Some Updates

Click Here to Return to my Home Webpage

I just created three pages to the right – Graflex Optar page 3 / VPK Meniscus Images 003 / B&L Rapid Rectilinear

Our trip to the Statue of Liberty, for several small reasons, all added up to a cancellation. Perhaps next Spring.

I am rapidly learning to enjoy the Olympus E-510 and its ability to work with my old lens collection. The Fuji S2Pro needs the Nikon AF lens line, it doesn’t work well MF. The Pentax *istD has a nice feel to it, but I have yet to warm up to it. The Canon XTi, due to the wide range of good glass available to me, is the first to be grabbed for general shooting.

Blah !

Click Here to Return To My Homepage

Prelude – I live in Central Upstate New York State. We have four seasons. Three weeks of Spring, ten weeks of Summer, three weeks of Fall and WINTER.

Winter is here. Snow doesn’t fall throughout the season, but precipitation and clouds rule. Forget Sun block – there is none needed. In other words – photography is now 32 bit gray images. Crank up the ISO to 1600 till Spring. Now I will spend more and more time at the workbench getting my photography kit ready for the ten day Spring vacation in Florida at DisneyWorld.

In a month we have a one day trip to NYC planned with only one thing in mind. We have tickets to go to the crown of the Lady.

FIOS TV RULES

Click Here To Return To My Homepage

The only way it could be better is if it was free…………….

We have tried Dish, Time Warner and Direct – they all fall very short.

Click on my homepage link above to see two related posts regarding Dish, Direct, Time Warner and FIOS.

The Marx Brothers Continue To Make Friends

Click Here To Return to My Homepage

The Saga of our TV providers is possibly coming to an end. Tuesday Oct 20 is the date we have to get FIOS TV through Verizon. This means several things, the main one is the overall price will actually decrease ! Secondly, all four TV’s will be getting HD signal (as opposed to paying extra for each one separately as Time Warner charges), the number of free stations will increase to 250 (not keep dropping from our base plan and going to a higher priced plan as Direct TV has been doing for the last six months), the pole in the backyard and the feed cables will be gone, snow and rain storms will not affect the signal to the point of losing service for hours at a time (as all satellite services are prone to do- especially the local ones from Direct TV), my Internet speed will increase by 50% for no charge as part of the package, we will get a DVR home entertainment box that allows playback on any of the four TV’s(not sure, but wonder if that is offered by any others), and the billing cycle problems that have bothered us for over three years will be a thing of the past- having to deal with Verizon saying Direct TV is at fault and Direct TV saying Verizon is at fault was getting VERY old.

This and That

Return To My Homepage – Click Here

A little bit of ramble tonite.

I have a few cameras on the workbench to shred and tear. Today I worked on a Kewpie, mounting the ~110mm Meniscus Lens in an M42 tube. Remaining is an Exacta mount Carl Zeiss Jena Polacolar f2.8 50mm lens to adapt to either my EOS or 4/3 systems. There is a mini German camera – Junka – that unfortunately has a 45mm registration, don’t know what I will do with that one- maybe a macro in an M42 tube. There is a Wollensak f4.5 triple all set for an M42 tube – I had to clean fungus from all three lenses – it needs a final cleaning before re-assembly. The original variable aperture is still functional on it. It is from an American made camera that was shipped to Germany for sale – an oddball for sure. More about each as I work them up and test them out.

The plan is to find a spot with a nice background- features at different distances, etc and test all my lenses and camera bodies so I can compare them for future reference and use. I’d hate to take lens B on body 3 to NYC when lens D turns out to be a much better performer on body 2. It will probably turn out to be an all day shoot with tripod and remote shutter release ( I will have to but two more releases- one each for the Fuji S2 and the Pentax *istD), so it will have to be either a completely overcast or Sunny day. Perhaps even two shoots – one with each sky condition.

I am addicted to Mafia Wars on FaceBook – Thompson Drum is my MW name.

