nikongod

Just think how easy it would be to build DIY electrostatics if you had a CNC mill/router. Not to mention rapid prototyping PCBs.

With the trend towards "I never crop" I think the sphere camera will be quite popular. Indeed, it is the only obtainable camera that captures 360*x360* FOV. I wonder how it will work indoors or in "less than full sunlight" light.

What does the magnet do?

130kM = 80.5miles. Interesting... Very interesting... If only it were a bit warmer.

Just cut the 1/4" plug off and solder a 4pinXLR on the stock cable.

If its any help (or not) I really like the CKK-III as a project for further down the road. On many levels its a shame that it gets passed over for the b22 so often.

There is a "low" setting, which is kind of sort of ISO 100.

This. I have not been shooting my D700 (or anything really) recently, LMK if you want to borrow it. Have you ever shot with ND filters? I am not so into shooting wide open, but use them for reallllllly long exposures in daylight. In any case, they offer a lot of power when used well. I have ND1000 (a very cheap one with a delightful color cast that comes out in RAW but no doubt iritates JPG shooters everywhere) and its pretty fun. ND4, ND8, and ND16 are pretty sweet for shooting wide open in daylight. Once you get past ND16 it starts to get too dark to see, but you rarely need more than that unless you want longggggggggggg exposures anyways. You can also use them (ND4-16) for fill flash in reallllly bright daylight, or fill flash wide open on an overcast day... so much option.

Hapy Birthday Ken!

There should be a better word for this in English. I wonder if there is an engineering term? Insanely strong and powerful, until a mouse farts the wrong way and it explodes. Its a lot like Prince Rupert's drops (Check out the high-speed camera footage, they are fascinating) In a similar vein: a perfect soda can can support body weight. Well, until you tap it with a pencil and it collapses.

I would start with a Cmoy. Even if you get one of the RA-1 clone kits (with a PCB) off of ebay. Building a perf-board CMOY is also great, but a decent bit harder than the PCB cmoy. Maybe save this for project #2. It's not the Cmoy is great, it isn't. But who cares? The Cmoy is cheap and a known standard. If it breaks someone here or there has probably broken one just like you did before - so you can find help. It is also has relatively few parts which makes checking every single solder joint and operating voltage that much easier. If you really cant get it running, what did it cost? like $50? Cheap enough to say oops. Since it is more likely that you do get it running, give it away, or sell it for $50, or just put on the shelf as a pleasant memory. The hardest part of DIY (maybe its just me, but its not) is casework. The Cmoy does require some casework, but who cares if you destroy an Altoids tin? Get another for $3 (and the mints!) and try again. Great way to practice.

I'm kind of skeptical about whether rechargeable watches are a better solution than watches with conventional batteries. My last rechargeable watch (a Seiko Kinetic) did not go 3 years on its last battery, which is well within the limits of what one should expect out of a battery in a simple day/date watch. For several times the replacement cost I kind of lean away. I just found out you can buy replacement batteries and DIY them into the watch... The Seiko may live again. Except I also hate electronic watches.

You got a permit for those guns? Congrats!

Its great that you are trying to convey something, but it sucks that its not coming through. It sounds (and looks) like you have some aversion to "the rules" as the guidelines to composition are usually seen - a limited set of rules that usually get it done well enough to make things easy for people who dont understand how to or want to pick the best tool for the job. Since it also sounds like you care (or you are a great troll) I would advise against blanket following of a few simple rules of composition. That is BS, I agree. BUT since you care you should have no troubles learning as many rules as you can at first and selecting the best one(s) to suit the situation at hand. After a bit of study you will start to see the principles behind the rules at which time you will only need the rules to make sure other people understand your photos. A lot of people fall into the trap of thinking that great photographers don't follow rules because their photos are all so different. The reality is that great photographers pick the best rule for the situation from a larger list and apply it more skillfully.

I had a long post about that all drawn up. Instead, I will ask. Could you write a few sentences (use the skirt guideline - long enough to cover whatever you think should be covered but short enough to be interesting) about each photo to describe what you would like the viewer to see or feel when looking at the photo?

Just ride up and down your driveway a bunch.

