FM RADIO TRIGGER

I bought this years ago.  This is kind of a one packaging for a few.  The model I bought is the PT-04GY depicted on the upper right corner of the above picture.

I have used this with my cameras and flashes and they all work pretty well together, which is a good surprise.  The battery inside the transmitter still goes on and on after years of occasional usage.  I even connect it to my Hasselblad, or actually the Zeiss lens' PC plug to trigger the flash with no problem.  Just make sure the battery doors are properly closed and maintain good contact and the channel is the same across the board.

I don't know how reliable or unreliable are others.  For me this setup serves my very basic fundamental need for flash photos.

Unless I want to get into off camera flash using a higher than sync speed then I really don't see any compelling reason to upgrade.

Flash at a shutter speed higher than the X-sync speed is a topic that continues to confuse and confound plenty of users.  I've seen an Youtuber who totally got everything backward and yet appears totally authoritative.  When you have that level of confidence, you can do anything you want and achieve world dominance.

In the interest of the general public I shall refrain from talking about flash X-sync.

Nikon D4s

It seems like the Nikon DSLR prices are on a downward trajectory.  An used D4s with shutter count less than 36,000 is asking for $2,200 and having a best offer price option.  I can see the price can be talked down to very close to $2000 if there is no bid.  The frenzy goes to I guess the Z cameras or the D850.  I have never touched a D850 and I don't know how great its AF is.  For me it's all about the AF.  The D single digit line series just gives me more confidence in that regard.  Of course I could be wrong.  Based on my D810 experience the AF is good but I wish it could be better.  Again, the myriad of variables and user technique can render my opinion less than objective.  Anyway, I think the D4s comes down to $2000 is really something.  If the D850 set, meaning the camera and battery grip, sells for less than $2000 and if the AF is really really as good as the D5 then sure why not.

Rainey Park Cyclocross 2018

Sometimes on second look or thought you think, maybe I should have adjusted the exposure somewhat.

This was the only cyclocross I went this year.

I packed my 810, 700, 135mm, 16-35mm and my SB-800.  This is the first time I shot entirely on the 135mm without the 70-200mm.  I found it quite doable and the D700 with the 135mm combination is not terribly slow.  I can't scientifically say how slow or fast it focuses or the out of focus is due to AF ability or simply because of shooting at big aperture like f/2 or user error.  The answer of course can be a bit of each and tend to be complicated.  You believe what you want to believe.

Sometimes you just can't execute what's in your mind's eye.  I got my SB-800 for easy carry and gel-ability.  The about were shot at WB2940 with CTO gel on the flash.

In the middle of the shot, perhaps due to lens change, there is a piece of grass lodged on the sensor the size of Australia, found out later when looking the pictures on the monitor.  Oh well.  I don't have the heart to double check now.

I managed to stuff everything in my ancient tenba bag which I think is more than twenty years old.  My last post also mentioned that I like have the option to pan at 1/8 a second and hence I like to have small aperture.  Sadly the smallest aperture of my 135 is only at f/16.  Usually I mount my long lens on my D700 which has a base ISO 200, so it doesn't help.  That's why in the middle of the shoot I changed my flash camera to D700, 16-35mm and SB-800 and the D810 with the 135mm f/2 fixed lens + than big piece of grass.  No matter what I know about not to change lens or be very careful to change lens in the field, I usually foul up.  It's frustrating and disappointing.  And plus 99% of your shots aren't what you envisioned.

But I guess that's photography.  Or at least my kind of snapshots.

Is f/16 Small Enough of An Aperture?

f/32 would be nice.  People tend to think about the maximum aperture like f/1.4 or f/1.2 or even f/0.95 but sometimes I think about f/32 when I am not thinking about f/1.2, f/1.4, f/0.95, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, or f/22.

If you shoot action shot and want to have the alternative of shooting at 1/8 of a second then you have a problem.  Even if you can dial your ISO to 64.  It wasn't even bright sunny f/16 day but rather gray gloomy December sky.   f/16 proves to be a bit lacking.  Of course you can always work around it by like not shooting at 1/8s or stick a ND filter to it ...

The peril of shooting at 1/8 of course is is guaranteed blurry, but may not be the kind of blurry you are aiming at.  And then the dirt on your sensor all comes out to say hi as chances are you are shooting at f/16 or even smaller aperture.

The last time I checked, cleaning a full frame sensor was around $60.  It's gonna hurt very much.

Old vs New Gas Range

When I got my new gas range about five years ago, the thing I noticed right away was it took longer everything.
It took longer to boil water, longer to get anything hot.
I think the difference is, the distance between the burner and the grill is much higher than what it used to be for whatever reason.
I can't help but wonder is it what it contributes to higher utilities bill, shorter appliance life, faster global warming?  Screw the new gas range.

On Photography

I can shoot till my finger fall off but that doesn't mean the pictures are any good.

All the neck and back pains don't translate to good pictures.

You just have to learn to enjoy the process because the outcome sucks.

100% of your pictures suck.

Whirlpool Gas Double Oven Range GGG388LX or GGG390LX

It's generally a mystery what the gas oven model is.  Even you got your use & care guide.

The model number is not as complete as you want it to me.  I think the definitive model number is hidden at the back of the range, which you have to move it away from the wall to find out.

I have a hard time finding any information about the disassembling this model.  Sometimes the repair manual is just mistakenly returned as repair manual.  Repair manual is definitely not the same as use and care guide which I have and much easier to find online.

The part is almost $70 assuming that's what I need.

This is a world of pain even if I am willing to do the repair myself.

Canon New F-1, AE motor Drive FN, Battery Pack FN

I bought the Duracell 28L which is a 6V cell compatible with L544 which is what the Canon New F-1 needs, not only for metering, shutter release but also for the operation of the whole motor drive mechanism.  That's even if the motor drive is fully powered by 12 AA batteries, it won't release the camera shutter or wind the film transport forward at all.  What it works, without the 6V battery, is the meter and the rewind actually, surprise (I haven't actually tested with a film cartridge inside, but the rewind seems to work when the motor drive is not attached to the camera or when attached but quickly stop as the counter hits 0).

So the conclusion is the 1.2V AA rechargeable batteries do work with the motor drive even it's 1.2V not the 1.5V.  The 6V L544/28L battery is required for the motor drive to operate.  A depleted 6V battery enough to operate the meter and even the light but not enough to operate the shutter won't allow the motor drive to run.  So you can't run the motor drive at all if your 6V in camera battery is depleted.

These are the quirks of the system I found.

Canon F-1

The shutter of the Canon F-1 will always stay operational if you remove the battery, i.e. short of any malfunction of the camera.

If the 6V battery is drained, the shutter release won't work even some shutter speeds are mechanically activated.  You need to remove the battery for it to work.

From 1/125s to 1/2000s, flash sync ⚡️(at 1/90s) and B are mechanical.  The good news is all other shutter speeds will "work" too but default at mechanical 1/90s when the battery is removed.

I must have read about it but forgotten.

The Canon F-1 is such a beast, it simply refuses to die or stop working.

Canon Battery Pack FN

This is the battery pack that takes 12 AA battery cells.  It has been working since I bought the set in 2010.  Then it stopped working as the battery drained.  I have never used any rechargeable cells with this.

This past weekend I went to IKEA and bought a bunch of rechargeable cells.

Unfortunately they don't work inside this Canon pack.  They mystery is is the pack broken or does it demand the 1.5V per cell very strictly?  The IKEA cell called LADDA is rated at 1.2V at 2450mAh.

I have yet to buy a whole bunch of cells to test it out.  The pack has no response if I set to it OFF, which is expected, but neither is S and L.  The only time the pack is making an effort as if it's trying to wind the film it's when I set it to H.  It makes some grinding noise as if it's trying very hard to advance the film.  I don't believe it's the contacts or something with the camera itself.  It's either the motor is broken, the switch is broken, or some combination of such, or the pack is working but it has no leeway in terms of voltage.  Though that's a bit hard to believe.  I tested the LADDAs in my Nikon F5 and my Sunpak 120J, the batteries have juice to power them.

