Wednesday 20 July 2011

The Case of the Fraudulent Photo.

Announcement of a serie from the British Television, Geoffrey Marland & T.W. Greer.

Monday 13 June 2011

Projection Distance

There are some silly rules and mathematics in photography, here is a theoric base for setting up the distance for projection, as can be used for exhibition and flatscreen.

If L is the wideness of the projected area, then the first viewers has to sit at 3 times this measurement and the last one at 4,5 times this distance.

Not practical, cannot be used in cinemas and I think when I play the last version of my favorite killing game on my Playstation 3 on my 42 inch flatscreen, I would be complete out of the game.

Faulty Chinese or English to French in Instruction Manual

I know, when you aren't french born, this language is very difficult to learn. But this manual, from the Hong-Kong made Comax, has broken some records : 41 french grammatical mistakes. Maybe it was made in times that the spellchecker didn't exist, or the chinese/english keyboard didn't had the french accents...

Saturday 11 June 2011

Faulty M39 Jupiter 11 on Leica IIIc

I found this beauty on a fleamarket in Ostend, Belgium. The price was 60 Euro. Nothing wrong with the Jupiter 11, the Leica IIIc has a slow first curtain and a bit faulty slow speeds, but that's for later,... The strange thing is : this russian lens was made for a the early Zenit's with a M39 fitting before the got the M42 lensfitting. This lens works only at closer distance because the distance between film and lens is different between M39 and M42. So this combination only works for macro. Can you imagine the impossible work to get something macro sharp with this rangefindercombination! Anyway good lens, good camera, good price, happy me!










Thursday 9 June 2011

Pandemic E-coli Camera.

Due to the epidemy of e-coli in Europe, I highly recommend to decontaminate this camera before use!





Tuesday 7 June 2011

Parallax error in photography

Parallax error can be seen when taking photos with many types of cameras, such as twin-lens reflex cameras and those including viewfinders (such as rangefinder cameras). In such cameras, the eye sees the subject through different optics (the viewfinder, or a second lens) than the one through which the photo is taken. As the viewfinder is often found above the lens of the camera, photos with parallax error are often slightly lower than intended, the classic example being the image of person with his or her head cropped off. This problem is addressed in single-lens reflex cameras, in which the viewfinder sees through the same lens through which the photo is taken (with the aid of a movable mirror), thus avoiding parallax error.(Source Wikipedia)

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Animal Cruelty : Salvador Dali.

From the famous picture : Dali Atomius, Philippe Halsman 1948. Here is a serie of shots during the studiosession. The idea of the picture is to create a methaphysical and surrealstic shot by shooting floating items as a way of creativity for the artist Salvador Dali. To compose a shot like this, three of picturial elements has to be "flying" : Salvador Dali himself, water, and ...cats. On the last one you can even see 3 of this poor animals. Imagine some studiocrew with some cats in their hands waiting for the signal to throw them in the air. Maybe these cats where drugged to death, you can throw them once, maybe twice, but the third time this animal will become wild as hell, and probably these cats were soaked aswell. Poor cat or poor studiocrew...

Tuesday 31 May 2011

Photographic Equipment from Burma.

This ad, dates 1952 and comes from The Almanach of British Photography. I wonder if the shop, or street, or if mister Ahuja is still alive... If perhaps his son or daughter is, he or she probably sell the same stuff from 69 year ago..., and they were already since 1916 a company!

The King Of Thailand loves photography.

Bhumibol Adulyadej, born 5 December 1927, is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX. Having reigned since 9 June 1946, he is the world's longest-serving current head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history

Bhumibol is a painter, musician, photographer, author and translator.

During offial visits he is often see using a camera, shooting the ceremony for personal souvenirs.

There is even a Museum about his passion of photography :

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Royal Photography Museum I.

The museum of the photographs taken by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej consists of two buildings situated north of Vimanmek Mansion. They were originally constructed by the royal command of King Rama V for HRH Princess Arunwadi and HRH Princess Bussabun Buaphan.

At present both former royal residences house displays of photographs taken by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The King, a lifelong camera enthusiast, has graciously permitted the display of some works from his personal collection. Many of His Majesty the King’s photographs reflect hidden interesting philosophical thoughts.

