene that would seem to exert greater sway over women

than men.   Working with 1,771 university students of Han Chinese origin in Singapore, researchers

compared answers to surveys — including one tailored to hot-button issues in the city-state — with

the presence of a permutation of the DRD4 gene.
DRD4 is one of several genes that determines the way dopamine — a crucial neurotransmitter, or

chemical messenger — is released in the brain.
What they found was a robust link between the presence (or not) of the variant and a split between

liberals inclined to decry inequality, on the one hand, and die-hard conservative wary of change,

on the other.
The association between political attitude and DRD4 was highly significant for females, and less so

for men, said the study, led by Richard Ebstein of the National University of Singapore.
Women, it was also shown, tended to be more conservative in general.
The results are bolstered by earlier research based on people of European descent that found similar

patterns around the same gene, according to the study.
In the long-standing Nature vs. Nurture debate, it was long assumed that social values — and

especially political ones — were rooted in family upbringing, education and class.
But a growing body of evidence suggests, in the words of the researchers, that biology can’t be ignored.
A landmark study published in 1999, for example, of twins separated at or near birth showed a

marked strain of heritability for ‘conservatism’.
The brain is wired with several distinct dopamine pathways, including one related to the risk-taking

— arguably a parallel to the liberal-conservative dichotomy.
From an evolutionary standpoint, risk-taking is a complicated business: in some situations, it may

enhance one’s chances of success or survival, and in others it may spell doom.
In the study, the researchers used standard questionnaires to rate conservative or liberal tendencies,

making it easier to compare with earlier efforts to uncover links between genes and attitudes.
At the same time, to adjust for cultural variations from one country to another, they also devised a

survey based on local issues known to divide opinion in Singapore along political lines.
One set of questions, for example, asked the students — half men, half women with a mean age of 21

— to take positions on sensitive environmental and animal rights issues.
The correlation with the genetic variations was especially strong on these points.
Our results provide evidence, Ebstein and colleagues conclude, for a role of the DRD4 gene variants

in contributing to individual differences in political attitude, particularly in females.

(2015/08/06 12:34)  from AFP-Jiji Press

So, I may born to have a fancy variants of DRD4 ! —- have I ? ? ?

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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. ) 

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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.  🙂

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

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