Cherry Cherry – 2018

Since I put the photo of the first cherry, it’s already 3 weeks past.  They are still in full bloom though, the flowers started falling. The end of Somei-yoshino season.   (Then Multi petals cherry is coming.)

So, this year’s Cherry pictures were made by “Helicoid-B” lens.  (One of the worst reputed lens ! = therefore in these days I’ve been using the most.   😀 )

Without me shake even a single finger, the picture became almost trembled. ( = The technique to produce the paintary effect in the most economical way !     😀 )

(Only the problem was that the image in the finder was too fuzzy to see the focus.)

So, those two (three) photos were taken by a kind of normal lens = Tamron SP 500 mm Mirror lens. —— Somebody teased me saying “Can’t you take normal picture ?” “I leave that kind of business to the Phone camera user, otherwise no point for me to use bulky interchangeable lens camera”   😀

Though, the Tamron gave me too pale color.  (May be I need to use Photoshop kind though, that’s what I hate most.)

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Exploding Cinema or Firework

Last night was a so called Bonfire night and may be to coincide with it, a cinema session “Exploding Cinema” was held in south London.

I popped out carring A7R camera with a homemade “Mag lens” attached on it.   But as I saw the fireworks over a park,  soon I realized that I put a wrong lens. 

Mag lens makes the largest halation among my homemade lens = bright spot like firework become just a big blob.  Still, that’s what I got then, — never mind, it won’t kill me in any way.

Exploding Cinema has been running by the volunteers, film enthusiasts for the past 25 years.  (And I know the current figurehead, Matt for 20 odd years.  When I met him, he was a visual media technician and I was an almost a dancer in residents of the Fridge Club in Brixton.)  Exploding Cinema is showing all the films submitted without selecting, and running totally independent. (so that, the waiting list said to be more than one year to be shown there)

So, the films shown there were from short comical Anime to professionally made quite serious one. (A film produced by Chris R’s “Drone Strike” was a heavy staff good enough for the big screen.)

And MMM    🙂

When I popped out, the fireworks exploded over my head, —– I found, the lens character of big blob is quite pretty in deed.  Ha ha ha,   😀

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Homemade Lens – Mag Lens

Now I got quite few homemade lenses = call them just a fun camera

lens would be confusing, which one ? — I should call them in their

individual name.   So, the lens here happen to be originated from a

SLR’s view finder magnifier, I name it Mag Lens.  

Unlike the other Fun camera lens which is often omunifocus, this

lens has one focal point, its mean needs to be focused by means of

helicoid or a sort.    And I found a zooming helicoid of a Nikon

compact camera will do the job.   So, I hack-saw out the

helicoid part of the camera from its body frame. (Photo above)

With a test of the lens, I found the lens needs to be mounted 40mm

from the image sensor.   Then, I struggled to mount the helicoid to a

body cap, and to mount the lens into the helicoid.  (The photo above,

middle shows how the position of the fixing screw was marked

on the cap.  🙂  )

With a good extension of the helicoid, the lens can give a focus from

the infinity to the x1 macro.  Though, this lens found to have the

biggest halation among all of my homemade lens.   😀

Since the lens was originally a magnifying lens, the quality of the

macro image was quite good.

(Lens itself was F2.5 —> If I put an iris 5mm = F8, image would be

even better.)

And, it has a fade and dissolve like beautiful out of focus Bokhe !

With its shallow depth of field, a face on the card changes a lot.

This lens was a hit.

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Fun lens on the Alpha 7R

Picture here is a kind, nobody would be impressed, still nobody

would complain kind.  It was made by a lens of rather humble origin,

came from discarded toy camera. —– Considering it’s utterly cheap

existence (two plastic lenses structure) the picture isn’t too bad at all.

On the time, people see the picture on the 5″x3″ chemist print,

this kind of quality was perfectly acceptable.

In fact, I’ve talked about this lens, few post ago.

And now, the lens has been properly (in certain extent  😀 )

re-structured for Alpha 7 camera. (Beautiful isn’t it ?) Ha ha ha.

(So, the lens can take landscape to portrait without refocusing

or change F-aperture kind = anyhow, no controls here at all.)

Only the trouble I found with this combination was = mysterious

blurred image they makes.  It was under a blight day light. 

The AUTO setting on the camera, A7R chose ISO 1600 and

shutter speed was  1/160.  

Why the picture was blurred ? — I set up a tripod (not a heavy weight,

still proper Gizzo tripod) — strangely, still the picture was blurred. 

It was nothing but a mystery.  (Obviously, I need to test further though,

at moment, this IS a lens (other than Pinhole) I got for this camera.

(I’m waiting to receive lens adapter for this camera.) — Whether this

body got a resonance to  1/160 shutter vibration, or the camera activating

other function to cause adverse effect ? = So, I tested the camera on

manual setting :  ISO 3200-1/320, ISO 1600-1/160, ISO 800-1/80,

ISO 400-1/40, ISO 200-1/20. Iso 100-1/10, Iso 50-1/5.  All hand-held.

ISO 3200 – 1/320

ISO 50 – 1/5

Those photos above were the shot on the test.    Non of them

showed heavy blur = it seems, the AUTO and  1/160 combination did

the Blurring business.  😀   — on the AUTO setting, other function

of which I’m not fully understood the implication, meddling in.