I know next to nothing to electricity but I read usually the 1.2V would work on 1.5V appliances as when loaded or when over time, the cell can hardly stay at 1.5V.  But the fact that it takes 12 of 1.5V batteries, if replaced by 1.2V then the voltage variance can be quite big when magnified by 12.

I wonder why I don't just go out and buy 12 of those one time use 1.5V AA cell to prove this theory one way or another.

My initial thinking was something wrong with the "motor drive" or even the camera.  But as I did some trouble shooting here and there, I changed my mind.

This battery pack is really just a pack.  It's separate from the actually mechanism that drives the film, which is done by the AE MOTOR DRIVE FN.  The AE MD FN itself doesn't have any power source and it's a separate piece of equipment.

Diet Prada vs Dolce & Gabbana

Diet Prada won.

Diet Prada single-handedly brought down D&G in maybe less than 48 hours.  The Shanghai show is cancelled.

Cyclocross, Downhill and Track

When I go to cyclocross or downhill, I am careful not to trip and fall.  But things happen.  I did fall a few times, once bad enough that the flash and the camera mounts got ruined.  Not totally ruined but bad enough to malfunction if not repaired.  Bad conditions make for good pictures at least in my case as I can't dramatize my own pictures without the help of bad weather.  The very first time I went to a cyclocross on Long Island, both my flash and camera ended up in Nikon's service center.  It was pouring the entire time.  It was memorable.

This year I think I have a string of unfortunate incidents.  So the cyclocross season is here and yet I can't go anywhere without a car or the resources I need..  My equipment is semi or somewhat functional.  And my mindset is not exactly in photography.

Motley Fool

When investment news is concerned, there is nothing I love to hate more than Motley Fool.  I just love to hate it.

Whirlpool Experience

Got the double oven about five years ago.

Within a year and within warranty, one of the knobs got stuck.  Or the valve.  In layman's parlance, I can't turn the knob.

The repair came and replaced the valve.

The Whirlpool over the range microwave makes noise and smell.  Basically it's malfunctioning.

Then one of the knobs on the range stopped working again.  I can't turn it.  The knob has been resistant to turn when it's hot or in use and now the knob for the  simmer burner head just stopped turning at all.

When you try to find the model number, good luck with that as the model number is always hiding somewhere like at the door on the side or totally behind, that means you have to pull the range from the wall just to know the model number.  I am not even talking about serial number.  This is I suppose not uniquely Whirlpool, all the appliances like to hide their model and their serial number as if they never needed them.  The truth is people need them.  Just stick them front and center.

I think Whirlpool sucks.

Apple Wireless Keyboard 2011

This is essentially a Bluetooth enabled keyboard.  I do find it magical.  I do enjoy typing it.  It's the major interface where I interact with my MacBook Pro.

There are certainly a few iterations of this keyboard.  But I would say they are somewhat minor.

The version I have is I believe the second iteration or could it be third I am not sure.

This version needs two AA batteries to run.  And they basically keep running.  The latest version is powered by some internal rechargeable battery that can be charged by a lightning cable.  I supposed it's good and bad.  When the internal rechargeable battery can't hold a charge what are you going to do?

I like the tactile feel of the keyboard, which is of course subjective by and large.  The more important issue is is this tested and proven to be durable.  I have heard enough horror stories of the new butterfly keyboard.  One of the things I like is this Apple keyboard also allows you to control your audio from the top row kind of function keys there.

My function key F3 has the mission control icon on it.

The connection is fantastic and I experience absolutely no lag as I type.

Things I don't like is it doesn't have illuminated keys.  I would like to have it so I can turn it on when I feel like it.  Also the battery chamber can be somewhat leaky or losing some spring to it.  You have to be careful and make sure that the AA cells don't leak.  And if the spring loses its bounce, you lose connection because of bad contact.  The remedy can be simple and yet quite effective, make tiny disc of ball out of aluminium foil and drop it inside the battery chamber.

I do some digging so you don't have to.  My version is the 2011 version.  It uses two AA cells and the F3 and F4 function keys have the Exposé and Launchpad icons there whereas the 2009 version the F4 key has the Dashboard icon, otherwise they look the same.  Of course if you go shop eBay, you have to be careful, some sellers don't know what they are selling and worse they don't really care.  Fortunately most of my experiences are positive and if it was wrong, they make it right.

Apple wireless keyboards

PhotoPlus Expo 2018

some dude with the D5 and 800mm

seems like i can just upload HEIC file format, wonder if Google just changed it to JPEG or not.  Oh well it "works"

Another year, another PhotoPlus Expo.

The show just got a little smaller each year.  It's is gradual but you can feel it.

Nikon this year gave out its Z launch T-shirt.  I went on the third day and L was gone.  I got an XL but sadly I dropped it.  So in the end I just got a medium.

Nikon, Canon and SONY pretty much took up all the space.

Nikon took a page from Apple resale.  The cameras and lens were just on a bench maned on one or two Nikon staffers.  Gone were the "treasure island" kind of setup where cameras and lenses were behind and under the counter and manned by a team of staffers and were made available upon request.

I got to play with some Z camera and the 24-70 f/4.  Overall I wasn't too excited.  I hand-held a 300mm f/2.8 which was like exceptionally heavy.  This is the kind of lens that I don't think it's practical for how and what I shoot even I have the money.  If I don't need to walk around then maybe it works.  I also played with the D5 and 800mm, that's right 800mm.  For what I have and shoot, I still prefer the SLR kind of cameras.  Between a D5 or D850 and a Z7, I have no doubt want a D5 or D850.  All of my AF-D lenses or older would become manual focus.  And I wonder if my AI or AIS lenses can do matrix metering or not on the Z body.  I think some people may prefer to use native Z lenses anyway.  I am a hoarder and I like my old lenses.  I have not sold any one of my old lenses.

I briefly played with some SONY model and used the eye focusing.  It was pretty good.

I also quite liked the Fuji XT-3 with the motor drive or sorry the grip.  It was really a nice compact camera.  I got to try it with the 200mm f/2.

Kapkur Anamorphic

I have only knew three anamorphic phone adapters until yesterday.  They are from Moondog labs, Beastgrip Pro and Moment.  Moondog labs should be the first one who made those and consistently stocked them,  with accessories like filter adapters no less.  Moment and Kapkur use a dedicated case for attaching the lens.  Moondog provides different models for different phones and a version with 37mm thread, and another with 12.5mm thread to attach to a phone case for newer phones.  Beastgrip provides a version with 37mm that attaches to the Beastgrip pro.  The question is which method provides the best alignment consistently, or does it matter.  I tend to think the custom case provides the best attachment and alignment consistently.  Once the phone is dressed in the case you just need to screw on the anamorphic adapter, i.e. the lens.  There is no guesswork to any vertical or horizontal alignment to play with.

I was at the PhotoPlus Expo yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised to see Kapkur offers anamorphic adapter.  I tried it on for 8 seconds.  I guess it's not bad.

I have no reference of course and I am surprised there isn't any comparison out there among these four adapters.

With phones coming out with twin cameras and whatnot, it seems there is a trend to make a dedicated phone case to attach the lens.  And then in turn, one could just shoot like so or mount the whole setup onto another rig like a Beastgrip to further add shooting features to the setup.

Apple Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11ac mini PCI-E WiFi WLAN Bluetooth 4.0 Card

This is the board, together with the adapter, I got to upgrade my Mac Pro 2008.  An eBay find from a seller called miraclelove, what a name.  It takes more than a week to reach here all the way from China.  But the items seem good quality.  The guy could use a box to better protect the item but mine survived the long distance odyssey just fine.  The cards appear brand new and in protective plastic bag, probably static proof or something.  It seems like miraclelove is a decent seller who wrote me right away when he shipped the item and emphasized in case something something happened, contact the him or the seller first.  I always appreciate an eBayer who is open to communication.

