New York April Nyc Meet-up

I only go to work to rest.

Saturday went beck to Newburgh to hit the antique stores and the house salvage store on Broadway. Of course the drive up 9W is wonderful. Because it was rainy no slow drivers to cause congestion.

Peekskill is considered the "Gateway" to the Hudson Highlands, and the landscape even though not tropical is really a cloud forest. The weather is rather unpredictable, moody, and it seems it can rain at almost anytime, even on a bright and sunny day.

Bought a hall mirror that along with a bench or set-E will serve as a "Hall Tree" for coats and taking off shoes. Bought a nice hand colored framed photograph, and bought a nice Victorian plant stand so the Boston Fern we got a few weekends ago can go from the front porch into the living room.

Sunday I started battle with the Japanese Knotweed that has grown to 7 feet tall. Had to go to Home Depo to buy a bigger machete. The stalks are very bamboo like. I cleared about 1/2 the infestation and that includes the State land that is the dead end.

It seems that trees contained the spread, and the marsh grass at brook level has better established roots. Up at my back yard level though the knots of roots is pretty extensive.

The long-long battle will be with the roots and runners. This will be a long war. Digging up small sections at a time seems to fall into line with my big plan of terracing the slope and planting a tree garden.

It seems shade is like Cripto-night for the Knotweed.

While I was at Home Depo I decided to buy "Maggie" a Mother's Day gift of a Milwaukee M18 fuel celled string trimmer. She mentioned that we need one, and since I already own some M18 powered Milwaukee tools and already own a pair of M18 batteries and the charger I kinda saved money.

This string trimmer is modular so it also has a tool that can convert it to an edger, a hedge trimmer, and a tree trimmer.

In the future I can see stocking up on more Milwaukee tools that use M18 fuel cells. I also own some corded Milwaukee tools.

Maggie is really digging in and learning photography for real. Somehow she now understands exposure, F-Stops, and shutter speeds. All these years I tried to teach her, but then she would say that she was getting over-well-elmed...

The Flagstone patio migrated to a cedar deck and now with the lumber shortage has back peddled to the original Flagstone. I prefer the Flagstone because it is build and forget without any maintenance. Happy-Happy.

Cal
 
Morning Cal,

DSC02697 (2) by Nokton48, on Flickr

Yesterday I repurposed some lenses I had laying around upstairs in pieces. Here is a matching pair of 250mm Imagons on the new Norma twin lens. I have since attached the lower lens to the board using my mini drill press and hobby brass modeling screws. Fun Fun to repurpose 🙂

This morning I'm working on a pair of 200mm Imagons, same deal viewing lens in barrel and taking lens forward mounted for Norma Shutter. Or I can use the attached Compound.

BTW the venerable Imagons were offered by Linhof for their Technikas and Kardon Colors. The soft focus and halation from the outer petals were variable

Kinda like a Leitz Thambar in look but in the larger format. And with more options regarding configurations
 
Nokton48 said:
Morning Cal,

DSC02697 (2) by Nokton48, on Flickr

Yesterday I repurposed some lenses I had laying around upstairs in pieces. Here is a matching pair of 250mm Imagons on the new Norma twin lens. I have since attached the lower lens to the board using my mini drill press and hobby brass modeling screws. Fun Fun to repurpose 🙂

This morning I'm working on a pair of 200mm Imagons, same deal viewing lens in barrel and taking lens forward mounted for Norma Shutter. Or I can use the attached Compound.

BTW the venerable Imagons were offered by Linhof for their Technikas and Kardon Colors. The soft focus and halation from the outer petals were variable

Kinda like a Leitz Thambar in look but in the larger format. And with more options regarding configurations
Click to expand...

Devil Dan,

Please elaborate how the diffusion disks control the soft focus, and the range of effects of this very unique lens.

Also how rare are these lenses?

As usual, crazy is good.

Cal
 
Seems like Knotweed is a very big problem in the U.S. and Canada.

Reclaiming the land though through a tree garden though should moderate spread and growth as the Knotweed loves open disturbed areas that get full sun.

In the U.S. it has invaded 42 out of the 50 states. In the Northeast and in New York it is really bad.

In my situation it may never be irradicated and may only be controlled.

Also at the antique emporium in Newburgh I picked up some more CD's. Two are old Simon and Garfunkel: Old Friends; and a line recording from 1967 in NYC.

I had to dig in because I heard that these guys now hate each other. Art Garfunkel in an interview called Paul Simon a "Douch-Bag."

