Using An Argus Turret Viewfinder On My Samsung NX100

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Argus, NX100, Samsung, turret, viewfinder

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Having recently purchased a Samsung NX100 with the 20-50 lens and fallen in love with it, one thing that is a downer for me is the lack of a viewfinder. I do not want to buy the offered optional EVF from Samsung at this time, mainly I am put off by the price, further, it appears to be powered by the camera battery.

I remembered having placed a flip up finder from an old press camera on a SONY MVC FD73 to help me in quick shots as the camera was a bit hard to get quickly on target. The so called Russian made universal turret came to mind, then the Argus turret. Best of the two would be the Argus since I have two of them. Both were in a box with the Argus bricks. I took the one in worse shape as far as the optics are concerned.

First to be removed were the three ‘lenses’ on the rotating front – they simply unscrew with a little help from a rubber tipped needlenose.. All three have dirt and what looks like fungus inside. At the dollar store I had purchased a bag of ten small plastic containers. One lens into each to keep the parts together.

The back came off after unscrewing three screws. A little metal strip holds the glass prism assembly. Watch out here, it will fly out once it is loosened. The prism needs some cleaning also.

Now I had access to the lens directly in line to the prism assembly. Yup, dirt here also.

At this point I realized that there was a further lens at the rear of the front rotating housing behind the 35mm lens. How to get to it and the other side of the lens mentioned immediately above? Take a look at the photo of the side of the assembly. There is a small dark line, if you put the end of a screwdriver against it in the counter clockwise direction while turning the rotating turret, the whole thing unscrews. It is just snug enough to prevent it from opening when the turret is moved. Now all the glass is accessible.

The part of the assembly that slides into the flash shoe is metal. Hmmmmm, that won’t do with all those contacts on the camera sitting out in the open. I took a pin punch and drove out the pivot pin until I could pull it the rest of the way. I removed all the screws and assorted parts on the base, including the metal flash shoe.

An old VHS video camera light became the donor of a plastic replacement. Some contact cement and a 256 nut and bolt connect it in place.

On to the lenses. I used my own anti fungal solution (you can Google and make your own, I will not recommend anything here). Each and every surface had mold, fogginess or flakes of paint from the interior. Everything cleaned up well enough.

One thing to remember is this is NOT a focusing viewfinder, it just gives the general framing. I will use it when I can’t shove my arms out and walk like a zombie when shooting or when the Sun is causing the screen to be impossible to use.

I have posted many images here as an aid to anyone who starts re-assembly and can’t remember what goes where.

NOTE: The framing will not be perfect, it is meant to give an aid to framing when all else fails to work. Some experimenting between the turret settings and the camera lens settings should give you some ballpark settings.

Hacking A Slide/Film Copier Part Three

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adjustment rails, copier, DIY, E-510, enlarger, Equipment, Federal, film, hack, negative, olympus, slide

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OK, I finally got back to this project. When I last posted, I had not removed the frosted glass from the enlarger head. Yup, I broke both of them. I tried to use the super glue for glass, but it didn’t work. In the meantime, I had purchased from e*ay a 6x9mm negative carrier and a Leica branded 35mm negative carrier. The Leica carrier has the ability to hold an entire 36 exposure strip and has two knobs for centering the individual negatives. It was not meant for the Federal enlarger. I wound up attaching it to a PVC four inch cap. I painted it non reflective black.

Now back to the broken glass. I cut two pieces of plastic milk carton to fit where the original frosted glass fit and two more pieces to fit the 6x9mm negative carrier. It appears to be a good substitute. Time will tell.

I found an old 6 image strip of B&W 35mm negative. It is in the photos just to show off the light shining through it. The images below are a mock up. I have yet to determine which of my enlarger lenses I will be able to use in order to get complete coverage of the negative images. I have 12 of them from 80-230mm, one should do the trick. So, there is an Olympus standard zoom on the E-510 in the photos.

As mentioned before in earlier posts, the camera can be moved front to rear and side to side. The enlarger head can be moved up and down with small variances of lateral movement.

Using An Inexpensive LUX Meter As A Light Meter

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aperture, exposure, light, LUX, meter, shutter

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I purchased this LUX meter a while back and never used it except for pinhole images. Today I decided to get more use from it. A quick check online showed me the same thing. I did not find a place that directly related the LUX level to an exposure time or an aperture opening or ASA. I feel exposure time is a better method than one that uses aperture openings as aperture changes can make a huge difference in depth of field.

