Sony Extension Ring

To prevent the close contact, the postman left a percel from China outside of my door while shouting Your Post = I got an Extension Ring delivered today.

To have an even closer shot, the Extension Ring is a pretty handy device. You may find such ring for Sony (10 mm and 16 mm set) as cheap as £15 on eBay. And depend on the lens used, you may get quite a close-up photo (the shorter the focal length the closer you get —– though, depend on the lens, the closed image might be pretty bad unless you stopped down the F-aperture a lot.

With such a cheap price, I bought 3 or 4 set of Sony Extension Ring. Since, I discovered, not all of them are good. Some loose bayonet make the joint wobbly (only 0.1 mm wider gap of bayonet makes it loose) —– even worse, some of them stack solid (only 0.1 mm longer bayonet claw can block them disengage) = To separate the camera body — Ring — Lens, I needed to hack-saw the ring and with sheer force, I ripped off the Lens ! (Photo above right two = used be the DG-NEX Extension 16 mm ring = the left over after a hack-saw job.) The trouble is, you discover the trouble only when you HAVE engaged the Lens – Ring – Body. = Then you realised that you got the trouble of stacked bayonet. —– Because of the internal mechanism of the bayonet, we can’t see which part was blocking the ring to rotate back.

This IS what made in China meant. On the eBay, you may see many “Sony Extension Ring” with different prices —– Give close looks = The ring came from only few original manufacturer, then, different vender selling it in a different price. = Expensive doesn’t mean good quality. Manufacturer seemed to sold off bad lot for give-away price then, corrupt vender sold them in the net, expecting most of the customer never bothered to complain for £15. —– So, on the end I bought plastic one = Easier to hack-saw and when I needed, easy to brake-off before the lens or the camera body brake. (Sound dreadful isn’t it)

Those potos were taken by the Sony E 3.5 / 30 mm Macro lens with Extension Ring on A7R-4 body (see a photo above, before) Right hand side image was a cloped enlarged part of the original photo left.

So, when you are lucky to have good working Ring you may get quite nice close-up photo —– especially with such A7R-4 / 62MP image sensor, we can clop the image for even higher magnification scale. (Otherwise, such as x5 ~ x10 magnification needs to have quite a hard work — and a specialised expencive Macro Lens.)

.

MP Cherry 2020

Those photos of the Multi-petal Cherry was taken by a homemade lens, NZ-B lens on Nikon Z7

May be in a normal sense, such lens may not serve for a photographical use. Yet still, any image could be an image as long as the author = I wanted. Why not ?

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, our activities and the movement has been restricted, so the picture I am producing may looks one pattern too. (Sorry)

The lens NZ-B seemed to have two glasses of which I re-mounted into a zooming barrel and able to focus from infinity to 1/3 close-up. Still, born to be a simple junk lens the image never be sharp. —— But that was what I wanted. 😀

.

Walk with Godo lens

Among my homemade lens, being as if it was almost ordinary lens, Godo lens is the most remarkable lens. There was no eccentric feature like 1/2, 1/4 lens kind but two ordinary unknown origins lens put together. (yet, one of them came from my friend Gordon = hence Godo lens ) And the lens happened to produce quite normal image (if not a lots of halation) together with quite nice softness. On top of that, thanks to a Chinese helicoid ring, good convenience of close up use.

I went back to the so-called Perpetual Cherry Tree and found that the area was in a construction site. (Tree was still there and seems flowering though)

I’m not sure whether they are bamboo or reed ?

I like a natural looks quality of this macro. (Too sharp image of most of macro makes the flower looks like an animal body parts) – – – Unless the one was a forensic scientist, we may not like to see too sharp detailed flower parts.

For the cost almost nothing homemade lens, I would say, this is the good lens.

.

Fall or fallen

I’m still using Canon 5D-MkIII — for indoor copy work etc. So, this one by their 40 mm lens.