It broke while riding. Nope. Parts were totally pulverized. It went back together just fine. My guess is that the one pawl got stuck closed (the little spring that pops it open was out of place), I shifted into low (which opens the pawls) which put 1AriPower onto the one pawl by its self and it couldn't handle the power. The pawl broke into 3 or 4 large chunks, and many many sand-sized pieces. Lets do it!

So to update the crew on the status of my hub.... I took it apart on Saturday evening. Taking the hub apart was fairly uneventful, although I under estimated how fucking tight the ring they say to knock free with a hammer and punch was... After that came free, very easy to take the thing down to nothing but gears. I broke the hub. There are 2 little ratchet pawls that select the lowest gear. One is jamed shut (there is a spring to open it that popped out of place) the other completely shattered and little pieces were floating around in my hub. I wonder how this will go...

Happy Birthday Todd!

Happy Birthday Tom!

I think the historical issue with Sigma lenses (may only apply to certain lenses) is that its impossible to focus the left and right sides (or top and bottom) on a brick wall at Fmax which is a sign of internal elements being shifted/tilted. Considering how people shooting at F1.4 actually use the lenses, I'm not sure I can fault Sigma for it as it does not affect the final result. Lack of focus shift between F-almost-max and ~F5.6 is a MUCH more important decision point if you want to shoot "nearly wide open" which I imagine is important in Texas. Sometimes there is just too much light to shoot at F1.4 and dealing with a lens that has bad focus shift at F2.8 (still low enough DOF that it matters...) is frustrating.

After I moved my lovely Brooks saddle, long seatpost, and Xootr rack from Squirt to my new-to-me Brompton my GF suggested that I just move the good wheel from the new-to-me bike to the bike that is really set up like I like. :facepalm: @ me. The seatpost was INCREDIBLY tight. Like whoa. The new to me Brompton is not very new at all, and has the M-type handlebars, which are are much more upright than the S-type bars on Squirt. Despite my best efforts I could not get the new bike to hit all 3 gears in the hub without adjusting the cable - at which time it would not hit the gear on the other side. With the shift lever on Squirt it took 1 try to get it dialed in.

So we tried to RMA the hub from squirt, but Brompton is not having it. They want us to take it apart and tell them what broke, then they will send new parts. This is not really unreasonable, but will require them to send parts from the UK which will put Squirt out of commission for at least 2 weeks. Facing at least 2 bikeless weeks I did the only head-case and Brompton approved thing. I bought another Brompton. This one is much older than Squirt. It is about 10 years old based on what the CL ad said and matching certain features (or lack of features) up with historical data. It also has a 6-speed gear setup, but with a "narrow range" 6speed - 214% range VS 302% on Squirt. The lowest gear is not nearly as low as the lowest gear on Squirt... Hopefully I am strong enough to get it up the big hills on the way home from work. The brakes SUCK. I am glad that Brompton upgraded the brake levers on the 2013 bikes. But what do you expect for $400? I spent a bit of time tonight switching it from "euro brakes" with the front brake on the right (which actually makes sense, considering that the majority of the population is right hand dominant, it's just not what anyone is used to) to "correct brakes" and oiling the cables&housings which felt like they have never been oiled. Switching the brakes was very easy, and ignoring the neglect could have been done in a few minutes. Good stuff. Maybe the brakes will improve now that I have lubed the cables. I certainly hope so. For some reason one of the stoppers that holds the bike together when folded (I dont know what its called - the one that bumps into the seatpost when its all folded) was installed backwards which made closing the bike nearly impossible. The guy I bought it from said he just had the bike tuned up, and it definitely has a brand spanking new rear tire (worth like $50!) and a much nicer front tire than I have now, but I cant imagine what else they did. Fuckers. Tomorrow I will move my long seatpost and rack over to the new-to-me bike in preparation for riding the next time it is more than 40* out. Although it would fit (thank you Brompton for reverse compatibility) I will **NOT** be putting my dynamo-wheel on this bike. Too much work. Switching the wheel is very very easy, but you need to take the front brake off to attach the mounting bracket for the light. Yea, not interested.

Is anyone interested in playing a few games online? I just discovered that I have an account at chess.com and am active on itsyourturn.com My name is nikongod on both sites.

Happy Birthday Gene!