This has WiFi and BlueTooth together.

In my old 2008 Mac Pro (MacPro3,1) there are four antennae with paper flag marked 1 to 3 and one marked BT which has been attached with the BT module that came with the Mac Pro 2008 system.  I removed the old BT module and set free the antenna for later use on the new module.  I read somewhere regarding the antenna placement it says the BT antenna should be placed on the 3 position and the 3 antenna should go to the 0 position on the board.  I guess something  must have changed or this wire attachment simply is not for this card.  So the first time I did it,   the BT wasn't working.  It wasn't working at all.  It was like it didn't exist.  WiFi was great though.

The second time, I just followed what the Broadcom card says and attached the antenna accordingly with the BT antenna attached to the 0 position on the board, and bang, it worked.

WiFi is very strong, it's the AC standard.  BlueTooth I can't really tell as my attached devices aren't all that new.  The BT magic keyboard is the second iteration that uses two AA batteries.

I have to say with poor eyesight it's a miracle that I can attach the four antennae, it's just very very difficult to feel your way to the connector.  Using the wireless magic keyboard is such a breeze.  Got to pay attention not to let any battery leak to the battery compartment though.

iPhone Non Excitement

I think since iPhone 6 the excitement has been so much subdued.  And with every new iPhone coming out of the pipeline there are following reports saying the sales are faltering.  I can't say I am surprised.

I long for the day there was only one or two models of the iPhones.  I just now went to Apple's site, where I picked see all the iPhone models; there are all together thirteen ranging from iPhone SE to iPhone Xs Max.  Though Apple and at least T-Mobile online stores only carry from iPhone 7 and up, that's eight models with different color, memory size to choose from.  The choices are confusing.

If you don't have any eye problem like presbyopia, I wouldn't choose the Plus models (unless it weight almost the same as the iPhone 6).  From my experience with the 8 Plus I find the model just too heavy.  I like the iPhone SE but then the screen is just too small.  The iPhone 6 seems to be a good compromise between screen size and weight; and it's much lighter in my hand than the 8 Plus.  I wonder if all the Plus models are that heavy.  I suspect that's part of the reason I got all these shoulder and neck pains.

MacBook Pro 2012

Once upon a time I owned a 12" iBook but then the screen died and I felt like I got burned.

Then in October 2014, I ordered a refurbished 2012 15" MBP directly from Apple.  My research says that that is the last MBP model that allows user upgrades.  My experience is I upgraded the RAM from 4GB to 16GB and have removed the SuperDrive for another hard drive storage.  For the boot drive, I upgraded the stock 500GB 5400rpm hard drive to a SSD.  I have since then upgraded the SSD from 240GB to 480GB and have swapped in new harddrive when the existing one was full a few times.

It's not retina display but I am OK with that.  It can drive an external display at 2560x1080 at the same time.

The keyboard gives me no problem and neither is the trackpad.  I like the keyboard and the trackpad right where they are.  I mean the trackpad is right there I don't like to move my hand to grab the mouse for a walk.  For a desktop I opt for the keyboard and trackpad combo as well.  I never like the mouse that much.

Fast forward to the current 2018 MacBook or MBP.  I am somewhat leery of their butterfly keyboard.  Even the latest third iteration of that design.  Apple just started selling the 2018 models refurbished.

Officially, the 2012 MBP is the last MBP hardware that Mojave supports, anything older is not supported.  So my 2012 lives another year or two.

Levi's Trucker x Filson Jacket

I own one of them.
I always find it unbreathable and smell a bit funny as it's made of waxed tin cloth.  If you live in a dry locale with low humidity it would be comfortable.  I am always partial to pure breathable cotton.  No matter what the tag says on those high tag fabrics, or this low tech waxed fabrics, I always find them somewhat waterproof but definitely not breathable.  And I hate it.  I think one better off just wearing the good old wool.  The only celebrities I saw or left an indelible impression with this piece of garment is the late Anthony Bourdain and the very much alive Jake Gallenhaal.

iPhone 6 DIY fixed

The iPhone 6 has been broken for more than a year.  I didn't get the chance to fix it or I didn't feel compelled to fix it until just a few days ago.

There are no shortage of information out there teaching you how to fix the screen or whatever that ails your phone.

I think the number one most often fix is the screen.  By screen it means the front facing glass or the top shell.  As the top shell is more than just a piece of glass.  Although as a consumer and when you talk to the repair shop, you'd like to say it's just a shattered screen of glass as if . . . .  No, it's not just a piece of glass.

I was going to spend from $15 to $70 just for the top shell.  The takeaway is you got what you paid for and fortunately there are some good parts out there just as there are some that deviate quite substantially from Apple's specifications.  You just have to manage your expectation accordingly hoping that the vendor gives the right information.  If the vendor is selling an aftermarket part at $15, an aftermarket premium at $20 and an OEM part for $50 for example, you better believe the aftermarket $15 is just passable, the color maybe off, the touch response is not so great and the shell can barely put back in.

In the end, I got something like $31 for the shell glass and digitizer included it's rated S+, the vendor's way of saying very very good; I have to transfer the small little parts from the broken shell to the new one, mainly the fingerprint biometric home button at the bottom, the little front camera, proximity sensor ...  Buying just the glass is cheaper but then you have to really clean up the shattered shards of glass from the old one before you have to glue the new one back on.  Most of the video I watched didn't take that route.  So to recap, you have about three options, just change the glass; change with a new assembly but transfer old small parts from old shell; or buy a full assembly including small parts.  Note that the old original biometric home button works only with that phone any new home button won't do the fingerprint authentication--that's why you need to transfer the home button from the old to the new if you want fingerprint authentication to work.  Any new non original home button you bought would only act as home button but can't do the fingerprint biometrics authentication.

Having the right tools is crucial.  I can't tell you how many times I stripped the screws before I bit the bullet and bought something just a bit better.

With presbyopia it's very hard for me to see and handle those 00 Philips screws and ribbon connectors.

It took me two goes of take apart and put back together to get everything work.  The first time the headphone jack was not working.  Then later I found out neither was the earpiece at the top of the shell, that's no sound coming out.  I you Google that, you will find all the usual so called fix, clean the lint and dirt out of that headphone jack which didn't help in my case, or use an original Apple headphone.  Or worse case scenario, buy the headphone jack replacement which would have set me back at least another week or so.  I decided it's probably some bad connection, it's just a blind faith on the parts and no faith on my eyesight and assembly skill.  I tend to blame myself if something doesn't work.

My hunch was right.  The second time around the headphone jack works and so is the earpiece at the top.

The battery removal was a pain.  The glue was super strong.

All said and done, I waited for three days and spent close to $60 for parts: top assembly, new battery, and two sticky strips.  If a repair shop asked for $100 or less for the same repair, just give the money to them.

Solovair, Dr Martens and Lifestyle

Lifestyle is just a dirty word, it has no credibility.  It's a turn-off.  Please remove any lifestyle collection, there shouldn't be such a thing called lifestyle.

A chance encounter on old men hangout that's FB, I came across Solovair.

Just don't go to the site that's run for the US market.

The British one is better for at least one reason.  It gives the lengths of different lasts that are used to make the shoes and boots.  I have never seen something like that.  I think this is something painfully obvious but nobody is doing it.

Again, giving the size of the last doesn't guarantee a good fit but it's indefinitely better than just a number or conversion from UK sizing to US sizing.

iPhone 6 resurrection

I have an iPhone 6 which is not functioning well.  Mainly two issues.
The screen is cracked.  It cracked lengthwise.
It doesn't charge that well or hold a charge that well.

My solution:
Order a display and a battery replacement.

I ordered the S+ rated display replacement which supposedly is very close to the OEM from Apple but I will be the judge.  I hope the new battery will fix any battery charging issue it has.

2012 15" MacBook Pro Power Button and Keyboard malfunction.

