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Again, my apologies for the delay, but I truly hate spammers.
CycleDog: (n) 1. An all-weather bicyclist, often regarded as one very sick puppy with a bad attitude. 2. A ankle-biting poodle with a Mohawk. (l)Canis familiaris cyclus
Labels: humor
Labels: argus c3, one photo per day, yashica electro 35
Labels: satire
She's rapidly turning into my favorite model...mainly because she works almost for free. This is my daughter the shopping maven. We were out on Saturday at the Tulsa flea market, various thrift shops, and Gardner's Books, the latter a favorite of my kids since they were toddlers. This shot was taken in the cafe using window light, and I think it turned out well. She's giving me the oh-so-patient "Stupid Father Look" which will someday morph into the Stupid Husband Look. I'm in no hurry to see that happen.
All these shots were taken with a Yashica Electro 35 GLN, the same camera I purchased at last week's flea market. I cleaned the exterior and the rangefinder assembly, installed new seals and a new battery, and exercised the shutter. It works fine but may be underexposing a bit. I gave this camera to a friend yesterday. He's going to run more film through it, and if it's consistently underexposed I'll adjust the autoexposure diaphragm. It's very possible to install a voltage regulator in one of these cameras - lots of space. So I'll look into building a 5.6v regulator also.
Here she is in the stacks. A few days ago, I did a similar shot of her mother. Neither of them like to be photographed. I like the way the rectangular pattern of her coat seems to be the same as the more of less rectangular patterns of the books.
I staked out the Dungeons and Dragons reference book rack, hoping that someone would pause long enough for a snapshot. I was not disappointed. It drew an eclectic group of people, but I never realized it was a spot that encouraged spontaneous worship. Maybe there's more to this D&D stuff than I realized.
Labels: one photo per day
Canon Canonet. Exposure unrecorded. Kodak ISO400 film with an orange filter.
She-Wh0-Must-Be-Obeyed doesn't like to be photographed, so I have to be sneaky. The Canonet is ideal for that. The lens is a 40mm f1.7, so taking photos by available light works well. This was inside our local library where Mary usually has an armful of books for me to carry out. Yesterday was no exception. She had 13 when we left!
Canon A590IS, ISO200, f5.5, 1/10sec.
This is Mark, one of my co-workers. He's wearing a pair of binocular magnifiers with 6 LEDs on the front that light up his work. I've relied on the same type of magnifiers whenever I have to do close work, but mine do not have LEDs! Oh the humanity!
My daughter laughed as I worked on that camera a few nights ago because - according to her - I looked like a geek. Well...yes...but I'm a professional electronics geek, not an ordinary idiot.
I gotta get me some of them lights. Hmmm, both visible and ultraviolet would be nice...
Labels: one photo per day
I'm tired, but it's a good kind of tired. I'm looking forward to the weekend. Management didn't ask for overtime this weekend as I'd feared, so I get two entire days off. Wonderful!
Still, I couldn't go without posting something. Believe me, while there are some broad-minded people here in Oklahoma, they're not this broad-minded.
Labels: one photo per day
This is a long exposure, basically the idea I want to pursue with some of this nightime photography. This was taken with the Canon A590IS with an ISO80, f2.8, for 15 seconds. Yes, 15 seconds. That red streak is my son driving by in the car. I like the way the headlights lit the road. And I also like the very low noise in this photo, so much unlike the one from earlier in the week.
This is much the same shot without the car going by. Several of them drove up the hill, but their headlights overpowered the camera. I want to try 'painting' a foreground object with a powerful flashlight too. But it was getting cold, my batteries were about shot, and dinner was waiting.
This is interesting too. It's a power supply board with a burnt-out thermistor and capacitor. When this thing went, it shot tiny balls of molten metal onto an adjacent circuit board. It looked almost like weld spatter. The weird thing was the computer still worked. I'm hoping the board isn't badly charred under the thermistor, or it's very possible the card will be scrap. At about $12,000 a piece, I really hesitate to scrap them. I've been trained to repair multi-layer boards like this, so it may be salvageable. Still, board repair work is tedious and very time-consuming.
All in all, I've had a good day!
Labels: one photo per day
Here's the source of much frustration. This is the Yashica Electro 35 GT that has an intermittent electrical problem. In looking at the schematic, I concluded that the only point in common with both problems (exposure and battery check circuits) was the negative battery terminal. It's buried under the rangefinder assembly inside the top cover.
Notice the cute little pigs on my bandana. I'd prefer a solid color in case I dropped a small part. It's easier to find that way. But this was the only one I had on hand. Also, notice the paint tray from Hobby Lobby. These are very useful for holding and organizing small parts, but I can't use it at work because it's not safe in an electromagnetic discharge environment.
This is the rangefinder assembly. It's held in place by two small screws, one of them inside the assembly where you have to be careful about touching or scratching the parts. It comes out as a unit, revealing the negative battery terminal in all it's pristine glory. Yep, it appears to be just fine. No corrosion. No frayed wires. And of course, I don't have a probe that will allow me to check it here at home. Grrr.
Worse, I don't want to take it into work because the FAA is out and about this week. I've never had problems with one of their inspectors (knock on wood) and I don't want to start now.
The Kodak has a high ISO setting that automatically chooses a very fast speed in low light conditions. I haven't really played with it much, so before leaving for work I shot these two images. And naturally, I forgot to disable the flash when I took the first one! It's slightly creepy since the flash washed out all the color.