Taking five different sources, I made my own little chart – it is below. Up front, make no mistake, I use this and it works for me. It may not work for you. A level of knowledge is assumed in the use of this chart. I will not be held responsible for any mishaps that YOU may have if YOU attempt to use my chart knowing that it may not work for YOU. Also, see the disclaimer elsewhere on my blog. Don’t you just LOVE lawyers?

=====================================
This chart is based on using a 100,000 LUX meter for photography
Chart Constants are ASA 100 and f 2.8
ASA Steps– 100 – 200 – 400 – 800 – 1600 – 3200 – 6400
Full f Full Stops 1.4 – 2 – 2.8 – 4 – 5.6 – 8 – 11 – 16 – 22 – 32 – 45 – 64

LUX TIME EV OBSERVATION
5 4.0 1 Distant View of Lighted Skyline
10 2.0 2 Total Eclipse of Moon
20 1.0 3 Fireworks
40 1/2 4 Candle. Christmas/Street Lights
80 1/4 5 Average Night Home Interior. Auditorium
160 1/8 6 Bright Night Home Interior. Amusement Parks
320 1/15 7 Bright Night Streets. Indoor Sports, Shows
640 1/30 8 Bright Flourescent Interiors. Times Sq Night
1300 1/60 9 Landscapes, Skylines 10m after Sunset. Neon Lights
2600 1/125 10 Landscapes, Skylines Immediately After Sunset
5100 1/250 11 Sunsets. Deep Shade
10000 1/500 12 Open Shade. Heavy Overcast
20000 1/1000 13 Cloudy Bright
41000 1/2000 14 Weak, Hazy Sun
82000 1/4000 15 Bright Sun
100000 1/8000 16 Bright White Sand, Snow

NOTE: Most cheap LUX meters as sold for <$50 on e*ay need to have some
manner of shade to prevent light from sides, top and bottom affecting the
actual light reflected from the subject.
NOTE: To adjust the ASA – IE: If your camera is set for ASA 800, that is three
steps above ASA 100. Simply move numerically UP three LUX levels. IE: 80 to
160 to 320 to 640 and use that line.
NOTE: To adjust the f stop – IE: If your camera is set for f11, that is four steps
below f2.8. Simply move numerically DOWN four LUX levels. IE: 1300 to 640
to 320 to 160 to 80 and use that line.
NOTE: If your camera is set differently for both f stop and ASA, BOTH
adjustments must be made.
NOTE: If the LUX value falls between given values (and it most probably be the case)
remember:

Spock: Ah. Then, I will try to make the best guess I can.

===============================

These meters tend to work as averaging meters- taking into account everything in front of the frosted dome. I contact cemented a filter ring in place. Now I can put various lens shades on the sensor. As you can see in the photographs, the shade cut out most of the direct light coming from the overhead light. DUH! Warning >> cementing a filter ring on your meter will in all probability void any warrantee covering the meter.

Vesu-tan VPK Vest Pocket Kodak Japan

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Hirogane, Japan, soft focus, Vest Pocket Kodak, Vesu-tan, VPK, yoshiro

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“Vesu-tan” is a Japanese abbreviation from the time of ~1915-1920 for Vest Pocket Kodak camera. It refers to the soft focus obtained by removing the hood from the particular model of the VPK – Vest Pocket Kodak – that uses the simple meniscus lens. This opens the aperture, according to several Internet sources, by two full stops, causing the glow and out of focus images referred to by the term Vesu-tan. In general, the term referred to the use of the modified camera.

There are many images I have taken with the meniscus lens from a VPK on some pages in the right-hand column >>

NOTE: the general term of “vest pocket” is also used for many Kodak models other than the VPK. The VPK can be seen here:

http://galactinus.net/vilva/retro/eos350d_meniscus.html

A Google search for “Vesu-tan” as of today only returns one page of references (using the quotes as part of the search). I had a little better luck searching for “Yoshiro Hirogane”, a photographer whose prints were discovered in the 1990′s and appear in many auction sites.

http://www.sakura-do.com/galleries_pictorialism/details_pictorialism/details_ap_089.html

http://www.iphotocentral.com/search/result_list.php/256/Yoshiro+Hirogane

Yoshiro Hirogane
Born: 1894, died: unknown
Status: amateur

The above is simply meant to provide starting points for references. The VPK was made by the millions and can still be found on e*ay for under $100US. as of this date.