I opened and closed, not the lid, the 2012 15" MacBook Pro half a dozen times to change out the RAM modules and to add and replace the harddrives.  I thought I am experienced not to mess anything up

Long story short, this time around when I close everything, both the keyboard the the power button acted funny, very iffy and some of the keys don't work or work intermittently and they work or don't work the next time I reboot or open and close the back cover.

I went to panic mode as this is my beloved MBP, I spent countless hours and take pride in upgrading it--quote possibility the last MBP that can be upgraded or fixed by the users.

In the end thanks to YouTube, I finally figured out what I did wrong inadvertently.

Instead of removing the battery connection like I should be before any operation, I messed up the keyboard connection.  Even the keyboard connection is protected with a metal guard with two screws.  When I finally figured that out I realized the lock lever was in the open position instead of the locked position and hence the iffy performance of the keyboard,  I locked it down and bingo all the keys work and so is the power button.

I thought it was messed up by some magnet as I also for a few seconds left the ifixit tool kit on the logic board . . . even I don't believe that's the cause but then you never know for sure.  Then I thought maybe I messed up some of the cables, but they are actually cables for the harddrive or CD-ROM (thought I changed it to another harddrive anyway), or for the keyboard backlight.

I did so many Google searches in the end, I just I found a tear down on Youtube so I know exactly which and where is the keyboard connector.  And bingo, that was the one I messed up when I initially tried to detach the battery connector.

https://youtu.be/xAHtxNVOXZI

Best Offer and Bid

Usually Best Offer comes with Buy it Now.  Yesterday was the only time I saw Bid and Best Offer but without Buy it Now.  With Buy it Now, I know what the seller wants price wise then I "low ball" an offer to test the water as I have three offers anyway.

It's a first for me to see that Bid and Best Offer only.  With Bid you know that's the threshold price for the item.  The seller would jump off the roof and just seethe in anger if you were to offer a price even lower than the initial starting bid, actually I wonder if eBay even allows that.  I know eBay would remind you if your offer is lower than the recent sold items or something like that.  As a potential buyer you always want something for nothing or realistically for the minimum relatively speaking.  As a buyer, I look for accurate, precise detailed description of an item.  If the seller is too lazy to take a picture of the actual item, instead he just uses generic pictures and description, what does it tell about the seller, would the seller bother to resolve any issues you may have when the sales don't come through as expected?  Say for example for an Apple Magic Keyboard, there are at least four iterations of the keyboard which one are you selling?  If the seller is ignorant or too lazy or both to find out then what does it tell you about the seller.  That being said if the item price is low enough then it may not matter after all.

I don't use any software to bid and I bid the highest I would ever pay and don't regret it, OK sometimes I do but that's just life.  And I never bid early or bid often; I bid the last five or ten seconds.

MacBook Pro Trackpad Handwriting

Prior to macOS Mojave, the trackpad handwriting would never stick around for long.  It simply disappears after sleep or whenever it decides to disappear.

I have the macOS Mojave installed for two weeks and the trackpad handwriting still sits neatly on the there so in my book Mojave is a great success, it finally fixes something not a lot of people care.  I mean the fix could be incidental but hey I will take it.  Before Mojave I have seen a few threads mentioning about this annoyance on the Apple discussion forums but there aren't really
any real solution to it.  Trackpad Handwriting isn't exactly great great but I like to have that option always sitting there when I want to use it.  I prefer to use the iOS handwriting.

Lining

All my Schott jackets have some lining which are not cotton or wool.  I am not talking about the zip out linings.  The zip-out linings of my 141 are faux fur type.

What I am trying to say is for jacket lining I much prefer a smooth material, like silk or acetate type that facilitates easy putting on and off and in general all kinds of movements.  So I don't know what Schott or other manufacturers are thinking when they make jackets with cotton or wool lining.  It's not exactly a show stopper but I personally would much prefer a smooth lining.

AF-S 80-200 f/2.8

I've never owned or used this lens before.  Instead I have the AF-D version.  The AF-S is supposed to be faster.  Nikon discontinued this lens and replaced it with the AF-S 70-200 f/2.8.  I have the first version a friend of mine gave me.

If you have extra cash but not extra enough to buy the AF-S 70-200 f/2.8 then perhaps this AF-S 80-200 f/2.8 is not a bad choice at all.  If I ever break the AF-S 70-200 f/2.8 then I won't be able to replace it.

Auto focus of AF-D lenses won't work on the Z cameras with the FTZ adapter.  More reason to get the AF-S instead of the AF-D 80-200 f/2.8 lens.

Phone Number

Thirty years ago, I memorized a bunch of phone numbers.  I still remember my home number from way back when my family got a rotary phone.

Now, I don't even remember my own cell number.  I keep the post-it the T-Mobile sales left me with my own phone number written on it.  It lost its stickiness so I guess I really have to commit the number in my memory.

Mojave on MacPro3,1

The power splitter came.

Chucked the SSD into the drive bay.  I didn't bother to get any adapter at all.  I figure the clipped on power and data cables would "secure" the SSD no problem.  I just saved myself a couple of days and $10.  I formatted the SSD and proceeded to install Mojave.  It went on no problem.

The on board Bluetooth is iffy.  I guess I need to upgrade that.
For internet connection, I just share the MacBook Pro using a RJ45 cable.  It works pretty well.  The MacPro doesn't come with one though I am going to get one comes this Saturday.

The graphics is a tiny bit sub optimal.  This has been documented on the patch documentation.  The windows title bar doesn't have transparency.  So it's expected.  When I use Safari the graphics shortcoming becomes more apparent; some buttons on webpages would appear smeared when navigating.  The Safari tabs also would smear when mouse over.  This happens in day or night mode regardless.  Strange enough, it doesn't exhibit this behavior on Chrome.  When I wanted to do a Command-Shift-5 to capture that smear, the screen refreshes and it's gone.

I am using ancient USB keyboard.  It's just not any USB keyboard but a DELL by Microsoft keyboard with number pad and all the special buttons for web browsing which I have no use on a Mac environment.  It's raised and supposed to be ergonomic.  But it's just way too big for the desk..  The mouse is an optical one with a click wheel which doesn't work on scrolling.  Oh well.

So I am think of getting

Magic Keyboard
Magic Mouse
WiFi and Bluetooth for Airdrop and Handoff
One or two 4TB of HDD

Liongate

As far as I know, Liongate is really good at encrypting or obfuscating its DVDs.

First Time Boot up the 2008 MacPro3,1

Here are the updates:-

I got the dosdude1 program to patch the Apple installer.

I downloaded the Mojave installer from Apple and even verified good by the patcher program.  But when it actually ran it complained can't mount.  I reformatted the USB thumb drive one more time, downloaded the patcher program one more time but still no go.  I don't find lots of information other than you must have the wrong install program (from Apple?) or you need another 16GB USB thumb drive.  Oh no!  OK, so I tried using the patcher's program utility to download the mojave again, instead from Apple, I don't know where it was from but worth a try.  This was like the last resort as it would take some 30 minutes to download.  Hey this time it worked.  So it's a mystery to me.  As the original mojave is from Apple and checked ok even by the patcher program why it failed I don't know.

So the patcher program created this modified installer which doesn't discriminate against old hardware or something something so my MacPro3,1 from early 2008 can install mojave.

I checked the installers by eyeballing them they look the same to me.

My build isn't quite ready as I am still waiting for the power cable splitter to power the STA SSD which is going to be installed on the optical drive bay.  It doesn't come with any drive at all.  So I have no way of booting it up from any existing old OS.

Anyway, I tried to boot from the USB drive.  And the MP came alive!  Since the SSD is not ready so I can't really install mojave from scratch.  The odd thing is I have another 3.5" HDD in the 2nd bay, I wonder why it can't see it.  I hope I can install and boot from the lower bay of the 5.25" optical drive bay, that's the goal.

I guess I need to wait till Tuesday to find out.

Screwdriver Set

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.  Or in my case, if you have one screwdriver, all the screws look the same.

Most of the time this doesn't work.