This one actually looks better reduced than it did in the full-size version. The noise is very apparent in the bigger one. I'll try this again with the tripod and a much lower ISO. It would have been interesting to do that this morning, but first, I was in a hurry to get to work and second, we had freezing fog out there. Honestly, it was just below freezing and a mist hung in the air. The cold and damp seemed to go straight to my bones. I've been chilled all day.
As I said yesterday, this would be another busy day. Two of our cats were to go to the vets to be neutered this morning, so they were not allowed anything to eat or drink after midnight. That meant Mary picked up all the food and water. At 3AM, a crowd of hungry, thirsty cats stormed the bedroom door carrying torches and pitchforks. OK, they really didn't do that. They just sat in the hallway meowing. Mittens - the geriatric female - sat out there and howled. I was ready to kill all of them.
At mid-morning, I came home to take the toms to the vets. Mary doesn't drive, so it was my responsibility. "Yeah, see what happens when you guys piss me off? Snip, snip, snip!" I chortled.
Mary gave me a level stare. "Just see what happens when you piss ME off!" she said.
I'm staying out of her way tonight.
Labels: cats, humor, yashica electro 35
Canon A590IS ISO80 f2.6 1sec
This is not a good photo. It's a test of what I'd like to do. I can convert the exposure information for a film camera. The view is a shopping area just north and west of home. In the foreground is a dimly lit road and sidewalk. My flash went off, and when I compared this shot with a subsequent one without flash, I decided to include the flash photo here. The road curves off to the left. My plan is to set up a camera on a tripod and make an exposure as a car goes by. The headlights should light up the sides of the road and the tail lights will leave long red streaks. I'm planning to do this in with both color film and black and white.
When I took those shots this morning, it was 7F. I did not want to spend much time out there, and handling the tripod was something I'd rather not contemplate. It was butt-freezing cold! Fortunately, the weather is moderating. Our high today was just above freezing and tonight's low is supposed to be 27. The next couple of days will be warmer, and I'm thankful for that. Normally, a winter blast here lasts only two or three days. This one has been around since Christmas Eve.
Also, since two of our cable controllers seem to be faulty, I spent an exasperating amount of time wading through the voice menus for Cox Cable's tech services. Let's just say it left me spittin' and swearin'....and it was unsuccessful so I have to do it again....tomorrow. I'm not prepared for that level of frustration twice in one day.
I just posted a bit of satire over on the Examiner about Ford's new line of internet-capable vehicles. Just because you're driving doesn't have to mean you're not connected.
Also, there will be a new photo post here later today.
There's a kind of method in my madness. You see, I'm planning to disassemble this black GT later today in order to reach the negative battery terminal. It's buried directly under the rangefinder assembly. The GT has an intermittent. The camera's schematic shows two current paths, one for the battery test circuit, the other for the autoexposure mechanism. Both are intermittent and the only common part of the circuit is that negative terminal. This should be interesting. If I really screw up, I can use the GSN as a model for reassembling the GT.
Naturally, the GSN seems to have problems of its own. Everything mechanical seems to work well. The battery compartment is free of corrosion. The rangefinder seems to be calibrated properly. The only defect I've discovered is an odd noise when the shutter is depressed. It's an electrical noise and sounds like a component burning out. I wouldn't be surprised to find a failing capacitor or circuit board, but given that I'm a professional electronics geek, fixing it shouldn't be difficult.
I bought this at the flea market in Tulsa this morning. The seller is going out of business. He was intent on selling me a few more cameras, and while I admit I was tempted by a pair of Zenit SLRs, they were both dented, inoperative, and missing some parts. No thanks. For some odd reason, I've been fascinated by Russian Feds and Zorkis. Perhaps this will pass. Perhaps not.
Labels: fed, yashica electro 35, zenit, zorki
Wednesday
Look what I found buried in my toolbox! That's a Campy head for a Silca frame pump. As far as I know, it's never been used. I wonder what else is in there?
Thursday
This is very likely the reason for the recent (and expensive) repair to the Kodak Z1285. I like those wrist straps, but apparently the furry hooligans like them too.
Friday
Finally, this is the thermometer on our porch. I took this just before leaving for work this morning while Duchess the Wonder Dog searched for that last blade of grass she hasn't peed on yet. She searches much, much faster when it's this cold.
Steve A asked when I was planning to post more shots from the film cameras. I have some ideas involving the ISO1600 test photos I did earlier. I'm thinking of using the digital cameras to photograph area buildings at night, and then use the resulting images and camera settings to make film exposures. In effect, this uses the digital camera as a glorified light meter. I may be out doing that tomorrow morning, or, since I'm feeling halfways asleep already (and it's only 930PM) I may just sleep late tomorrow.
There are two photos today. This first one is a snapshot taken as I walked out the front door this afternoon. She's the reason we have tiny paw prints across the cars. This cat is a stray we've named 'Baby.' She's not feral as she's quite sociable. In fact, she's something of an attention sponge. Baby will gently bite my hand when she needs some affection. She's also fond of grabbing my hand between her paws and drawing it over toward her head for some ear scratching.
Mary and I came across this in the grocery store last night. Look carefully. It's Pepsi made with REAL SUGAR not corn sweetener. Some Mexican groceries carry imported sodas made with real sugar. They charge premium prices for it and the stuff sells out rapidly. This is the first time I've seen this product in the mainstream grocery.
I bought it as a special treat for Mary, but she'll have to be very careful of the sugar content. Each can has 40 grams! This will be for special occasions and she'll have to split the can with Lyndsay.
Labels: one photo per day