The interesting back story here is that they began their friendship when they were 11 years old and together they both grew up in Forest Hills.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
Devil Dan,
Please elaborate how the diffusion disks control the soft focus, and the range of effects of this very unique lens. Also how rare are these lenses? As usual, crazy is good. Cal
Click to expand...


Devil Cal,

The discs have a central larger stop, which controls the general amount of sharpness and/or softness. Larger the central hole, the softer the image becomes. The "outer petals" control the famous "Imagon Effect" which halates and creates a glow around brighter objects/highlights, which can be quite lovely. Also you can use the lens without discs (it's uber soft then) or use the iris in the shutter to stop down, which can make it quite sharp. Imagon discs are marked in H-Stops not F-Stops. Because these discs get lost I thought Christian should start 3D printing Imagon discs, they can be made from old plastic dark slide material and laser cut. There is a guy in Germany making these but he dosen't want to deal with the USA. Basically a "waterhouse stop" just the central hole is what I prefer, but I'd like to have a set with normal f/stops. BTW the H-Stop changes as you open and close the disc "petals" each disc is marked with the H-range of the disc.

On Ebay prices all over the place, these were made in 200mm, 250mm, 300, 360, and 420. I have 'em all 🙄 Complete set came in a nice storage box with three discs, yellow or ND filter clicks-on , and lenshood.

Sharp specular lighting is the lighting that brings out the maximum effects of these lenses. These have a cult following and I think collectable
 
Cal,
Can you get a few syringes with hypodermics and inject a saturated solution of saline (or a base like borax) into each stalk? It's a lot of work, especially if you have really dense growth, but it should be able to be done. If you keep the solution inside the plant, it shouldn't do too much leaching into the soil.

Phil Forrest
 
Nokton48 said:
Devil Cal,

The discs have a central larger stop, which controls the general amount of sharpness and/or softness. Larger the central hole, the softer the image becomes. The "outer petals" control the famous "Imagon Effect" which halates and creates a glow around brighter objects/highlights, which can be quite lovely. Also you can use the lens without discs (it's uber soft then) or use the iris in the shutter to stop down, which can make it quite sharp. Imagon discs are marked in H-Stops not F-Stops. Because these discs get lost I thought Christian should start 3D printing Imagon discs, they can be made from old plastic dark slide material and laser cut. There is a guy in Germany making these but he dosen't want to deal with the USA. Basically a "waterhouse stop" just the central hole is what I prefer, but I'd like to have a set with normal f/stops. BTW the H-Stop changes as you open and close the disc "petals" each disc is marked with the H-range of the disc.

On Ebay prices all over the place, these were made in 200mm, 250mm, 300, 360, and 420. I have 'em all 🙄 Complete set came in a nice storage box with three discs, yellow or ND filter clicks-on , and lenshood.

Sharp specular lighting is the lighting that brings out the maximum effects of these lenses. These have a cult following and I think collectable
Click to expand...

Devil Dan,

Thanks for giving us the smut.

These seem ideal for your crazy TLR 4x5. Seems like I really understand how thoughfully crazy you are.

"You are diseased," I say. LOL.

The possibility of inflation makes collecting rare things a good commodity to corner. I have noticed that many of the guuitars, bass'es, amps are in limited supply currently as owners see wisdom in holding onto these limited items that already have a history of appreciating greatly.

I feel lucky that I own both a Matchless Spitfire and a Matchless Lightning, both are 15 watt 6BQ5 output tube amps. My versions are of the "Mark Sampson Era" of the mid 90's.

Background smut is that Mark Sampson was a drag racer who decided on making Vox amp clones that were built in a Mil-Spec fashion. Vox amps have a unique tone and versitility, but they ran hot and had a reputation of catching on fire.

Mark Sampson kinda invented/created the boutique guitar amplifier market, so I think my amps are important historically. Also these are the smaller less powerful amps that now are in favor for gigging out and using mike and P.A. to fill the venue, and of course these amps are legendary for recording in a studio.

The Spitfire has less gain and only has one tone know very much like a Fender Tweed Deluxe. Counter intuitively the lower gain means more midrange emphisis, a bit less definition, and translates into less clean headroom. It somehow captures that 50's tweed sound very well.

The Lightning has more gain and more clean headroom (counterintuitive again). It features an extra tube in the pre-amp and has treble and bass tone controls that are highly interactive. Interesting how turning up the treble also somehow adds mids.