I keep learning this the hard way.  I don't know how many times I screwed up because of using the wrong tool, to be exact, some dollar shop screwdriver, the wrong size one to unscrew and screw.  Needless to say, the experience has been frustrating and counter productive.

I think I must have told myself to buy a nice set of precision screwdrivers a dozen times.  But that never happened until today.

I have checked out Wiha and Wera.  Since I need the good ones.  Alas, the price isn't all too bad but they just don't have the right pieces in one set.  In the end, after spending the entire day looking, I opt for the ifixit set for a whopping $59.99.  I was just too tired to look any further.

I don't open my computers too often as I don't do this for a living.  I do this like once a year when I need to replace the harddrive when it runs out of space.  A few years from now I guess chances are all the old upgradable Macs would be too outdated to mess with and all repairs or upgrades would be impossible except to the real professionals.  I wonder what will happen to OWC or Macsales or other Mac parts resellers.

For the foreseeable future I think I will still be upgrading 2 or 3 Macs.

https blogspot

I wonder why blogspot doesn't automatically goes https instead it allows http.

It's just weird something like this from Google.

Of course, I don't discount I don't know what I am doing or talking.

UPDATE:
Well, it's under basic setting, https redirect.  Blogspot provides this as an option.  And I thought it's a must.  Anyway it as an option is good I suppose.  I just thought it should be by default.  Anyway.  Good enough for me.

Nikkor 20-35

This lens has to be retired for the time being.  I simply don't want to spend the money on repairing it.  I didn't bother to make the trip to the shop to let them check it out.  I predict it's anywhere from $200 to $400 to repair it.

I will stick with my Nikon 16-35 f/4 for now.

Stripped Screw

I swear I am going to get the best set of screwdrivers.

A stripped screw turns out to the the biggest hurdle for my upgrade.

Sad.

Not touching it now.

MacPro3,1

Sometimes projects find me.  Not the ones that are you know earn me any money.  But the kind that are quite fun to work with but would burn a small hole or two in my wallet.

A friend of mine gave me this giant cheese grater or otherwise known as Mac Pro.  It's a 2008 model with 32GB of RAM but no HD whatsoever.  I am not currently having lots of disposable income so I have to savage whatever parts possible to make it run again.

I need a keyboard, a wired one at least in the beginning.  I have a PS/2 keyboard ... was thinking about getting an adapter for PS/2 to USB--this is really low I know.  Then I remember I actually have a Dell Microsoft keyboard Fung gave me long time ago.

USB mouse, which I have.
Install macOS Mojave
macOS  Mojave Patcher
2.5" 240GB SSD from before

To Buy list:
A DVI male to male cable
16 GB USB thumb drive
2.5" to 3.5" adapter

To Buy Later:
WiFi and Bluetooth module
more 3.5"HD
Bluetooth keyboard
Bluetooth mouse
PCIe card for USB3 ports

Nikkor AF-S 24-85 f/3.5~4.5 G

This was my first AF lens, bought long after I got my Nikon F5.  For a long time I just used MF lenses on my Nikon F5 adamantly.

I only used this lens occasionally and for a short period of time as I seldom took pictures and I discovered "pro" lenses.  I bought it from Canoga camera out in California.  I still remember the time I did my research on buying an AF lens and the moment and whereabouts when I placed the order, weird.  Back then I shot film and I was happy with the lens granted my point of reference was 4x6 prints and I must be in awe how the AF-S worked.

Now I "have to" revisit this lens again.  My pro grade 20-35 suffered from a fall and is out of commission.  I don't think I ever shot any digital using this 24-85.  I wonder if I shoot at f/8 or f/11, does it even matter?  When the lighting situation is difficult I think a f/2.8 helps or if you dig the f/2.8 or larger aperture rendition.  In terms of build, for me, as long as the mount is metal I am kind of OK with the rest.  All lenses broke from fall and impact, plastic or metal.  Sometimes I believe a lens shade helps alleviate the impact better than any metal construction.  That being said, I appreciate any well made lenses that last for decades.

Believe it or not, this lens together with its dedicated lens shade were Made in Japan.  The LC-67 lens cap was Made in Thailand.

Both Ken Rockwell and Moose Peterson raved about this lens if you ever need any affirmation of your purchase.  It's very interesting to read how Moose marvelled the lens cap LC-67 as I guess back then the squeeze-in lens cap was a rarity and the LC-67 was quite possibly among the firsts if not the first to use this squeeze-in mechanism.

S, M, L against numbered sizing

When I see S M L kind of sizing I shake my head a little.  Especially if the outfit in question is priced at a fairly high price like a $600-700 leather jacket.

I take it it can have XS, S, M, L, XL and for numbered sizing 36, 38, 40, 42 and 44.  So are they same?  I really don't know.  I tend to think when one uses SML sizing, it's just a bit unrefined and for lower priced goods.

Many if not most manufacturers still not disclosing what those letters or numbers mean exactly even for those selling online.  I think that's crazy.  Does 42 mean the jacket is 42 inches pit to pit or it means it's supposed to fit body with a chest size 42 inches?  Even for those sites that provide a size chart it's not clear to me what 42 means.  I wonder how can online retailers get away with actual measurements.  Some sites say true to size, what does it even mean?  Just give out the true garment measurements already.

I feel like eBay sellers do a much better job in general.

AF DC-NIKKOR 135mm f/2D

I don't know if Nikon USA has any rule in naming or calling its lenses but this is how it's listed on Nikon USA as of today.

So much ink has been spilled on this lens ... and I am going to spill a bit more.

This lens has a built-in hood that I have no idea how it's supposed to work, does it lock, do you just pull it out, are you supposed to turn it, clockwise or anticlockwise or something something.  I really have no idea.  Sometimes it just seems to be somewhat stuck.

The lens has an aperture ring.  What's old is new again.  I just read the new Canon R or more precisely the new RF lenses (not rangefinder by the way) has a ring that can be programmed to work as aperture.  Didn't they do that in the beginning of the time?  This lens provides defocus control meaning you can control the out of focus look either in front or behind the focused subject or you can simply leave the defocus alone and leave it in the neutral position.  The thing is if you need to work fast and you need to change the aperture, chances are you might forget to change the defocus setting following the change of the aperture.  For example you set you f/stop at f/2 and you set defocus at R2, to match the f/2 aperture you set.  Somewhere along the way, you want to shoot at f/2.8 but hey you are too busy composing and whatnot and you just left the defocus setting unchanged at R2 insteal of R2.8 as you preferred.  Not a huge deal in real world situation but psychologically it makes you feel sloppy and incompetent.  Unless I have ample time I would leave the defocus in neutral position.

Is AF fast?  This is relative and I don't have any scientific way to say one way or another.  Given that it's a prime D lens, so I assume it's not that fast by modern AF-S standard.  However, I use it to shoot velodrome cycling and I don't think it's bad or unuseable.  I tend to blame myself if I miss focus.

One thing I have to mention, some say chromatic aberration is not a problem ... I say it is.  Again it's relative.  When I shoot with this lens I make sure I check enable lens profile and remove chromatic aberration in Light Room.  On the other hand, when I use the relative modern 16-35 and 70-200 I never notice any chromatic aberration at all.  I am not saying CA shows all the time, it rears its ugly head on edges where light and dark color meet.  Sometimes when you shoot you just go I can be bothered with oh I can't use this lens or that lens because I am shooting back light with high contrast or lots of whites on the edges.  The lens basically gives a purple halo around the subject.  I suspect if I use Nikon's software it may clean up better.

135mm at f/2 is pretty shallow depth of field.  It can work to your aesthetic as much as against it.  But you have that option to deploy the lens at f/2 should you want to.  Modern cameras have astonishing high ISO performance so shooting at f/2 or f/1.4 or f/0.95 is more of a preference than a necessity.

Shooting with fixed focal length can be challenging and oddly satisfying as if you want to challenge and hence prove yourself in composition.