But, this one by 110 Pentax 24 mm with extension ring on Nikon Z7.

To annoy you, this photo was by W lens-B on Nikon Z7.

By W lens-B

By W lens-B with extension ring.

Also W lens-B with extension ring

By 110 Pentax 24 mm lens with extension ring

Also by 110 Pentax 24 mm lens with extension ring

They are rather lazy shooting. Sorry. 😀

.

ZM2 Lens – Spring Walk

First visitor here tonight was from USA, seeking Plum Flower.   So, I’ll show you many Cherry flowers, Plum Flowers.

You may not believe though, all those photos here were taken by just one lens,  (homemade ZM2 lens, on Nikon Z7 camera — ISO 100, AV setting)  Slight difference of the focus, the lens can produce quite different kind of image !

This plant called Japonica Japan was originated from Japan as its name suggests, and a cousin of Quince, or relative of Pear.   Incidentally, a name Nipponia Nippon which meaning is the same (Nippon is the formal name — Japan is a nick name after Marco Paulo) was for national birds Toki who has been nearly extinct and revived to about 150 now.

Ever cute Snow drop, Japanese name is Yukiwari-so (雪割草) which mean the flower who sprout out the snow !

I found this variety of cherry first time in this country.  Still no idea of its name.

And this is somewhat close to the plum. (But not Japanese Ume 梅 —– I don’t know why Ume didn’t come here.)

And this is Daphne —– somewhat related to Cloves though, the story was very complicated = lots of misunderstanding.  (You might have seen a furniture made by a wood called Mahogany but never know what its tree looks like.) 

Same as that, the wood for burning incense Agarwood 沈香 was a mystery to the Japanese for many hundreds of years, and people mistook this plant was related to Cloves 丁字 (hence Japanese misnamed this Daphne as 沈丁花－－－on both case the letter 丁 represents the shape of nails which is a shape of the Cloves as well and the smell of this flower is the same to the Cloves though) those plants are in fact totally different plant. 

Since Agarwood can be sold for very high price, the tree has been pushed to near extinction = now they are protected and the genuine wood is hard to come by, so that, there said to be a lots of fake in the market. ( = a wood dripped into an artificial incense was sold to the tourists.)

Crocus is a relative of the Saffron.  (So, don’t eat them)

(In fact, Daffodil is also poisonous — if you eat = Who eat ?)

I guess this cherry seems to be originated from Yama-zakura.  — but not sure of its multi-petal flowers.

So, it was a nice walk and shootings.

Those three photos were somewhat an extra.  I met Ms.S and Mr.M as a next door of one of the cherry flower’s place.  They got very fancy bicycle with motor. (And those photos were for them to copy from here)

.

Daffodil — Lens Test

As the spring has started, I took the lenses (in fact quite few) which I “made” duling 

 the winter hibernation out to the test.  🙂

And those lenses were designed to use with 

 tilting bellows I specially made for Canon 5D.

Photo left, Those three lenses (mounted on the

 Nikon mount adapter) were saved from 

 the broken cameras or lenses.

— Left one came from Canon G9, center one from an old zoom lens and the right one

came from a Wide-adapter and as they are having focal-length about 50mm~60mm

therefore effective F-aperture is about F2 (fully open only ! )   And being used on the

Tilting bellows they are able to give a focus from infinity to more than 1:1 close-up.

(with a bit of difficulty on use.  😀 )

Most of the photos here were taken by the “Center lens” photo before, except

the right photo above, which was taken by the Canon Fisheye lens.

Well, they were just a fraction of test shot —– still, shows some results

which I appreciate a lots.  🙂       ( —– whatever you say.  😀  ) 

[]

Autumn Cherry 2014

In a normal sens, it must be crazy to see the cherry blossom in November.

But this cherry tree is not an ordinary cherry.