On my favorite manual focus website recently, members from Austria and Viet Nam have been posting pictures, Makes the plain Jane scenery in Central New York State look very pale.

Enough !

The Marx Brothers Meet Abbott and Costello On Fantasy Island

Return To Homepage – Click Here

OK, last Saturday a local station went off the air due to an equipment failure and is still not back on 5+ days later. Our Satellite provider threw up a ‘don’t call us, we know about it’ message. Last night, after checking with several others, we found that the satellite feeds were kaput. So, we called the satellite provider on Tuesday. The story was it was being worked on. Wednesday we found that my sister, on the local cable connection was fine. On Wednesday evening the story from the satellite provider changed to – we have sent you several emails and snail mails regarding this- your contract is up and we are moving the locals to an HD upgrade package – so sorry-too bad. Needless to point out that we had never received an email or letter from them. Thursday (today) we found on the local channel’s website that it was a broadcast problem and that they had moved their signal to an HD sub channel of their sister channel. In the meantime we had called and set up for local cable for a year at 2/3 the price. Now we faced going through the change to cable – four TV feeds in the house through the walls to be replaced, etc. Add in the fact that Verizon is very close to adding TV to our existing FIOS connection. So, I asked my spouse to please cancel the cable cutover and I would set up an antenna to use with that converter box the government told us to get. Stay with me, I’ll get to the point soon. So, when she went to my Sister’s place to watch her soaps (the REAL reason all this was a problem – I’m happy once a week to watch SYFY on Tuesday night) I had a thought. I have a ham radio discone antenna already in place with about 25 feet of coiled excess from the preformed 100 foot silver/teflon feed line I used to connect to my rig on the second floor. I disconnected the feed, re-routed it through an access panel to the closet in the bedroom and hooked it with a triple adapter PL BNC F to the converter box. VOILA! There were the on air digital channels and sub channels. So, we are now able to watch the missing cannel on the sister channels weather sub channel and my scanners and ham rig are idle until Verizon gets FIOS TV to us.

We also DIRECTly found that the satellite provider’s customer service will lie through it’s teeth to make an upgrade sale.

The real reason for this post – we were told by a national radio/tv/phone outlet that where we are would require a directional yagi style antenna with a rotator to get the signals due to the almost 180 degree spread in location of the local transmit towers. Well, the discone is sucking them up just fine with a 100 foot feedline and lossy adapters.

Pentacon 135mm f2.8 15 Blade M42

Return To Homepage

I purchased this lens from a member of a forum I visit. It had a rattle inside – I had been advised of this problem prior to purchase. Listening closely, I determined the noise was coming from the front end of the lens. I removed the front lens itself. The next lens down towards the aperture was shifting approximately 1/32nd of an inch. I found a cross section diagram of the lens on the Internet and saw that I would have to take then lens completely apart to tighten it up.

HERESY NOTICE – HERESY AHEAD! PURISTS SHOULD AVERT THEIR EYES AND GO ELSEWHERE!

I dropped a small drop of super glue at the joint between the lens and the barrel. I then quickly turned the lens mount side up – forcing the lens to ‘fall’ into place. A couple of minutes later, I turned it back up and applied a couple more small drops of glue around the perimeter and let it dry.

Here is a quick shot I took of a lamp globe handheld to check it out. I think I have a user. The main reason I wanted this particular lens was the number of aperture blades. I hope it gives me a nice star burst pattern. If you have an uneven number of blades, the number of ‘rays’ from bright sources is doubled. So, there hopefully will be thirty rays. Also, this lens is marked Made In G.D.R.

Wirgin Deluxe Model 51

Return To F22Plus Homepage

I got this for under $12 on eBay. Made in the USA, there is little on the Internet regarding any date. I am guessing the model I have is post-war due to the Wollensak 75mm f4.5 lens and shutter, made in Rochester, NY, USA. The shutter doesn’t fire and is stuck open. That is perfect for me- I will remove the lens and shutter assembly and use it on a bellows with a DSLR.