ImageMagick

I am a fan.  I know about less than 1% of its features but enough to admire the software and all that comes with it.

Tried to upgrade to 7.  What a challenge.  My MacPorts was outdated.  I think I installed IM via Ports.  So I tried to do it via Ports once again.   When Ports was done upgraded or actually migrated to High Sierra I was all set to upgrade to the latest greatest IM, sure I guess I could have used a much older version but.   Alas, the Ports port was still 6.9.  After going through an entire day, I was back to step 1.  I was thinking to use Home Brew to update, now I finally had enough.  I updated my Brew, not a migration mind you.   So nothing too abstruse to follow except to remove a couple of paths.  I was on 7 but the display program doesn't work.  Instead of tweaking tweaking and tweaking the path, I found another guy saying just to uninstall and brew install with X11 explicitly.  And it finally works.  Everything.  I tested my old scripts and it works too.

I modified my script to do Instagram as well.  I know so little IM and shell scripting so the script is kind of a patch work, but it works somewhat.

if [ ! -d "./ig" ]; then mkdir "./ig"; fi

for j in *.JPG
do
echo " ... instagramming $j"
test=`convert $j -format "%[fx:(w/h>1)?1:0]" info:`
if [ $test -eq 1 ]; then
convert "$j" \
    -resize 1080x566 \
    -background white \
    -gravity center \
    -extent 1080x566 "./ig/ig$j"
  else
    convert "$j" \
        -resize 1080x1350 \
        -background white \
        -gravity center \
        -extent 1080x1350 "./ig/ig$j"
fi
done


IM 7 uses 'magick' instead of 'convert' but convert apparently still works.

I need to shore up my shell scripting skill.

I purposely distracted myself installing IM yesterday.  I lost GIMP when I migrated MacPorts.  Oh well.  I don't really use it anymore as since I pay for LR.

UPDATE: 8/28/2018
I corrected the script, the portrait mode should be 1080x1350, wxh.

HTML

I miss the simpler days when HTML is just HTML with hyperlinks.  It's all about content about what it is.  But of course, CSS comes along and ruins it all.  Wow, I want to look pretty, so CSS.  I think 99% of CSS is bullshit.

Schott

I have a weakness for Schott.

Last year I drove all the way to their warehouse sales in New Jersey.  Alas, don't expect any fire sales because there aren't none.  I kind of expected that.  They aren't going to discount their leather goods.  Other stuff yes.  But not so much of their flagship items.  You are stilling looking at $600 leather jacket or more.

Years ago I got my no model number car coat from them in Soho, could be Canal Jeans, I am not sure.  The front has two pockets with flaps.  I use them too often as hand warmers which cause the flaps out of shape.  I don't know if there is a fix to it or if there is a fix that's free of charge or monetary remedy.  It's a minor thing like the flap is pointing up.  Other that that the coat is in good shape minus some very normal wear and tear.  The most disgusting thing is that I don't dry or professional clean my leathers.  I think the price is prohibitive and there is no convenience location to do that locally.

I have two 141s.  Don't ask me why.  I just do.  One is more matte or less glossy than the other.  Once is cut better at the sleeve than the other.  The 141 is a very clean cut jacket.  I bought the first one around 2007 I think.  I kid myself that I would sell one but I never did.  Size 44 seems a bit too big.

eBay is a very dangerous place, it burns holes in my wallet.

I came across this jacket that's not even marked as a Schott and hence priced not like a Schott.  I wasn't going to ask the seller hey is it a Schott that you're selling.  But the embossed buttons clearly say so.  The jacket I think is from the 1970s.  It looks good especially considered the price.  I can't help myself.  It's a 125 with the lining missing.  The pocket is very clean so you see the prior owner or owners don't use the pocket often or not often enough to soil or get them out of shape, kind of like what I did to my car coat.

My latest Schott is a 740N leather jacket.  Schott calls it pea jacket, at least on the label, instead of pea coat.  I find it a bit odd.  But hey what do I know?  A brand new one is now called 140 and fetches somewhat close to $800 quids--they just call it 740N if it's made of a blend of wool and nylon.  By the way, now I only shop used on eBay if I were to buy any Schott, the retail price on new ones is just too much for me.  Sometimes the current item is too much of a fashion item rather than the real thing.  Not that I ride any bike at all.  But if I pretend I'd like to stick with the real thing, the original thing.  There has been a number of manufacturers who supply peacoats to the Navy over the years.  Latest I read the Navy is going to stop peacoat as standard/free issue to new recruits, rather they need to pay for it if they want one.  Ouch!

a few things i like

there are a few things i like

leather jackets
cameras
lenses
computers, except pc

PROPAC CABLE NX problem

This is a cable that gave me problem.

When I got my PROPAC PB960, I opted for the Nikon version, that's the cable is for Nikon speedlight, in my case it's the Nikon SB-800.

But that cable was iffy, sometimes it worked but most of the time it didn't.  It took me quite some time to notice that.  Because, I didn't use the SB-800 often enough to notice.  The SB-800 requires 4AA batteries inside even when it's to be powered by the PB960 (the 4AA is then used for the display and other functions I guess), meaning when I am on TTL and has enough ambient and it doesn't draw 100% power I wouldn't notice the difference even it's coming off from the 4AA.  But finally I did notice the slow cycling time when the 4AA batteries depleted its power.

I don't have have other Nikon SB-800 flashes or other Nikon flashes that accept external power laying around for me to test if it's the flash or the cable or the pac unit.  But I figure in all likelihood it's the cable.  I hope it's not the PB960 itself of the SB-800.  The pac has no problem passing power to my Sunpak 120J with another cable at all and the SB-800 seems work fine.

Finally I got a hold of my friend who also owns a Nikon SB-800.  Same problem.  Sometimes it works but most of the time it doesn't.

I took a chance I ordered another NX cable on eBay.  I could have bought some quantum or paramount cable which are supposedly better made but more expensive even used, about $50 each.  The PROPAC PB980, at least the power cable is based on the quantum spec, that's my understanding.

Actually I wrote to Godox via email about the cable but of course nobody replied.  I also wrote to the original eBay seller I got it from with the pac, but to no avail.

The eBay cable came, it's practically new.  It is somewhat different from the one that came with the pac.  The new one has a shorter neck and has no sleeve and fits much snug than the original.  The original one is by no means loose when plugged into the SB-800.

no good cable with the sleeve removed just to show the neck

D810 with the NX cable attached that works.

This NX cable doesn't come with a sleeve, the 3 insertion prong is the same length though.  This one works.

SB-800, the left most hole has no protruding pin there, it's not broken it's just like that.

No good NX cable with the sleeve at the neck

the cable has 3 prongs like so.  The cable that works is very tight.  So maybe it's better made more on spec.

With the new cable, the SB-800 actually draws power from the pac as the cycling time is much faster even when the 4AA is low in juice.  The ready light on the Pac actually turns itself off as it recharges itself between flashes--I was doing a full power 1/1 manual flash on the SB-800 to make sure maximum power is used.

I hope the cable stays good.

I saw on YouTube there were similar issues with the cable, and some people suggest to turn on the pac then the flash unit in that order.  I did but still iffy.  So my experience is the cable is faulty perhaps not up to spec.  The other cable that works has some minor changes as it fits much tighter.  The absence of a sleeve probably has nothing to do with it, it could be even because it's a used cable but unlikely as the neck is much shorter to accommodate a sleeve like the original cable that I have had.

ROBERTSONS JELLY

Hot doesn't come to describe the summer of Hong Kong.  The muggy weather makes sane persons murderous and easily turns any murderous lunatics into serial killers.

To palliate the stifling heat and to keep me sane, my mom used to make Robertsons' jelly.

By chance I found them still stocked in a Hong Kong supermarket.  Can you even not like it?  I don't think you can even if you try.  Look at that cartoon strawberry jovial smile, it harks back to an innocent time when summer was lazy and idyllic at least in memory and when artificial ingredients or sugar or gluten were of no particular concern to anybody.  I particularly like the good old Hong Kong translation of the word strawberry.  It is idiosyncratic and uniquely Hong Kong.  Please do not change Robertsons.