The King’s photographs can be categorized into several groups. There are family photographs of Her Majesty the Queen and those of the royal children, the Prince and the Princesses. These are also photographs of royal ceremonies, photographs of the Ramakien scenes from the corridors of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and photographs of his subjects, villages, towns, and cities and natural wonders in the Kingdom. Also, he has taken photographs which have been useful for the development of the country such as photographs of interesting landscapes; photographs showing appropriate locations for dams, reservoirs and dykes; photographs of villages and their surroundings and of transportation routes. These photographs were taken on land, from the air in airplanes or helicopters. They have been used to help him plan various development projects in the Kingdom, particularly in rural areas. Upon completion of those projects, he sometimes took photographs of the officials involved with the projects.




Sunday 29 May 2011

Blueprints for the Lomographic Rocket Sprocket

Shameless as can be Lomography, did it again.

A counterfeit is an imitation, usually one that is made with the intent of fraudulently passing it off as genuine. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product. The word counterfeit frequently describes both the forgeries of currency and documents, as well as the imitations of works of art, clothing, software, pharmaceuticals, watches, electronics and company logos and brands. In the case of goods, it results in patent infringement or trademark infringement. (Source Wikipedia)



(Source Pictures : Mc Keown's Cameras)


Wednesday 25 May 2011

Olympus XA Eurovision Belgium 1980.

In 1980 Telex's manager asked the group to enter the Eurovision Song Contest. The group entered and were eventually sent to the finals, although it apparently hoped to come in last: "We had hoped to finish last, but Portugal decided otherwise. The group's song "Euro-Vision" was a cheerful bleepy song with deliberately banal lyrics about the contest itself. The Eurovision audience seemed unsure how to react to the performance, and after the band stopped playing, there was mostly stunned silence, with scattered polite applause; Michel Moers took a photograph with an Olympus XA of the bewildered audience. The band walked off amid sounds of muttering. A mark of the confusion caused by the performance was when vote-counting began, and Greece awarded Belgium three points, the announcer thought she had misheard and tried to award the points to the Netherlands.




(Source Wikipedia)







Tuesday 24 May 2011

Free Camera : Dirkon.

The Dirkon is a paper camera kit that was first published in 1979 in the Communist Czechoslovakian magazine ABC mladých techniků a přírodovědců [translated as An ABC of Young Technicians and Natural Scientists]. The pattern was created by Martin Pilný, Mirek Kolár, and Richard Vyškovský.

The name Dirkon is a play on words based on the combination of the parts of two words: Dirk- is the beginning of the Czech word dírka (pinhole), and -kon is the end of the name of the well-known Japanese camera, Nikon.

Free download :
http://www.pinhole.cz/downloads/dirkon_en.pdf

Saturday 7 May 2011

Nazi Tourist.

Ostend, Belgium has always been a major recreational and touristic city. Since more then a century it's an attractive place to enjoy the Northsea. Hotels and second residences are everywhere in the city. Around 70 years ago, the tourist industry was booming due to organised citytrips by our german neighbours. And guess what their favorite camera was...


Picture taken in the Atlantikwall-museum, Ostend, Belgium.



Crackeled Leatherette.

Vintage photographic equipment has one major problem, in many case the leatherette doesn't appreciate the years as much. From my personal experience and collection, I have to say that the skin of the Yashica's slr are worse : they become sticky, loose and dusty. There are some resellers that provides new skin as replacement for your beloved cameras. And if those flashy reskinneds are not tasty enough try yourself!

http://www.skinit.com/
http://www.skinslove.com/index.php/cPath/145
http://www.petapixel.com/2010/12/17/cobra-skin-camera-body-covering/

This Leica M6 rather needs new plaster!


Perversion.

From Frans Naeff's book "Photography", about the use of photographic equipment. Is this a subliminal lineout about light measurement of a subject... I do not really know what the drawing meant to be, or is this book made for a forbidden audience? Or maybe it's me who has a distored mind?






Friday 29 April 2011

Harrod Blank's Camera Van.

One night in the fall of 1993, Harrod Blank had a dream in which he covered his car with cameras and then drove around and took pictures of people on the streets. The public, unaware that the cameras worked, reacted naturally. At the end of the dream, Harrod looked at pictures taken with the van of faces frozen in the moment of awe, pictures so powerful that the next morning he decided to attempt to build such a vehicle in reality.

With the help of Dan Lohaus and some other friends, Harrod spent the next two years designing and building the van. With a lot of trial & error, the van was completed in 1995 and made it’s debut voyage in April leaving his home in Berkeley California, stoping in Houston and New Orleans and ending up in New York City where he would live and take pictures with the van for the following six months.