There are a few pages on this blog taken with this lens using a Kodak XTi DSLR and either a focusing bellows, a focusing helicoid, or an old lens body with the transplanted lens.

Another Forgotten Treasure, Nikon 950 With IR filter Removed

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950, cut filter, hot mirror, infrared, IR, NIKON, ultraviolet, UV

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I am a member of a worldwide manual focus photography group. Manual Focus Lenses Website Today I ran across a thread there that reminded me of something I tried a few years ago. I read a lot of information on the Internet regarding IR photography. At the time, the ‘hot’ item was a Nikon 950 (2.11 mp) with the IR filter removed and replaced with an UV filter. I did the modification myself and promptly lost interest for some reason or another. I seem to remember I took a few pics in the Winter and never picked the camera up again. Also, it was a battery hog, penlights seemed to last about 2 hours or so.

Forward to today, I dug into an old storage tote under the desk and found the 950. I had forgotten the camera had live view! I took a couple of pictures out my front door. The ground is snow covered and the temperature around 30F.

I set the camera to black and white + manual focus as the UV filter did not exactly match the IR filter for auto focus. The picture that looks almost normal was taken through a visible light blocking filter (B&W F-PRO 093 IR). To prove to myself that the image I was seeing was not simply UV leakage from the replacement filter material from Edmunds Scientific, I placed an IR blocking filter (Tiffen Hot Mirror) along with the B&W filter and aimed so the Sun was in the framing. It appears all I got was UV from the setting Sun seem through the tree branches. No post processing at all except the re-size to 1024 wide.

It does not seem to be worth the effort in the Winter due to the lack of any contrasting IR reflectors and absorbers. I hope I don’t forget about the camera again this Spring.

Canon FS100 Camcorder MOD File Problem

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Canon, FS100, camcorder, MOD, MPG, software, CD, SDHC

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We lost the original CD that came with the camera and have been unable to find a copy to install the original program to work with the video files on our new laptop. A considerable time was spent to finally arrive at the bottom line – TOO BAD FOR YOU. Canon provides a 3rd party bundled program on the original CD; said 3rd party provides updates with no problem from their website. Neither the 3rd party nor Canon will provide or offer for a price the ORIGINAL program – just the updates.

On the Canon website, if you dig a bit, they specifically say what the program does. I think this was a weak way to provide information to people without the CD. Basically it CHANGES THE FILE NAME FROM *.MOD to *.MPG. It also ALLOWS FOR A WAY TO START NEW FOLDERS AND FILE THE RENAMED FILES WITHIN THEM. OK, they have just said that if you copy the MOD files to your computer, rename them with the extension MPG and place them in a folder you have started, you will do the same thing as the mysterious 3rd party software without the software bloat of yet another program on your system.

Regarding the name change from .mod to .mpg- on Windows XP, using the native Windows player, make sure you are online when you try to run the first time, a file has to be downloaded. This may also be needed with the newer Windows variants.

Regarding the name change from .mod to .mpg on Apple OSX 10.4, download and use VLC, a fantastic third party player, the native OSX player will not play or find a file to allow it. VLC truly is a neat program that plays many file types, modifies/repairs many unusual AVI files, and is very simple to use.

While looking for the above information, I saw many people complaining about not being able to use 16gb and above SDHC cards. Perhaps trying to simply format them in the camera will solve this. I have two Transcend SDHC cards that work fine after doing this. Above 16gb, I cannot help out, I am not sure if they will work at all.

A Hacked Light Meter

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35mm, 85mm, Balda, Baldinette, Canon, CdS, hack, Kopil, L-398, light meter, M42, meter, Sekonic, solar cell, spot, TTL

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I had to use my way back time machine to remember where and why I got the main part for this one day project that took a year to complete. About 15 years ago I was hot to trot over macro photography. I picked up this Kopil CdS TTL Meter at the time from a local, now out of store front business, shop. The idea for the usage by the manufacturer was to market a device to accurately read the reflected light off a small object through the actual lens to be used. Take the reading, transfer it to the camera, attach the lens to the camera and take a perfectly exposed image. Well, it would probably have worked, except, as is the case for most older CdS devices, the CdS cell was kaput*. So, it found its way to the junk drawer.

Every few years I would find it, look at it, consider what to do with it, and drop it back in. The batteries are too expensive to buy one just to prove it was kaput*.