= This is the Autumn Cherry which I’ve been photographing every Autumn to

Winter in a past few years.    ( I even called her Perpetual Cherry, before.    🙂 )

In the Autumn, when the tree started to change the color, this cherry start to have her

flower bud.  Then one or two bleak open.  — On the beginning, I just bumped to this flower,  and

realized,  it was not an accident or fleak,  this tree has a fixed program to have winter flowers.

Since then, I also made my custom to visit this tree when I see the season.  May be, it is

the similar kind of feeling to see an out wedded daughter come home once a year and find that

she is fine and doing well.    (Only a guess as I don’t have any kids.   🙂  )

Those photos were taken by Zeiss 85 mm F1.4 , with and without

“Homemade Ultra heavy Proxer (close-up lens)” on Canon 5D Mk-III.

[]

Greenwich Park Flowers

As the instant flower meadow was gone,  I took a journey to

Greenwich Park where ample supply of flowers there.

Those close-up photos following here were taken without the Front Lens.

(It’s mean, just a lens from toy camera) 

In contrast to the almost pan-focus image of Retro-focus two element Lens,

this lens from toy camera shows very clear depth of field and out of focus Bokhe !

Isn’t this Bokhe, fantastic !  🙂

The park got a lots of Cosmos though,  they are a dwarf type

= grow only to 1~1.5′ tall.

—– or, Greenwich Park might be keeping the old taste (to grow Cosmos)  🙂

As a park garden, the flowers here were well kept in order !

It’s mean, when flower was finished, they will be replaced by the other flower.

So the order here was kept by the strict regime.

No luxury to yield a seeds. 

—– though, it’s hard to say, otherwise,  grown to be eaten,  which life is better ?

(So called Human is not necessary acting Humanely = pulled flowers straight

to the compost = buried alive and leave them to rotten !  = hersh isn’t it ? )

[]

Lens from Toy-camera

——- (Photo above :  Left = the edge of the lens has been cut to put a LED illumination.)

On the market, there are many adapter lenses for a Smart-phone or Tablet camera

to take wide-angle or tele-photo picture.  And many people might have

experimented to put magnifier glass or even the interchangeable lens of a SLR on

front of a Smart-phone camera.  = Yes, the lens placed on front, affect the image.

——– (Photo above Left = With additional lens, small letters on a receipt

——– was magnified = looks very sharp.)

Though, in most of the case, any lens put on front, functioning like a close-up lens.

And only the concave lens (such as short-eye-sighted specks lens kind) could make

the image smaller = wide-angle effect but may not give you any sharp image.  

Yet still, they works well like as a close-up lens, even like a microscope.

The photos here shows the effect of a small lens put on the Tablet (Nexus 7).

The very lens came from a kind of toy-camera.

(Lens and the Image censer looks same to the £30  Security camera.  😀 )

Still, this lens can project the outside image to the 4x3mm size censor.

It’s mean, use this lens in reverse, the lens can pick up the image of 4x3mm

and projects it to the land-scape size. 

So, I mounted this lens on the top of  18cm  spray can,  same way as I did before.

——– (Photo here = Bird’s feather  x40  magnification)

Apparently, the lens got  6mm or so focal length and 180mm extension  (together

with camera’s 44mm flange-back) it can give  whopping  x40  magnification.

——– (Photo here = Butterfly’s wing again —–  x40  magnification)

(Though, I wouldn’t say, with such magnification, taking photo is easy at all.  

= image in the view finder is very dark and the depth of field is extremely shallow

= with slight movement, the image vanishes.)    😀  

—– Coincidently,  I found a collection of Butterfly wing’s photos.  It must be the

result of months, if not years of work (together with a lots of digital manipulation)

= still pretty impressive.

[]

B/W Photo

Well, not quite.  Never mind, it’s a sort of.

They are  x10 Macro shot. —– In order to have something significant image

out of bird’s feather, it needs to have  x50 magnification.

I still couldn’t figure out “How bird can make a egg” —– I mean

it’s technological aspects.

Not mention, How their Feathers were made ?

[]