The 1960 Fender Brown Super I love because I can jumper the channels like a Marshall amp, and this seriously thickens and enriches tone. This amp also has a vibrato that swirls in a crazy manner.

Anyways I secured all these items for little money and today not only are they not available, but they are worth more than twice what I bought them for.

"Maggie" thinks I should sell them, but these items I could never buy back or afford to repurchase them if I could find them. Selling for me would be mucho dumb, and besides what would I do with the cash?

How rare are these Imagon's?

Cal
 
Not extremely rare but not exactly plentiful either. They turn up on Ebay all the time. The 250mm set is a good starter for 4x5 $300-$400 range is typical, some ask the moon as usual. Not uber rare and uber priced like a Thambar. More useful really

I think any Imagon is getting to be rare
 
Phil_F_NM said:
Cal,
Can you get a few syringes with hypodermics and inject a saturated solution of saline (or a base like borax) into each stalk? It's a lot of work, especially if you have really dense growth, but it should be able to be done. If you keep the solution inside the plant, it shouldn't do too much leaching into the soil.

Phil Forrest
Click to expand...

Phil,

A Frog Pond is in view of my back-backyard. Amphibians are rather delicate creatures, and pretty much they are hypersensitive to enviormental changes and any chemicals.

Right behind my house are wetlands, a bog and a marsh. The only salt I wish to add is perhaps my sweat in this war against Knotweed.

Also I did lots of research. One approach is injecting "Roundup" into the stalks. One study even optimized it after a June cut-down and then waiting 8 weeks to inject. The benefits are that after a cut down the stalks are smaller, and the roots were weakened by the spring early summer growth, and the poison gets cycled into the roots when it is going into storage mode for the next year of growth.

No chemicals for me. I love my neighbors the Spring Peepers, even though they have their loud orgies.

Know that I bought some carnivorious plant, but I have no flies or Mo-Skeet-O's. I might have to gift this plant to "Dave" who claims that his drew in half a dozen flies in an afternoon.

This plant has octopus like tennacles covered with this hair. A tacky chemical get secreted that also disolves the fly the more it struggles.

I also have mucho Bumble Bees, which are also hypersensitive and are delicate.

Cal
 
Nokton48 said:
Not extremely rare but not exactly plentiful either. They turn up on Ebay all the time. The 250mm set is a good starter for 4x5 $300-$400 range is typical, some ask the moon as usual. Not uber rare and uber priced like a Thambar. More useful really

I think any Imagon is getting to be rare
Click to expand...

Devil Dan,

This seems the best time to speculate. Always best to buy when the prices are low.

That is why I bought the amps I purchased for $1K-$1.1K that are now worth $2.5K-$3K.

Kaa-Ching.

One of my constraints is my house is small. LOL.

Cal
 
Nokton48 said:
Mine is small too. I've been told I should open a musuem LOL

I always buy low unless I really want or need something
Click to expand...

John from the NYC Meet-Up called my studio a "Camera Museum."

Devil Christian made a passing remark about my Baby-Linhofs belonging in a museum because they are pristine.

One of the Baby-Linhofs is a Tech V without movements. It is a prototype and is unusual because it pretty much is the only basic Linhof medium format folding camera I ever have seen or know about. It has no serial number.

This camera languished unloved for a long-long time on a dealer's website.

I have a boxed Leica copystand BEOONE that I bought from IGOR at a great price. It is like an investment because the price was low.

I cleaning out the Knotweed I see that someone dumped a car in back of my neighbor's house. How Hill-Billy is that?

Looks like someone way back when dumped a cast iron stove behind my house. There is either a car fender from the 30's or its a fender from a motorcycle also.

Anyways you basement has 8 foot ceilings. You are a lucky dog. LOL.

Cal
 
Eight foot ceilings are something I was lookng for when we looked at over twenty local properties. This was the only one and being on the edge of ravine with woods (personal zoo) is a huge bonus. We have the smallest house but I think the nicest back property in the neighborhood.

Do you know deer rear up on their back legs and balance like a giraffe! We had four females that run together do that yesterday, to get at the succulent apple and maple leaves. They can balance for about five seconds which I think is really something. Then they fold up their legs and drop in a group. They only do that when they are very comfortable. Obviously they like our yard. One curled it's head down and went to sleep for half an hour. Then BOOM they are gone. I suspect there are at least a couple of hundred running their trails in the ravine.

Nice Bard Owl sits in the big tree behind, it's huge! If you put a box out they will nest. They are box favoring owls. And the beautiful red fox has been running around recently.
 
