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A photo from 2008 that I have hopefully improved by reprocessing.
D1015 Western Champion on 1Z51 "The Irish Mail" departing Llandudno Junction
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
Many people in Vancouver were given a second chance to photograph a re-lit Olympic Cauldron for two days.
The new pool underneath and internal lights that change colours are fantastic improvements. This is the image that visitors from all over the world should ideally have been able to to bring back home with them.
Vancouver, British Columbia
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Parder was a successor of the Tiger I & II tanks, combining the latter's thick armor with the armor sloping used on the Panther medium tank (which was, in fact, inspired by Soviet designs, most of all by the T-34). While several Entwicklungspanzer designs were under development, the Parder was a short-term attempt to overcome the Tiger II's main shortcoming: its weight of almost seventy metric tons (it was protected by up to 180 mm/7.1" of front armor!), the resulting lack of mobility and an overburdened drivetrain originally intended for a lighter vehicle. Leaking seals and gaskets also took their toll on reliability.
In order to keep the development phase short the Parder used basically the same chassis as the Tiger II, as well as the engine, transmission and the long barreled 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 gun. But it reveiced a new hull with optimized armor and many detail modifications that reduced the overall weight by more than ten tons, getting overall weight back to the level of the Tiger I
The SdKfz. 190 used a conventional hull design with sloped armor from all sides, resembling the layout of the T-34 a lot. Its was so effective that the front armor could be reduced to 120 mm (4.7 in) with only little loss in protection. The crew was reduced to four, only the driver remained in the hull and the front machine gun was omitted, too.
The 'Parder' (archaic German term for leopard), how the vehicle was semi-officially christened by the Entwicklungskommission Panzer, had a rear mounted engine and used nine steel-tired overlapping road wheels per side with internal springing, mounted on transverse torsion bars.
The turret had been designed by Krupp and featured a rounded front and steeply sloped sides, with a difficult-to-manufacture curved bulge on the turret's left side to accommodate the commander's cupola (often related to as the "Porsche" turret). The powerful 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 gun was combined with the Turmzielfernrohr 9d (German "turret telescopic sight") monocular sight by Leitz - a very accurate and deadly weapon.
During practice, the estimated probability of a first round hit on a 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high, 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) wide target only dropped below 100 percent at ranges beyond 1,000 m (0.62 mi), to 95–97 percent at 1,500 metres (0.93 mi) and 85–87 percent at 2,000 m (1.2 mi), depending on ammunition type. Recorded combat performance was lower, but still over 80 percent at 1,000 m, in the 60s at 1,500 m and the 40s at 2,000 m.
Penetration of armored plate inclined at 30 degrees was 202 and 132 mm (8.0 and 5.2 in) at 100 m (110 yd) and 2,000 m (1.2 mi) respectively for the Panzergranate 39/43 projectile (PzGr—armor-piercing shell), and 238 and 153 mm (9.4 and 6.0 in) for the PzGr. 40/43 projectile between the same ranges. The Sprenggranate 43 (SpGr) high-explosive round was available for soft targets, or the Hohlgranate or Hohlgeschoss 39 (HlGr—HEAT or High explosive anti-tank warhead) round, which had 90 mm (3.5 in) penetration at any range, could be used as a dual-purpose munition against soft or armored targets.
Like all German tanks, the Parder had a gasoline engine; in this case the same 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW) V-12 Maybach HL 230 P30 which powered the Panther, Tiger I and Tiger II tanks. The Tiger II was under-powered with it, though, and consumed a lot of fuel, which was in short supply for the Germans, but in the Parder it proved to be adequate, even though performance was not oustanding. The transmission was the Maybach OLVAR EG 40 12 16 Model B, giving eight forward gears and four reverse, which drove the steering gear.
In order to distribute the tank's weight an extra wide track was used, but this meant that each tank was issued with two sets of tracks: a normal "battle track" and a narrower "transport" version used during rail movement. The transport tracks reduced the overall width of the load and could be used to drive the tank short distances on firm ground.
The Parder was, like many German late war designs, rushed into combat, but thanks to its Tiger I & II heritage many mechanical teething problems had already been corrected. Reliability was considerably improved compared to the much heavier Tiger II, and the Parder did prove to be a very effective fighting vehicle, especially in a defensive role. However, some design flaws, such as its weak final drive units, were never corrected due to raw material shortages, and more tanks were given up by the crews than actually destroyed in combat.
The Parder was issued to heavy tank battalions of the Army (Schwere Heerespanzerabteilung – abbreviated s.H.Pz.Abt) where it replaced the Tiger I & II.