Sorry for the poor image, I’m just too lazy right now to set up a studio shot on something that will be in the landfill in less than a week. The reason I purchased it was to use the lens assembly as mentioned above. I don’t want another dust catcher that would probably never be used in any other way due to the overall poor condition of the seals, bellows, etc.

Update: It seems this beastie was manufactured under many different names. Mine is a Wirgin #300xx 47 47 Bronx Blvd NY 66 NY according to the label inside.

Here is some further info from a website:

Okay, the Voigt is a generic amateur’s folding bellows camera, made in the late 1940’s by the Vokar Corporation in the USA, for 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inch exposures on #120 roll film. Now it was not that uncommon for American camera suppliers to buy overstock gear from German and Japanese manufacturers, put their own name on them, and market the cameras here as their own products. However, here we have an example of a camera made in America, it was purchased at a deep discount by a large German supplier, and sold over there instead! In America this camera was called the Vokar A and Vokar B (depending on the lens ans shutter combinations). But when Wirgin of Germany marketed the camera under their own name, they called it the Voigt, the Voigt Junior, and the Wirgin Deluxe! Despite the bizarre history, I’m afraid the Voigt and all its various incarnations is a rather common little beast, and it doesn’t generate a lot of collectible interest today. A truly excellent example might sell for $30. However, if you have one in its gorgeous original “art deco” box, the price can triple. Yes, the box is worth more than the camera!

Frigidaire Dishwasher Went Bonkers

Whether it was too many little fingers, a power brownout or a lightning strike nearby, I don’t know. It started with the little door not opening to dispense the detergent, then it was not completely emptying water, then it was no water being pumped onto the dishes. Then the water started to empty again, the rest still not working. It took about a month for it to get to the point this Morning that the water went in, the little LEDs dutifully went through the motions and the water was pumped out and no dry cycle. All with no circulation of the water.

Figuring it was a goner, since the one year warrantee ran out in May, I went online and attempted to get help through a fix-it website. After waiting for over 20 minutes for an ‘expert’ to come into chat, I hit cancel and mumbled ‘damn computers’. A feeble little light bulb went on. I went into the cabinet that contains the electrical outlet, pulled the plug on both the dishwasher and the garbage disposal, tripped the GFI unit, re-set it, plugged the two back in. Voila ! Two of the LEDs were flashing- just like when I installed the unit brand new.

I hit the normal wash and start buttons. It immediately started to fill and in a few seconds start the water pumping. It went through the whole deal, including the dry cycle, the detergent was let loose correctly and the dishes were washed !

Actually, I have told many, many people who have asked me for help with VCRs, TVs, computers, cordless telephones, etc to first unplug the power, count to 10, and plug them back in. Do not just turn the switch off. This will usually cause the little brain inside to reset to default. I just never thought that there was one in a dishwasher !

Dandelion Chip with Olympus E-510

Return To Homepage

DISCLAIMER:
IF YOU SHOULD CHOOSE TO FOLLOW ANY OF THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS ON YOUR CAMERA, IT IS DONE ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. IF YOU ARE UNSURE AS TO WHOM THE TERMS ‘YOU’ AND ‘YOUR’ REFERS TO- WALK TO THE NEAREST MIRROR AND THAT FACE YOU SEE DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOU AS YOU LOOK INTO THE MIRROR IS ‘YOU’ AND ‘YOUR’. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF YOUR ACTIONS.

I recently purchased an adapter to mate M42 lenses to my Olympus E-510. The seller gave me a set of directions referring to the E1 family with a couple of updates supposedly referring to the E-510. Needless to say, they didn’t work. I then found three other sets of instructions on the Internet in various forums. None of these worked, I am assuming the writers had never had an E-510 within fifty yards of themselves and had only reworked what others had written.

What follows is exactly what I found to work with the Dandelion chip and my E-510. They will include how I set the custom aperture and focal length.