Foojifilm & Kodaq : Fake Films.

Scan from Phaic Tăn, is a parody travel guidebook examining imaginary south-east-asian's country Phaic Tăn. The book's full title is Phaic Tăn: Sunstroke on a Shoestring and was written by Australians Tom Gleisner, Santo Cilauro, and Rob Sitch.

http://www.jetlagtravel.com/phaic_tan/index.html

Thursday 28 April 2011

Photographer

Tattoofans of asian writings, here is the chinese translation of photographer. I saw somwhere on the net a tattoo of a Lomo LC-A on shoulder. I wouldn't go so far...






Monday 25 April 2011

Fresnel lens.

A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses. The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design. Compared to conventional bulky lenses, the Fresnel lens is much thinner, larger, and flatter, and captures more oblique light from a light source, thus allowing lighthouses to be visible over much greater distances. (Source Wikipedia)












Wednesday 20 April 2011

Harcourt, Paris.

Harcourt, is a photostudio in Paris, making glamour black and white portraits. Mainly contrasty face closeups of personalities and moviestars. The style is film noir. Price for a premium photoshoot : 1900 Euro.

www.studio-harcourt.eu/

Leica 3th Eye.

From a catalogue of photographic equipment, 1969, Belgium. Strange and metaphysical advertising of Leica. I have myself 3 Leicas, beside the history, nostalgy and myth of Leica's, when I use this cameras for my photographic work, I rather have to close one eye to use the rangefinder. Shouldn't we better call them cyclops?



Tuesday 19 April 2011

The Gothic Pen F

The Pen F is a half-frame single lens reflex camera introduced in 1963 by Olympus. It is designed by the highly respected and quite famous engineer Maitani Yoshihisa, who also has created the Olympus Pen point-and-shoot series, as well as the OM-1 and the Olympus XA. The original model is easily recognized by its big gothic letter F engraved to the right on the front plate and on the lensdop. (Source Camerapedia) Strange association by the japanese designers, gothic refers actually more to gangsta'rap or gothic music, maybe they did this to have a clear alternative to the Nikon (normal font) F-series.

Sunday 17 April 2011

Stankowski.

Found on a fleamarket at the forgotten neighborhood Krottegem, Roeslare, Belgium, a book featuring the photographic work of Anton Stankowski. Anton Stankowski (June 18, 1906 - December 11, 1998) was a German graphic designer, photographer and painter. He developed an original Theory of Design and pioneered Constructive Graphic Art. Typical Stankowski designs attempt to illustrate processes or behaviours rather than objects. Such experiments resulted in the use of fractal-like structures long before their popularisation by Benoît Mandelbrot in 1975. (Source Wikipedia)

Saturday 16 April 2011

Shutterbugs.

We are continually reminded that our society becomes more technological, it is also becoming impersonal. Characters trademarks resist that trend. They suggest a simpler era of neighborhood grocers and friendly repairmen. They are likeable. They are fun to look at. And they have come to represent a certain innocence with which we all, at some point in our live, can identify.



Icon.


This is the logo for my "Goed Licht" project. The idea is to have a place where vintage photographic material can be stored and restored, where the nostalgy and the beauty of those items from the past can be kept alive. I'm not a dead item collector, but I rather like to revive those "forgotten in the attick things", by publishing posts about them on sites and blogs like : Flickr, Tumblr, Blogger, Facebook, ... If you like to share, feel free to use my pictures, there is no copyright, but a reminder or a link to this blog will be nice.


Worst Leica Copy Ever.

This "item" is a toy, featuring a copy of a Leica, and a slideviewer. The slideviewer is in fact a wheelmechanism in the body itself, the releasebutton is used to turn the wheel, the images from the slideshow are african wildlifesecenery with, lions, girafs, elephants,... 6 pictures on the disk. I found this toy in a Buddhist temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. These temples are organising events, where families and children are welcome and this item is sold for children's joy. The toy is a replica of a Leica M8 or M9, with the Summilux Asph. M-lens, it's a 1:1 objective with a lens thread of 46mm, what the number 4135 means, I do not really know... There is even a random serialnumber on the lens. It has a black plastic body that isn't perfectly moulded and a bit out of angle. The paint is in a golden finish, but there where also models in green, blue and red. Made in China, retailprice 0,50 Eurocent.

Friday 15 April 2011

Diana.

