Blast from the past: ZLR film cameras; Olympus IS Series PLUS tests on Digital cameras!

Gentle reader,

It has been a while since I wrote about cameras. Like almost every other photographer around the world, I have embraced digital cameras. My awesome wife got me started by buying me a Fujifilm Finepix camera with 2X zoom and 1.3megapixels. Sound's like nothing now, but Windows 98 was the current OS at the time so it was just fine. 

I joined eBay in 1998 and prior to that camera, I had to use film, get it developed put on CD-ROM and then use those for eBay auctions. Archaic, slow and expensive.

I bought my first "real" camera, (35mm SLR) in April, 1995. It was a used Olympus OM-10 with 50mm lens and a generic flash. My first visit to a pawn shop netted me the set for $100. Prior to that, all I'd had was a J.C.Penney 110 film camera. As a child, I had a green plastic camera that used 620 roll film. It was a Sears or Savoy model. That was in the 1960's. Yep, I'm ancient.

What got me started on camera collecting was finding a Yashica 35mm rangefinder camera at a church bazaar and buying it. My father-in-law showed me how rangefinder cameras worked and how one focused it. As I learned more about cameras, I decided that I wanted to someday own a Leica rangefinder camera. As time went by, finally I did. Still have it, a 1946 IIIC with 50mm f1.5 lens. And have many other lenses for it. My fantastic wife later bought me the modern equivalent of Leica screw-mount RF cameras, a Voigtlander Bessa R. Completely modern and yet able to use the readily available LTM M39 lenses (Leica Thread Mount 39mm wide threads).

OK, back story out of the way, on to the subject of "ZLR" cameras we go. Olympus coined (and probably registered) that acronym which they stated stood for: "Zoom-Lens-Reflex camera". First time I saw one, I knew I had to have one. Here is a photo of one I did buy used:

 

Is that not a sleek design? Yes it is, and it fits very comfortably in the hands and the built-in zoom lens covered 35mm wide angle to 135mm telephoto. But the one I really coveted was their top-of-the-line IS-3DLX model. WAY outside my price range back when film was all there was. Oh, I have one now, sure, like most film cameras they are now cheap. In fact, I just bought the last accessory to complete the kit: Front mount teleconverter that stretches the tele-end to a whopping 300mm! I already have the wide angle lens that widens it to 28mm as you will see below.

Here are many photos I had made of ZLR cameras from many manufacturers that I used to have in my collection, years ago:

Black's was a camera store chain with enough money to convince a camera company to re-brand one of their ZLRs with the store's name. If memory serves, this was a Ricoh model.

Above are the rest of the views of the Olympus IS-1 camera. The rear screen showed various camera functions and setting's menus.

Above and below shows the built-in two headed flash. The top one was for long shots, the bottom one for wide angle and closer shots.

Above is the next in the Olympus line, the IS-2. I never saw much difference between the 1 and 2. But bought it anyway.

Above shows an IS-1 and IS-3DLX side-by-side. As you can see, the latter is larger in every way. This particular IS-3DLX was not working, but added to my collection to complete the set. Olympus expanded upon the IS line with many smaller cameras. Most of whom had two-digit number and even higher count names. They were all smaller than these and less capable.

SIDE BAR: In the automotive world, there is a process called "Badge Engineering". What they did, not so much anymore, was simply change the badges on a car, maybe the grille and taillights and viola! A whole new model! The closest I can think of right now is Toyota/Lexus. The Lexus' lowest price sedan is a badge-engineered Toyota Camry with a nicer interior for which buyers pay much more money. If someone pointed that out to them, do you think most of them would pony up the extra cash for the Lexus? Another example is the Chevy Suburban/Cadillac Escalade/Hummer H2. ALL THE SAME TRUCK! Just different looks outside and in. The original Escalade was clearly a Suburban with plastic pieces added to the body, a different grille and taillights. Badge Engineering.

BACK ON TASK: Clearly above you can see the Olympus AZ-4 ZOOM is a Ricoh Mirai with a different name and painted body. Yes, there are other subtle differences, BUT: Same camera.