These first steps have to be taken first every time a setting is to be changed -they put the camera/adapter into a programming mode -

Turn the camera on

Set the mode to A

Set the focus to MF mode

Press the FN button just below the wheel to the right of the mode dial.

Press and release the lens release button – a simple push and release – do not rotate the lens

Within one second of the above step press and hold the FN button for three seconds

Release the FN button

Press and release the lens release button – a simple push and release – do not rotate the lens

At this point the aperture value should change as the wheel to the right of the mode dial is rotated – if not – turn the camera off and start over. If it doesn’t work after several attempts you may have a different Dandelion chip version than I have.

Note – The above steps have set the camera and chip in to a programing state. The next value entered will access a particular portion of the chip. To set the aperture use f5.6; to set the focal length use f8.0 The focus and the aperture of the M42 manual lens have no bearing on doing the programing. Leave the lens wide open and set the camera to allow shutter trip without the focus LED being active (MF).

Note – After changing either the aperture or focal length turn the camera off. Don’t just start changing the other value – the chip will get a headache.

Below are the steps to be taken AFTER entering the program mode – one set for aperture and another set for focal length (which I am assuming from my experience and Internet comments sets the IS feature value)-
———————–
To adjust the aperture value in the chip

Using the wheel, adjust the aperture value to 5.6 *

Press the FN button and release

a)Turn the wheel to select the first digit of the f value you want – referring to the values below

b)Make sure the lens cap is off and point at a fairly bright light source

c)Press the shutter completely down and release allowing only one shutter action to be completed – wait for the image to be saved on the card before continuing.

Set the second digit and do steps a, b and c again.

Press and release the lens release button

Turn off the camera

=====
F4.0=0 | F4.5=1 | F5.0=2 | F5.6=3 | F6.3=4 | F7.1=5 | F8.0=6 | F9.0=7 | F10=8 | F11=9

IE to set an aperture of 4.5 the first aperture value is 6.3 the second aperture value is 7.1

Values that can be entered are f1.0 to f8.0
=====

The value you choose should now be displayed and still there after turning off the camera, removing and replacing the lens and adapter and turning the camera back on

————————

To set the focal length –

Use the value of 8.0 rather than 5.6 *

Using the same values from the line above set five digits rather than 2

Otherwise each step is the same as for aperture

IE to set a focal length of 135 the values entered would be –

4.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 7.1

Values that can be entered are from 00001mm to 65535mm

The popular consensus is – the closer the focal length entered matches the lenses value, the better the IS works – thus it appears to be useful with a zoom lens you would have to fiddle each time you change the zoom value. I only use primes with these adapters. The default is said to be 65535mm, so either turn off the IS or set the value correctly before trying any actual photography. I was having a heck of a time the first time out after mounting the adapter with its original f2.8 and 65000mm+ setting. I was getting very out of focus and fuzzy results when the aperture was stepped down to 4.0 or smaller.

Using a Sears 50/1.4 I set the aperture for 2.0. I’ve found this setting to be useful with the RAW format from an actual 1.4 to 2.8 lens setting. The lens FL I set to 50mm.

This is copyrighted by me, please give my blog credit if you grab it entirely for re-use. Otherwise the Temporium blood worms I have under contract will crawl out of your modem one night and eat your brains – very noisily and very slowly. Failing that, paraphrase a bunch and they may leave you alone.

DISCLAIMER:
IF YOU SHOULD CHOOSE TO FOLLOW ANY OF THE PRECEEDING DIRECTIONS ON YOUR CAMERA, IT IS DONE ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. IF YOU ARE UNSURE AS TO WHOM THE TERMS ‘YOU’ AND ‘YOUR’ REFERS TO- WALK TO THE NEAREST MIRROR AND THAT FACE YOU SEE DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOU AS YOU LOOK INTO THE MIRROR IS ‘YOU’ AND ‘YOUR’. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF YOUR ACTIONS.