(Such as when the A7 thought, the image is too high contrast, the

automatic HDR operation comes in = gives three consecutive

exposures = unexpected hand may not keep still.)

I guess, something adverse effect of AUTO might have had happened.

It’s still a mystery Sir. 

* * * * *

To be fair to a Paying Customer, this is the quality if you pay the price.

This photo was taken by  Canon EF 40mm F2.8  on 5D Mk-III

— can you see the difference ?   (It’s costing  £100 more.)

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Southbank by Gaudy Lens (1)

Yesterday I went to the Southbank to see my friend and took those

pictures too.   Sun was baking hot and the air was steaming. 

(You might thought, the lens used was yet another pinhole though,

wrong — it was the Gaudy Lens = as I chase the same fuzzy effect,

the image may look the same kind though, the fuzziness of this image

was created by the aberration of the single grass.

Not only the aberration, the hallation on the untreated lens surface

was very strong.  But, that’s what I wanted. 

(If you want clear picture use your Phone camera please.)

And for this kind of subjects, was sharp details necessary ?

I don’t think so. 

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Yashica-Kyocera Macro (2)

Those two photos were the x6 shot of the Butterfly Wing.

As I described in the old post I made this lens last November

— and now, it is the time to take it out or find a good subject

to shoot on a table top.

Any how, it was a broken 38~115 mm Zoom Film camera of

Yashica-Kyocera.

To disassemble the camera is a brain game = Which screw,

where to start is quite crucial to have an easy game though,

even if you were completely wrong and made a mess, not much

damage would be done, nothing to lose but a bit of Ego.  😀

What I did with this camera was, taking out the optical unit

from the lens barrel and re-mounted it up-side-down

(front side back) to the same barrel.

(= Camera lens was designed to give the best performance

when the front was focused to the infinity, and the image

was closely projected to its back.

It’s mean, if the back of the lens was closely aimed to the subject,

the front side will make a big enlarged image. 

= this exactly what the macro photography is.)

The lens barrel was glued onto a Contax-Canon mount adapter

to be used on the Canon DSLR.

And this (improvised) macro lens gives x1.7~x3.6 magnification.

(with a farther 44mm extension it gives x6 magnification !)

—– considering its cost virtually nothing, the performance isn’t too bad.

— though, with a test shot of yet again the egg of

Green lacewings which showed Chromatic Aberration,it was

found to be not as good as Chinese cheap Microscope Lens.

(which was designed for macro work))

—– incidentally, I’m very much puzzled by this Egg —

(1) Why so many of them were found in my room = Why

the insect prefer to came and lay the eggs here.

The larvae of Green lacewings  eats Aphis kind, it’s mean

they should have chosen such kind of environment.

(2) When this egg was laid — last year ?     If so, why I didn’t

see it till yesterday = it was on my desk, very front of my eyes.

(Photo above were x2 and x6 magnification)

Taking closeup photo of rather unwilling wasp

wasn’t very easy.  🙂

(With the enlargement, flaw of the lens such as a

Chromatic aberration, became appearent.)

 

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Meadow Flower taken by Homemade Lens

This flower meadow was suddenly created in the past 2 weeks.  

It was a green patch between the buildings of the council housing estate.

Two weeks ago, somebody made a bald patch on the grass, — then after few

rains, it became a flower meadow. = Packaged Instant Meadow !

From this meadow, my regular diet of fuzzy photo was made — but this time,

I used a Home made lens which is a Retro-focus type,  2 element lens.

Sound a bit ostentatious though, in short, as the main convex lens had a little 

short focal length,  I put another concave lens to extend its back-focus, hence

it became a Retro-focus type. —– (Main convex lens came from a toy and the

Front concave lens was my broken short-eye-sighted glass.)

 This photo was a comparison.  = taken by the same

Wide-angle Double-density Pinhole lens, I’ve been using.

Note : Regardless the distance, Pinhole never posses a core of sharp image.

And rather blueish color cast, because not much glass lens there to block 

the UV.  —– (It’s a Pinhole ! )

 For this Double-element lens,  I improvised an “inter-changeable F-aperture” to

reduce a halation by stopping down.    (Sound heavy “F-aperture” though, it was

just a hole on a black tape to stick on the back of the lens.   🙂  ) 

——– (Photo above : The clear samples of Iris (F-aperture) Effect =

——– Left = Fully open / 10 mm.  Center Photo = 6 mm.  Right Photo = 3 mm.

Despite the utter humble origin, amazingly this lens has certain image quality.

And those pink flower having rain drops on it —– just able to see !

So, the image was Soft and Fuzzy, because of too much Coma- aberration

still, they are retaining certain sharp image in the center.   😀

This is a part enlargement of the photo above —– Not too bad.  I like it.

(Can you see the water droplets on the petals ! )

And able to give enough fun !

I have no idea, what those flowers called.

Still, I like this glowing color ! — not the Sun, but like a kindling fire in the ash.

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PS :  May be much of your annoyance,  this is it !   = THE home made Lens.

Photo Right shows “F-aperture” ! = Hole in a Black sticky tape.  😀

= To clack a nut of creativity, it doesn’t need to be ostentatiously heavy 

Lens, even though the Camera happen to be expensive.

= Typical case was, just smear the Lens with sliver to soften the image.

Heavy pretense blocks the flow of the idea. = Anything can be done.

Matter is Just Do and discover a FUN.

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