Above are technically NOT ZLR cameras. One could be led to believe they are by their design. And woe be the camera salesman to dissuade you from thinking that. In the bottom photo directly above, see the lens at the 2 O-clock position? That in fact connects directly and in a straight line to the viewfinder (where you look into the camera on the back). SLR cameras and real ZLR cameras, you are looking THROUGH THE LENS. The "L" and "R" refer to Lens and Reflex. The "S" refers to Single lens, verses TLR which means TWIN lens reflex camera where you are looking through one lens at the top of the camera while shooting through the second lens at the bottom. So, I guess these Canon Photura cameras were an update on the ancient TLR cameras. The image in the viewing lens zoomed right along with the taking (big) lens, but you were not looking through that big lens. The lens cover opened above cleverly held the flash, thus the Fresnel looking flash cover. These Photura cameras look in fact like video cameras looked like in later years.

Below, at last is my only remaining ZLR. It is a fully functioning IS-3DLX camera with the (when-new) very expensive accessory G-40 flash. They would ONLY fit certain IS series cameras and have a completely different foot and shoe than traditional cameras and add-on flashes do. Also shown is the accessory wide angle lens which increased the short end of the lens: 35mm down to 28mm. The other lens extends the 180mm stock lens to 300mm. IF it is truly 180mm and the lens is truly 1.7X, then it is actually 306mm. 

The G-40 flash is loaded with functions and as you can see in the photos below is capable of pointing the light in numerous directions. The flash built-in to the camera (not shown open) has two heads. One for close up wider angle photos and one for longer shots. The G-40, once the switch is moved to the right, also adapts to the extra wideness or length of the lens with the appropriate attached lens. Clever.

The head not only tilts it also swivels 350 degrees.

Cool fact, these Olympus IS/L and IS/W auxiliary lenses are of such high quality, that one can screw them to the front of their DSLR camera lenses to either widen (makes an 18mm on an APS-C sensor DSLR) camera equal to 14.4mm. 18mm is equivalent to a full-frame or 35mm camera's 28mm lens. Thus it makes that equal to a 22.4mm lens. The telephoto lens on a 200mm DSLR lens would increase it's reach equal to a 340mm telephoto. On a 300mm lens it reaches the equivalent of 510mm! 

The IS/L 300 lens arrived yesterday in it's factory leather bag equipped with the front lens cap. Also in the bag was the rubber device above. It is a clever cover for the viewfinder. When taking long exposure photos, light can seep in from the viewfinder and ruin the shot. So they included this device. Cheap and effective. My Nikon N90S has a little lever that when flipped closes a little cover inside the viewfinder.

This and the photos below show the camera on and fully extended to 180mm.

As you can see on the scale, it will make Macro shots to about 135mm as close to the subject as 6/10th of a meter. Olympus also made another accessory lens called IS/L B-Macro. It is about 1/2" thick and screws on the same. It also includes a large defusing filter for the flash either G-40 or on-camera. Haven't got one of those. What it did was decrease the distance one had to stand from the close-up subject and created an image 1/2 the size of the object on film at 40cm distance. Actual Macro creates a life-size image on the film or sensor.

Now a series of shots showing the wide and telephoto accessory lenses mounted on the camera with it on and at the correct zoom positions for the lenses to provide maximum width or reach.

NOW a word on how the camera industry chose to continue this type of camera design in the digital world. My Fujifilm Finepix S7000 which made all these images AND my much newer Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40 camera seen below with my other two Lumix models are called "BRIDGE CAMERAS". 

Bridge cameras are for the digital photographer that wants more than a pocket-able point-and-shoot camera but isn't ready for or not wanting to invest in a DSLR and many lenses. Because their sensors are smaller than DSLRs they can have much more complex lenses with incredible capabilities. The longest bridge camera zoom that I know of is Nikon's Coolpix P900 which has an incredible 83X optical zoom. Equivalent in 35mm to: 24-2000mm. That's TWO METERS! A DSLR lens like that would be so huge, heavy and expensive that even IF one could afford it, they wouldn't be able to use it.

Below all three camera's lenses are fully extended.

 Above you can see the shape is similar to the ZLR film cameras.