About a year ago, it again found itself in my hand and I had a thought. If I were to go to the dollar store, buy four or five of those solar calculators, and strip out the photocells, maybe I could use them to power the meter. Off to the $ store, home with the calculators, strip out one of the cells, prove it changed voltage when the light level changed. Pack it all in a plastic bag and hang it on the doorknob to take to the workshop. Fast forward to yesterday, I found the bag still on the doorknob.

Unlike the past, I grabbed the bag, went to the shop and started the long overdue conversion. First, I removed the other four solar cells from the calculators. Using a DVOM, I checked the voltage of them all, they were very close to each other. Then I stripped out all the guts of the Kopil unit. The only parts I saved were the meter assembly and the case. Everything else went in the trash can. A couple of minutes were spent soldering in new wires to the meter as the old ones were falling apart. The inside of the Kopil would accept three of the solar cells side by side. They were then glued to a piece of thin cardboard that had been cut to just fit inside. To prevent damage to the solar cells, I found an old 82A Series 6 filter that just fit inside the case and glued it just short of the M42 threads. Then the cardboard with the cells, soldered in series, were glued inside. A quick check to make sure the meter moved when aimed at a light and the meter assembly was screwed back in place.

Now the fun part of any hack, to find out how to make it usable. First, I tried screwing it on the end of an old Tamrom zoom lens with M42 mount. Nope, not enough light was getting through the old lens. I had hoped for a variable focal length spot meter, but it wasn’t to be. Then I tried it with a 50mm lens. Lots of movement, but clunky to hold and carry.

OK, since it was an M42 screw mount, I tried varying lengths of M42 macro tubes. Looks like this might work. I grabbed my Canon XTi, which happened to have a Canon f1.8 85mm lens on it and headed to the window (31F outside). I was getting close to matching the XTi meter when I hit upon f4.5 and ISO 100. This sounded good as the whole idea of doing this was to use it with my 80-105mm lenses from old folding cameras on my Canon film AE-1 and the Balda Baldinette 35MM folding camera from ~1950 that is on its way. 35mm film in ISO 100 is easily found.

When I hit upon the Kopil meter’s setting of 1200 ASA with a 21mm macro tube attached – Bingo! Everything I aimed at was pretty much spot on according to the camera’s metering. Success! Remember that the meter and the settings on the dial were never meant to be used with three photo cells in series from a calculator. This was just dumb luck I did not have to fabricate settings on the dial head.

I now have a hacked semi spot meter (85mm focal length) which needs no batteries. I can leave it in the photo kit and use it as I need it without heading to the drug store. Outside, I aimed the hacked meter and the XTi at snow covered grass, the siding of my house, the shaded side of my car, a tree line landscape, a brick sided building 120 yards distant, a house in the Sun 200 feet distant and a concrete sidewalk out of direct lighting and all were within reason. I remember trying the same thing with my $200 analog Sekonic L-398 Studio Deluxe meter and never getting even close! Perhaps the next hack will be the same thing with the Sekonic, it is useless for general photography as it is, hmmmmmmmm.

*Kaput: useless, not functioning, junk, crap, etc.

Hacking A Slide/Film Copier Part Two

Tags

copier, DIY, enlarger, film, Leica, slide

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Today I finished the project, at least as far as I can until the Leica 35mm negative carrier arrives. It will fit in the slot at the end of the enlarger head. Also, I have a largish bellows, actually a large format camera sun shield. It will take up the space between the camera and the bellows to cut down on reflections. Also, the pipe will be cut down to approximately where the head is shown, plus another 4 inches for adjustment.

To give a short summation.

The pipe holder was moved from the center of the stand to the corner.
The lens carrier was removed from the head assembly.
The head was turned 90 degrees.
A mount for the two focus rails was made from an old 2″x4″.
The rails were joined and mounted.

Adjustments:

The head assembly can move up and down and side to side on the pipe.
The focusing rails allow for side to side plus forward and back.
The camera can be swiveled on the tripod mount.

That finishes up the project except for focusing and trying it out.

Hacking A Slide/Film Copier Part One

Tags

bellows, Canon, copier, copy, DSLR, E-510, E510, enlarger, enlarger lens, Federal, film, fuji, olympus, S2, S2 PRO, slide, XTi

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Quite a while back, I purchased a so-called Video/Slide Duplicator. After a few unsuccessful attempts at making it useful, it found itself in the bottom of a tote of assorted photo hardware. Last week, while surfing, I happened upon a forum discussion regarding using just that item in addition to an old film enlarger, a few modifications to both and a DSLR camera.