自由題

An open topic is simultaneously a blessing and a curse.  A blessing because one has the absolute freedom to write whatever topic one chooses.  A curse as one has to come up with a topic all by oneself.  When you are assigned a topic, if you don't do a good job you can blame somebody else.  If you choose your own topic and it turns out not as good as you want it to be, you have nobody but yourself to blame.  If I ever live in a totalitarian society where my life is defined, planned and arranged from cradle to grave and I can easily blame the society for my failures.  But does it even matter?

The Unbearable Lightness of Being was one of the first movies and books I saw and read when I arrived in the US.  (The very first movie I saw here was "The Terrorizers" directed by Edward Yang and starring Cora Miao.)   The themes like light and heavy, sex and love, fate and freewill, eternal return and YOLO are well explored.  I wish I could live a life that is light, no need being a brain surgeon or a womanizer or both, like the character Tomas; and definitely not the war nor the hardships that follow.  Tomas started out light but in the end totally domesticated.  He was weighed down by the war and Tereza who clung to him like a piece of Cling wrap.  I don't know if that's just life or what.

Sweden was pretty much defined by ABBA until the world or I discovered Stieg Larsson.  Or John Ajvide Lindqvist who penned "Let the Right One In" in 2004 and later wrote the film adaption in 2008.  The story is at once bleak and beautiful both in words and in moving images.  Instead of wholesome ABBA like characters, many characters are flawed and despicable.  One of the two protagonists, Eli is cursed with eternal return for she is forever stuck in her twelve-year old self since two centuries ago.  Often time she smellS rancid.  The other one is Oskar, a boy who is incontinent and uses a "pissball" to soak up his pee so nobody knows he pisses his pants.  Oskar is the perennial easy target for bullying.  Together they become fast friends and more.  It's hard to like them but even harder not to like them despite them being serial killers.  As it turns out I am not a big fan of ABBA.

Anamorphic Lens Adapter for Mobile Phones

Moondog Labs

Beastgrip Pro

Moment

Moondog is the only company that has stock available all or most of the time, selling at $175.  It seems like it's iPhones only.  Many models are iPhone model specific except one that is phone agnostic as its interface is the 37mm screw thread.

Beastgrip Pro is more like on and off when it comes to availability, more like off most of the time; also asking for $175.  It's based on the 37mm screw thread so it's phone agnostic but pretty mount specific.

Moment is on pre-order.  The listed price is lower than $175 but the lens mount is baked to only mate with its own proprietary case.  If you've already invested in Moment or you think this closed system approach is not a problem then by all means.

In terms of alignment between the phone's lens and the anamorphic adapter, I believe the Moondog iPhone specific model and the Moment would probably give the most convenient, accurate and consistent alignment.  How difficult to align the lenses?  Not too difficult but you still need to do it if it's just a 37mm interface.

Red Hook Crit Brooklyn 11

I felt somewhat disoriented as there was some change to the course.  I felt like I was always on the wrong side of the fence.  I felt like I was always trapped at the wrong spot.  There wasn't a lot of mobility from one to another spot.

I didn't take any pictures of the qualifying heats.  I was busy taking portraits inside the terminal.  I guess it wasn't such a bad idea as I don't want to lug around my equipment under the sun.  I was being lazy for sure.

I still used what I have been using all these years.  I was tempted to rent or even buy a new D750 as my oldie D700 is getting long in its teeth.  AI coupling ring got sticky and becomes problematic if I ever used a manual focus lens or even AF lenses other than the f/2.8 as the ring got sticky and won't automatically rotate according to the notch.  In any event I basically stuck with my good old friends of lenses the 70-200 and the 16-35 and yeah the new addition 135 f/2 DC which definitely is not the kind of lens that provides convenience.

I shot the "portraits" with my Sunpak 120J at I think 1/4 power and at f/8.  I was thinking of shooting at f/11 but somehow it didn't quite work out.  I know it doesn't make sense.  But when I am in the field.  I just need to roll with it I don't have all day to adjust.  I don't think the 16-35 is the "ideal" focal length.  But is there ever an ideal focal length?  I doubt it.  I imagine the 24-70 would provide the greatest convenience for this kind of shot.  The grass is always greener somewhere.  Or the poor man's version could be simply the 50mm f/1.8 or the 35-70 f/2.8.  My ideal shot is just below shoulder, above the knees or full body length with the bike.  The 16-35 helps in full length but I would need to get really close for above knee shots and below shoulder is not even possible or the image would get distorted too much to my liking.  But I shoot what I have and adjust accordingly or rent.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10157479883240200.1073742101.787280199&type=1&l=772ef4a303

Life Choices

When you aren't going to buy another big @ss item, you buy some cheapo accessories.  Just so you buy something.  That's the thing with photography, you can enjoy it just buying small items, like lens hoods, filters, sync cables, color gels.  You don't need to buy a $6000 lens or a %6000 camera.  Of course you can enjoy it by actually taking pictures.  Better still print it out on paper and even better, frame it and hang it up somewhere on the wall.

DVD, Handbrake, OS X, Rip

Do people watch DVD nowadays?  I know I do.  And if you check out the library there are still plenty out there on the shelf.

Do people rip DVD nowadays?  I know I do.

I haven't used Handbrake for a long time.  And finally I got it updated and not even updated I even installed the nightly build.  I feel like I am so advanced even I don't know half of what I am doing.  I wasn't going to install the nightly build, it's just the prod has a known bug that doesn't allow preview which is something I like.

I am not a fan of ripping DVD except for scholarly reason like why not.

Handbrake didn't complain so I thought I was able to rip DVD just fine, except the result came out severely pixelated and the sound was all wrong.  I have VLC installed.  So I thought, maybe I have the setting wrong as reading the Google search results indicate once you have VLC installed you should be fine.  Also, I thought the decryption thing is a binary thing like if you can't decrypt then you simply can't not with bad rip or pixelated rip, or so I thought.  I played with the settings a bit and still lousy results.  So that shook my belief that the DVD was decrypted when ripped.  I viewed the log and it did say can't decrypt DVD.

Another trip to Google.

https://www.howtogeek.com/102886/how-to-decrypt-dvds-with-hardbrake-so-you-can-rip-them/

I have Homebrew installed long time ago so getting a package isn't a big deal.

at the Terminal

brew install libdvdcss

this installed the libdvdcss

Now Handbrake can rip the DVD to your or my heart's desire.

Now another reason to buy more storage or even a NAS because of DVDs.

Life Choices

All I care about is what camera or lenses to get.

Life Choices ...

In the world of iPhone cinematography, the anamorphic lens is kind of the king.

The Moondog lab made them first, and it's the only company that have them in stock.  Beastgrip Pro started their version some time last year and they were quickly sold out and now out of stock.  Moment just joined the party and is in Kickstarter mode.  The former two price their anamorphic adapter at $175, which is kind of a steep price for a lens adapter but at the same time dirt cheap as far as anamorphic is concerned.  So it really depends on one's perspective on things.  Moment, the new kid to the mobile phone anamorphic is geared to stir things up by lowering the price, their first batch kickstarter was priced at $99 but no longer available.  I don't fully understand all those funky pricing anyway.  But the ball park is they are priced lower than the competition.  Over time hopefully all of them would come down in price.

Life Choices ...

D5, D4s, D3s . . .

If price is not a concern, then D5.  But of course everything is driven by price.

When people ask me "What camera should I buy?"  I don't know your economic profile or more importantly your psychologic profile.  I know what I want but I can never suggest what you should get.  My decision is based largely on irrational thinking.  So don't listen to me if your decision is based on fact and logic.  My own camera and lens buying decision is utterly irrational.  It doesn't matter I am usually armed with facts my decision is still largely driven by irrational thinking and passion.

Life Choices

Life is about making hard choices.
105mm f/2 DC, 135mm f/2 DC, or 85mm f/1.4 . . . .