Originally when I wrote this blog I wasn't paying attention. I'd erroneously loaded photos of my former Panasonic Lumix FZ8 rather than my current FZ40 which is newer, larger and has more Megapixels and a longer Leica lens. The FZ40 is 14 Megapixels and has a 24X optical zoom that starts at (35mm equivalent) 24mm wide angle and the long end is (35mm equivalent) a whopping 576mm!

It just occurred to me (then) that I could use both of the Olympus accessory lenses on this camera. That would increase it's range from 19 to 979mm! That's making it's effective optical zoom to 51X! Awesome, indeed. 

Below is photos of the FZ40 with and without the Olympus lenses and images MADE with and without the Olympus lenses:

Above, 576mm, below with lens: 979mm.

The above and below photos were shot handheld (no tripod) through a window to the subject. Photographers know that to get clear, crisp telephoto shots, a tripod is essential. Above equal to 576mm, below equal to 979mm. Not bad.

 Above 24mm, below with lens 19mm.

Above with built-in flash, handheld, the 24mm equivalent photo. Yes, those ARE all three original STAR WARS movies on Laserdisc! Three photos are of my gorgeous wife, the other is my eldest daughter around 13. Yes, I a man, DO own a Ken and Barbie. No ordinary ones either X-Files Mulder and Scully. The stuff lined up below the pictures are things I have on eBay. Except the fan, it cools me when I'm "racing" on the XBox 360.

Aside from the expected extra width and height, notice the things at the bottom in shadow? That's due to the large diameter of the Olympus wide angle lens which blocks the flash. Plus, since the flash was designed to cover a little wider than 24mm equivalent, the edges are darker than the normal wide angle photo. 

So, do these lenses work well with the FZ40? Yes, however, they are heavy and could damage the lenses' tubular construction. So, I support the front of the lens. Since the camera already covers wide angle to extreme telephoto, they are only a novelty. But a useful one. 

Today, May 19, 2017, I received the Step-Down rings I'd bought via eBay. I needed a 58mm to 55mm step-down ring to attach the Olympus 1.7X lens to my Sigma 70-300mm digital lens for my Nikon D70S DSLR camera. I once again shot the pickup truck across the street HANDHELD with the following results:

The Olympus IS/L 300 1.7X front-mount conversion lens change the optical length of the 300mm end of the Sigma to the equivalent to 510mm which with the 1.5X crop factor of an APS-C sized sensor equals a whopping 765mm! 
 

Hand-holding a camera with a long lens (or mirror lens of the same optical length) is extremely difficult to shoot any speed slower than the length of the lens. In this case 1/750th of a second. I guarantee you with today being cloudy, the shutter speed was much slower than that.

Some final thoughts and facts on digital camera, specifically sensors verses film. Due to the nature of digital camera sensors, they have to have the light pointing as STRAIGHT as possible at the pixels. Thus "Kit" (APS-C DSLR) lenses usually are 18mm which is equal to 27mm in 35mm. True wide angle lenses for DSLR cameras (focal lengths LESS than 18mm) are very expensive. BTW, the LOWER the "mm" number, the wider the view it captures. SO, using an Olympus IS/W lens attached to an 18mm "Kit" lens brings it down to 21.6mm in 35mm equivalent. Using this Olympus lens added on is a huge bargain by comparison. I've used it on my Nikon DSLR's kit 18-55mm lens and it widens the image WITH NO LIGHT LOSS. Using the 300 lens as I wrote about way above would greatly increase telephoto's reach also with no light loss. Awesome indeed.

LAST THING, there are tons of Auxiliary lenses available on eBay and the Internet marketed usually as "Fisheye Macro" auxiliary lenses. The difference between those inexpensive lenses and these Olympus IS/L lenses is quality. These Olympus lenses cost multiple hundreds of dollars new. They are extremely well engineered to give excellent resolution with the Olympus IS-3DLX camera. They do work well in my testing and I will be doing more testing with my Nikon DSLR on a tripod. So I may be blogging about those results in the future.

Thanks for taking the (very long) time looking at my humble blog,

Scott 

Updated: May 13, 2017.

Large and small ROCKS collected to make a dry stream to prevent erosion. UPDATE

Gentle reader,                                                                                                                     May 2, 2017

It has been a while since I have written. I just retired from my job of 35 years and it is taking some getting used to. I have held a job for 44 plus years and am only 60. So once I get caught up on the many ideas we have for inside and outside the house, I'm sure I'll get some kind of paying job.