The feeble light flickered a bit and then started to glow. I have the enlarger in the cellar, I remember it well, as I have had to move it many, many times while searching for other treasures. An aside here, my cellar is my equivalent of the Egyptian desert, and I don’t have to leave the country to enjoy a few hours of exploration.

OK, I knew right where the enlarger resides, a quick look in the aforementioned tote revealed the duplicator. Already two thirds of the way there. This is too easy.

Un huh, the DSLR proved to be the stickler. I have three DSLRs; Canon XTI, Olympus E-510, and a Fuji S2 PRO. For the whole thing to come together, I will need as many good points as possible.

(1) The XTi is 10MP and I already have many enlarger lenses to use with it, but, it doesn’t have live view. It appears I can use a third party piece of crap external battery holder that never reliably worked (the parts are so loosely fabricated that a slight knock would cause the power to go away and then back – a real bother) to allow powering from a transformer.
(2) The E-510 is 10MP and I already have many enlarger lenses to use with it, and it has live view. A web search shows to do an external power source for it would involve re-engineering a battery case and drilling of a hole in the camera case.
(3) The S2 is a 6MP, I have already modified it to accept M42 lenses, thus I already have many enlarger lenses to work with it. It does not have live view. It is slow to cycle between shots. I already have an external power supply for it.

The winner seems to be the E-510. I have already ordered two more batteries and an additional charger, power problem solved. Additionally, I believe I may be able to cobble a connection to my laptop, allowing me to use the larger screen for the live view. I realize the resolution will be the same, but, it would probably be easier on my neck to look at the laptop screen.
Dang, I can’t find the USB cord to fit the E-510, solved quickly by another online purchase – love those free shipping Chinese sellers.

Today I did some physical and electrical work on the Federal Model 440 enlarger. By removing the whole assembly from the post and inverting it, after turning the head 180 degrees, I now have a light source shining upwards. I figure I can set it next to my desk with the camera pointing downwards, allowing the live view screen to be right there for focusing and framing. The original cord is the of type and age that the insulation was cracking. I took the time to chop and dice a couple of extra six foot holiday extension cords and re-using the original bakelite line switch to completely re-wire the enlarger. I am EXTREMELY happy I did this. When I took the lamp socket assembly apart, the brass color terminal was loose and over the years the cord insulation had been burned away, partially filling the space with nasty looking ash.

Next will be fabricating a camera mount. Last month I purchased a new/old stock Kodak bellows on e*ay. I believe it will find itself a new home in this project.

More as I progress.

EOS Body To M42 Lens Focus Confirming Adapter

Tags

adapter, Canon, confirm, confirmation, confirming, EOS, Equipment, focus, focusing, M42, XTi

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I just ordered four of the current EOS Body To M42 lens focus confirming adapters with the programable EMF chip. Watch which chip you are ordering, the cheaper ones are pre-set and have to be set by the seller – once! You don’t get to change them after you receive them. The directions sent by the e*ay seller, Big-Is, are four pages long and have been translated to English by a husband and wife team from the Netherlands. They are concise and easy to understand, especially with the grammar upgrades.

The reason for the purchases? I have been making due with two early version adapters. One being a basic one with a fixed f2.0 value and the other set at f1.4. With the ability of RAW images to be changed drastically, they have been just ‘ok’. Last week I shot 9.6gb of raw/jpg with my Canon XTi and several flavor lenses. Looking at the results, I felt that it would be much easier to pay for and have several more settings available than to spend so much time in post processing.

With the f1.4 and f2.0 I already have, I will set the new four to f2.8, f4.0, f5.6 and f8.0 . That should allow me greater latitude with the many lenses I use. Many of these are from folding and box type cameras without any aperture adjustments.

Oh, did I mention the main reason for waiting? Price! I paid on e*ay, to similar Chinese based sellers, in excess of $40.00 each for the two earlier adapters. These four cost just under $50.00 total. As an extra, each comes with a generic, but well fitting, EOS lens cap. Quite a difference!

UPDATE 12-05-2011: I received the four adapters today. It only took 1/2 hour to unwrap, set and put safely away in a folding cloth filter holder. The instructions are certainly much better for the aperture setting. I have no need to set the micro focus or the focal length settings. All is well. The seller’s name on e*ay is: BIG-IS