I Hope Summer Never Comes

I got the fascination with summer but I am not a fan.

Mirrorless

I read mirrorless is all the rage and is the future.

If I live long enough, I probably will belong to that future.  But that future is probably not soon enough as Nikon hasn't come up with its own mirrorless yet.

I am a man that constantly look for distractions.  SLR has decades of bodies, lenses and myriads of accessories to meet and exceed my needs or wants.  Mirrorless, I don't know but I really don't think so.  Most old Nikkor lenses from eons ago can still mount on the newest bodies without much of a compromise; a manual focus lens sure can be mounted on the flagship D5.  Nikon as far as I am concerned is still actively developing its SLR line both cameras and lenses.  The last professional film SLR model was the F6 which actually seemed a step back from its predecessor F5 as the F6 lacks an integrated vertical grip.  Perhaps Nikon saw the digital evolution coming when F6 was in development.  We have the D5 and perhaps the D5s is in the offing.  Would history repeat itself?  Would there be a D6 that mark the end of the professional digital SLR?  Nikon may roll out the mirrorless in parallel with the SLR.  But probably would only call it a M1 if it's deemed of professional caliber.  Canon and Nikon, the bellwethers of the SLR world, stand to lose the most one way or the other if mirrorless turns out really to be the future or a big trunk of the future.  Meanwhile, SONY is really steamrolling in that mirrorless space with models coming out like every few months.

Red Sparrow (2018)

Red Sparrow is the latest female fronted Hollywood thriller with Lawrence playing the title character, a red sparrow or a spy trained and owned by the state, whose trade craft includes the time honored carnal art of seduction.  I have high expectations.

The movie begins with great promise: rapid intercuts between Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) dancing on stage having her femur broken and her counterpart, Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) evading a car chase on foot.  Dominika is a natural and her uncle Vanya Ergovo (Matthia Schonaerts) sees it.  All he does is to nudge her a bit and makes her woke of her hidden talents.  He tips her off her injury is not a result of occupation hazard.  While still on the mend and limping, Dominika takes out the adulterous couple who ended her ballet career with no holds barred rage and violence.  Perhaps her career ending injury is a blessing in disguise,  Jennifer Lawrence or Dominika Egorova is just too well endowed to look like a ballerina.  The first job and then the formal training follow.  Dominika is sent to a "whore school" run by the hooded eyes Matron (Charlotte Rampling) who is cadaverous in appearance and pithy in teaching.  The cadets wear drab wrap skirts, seemingly stolen from Diane von Furstenberg, that are easy to put on and more importantly easier to take off.  Like a good student she excels.   She gets her first overseas gig before she officially finishes her training thanks to General Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons) who is just cadaverous but likes to enjoy putting on more rouge to look more flushed than Matron, which of course only makes him look ridiculous, even more so than his Russian accented English--in the world of Red Sparrow, English is the lingua franca.  Dominika is sent to Budapest to lure her American counterpart so as to root out the mole deep within the Russian intelligence . . . and so she begins her journey as a full fledged red sparrow.

After hiring Lawrence, quite possibly the highest paid female star, the movie just runs out of budget.  So there are hardly any actions, stunts or special effects to speak of.  In one truly potentially R-rated deserving scene where human skin is shaved off, the camera is no where near where the action is and the audience is spared with that gruesome awesomeness because there is no budget for special effects.  The trailer is pretty much all there is, but with far better pacing than the actual movie which at times feels interminable and meandering; it clocks in two hours nineteen minutes.  This red sparrow has great potentials but does not fly high or far.

UNTITLED

News was delivered by butchers and fish mongers in the wet market a day's late but with meat inside.  It was a halcyon time when people recycled without recycling.  The flank steak or red snapper was wrapped in old newspaper tied with a strand of salt water grass.  That's how I discovered news.  Sometimes the section was salacious and often times the section was just news.  Either case I wasn't complaining, not to someone who wielded some cleaver for a living.

"Can I get that section?  Yeah that, yeah that section.   No. That one!"  I don't think so.

UNTITLED

How I read the news stays the same--I still use my eyes and corrective lenses, which, over the years, have evolved excitingly with the much anticipated presbyopia and floaters thrown in rather than just the usual ailments like myopia and astigmatism.

In terms of sources, it's the fake news extraordinaire The New York Times alright.  I have autopay setup so they can just take my money and leave me alone.  I pay and I shall receive, it's always the kind of ideal transactional relationship I aim for.  Most other news especially those trending or shared on FB are genuinely fake news and I take them with a grain of salt and regard them as mostly entertainment, loosely speaking.  For Hong Kong news I just go to Ming Pao, which has changed some what.  One thing I find quite interesting or mildly disturbing is they still put entertainment or show biz news under the section called OL section.  Does it stand for office lady?  I feel marginalized.

News deliverance and consumption have changed a great deal.  What used to be daily dead tree publication has changed to round-the-clock breaking news via the screen--this is how people got hyper tension and heart attack.  A suited man reading and doing origami folds with the Times on his morning commute is a rare sight nowadays.  That suited man's position probably got off-shored to India or Poland.  I still have some of my paper delivered but empirically I don't even think the paper is touched let alone being read, it got picked up, idled and then chucked to recycles.  Sad.  Most news are consumed via a myriad of screens.

The only paper that can't be digitized is the toilet paper.  Long live the toilet paper.

Untitled.

"I'd rather be where I am than in a grave."

Beastgrip Anamorphic

I can't find any review comparing the Beastgrip anamorphic and the OG moondog lab anamorphic.  Both are selling $175.  But if you were to buy the moondog then you need an adaptor for the Beastgrip.  I don't fully understand why but that's what moondog says.  I am surprised I can't find anything comparing the two.  I am easily surprised.  Most if not all reviews on the Beastgrip anamorphic are pretty much from the company, I don't even think there is a third party review on this.  I imagine the clip-on version of the moondog should have the best alighment as it's clip on, there is no misalignment to fiddle about the vertical and horizontal.  But then since the clip on is pretty much phone specific, so about every two years you are faced with the planned obsolesce, you upgrade the phone you most likely need to update the anamorphic adaptor as well.  Most people aren't made of money.  The screw-on adaptor makes a bit more sense if you are good at aligning the adaptor to the phone's lens.  I am speaking like a true desktop phone videographer as I have absolutely zero experience using the anamorphic adaptor.

記一件發生於2017年的開心事

12/15/2017

Dear Diary,

Just checked my bank account.  My paycheck is there.  Right on time, like clockwork.  I don't know all these freaking deductions and whatnots mean.  But whatever.  Last year I was like I forgot to submit something something like withholding not enough city tax or whatever, I ended up paying penalty, WTF!

12/16/2017

Diary

!!@#$@#$ Verizon FIOS, the set top box kept rebooting itself.  I need to watch my MTV.  Or CNN, I enjoy the anchors' incredulous stuttering when conveying indignations.  Called Verizon, dude sent me a new box via next day FedEx.  Can't fault the dude.  Installed the new box.  Looked like it's working fine.  Then next day, same shit happened again.   Decided to wait to try again in the evening.  Holy moly it worked.  I could never figure out how Verizon works I bet they don't either.  Just send the dude a new box!  I like that approach.

The end is near.   What have I done?  What have I not done?  The perennial question that never yields a satisfactory answer.  I am not getting any younger.  I am running out of battery.

12/30/2017

X:  Sir, can you confirm your phone number?
Y:  Can I ask you something?  Will people actually call me?  I've always put down my number but nobody ever called me?  Will you really call me?
X: Sir, is this the number we can reach you?
Y: Yes.

12/31/2017

Paycheck in the bank!  Yes!
Hello?
This is Dr. Bernstein's office ...
Thank you.

He carefully crossed his legs so his right thigh was resting on his left thigh.  He thought this was a good year.  The doctor called.  Or the doctor's office called.  He placed his hand over his heart, contemplating the new year that was to come in a few hours.