We put in a pond some years ago and built up around it with vegetation and rocks. There was mixed success. Sometimes we had tadpoles and baby fish and sometimes we lost all living things. Other times it would mysteriously empty itself! So, we decided to try a different idea.

The way our back yards were shaped in 1987 allows rain to drain (from the neighbors on our left, if looking out the back of the house) diagonally and the water turns right along the fence line and makes its way down hill to the gutter.

Since we now had an abundance of big granite rocks, flat stones and a lesser amount of various sized quartz rocks, we decided to create a dry creek bed to channel the rain water and prevent it from further washing out areas of grass. 

Above, is a panorama photo shot from a rear window of the house. If you click on any photo, a window opens and the photos are larger.

We had previously built a small deck and my wife purchased a ten foot square metal framed gazebo which was covered with tent fabric and had zippered net sides. She erected it, with help from a couple of the kids, over the small deck and added "zero gravity" chairs. That way we could enjoy the sight and sound of the pond and be mosquito-free.  

Sadly, the trees above the gazebo/tent stained the fabric and I removed it one year. No amount of effort would clean it. Our daughter moved and gave us her smaller version of the same thing and we decided to take down the large one and recycled the metal. 

Above is the framework of that smaller gazebo/tent, sans fabric. The outdoor rug accompanied the tent so we attached it to the small deck and the framework as well. 

I used the flat rocks, possibly slate to cover previously washed out areas and filled the gaps with fine gravel. It appears as mortar but isn't. All areas where there are rocks have anti-plant-growth fabric underneath.

Obviously, we needed a large (much larger!)  amount of river rocks to fill the stream. We at first bought stones that may be sandstone and are various shades of tan. My wife picked up several bags at another source that she thought were the same but turned out, once the mud was rinsed off, to be gray mostly with other colored rocks and in many sizes. We lost count of how many bags we ended up buying but it was MANY.

Above is the left side of the small deck and flat stones.

 From the deck area flowing left and uphill to the neighbor's fence.

 Above and below is two views of the area around our magnolia tree.

 Below is from the fence side of the same tree.

 You can see the variety of river rocks above.

Above is looking downstream from the Magnolia tree.

Above is the view from the deck on the back of our house. My wife came home when I was typing this post. So I went out to meet her and show her the progress. Then our new neighbor, Maria came over. Thus began the three of us trying to communicate in Spanish. When I finally came back in, my display settings had gone form normal to 64 colors and low resolution. After fighting it, I decided to just restart the computer. At first, it was the same, then the Nvidia drivers did their bit and all is normal.

UPDATE 5/11/2017 BELOW:

Since we are getting more beneficial rain here in Virginia (no drought this year!) I took the opportunity to go out on the deck and document how well it is or isn't working. Below are the results from the same position as the photo above this paragraph.

It's been raining steadily for many hours. The flagstones I so artfully arranged on the left side of the small deck are completely submerged. As you can see beyond the deck the creek is no longer dry. We arranged it to empty under the deck and exit the other side as you can see below. The water naturally meanders in an "S" shape around the flagstones on the right side.

Below is a wider view. I read somewhere that "water finds a way". Sometimes where man (and women) do not want it. Also below you can see it makes a right turn......

Then continues parallel to the fences heading toward the front yard/driveway.

I'm not quite sure where it goes from here. Filter through the mulch? The top of our driveway lays just beyond that fence. There is a strip of lawn between our driveway and the neighbors and it gets quite swampy during rain. So I think I'm right on that. No stream on the driveway.

ORIGINAL POST CONTENT BELOW:  

I decided to add historical pictures of the pond. Warning: Some people see a resemblance to a certain anatomy in the first shape of the pond. We set it up so water was pumped to the top and ran down the "creek" and into the pond after being filtered.

ASIDE from that, note the spindly tree to the right of the potted plant? It is a cutting from a Corkscrew Willow tree we came across. I put it in a glass of water and it grew roots. The photo above this one is what it looks like now. It never grows upward like the other one we planted which must be 30 feet or more tall, but in fact weeps.

