Spring Equinox 2020
Whether the day was something special or not, when it was dull, photo would be dull. Especially when it was taken by the dullest NZ-B lens. (Still, I think, even if the lens was genuine Nikkor or Pentax 110 lens, the sky like this will be looks like dull —– What else ? )
Whether western people feels it is not so special, Japanese cerebrate both equinox as a national holiday. (春分の日、秋分の日＝since those days were related to the rice growing agricultural calender they are important in the Japanese tradition)
The sky looks quiet.
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Simple Arithmetic
In the previous post, I mentioned the strength of the image and the size of the lens. When the inside-lens was 6mm and the outside was 14mm, of course the image made by the outside-lens would overwhelm the image of the inside-lens. The image made by the inside-lens will almost disappear like a halo caused by the dust.
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We can calculate the area size of the lens = 3.14 x R x R – – – but we can see just the relative size as 6×6 against 14×14. In the 14×14=196, 6×6 was the inside-lens – – – 196 – 36 = 160 – – – 160 is obviously too much – – – it got to be about 72 (36+36) and the root of 72 = about 8.5mm – – – it’s mean, if the outside-lens was 8.5mm, the area of its ring shaped lens was the same to 6×6 inside-lens —– The image strength should be the same ! (The Bokeh image made by the inside-lens should be as strong as to the outside-lens’s sharper image.)
How awkward = like a useless game of Sisyphus. – – – In fact, that was what all about the game I’ve been plying here = making the lenses.
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And that was what Lord Buddha told to his disciple, for sweeping the garden to Shuri Pantak, knocking the door to Kisa Gotami. – – – – – Why not to me make the lenses. – – – Why not ?
I like the tone (color shift) of this picture. The watercolor paint which the brush was not well washed = its color has been fused or casted. 😀
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Those images were made on the Nikon Z7 – – – I think, the softness was just right. (Soft mean, the neibouring pxel’s data were spilled out and infused each other hence the edge of the small details disappeared and the color mixed – – – how wide this infusion occur is the depth of the softness. Or the spread of the light. = Bokeh ! )
When the subject was good, any camera can make nice picture. 😀
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Godo Lens
My friend / Cinematographer Gordon was clearing up his etc — and gave those junk to me. I don’t know how the man neither geek or otaku, managed to disassemble those, even without having tools — I didn’t ask.
What so ever the history or origin, the lens is a lens = only a matter for me IS whether it is “Usable”. —– Another day, a man offered me a very expensive industrial projection lens = more than 20cm diameter and 5kg heavy solid glass. I can guess, when it was made and sold, it must have 10 thousands pound price though —– ? what can I do with this ? —– once before, the line or graphics of the big industrial design was transeferred onto the iron material by optical projection, but now the digital technology and the laser took the work role. So, some of those old staffs may not stand even for a door stopper now.
If it was a converging lens, placing the lens on front of the camera (I mean, SLR body without a lens) and see the image. === in most of the case, the lens would show the good image only in the centre = in certain taste, the fuzzy surroundings may give a soft good atmosphere though may not necessary always.
Then give more test while stuck the lens on front of the focusing helicoid etc and try combine with other lens and so on etc for all sorts = and hundred of test click.
Since I got number of fuzzy lenses already, this time I picked one lens which has rather even image field (photo above) but as the angle of view was rather narrow, I added a diversing lens to widen its image field. ( You might be amazed to see, that the lens game can be played in such a casual manner — Yes, the game was not reserved only for Newton or Gauss kind of people)
Resulting lens was somewhat like this. = a bit strange lens. Never has any defined focus, nowhere is sharp nor anywhere is very blur.
So, makes your day always somewhat dull. 😀
This softness is more like a stocking over the lens. = the image looks like a reduced resolution image / Toy CCTV, otherwise the picture looks normal picture.
When the light doesn’t go where supporsed be, we call it aberration. But, in this case, not enough number of the light reaching and occupied each point, as a resolution. If this was the case, where the missing light has gone ? Is this an insoluble paradox isn’t it ? ? ? 😀
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Fragmented lens for London snap (A)
Somewhat the same landscape by the “Fragmented Lens” on Nikon Z7.
It is something puzzling me ? ? ? —– Advanced image processer in the latest camera straggling with unusual images and make the image even more unnatural.
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Oxford Street —> Selfridge X’mas decoration (?)
The all photos here were taken by a homemade 1/4 lens on NikonZ7.
Economical downtern reflected from uncirtainty of the Brexit etc etc might be making shy economy, hence their design were pretty economical here too.
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Morning Sky – Dec’19
This one was by the Fragmented lens on Nikon Z. (Camera itself set the ISO to 12800 (not me) = So, the noise was too high — still, as an image, it wasn’t too bad. Unlike a soft smooth image, the roughened up texture showed quite strong impact. I like it.
This image was too murky though, that was what this homemade lens was made for.
Only a decent lens in this post = Zeiss Distagon —– costed me a bit. 😀
Small part of disposable camera lens makes not too bad image !
This Pentax lens itself IS a pretty good decent lens, even if it was for 110 size camera but mounted on a full size mirrorless Nikon Z.
We can take picture in any excuse. Nothing hinder us to be creative.
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Few more photos of last Heisei days
I’m living in England though, still it is the last moment of Heisei Era for me.
I’m a Japanese, yet I’m more like a spooky kind than an Anime generation. And never be a Gamer of Gandam kind.
Or a dirty old man ? —– It’s quite a questionable.
Then I found, the local Iceland shop was closed. —– I don’t think it’s anything to do with the end of era in Japan. (Don’t you think, this is THE good lens = instantly giving 50 years old atmosphere to the picture !) 😀
And found that the Small White Elephant Cafe was also closed. (Before the end of financial year ?)