The Diana first appeared during the early 1960s as a inexpensive box camera sold by the Great Wall Plastic Factory of Kowloon, Hong Kong. Most were exported to the United States and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the Diana was imported by the Power Sales Company of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. During the 1960s, Power Sales Company wholesaled the Diana by the case - 144 cameras - at about 50 cents U.S. per unit to a variety of retailers and promotional merchandisers. Most Diana cameras were given away or sold for nominal sums as novelties or prizes at fairs, carnivals, product promotions, raffles, or other events. For a time, the camera was also regularly advertised for sale in various periodicals through mail order vendors. However, with the development of inexpensive, higher quality consumer cameras such as the Kodak Instamatic, together with the declining popularity of rollfilm, demand for the Diana - even as a novelty gift - gradually disappeared. Production of the Diana, its clones, close copies, and variants is believed to have stopped in the 1970s, though similar 35 mm box cameras were produced for many years thereafter by various companies in Hong Kong and Taiwan for use as promotional items. (Source : Wikipedia)




Thursday 14 April 2011

Krügener.

Then the family moves to Springwood, Ohio. In Elmstreet they had a little boy named Freddy.




Nikon Nikkor-S Auto 1:1.4 f= 50mm.

Nikon Nikkor-S (C) Auto 1:1.4 f= 50mm standard lens As stated this lens appeared in March 1962. This lens has 7 elements in 6 groups, which optical formula changed several times during its production. In fact this lens, as the modern AFD-Nikkor, is still in production. Changes in optical formula and its exterior were in 1972, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1984 and as an AF-version in 1986 (see matrix). This very favorite lens - even in the digital era - still is one of the best standard prime lenses ever produced. More than 4 million lenses were build since its introduction.


Das große Buch der Farbfotografie.

Das große Buch der Farbfotografie In diesem Buch werden dem Hobbyfotografen die große Welt der Fotografie näher gebracht. Von Grundsätzlichen wie Ausrüstung, Technik, Grundlagen, zahlreichen Ideen für Motive und Beispielen. Bringt es auch die Fotografie als Kunstform näher. I.Kreativität 1.1.Vom Bauernhaus zur Burgruine 1.2.Senioren 1.3.Straßenleben 1.4.Vom Winde verweht 1.5.Wilde Blumen 1.6.Am Meer 1.7.Porttäts im Raum 1.8.Bewegung 1.9.Innenaufnahmen 1.10.Hochzeit 1.11.Schule International 1.12.Schattenspiel 1.13.Tierisches 1.14.Bildaufbau und Bildausschnitt 1.15.Menschen bei der Arbeit 1.16.Regen 1.17.im Gebirge 1.18.Spiegelungen 1.19.Stilleben 1.20.Die Sonne geht auf und unter II.Ihr Handwerkszeug 2.1Gegenlichtblenden und Filter 2.2Rollfilm-Kameras 2.3Bilderfabriken 2.4Das richtige Weitwinkel-Objektiv 2.5Die Wahl des Belichtungsmessers 2.6Sucher 2.7Gebraucht kaufen 2.8Sofortbild-Kameras 2.9Kriterien für Filmkameras 2.10Taschen und Koffer 2.11Systemblitzgeräte 2.12Was sie zur Farbentwicklung brauchen 2.13Lichtriesen 2.14Alternativen zum Stativ 2.15Meßsucherkameras 2.16Kleine Studio-Blitze 2.17110-Kameras III.Verbessern Sie Ihre Technik 3.1Tele-Brevier 3.2Mit der Kamera auf Reisen 3.3Kontrastbewältigung 3.4Schuß im Dunkeln 3.5Aufnahmen bei Kunstlicht 3.6Diakopieren 3.7Superweitwinkel-Objektive 3.8aufnahmetechnik mit Spiegelobjektiven 3.9Arbeiten mit einem Fotomodell 3.10Einfache Nahaufnahmen 3.11Filter für Spezialeffekte 3.12Kompakt-Kameras- klein aber fein 3.13Fotografieren mit Motor 3.14Reprofotos 3.15High-key. Low-key 3.16Fotojagd auf Vögel 3.17Feuerwerk 3.18Einrichtung eines Studios 3.19Aufnahmen im GegenlichtblendenWir drehen einen Film IV.Wie geht das ? 4.1Farbdiafilm 4.2Meßsucher 4.3Autofokus-Kameras 4.4Objektiv-Vorsätze 4.5Streulicht 4.6Objektiv-Vergütung 4.7Solarisation und Sabattier-Effekt 4.8Kamerabewegung 4.9Unsichtbares LichtriesenWie wir sehen 4.10auge und Kamera 4.11Der Kamera-Computer 4.12Objektivfehler 4.13Objektivkonstruktion 4.14Hyperfokale Entfern... Seiten : 568. Gewicht : 2,5 kg. Unipart-Vlg., Remseck (Februar 1992).