The next iteration of the pond was making my first attempt at a dry creek bed. It's "source" is a large quartz rock next to a weeping cherry tree atop the hill. You can just see it in the top left corner of the photo.

Above, as you can see, the tree is larger, but it must have been early Spring. 

We had originally had thought about running water all the way up the hill, but realized the potential for losing a lot of water along the way. 

And the last photo from the original pond setup with the first generation of gold fish. One year, SOMETHING came along and ripped all the water Lilly plants, of which there were many, out of the pond as well as all the fish, but the fish were not eaten. We never did figure out what could have done that. Sigh. 

But the pond days are over, the last two fish now reside in a neighbor's pond and no doubt are much happier in their new pond.

Thanks for looking. We are rapidly approaching 100,000 page views. I can't believe it. But many people tell me they really enjoy my writing and photography and have learned from it.

Scott

My wife shows once again how awesome she is: Sneaker collection rack!

Gentle reader,

Way back in March, 2015, I posted about another collection that was unplanned  but happened anyway: The Robb Collections: I was an elementary school trendsetter! ADIDAS and driving shoes collection.

The other day, out of the blue, my wife asked me how many Adidas did I have. Being a literalist, I answered, "Fifteen." What she really was asking was how many pairs of shoes did I have. I thought no more of it and came home a few days later to a HUGE and heavy box from Amazon. She got home right after I'd managed to get it inside and up the stairs. 

This is what was inside:

Both made from solid steel, above is a rack to hold 50 shoes, below a plant stand.

As shown from two years ago, my unintended sneakers collection on the cheap plastic rack from China, via eBay. Looks like it's holding up, OK, right?

If you look closely, you will see staples (from a staple gun, not paper staples) which were my first attempt to keep the plastic pieces together. Not strong enough, I added screws. Yet, the softness of the plastic succumbed to the weight and this was the result:

I had to secure it to the wall to keep it from falling forward. The old saying, you get what you paid for is very true. Now, see the new all-steel rack in it's former location:

And, compare the photo below with the newly assembled shelf, both in the same location.

Let me show you that photo of ALL my footwear again and give a list of what brands occupy it.

Top shelf is obvious, except the ones on the right are my river shoes, one atop the other. The military boots are too wide and unyielding  to be able to drive my Volvo V50 with it's closely spaced three pedals. But I digress.

Forth shelf holds two Adidas, a very colorful pair of Ralph Lauren Polo driving shoes and my second pair of GEOX driving  shoes. I love that they are khaki! Match my khaki cargo pants.

Fifth shelf holds three pairs of Adidas, the ones on the left are runners and are SO lightweight! The ones on the right are Puma driving shoes in olive, khaki and orange.

Sixth shelf holds my (Elvis approved) blue suede Rebok driving shoes, two pairs of Adidas and another pair of darker blue/light blue suede Adidas.

Seventh shelf holds black/white Puma driving shoes, Adidas/Goodyear brown suede driving shoes, Adidas ROM in blue/red and a pair of Sketchers driving shoes.

Eighth shelf holds a pair of Keds-like Adidas in the color of my very first pair of ROM I had in the 1960's, white/silver ROM, white/green SAMBA, white/red ROM.

Ninth shelf has black and brown Sketchers driving shoes, as well as two vintage Adidas driving shoes. One pair also Goodyear models and the others are PORSCHE DESIGN.

Tenth holds black dress shoes, brown tassel loafers, two pairs of deck shoes disguised as driving shoes. 

NOT SHOWN are my first pair of GEOX (red, white and black) in original photo at the top. They replaced the Piloti driving shoes that my awesome wife bought me years ago. I literally wore them until they fell apart. A LOT of left foot braking while racing!

Now here is a photo of the plant shelf loaded with plants and other things:

So that's it for this installation. Today is March 10, 2017. It is cold and rainy here and shall be for a few days. This winter has been fabulous for it's lack of snow and record HIGH temperatures. 

While snow in the mountains is ESSENTIAL to provide water year round, especially in the western US, most people hate having to deal with it. If we could convince the weather to only snow in the higher elevations.....but we can't.

Thanks for looking,

Scott