Nokton48 said:
Eight foot ceilings are something I was lookng for when we looked at over twenty local properties. This was the only one and being on the edge of ravine with woods (personal zoo) is a huge bonus. We have the smallest house but I think the nicest back property in the neighborhood.

Do you know deer rear up on their back legs and balance like a giraffe! We had four females that run together do that yesterday, to get at the succulent apple and maple leaves. They can balance for about five seconds which I think is really something. Then they fold up their legs and drop in a group. They only do that when they are very comfortable. Obviously they like our yard. One curled it's head down and went to sleep for half an hour. Then BOOM they are gone. I suspect there are at least a couple of hundred running their trails in the ravine.

Nice Bard Owl sits in the big tree behind, it's huge! If you put a box out they will nest. They are box favoring owls. And the beautiful red fox has been running around recently.
Click to expand...

Dan,

My 1912 Baby Victorian is the old lady on the block, and I think it is the most private because I only have one next-door neighbor. Our house is the only one that has a second building lot that can easily be developed.

This would be at the end of our dead end. The view from the back-backyard is a country road to the right with a bog/marsh/wetlands that includes a Frog ghetto (pond) and Dickey Brook that feeds into the mighty Hudson.

It looks like you could be in a rural area of England with the marsh grass and a tree line in the distance. I have this view from the second floor of the house, yet I'm only 40 miles from NYC or an hour's train ride.

If I won the Lottery I would build a barn and do a "Crazy Dan."

Things are starting to firm up as far as my vision for the property. The tiny "bedroom" that is about the size of a walk-in closet will be annexed into the bathroom, but will be kept as a separate room for a slipper shaped soaking tub that connects to the thin/skinny bathroom that will get stripped down to just a toilet and vanity with a sink.

The basement will have a wet darkroom, and the Porch Basement (6x15) will be a music practice room and or room for my Concept2 rowing machine (ERG).

The unused but existing Natural Gas hot water heater will be used for a dishwasher, my darkroom, and to provide scalding hot water to the above soaking tub. Know that hot water for the rest of the house is an instant on demand system fueled by the oil burner.

The idea here is for efficiency, where I can enjoy low energy costs, and also have scalding hot water because the systems are separate, specialized, and when not needed the Natural Gas system can be turned off.

The garage will be my above ground "Man-Bunker." I'm cool with "Maggie" annexing the tower room for her office and the second bedroom as her studio space. Both are kinda worthless to me.

Half the garage is for the Audi A4. I love this car, and it is evil. Maggie has bad vision and does not drive. Pretty much it is my car.

The other half for a shooting studio, a place to set up my 300B single ended triode tube stereo, a digital printing studio, and a recording studio.
Guitars, bass'es, and vintage amps will likely be stored there.

The current "hip" roof will be replaced with a gabled roof, but be structurally designed to hold a solar array (70 pounds per 3x5 panel). Of course the pitch (41 degrees) and orientation will be due south for ideal design. Mitsubishi heat-pump for HVAC.

Phase II would to build a 10x20 extension to double the studio space of the garage.

The back-backyard will remain a lawn, but the beyond the back-backyard (the other side of a fence) will be my "tree garden" that will feature a grove of Japanese red Maples that I rescued from this old maple in my front yard.

There is about a 10-12 foot landing before the slope downwards to brook/marsh level that descends down about 20 feet. Other Maple trees flank my property from my neighbors that are just full blown woods, so I'm kinda nested inbetween.

My intent is to create a terraced tree garden that is kinda hidden down to the marsh.

On Main Street in Peekskill, I noticed a house that has Wisteria growing on a tree, and the height is rather spectacular with this cascade of large purple flowers. Somehow I came up with this idea independently to recycle the dead knarly apple tree into an arbor.

I'm glad the patio is going to be Flagstone in-between the house and garage. Cedar is nice for a deck, but I don't want the maintenance. I would rather have the build and forget Flagstone.

About 6 more months till I retire, don't tell my boss. LOL. I figure I have about 6 weeks vacation I can use, and I would like to use the vacation time rather than get paid for the time saved up.

Things will speed up a lot when I'm retired like you.

Cal
 
We took the Milwaukee string trimmer out for a test drive last night.

All went well. I have to get the strap for "Maggie" so the weight of the tool is easier to handle for her. She is kinda tiny.

Funny thing is when some of her followers meet her for the first time they blurt out, "You're really short," or. "In the photographs Calvin takes you look so tall." LOL.

Cal
 
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