Photographic Notes 1980.

Monday 14 January

To take out the film.

First push the button or keep the button pushed.


Tuesday 15 January

Pull the upper (????) and turn in the direction of the (????).


Thursday 17 January

Open downside and (????) and put the film....


(Traduction from dutch.)


It's Kodak.

Ad from The Photographic Almanach, British edition 1958. What is better then a lovely women, with an attractive face and body to advertise the quality and merits of Kodak Film. Seems that the magenta-saturation is a bit high, but anyway, if this person should emerge from some trees, I surely would use Kodak-film to fix this moment of great joy and pleasure,...or a black and white ORWO-film,... maybe,...


Wednesday 13 April 2011

T-Shirt.

Photographer. Found on a picture from Flickr, T-shirt design blessing the egocentrism of photographers.


Voigtländer Avus.

The Voigtländer Avus was introduced in 1914. They had a leather-covered aluminum body and a U-style lens standard with rise and shift for parallax correction. This later model (c.1930) has the brilliant finder centered over the lens, and uses an f/4.5 13.5cm Skopar lens (1 - 1/200) in a Compur shutter.

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Eumig C3.

Eumig (Austria) started their film camera production in 1932 with the C 1 for 9.5 mm film stock. The C1 was soon fllowed by the C2, also for the then popular 9.5mm format. The C3 was Eumig's first camera for the 8mm film format, using double-8 film stock. B.t.w., the "C" in the type number means Camera, just like as the "P"-series were film Projectors.

At least two versions of the C3 existed, the black version and the grey verion. It might well be that the black version dates from before WW2 whereas the grey version dates from the 1950s.


About the Tits.

This pictures comes from a 1980 "very serious" book from Frans Naeff, about photography. The legend can be translated as :

"Pic 1.19. Deviation and balance. The rounded shape showed well against the straight lines of the background, while the dark grey down comes back in the hat."

If you asked me, it's about the tits,...


Ipad 1959.

In times that technology was rather basic, here an ancestror of the Ipad. Featuring a portable and compact screendisplay to project slides on a moveable unit. I don't know if Apple has got their inspiration from this beast, but surely is, it has a similar function.


Planar.

The Zeiss Planar is a photographic lens designed by Paul Rudolph at Carl Zeiss in 1896. Rudolph's original was a six-element symmetrical design.
While very sharp, the lens suffered from flare due to its many air-to-glass surfaces. Before the introduction of lens coating technology the four-element Tessar, with slightly inferior image quality, was preferred due to its better contrast. In the 1950s, when effective anti-reflective lens coatings became available, coated Planars were produced with much-improved flare. These lenses used the Zeiss T* coating system, which had been invented in 1935.[1] They performed very well as normal and medium-long focus lenses for small and medium format cameras.(Source Camerapedia)


Monday 11 April 2011

43,27mm.

Pythagorean theorem Pythagoras has commonly been given credit for discovering the Pythagorean theorem, a theorem in geometry that states that in a right-angled triangle the area of the square on the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares of the other two sides : that is, a2 + b2 = c2.


Ultra-Fex.

The Ultra-FEX cameras are a real challenge for a collector of antic cameras. From 1947 to 1962, the quantity of cameras produced under the reference Ultra-FEX is huge. These cameras in bakelite were offered in a variety of 8 models (the one presented here is the fourth) and in an incredible number of variants. By the way, it is possible to find some discrepancies between a same model or variant... This abundance can be explained due to the fact that very often production was unsettled by the disruption in supplies. In such a case, the production of cameras continued with what was available... This range of cameras (and many other ones) was developped by Fritz Kaftanski. This German guy, born in Essen in 1899, emigrated in several European countries before moving in France. During the German occupation, he formed an association with Lucien Bouchetal de la Roche in order to produce cameras under the mark FEX (for France EXport). Located in Lyon, this company became FEX-INDO and then INDO (INDustrie Optique). It stopped all activities in 1981.