Those photos were taken by the homemade ZM2 lens or Pentax 110 24mm F2.8 lens on the Nikon Z7.
On the end Japan got their new name of the era as Reiwa (令和) —– long live to them. 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Japanese New Era is coming
Well well, not for tomorrow’s April fool, but Japan is going to have the new name of the Era for coming new Emperor. Japanese calendar system has the name of each Era with each Emperor’s throne. Which is the continuing tradition of the past 2500 years, started on the time of the legend of Emperor Jinmu. So that the coming new Emperor Naruhito is its 256th Emperor. = in other words, the current Emperor Akihito’s (He is going to cede the throne to his son Naruhito on 1st of May) Heisei Era will end tomorrow. (I remember the day, when I went to see the wedding parade of Prince Akihito and his bride, Michiko in their hose drawn coach. — I think I was a secondary school boy then)
—– anyhow, on this last day, I should clear the stacked photos of Heisei while it is still in its era.
(Those photos were taken by ZM2 lens and Helicoid B lens on Nikon Z7)
On the end Japan got their new name of the era as Reiwa (令和) —– long live to them. 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Mug shot (1)
I’m not having any project or mission with my Mag lens still, I’ve been carrying around this lens the most. Because this one is probably the most typical of my fuzzy homemade lens, together with a good capability of close-up shot (since its used be a magnifier.) And to explain what and why this lens, often I demonstrate the effect of the lens by taking picture of the person. Naturally I got a collection of portrait of those people I met in the town.
The closer the subject, the better the image quality, still it keeps fuzziness. So, where ever I click, the product showed my fingerprint. = That’s I like. —– When people take picture, the result looks all same. Since, shoot same subject and use more or less the same camera = inevitably the result became same. That is not a kind I was born to do. = If I make something, its got to be totally unique, and nobody ever conceived kind (so, it should come to the top of google list, such as “yoshi Zappa” “Art figure St.lucia” etc ) —– (Why people are eager to sell their name is, nothing other than the name makes the difference of the work.) —– it’s hard to be an artist.
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Vest Pocket image on the 6×7 camera
In the previous post, you might have seen the Vest Pocket lens’ image captured by a 35mm full size digital camera. Though, the original size of the Vest Pocket camera was 6×9 (43mm x 65mm exact) —– so that, the image only on the cropped center wouldn’t show the full character of this 100 years old lens. —– (Strangely to say, don’t you agree this picture above looks like 100 years, even 200 years old painting ?)
—– The fact, you must be noted is, 100 years ago then, the user of Vest Pocket camera seeing their picture contact printed on 6×9, card size B/W print. Today’s reader of this blog can see the picture’s detail / sharpness easily enlarged, though there was no such luxury in old days = people just accept the picture made by the camera (with no focus adjustment). As long as the picture showed the face looks like your boy, it was a good picture !
A funny story was,— there was a Photo-club in Japan, namely “Vest Pocket camera appreciation club” (Ves-tan Club”/ べス単クラブ — Ves-tan stands, Single lens Vest Pocket ) of which the photo enthusiasts of the photo image made by the Vest Pocket camera was associated together. And among the members, there was a special practice = use the camera while lens’ front hood which restricts the aperture smaller was removed (— See the previous post = Lens was originally F6.6 but with the front hood makes it to F11). So, they appreciated the images with soft bokeh by the spherical aberration, the most. In today’s standard, they might be branded as “Otaku” (It was almost like a religion, same to prefer the images made by the Canon or Leica lens than the Nikon, saying that the Canon shows the atmosphere / or taste (aji / 味) more, but the Nikon lens pick-up just clinical flaw of the skin. —– mind you, this was the story of 40, 50 years ago. 😀 )
I mounted the lens on the Pentax 6×7 body using a camera’s body cap and tested its image character. (You may say, 6×7 is not 6×9 though, don’t be too fanatic = it wouldn’t kill you anyway)
(In order to mount the Lens unit to the body cap, an aluminium ring was cut out. Because the lens has to be very close to the camera body, there was no space to put a focusing mechanism. So that, the close focused image was made by adding an extension ring. )
So, I took some photos on the 15 years old, Fuji, Provia ISO400 film — but exposed as ISO160 as I anticipated the film’s loss of sensitivity in time. — (Since, the lens was set to maximum F-aperture (hood was removed = F6.6) the image was pretty fuzzy on the 6×7 Pentax view finder too = rather difficult to see the definitive focus.)
(Since the 100 years old single grass lens has no coating, image has a lot of halation as well.)
(Fussiness was created by not only its out of focus bokeh but by its aberration too.)
It seems, this photo above is the most peculiar image, unique to this Vest Pocket lens while its hood was removed ( = effectively, F 6.6) —– in other words, this unique softness is the softness what Japanese Ves-tan Club members appreciated the most. (generally, the softness appeared around the well focused sharp image as “not well focused image” ( = so-called aberration) –—- though, this photo has no sharp core image even on the focused area. I would only say “Strange ?” 😀
(In here you can see a lot of bokeh by the spherical aberration.= unlike the intentionally created bokeh of Helicoid Lens (A) or (B) kind, Vest Pocket lens’ fussiness looks more natural.)
So the painterly effect of this Vest Pocket lens looks rather subtle and looks natural. And the image has more atmosphere which gives more depth to the image too. A depth of its image was induced by the emotional resonance (something like = I’ve seen this long time ago), not from the detailed data which will talk to the intellectual brain —– in fact, too much data in the image distract an emotional response, exactly like a noise in the music.
(Which the members of the “Ves-tan Club” most appreciated.)
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