Specifications:
Crew Four (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Weight 54 tonnes (60 short tons)
Length 7.02 metres (23 ft in) (hull only)
10.64 metres (34 ft 10 1/3 in) with gun forward
Width 3.88 metres (12 ft 9 in)
4.14 metres (13 ft 6 3/4 in) with optional Thoma shields
Height 2.84 metres (9 ft 4 in) w/o AA machine gun
Suspension torsion-bar
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Fuel capacity: 820 l (180 imp gal; 220 US gal)
Armor:
30–120 mm (1.2 – 4.7 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 41.5 km/h (25.8 mph)
- Sustained, road: 38 km/h (24 mph)
- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)
Operational range: 240 km (150 mi)
Power/weight: 12,96 PS/tonne (11,5 hp/ton)
Engine:
V-12 Maybach HL 230 P30 gasoline with 700 PS (690 hp, 515 kW)
Transmission:
Maybach OLVAR EG 40 12 16 B (8 forward and 4 reverse)
Armament:
1× 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71 with 80 rounds
1× co-axial 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 with 3.000 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
Something different… a whif tank! This was spawned from curiosity and the “wish” to build a German vehicle that would fit right into the E-25… E-100 range of experimental tanks.
It was to become a battle tank, and while browsing options and donation kits, I settled upon a replacement for the formidable but heavy and cumbersome Tiger B, also known as Tiger II, Königstiger or (wrongfully translated) King Tiger.
Anyway, creating a tank that would look (late war) German and still be whiffy was trickier than expected, and finally easier than expected, too. My solution would be a kit bashing: using many Tiger B parts (including the stylish Porsche tower and the running gear) and combining it with a hull that would offer better armor angles and look less “boxy”.
I effectively bashed two kits: one is the excellent 1:72 early Tiger B from Dragon, the other is Roden’s Soviet IS-3 tank – also very nice, even though the styrene is somewhat brittle.
My biggest fear was the running gear – combining the IS-3 hull with the Tiger B’s totally different legs scared me a lot – until I found that the parts from both kits (the Tiger B’s lower hull with all the suspension and the IS-3’s upper hull) could be combined rather easily combined. Just some cuts and improvised intersections, and the “new” tank hull was done!
As a side effect, the huge turret moved forward, and this considerably changes the silhouette. The IS-3’s opening had only to be widened slightly in order to accept the Porsche turret. Things matched up pretty well, also concerning size and proportions.
Otherwise, not much was changed. All wheels and tracks come from the Trumpeter Tiger B, the turret was also borrowed wholesale. I just changed some details (e. g. moving the spare track elements to the hull front), added some handles and also a heavy AA machine gun on the commander’s cupola, which is OOB, too.
Too simple? Well, for me it was not enough. For a more personal edge to the kit I decided to add Thoma skirts! Not the massive 5mm plates you frequently see on late Panzer IV tanks and its derivatives, rather the mesh type – lighter, less material-consuming, and a very special detail.
These were scratched. There are PE sets available, but that was too expensive and I was not certain if such items would fit in shape and size? So I made a cardboard template for the flanks and built a pair of skirts from styrene strips and a fine PET mesh that I had salvaged from a wallet long time ago.
The stuff is hard to glue onto something, so the styrene frame had to carry the mesh parts – and it works! The attachments to the hull were also scratched from styrene.
The Thoma shields add more width to the flat tank, but I think that they set the kit even more apart than just the borrowed IS-3 hull?
Painting and markings:
Hmmm, not totally happy with the finish. This was supposed to become a simple Hinterhalt (Ambush) paint scheme in Dark Yellow, Olive Green and Red Brown, but I did so much weathering that not much from the scheme can be recognized…
Painting was straightforward, though – I used Humbrol 94 and 173 as well as Modelmaster’s RAL 6003 as basic colors. The scheme’s benchmark is the official Tiger B scheme.
The basic colors received mottles in green on the yellow and yellow on the green and brown, and then the thing was thoroughly weathered with a black ink wash, dry-brushing, some aquarelle paint to simulate dust, and finally some pigments that simulate mud.
The tracks are made from soft vinyl, and also received a paint treatment in order to get rid of that shiny vinyl look: at first, with a mix of black and silver, which was immediately wiped off again, and later with a second, similar turn with silver and dark brown.
The mud was added just before the whole running gear was mounted as one of the final assembly stages, and final retouches were made with acrylic umbra paint.
Alas, I think I overdid it – much of the formidable and very attractive paint scheme was lost, even though the yucky, brownish finish now also works fine and looks like rough duty?
So, an experiment with good and bad results. Certainly not the last whif tank (at least one more on the agenda), and after so many aircraft a new kind of challenge. ^^
Bonneville Lock and Dam is located 145 river miles from the mouth of the Columbia River and about 40 miles east of Portland, Oregon. The project’s first powerhouse, spillway and original navigation lock were completed in 1938 to improve navigation on Columbia River and provide hydropower to the Pacific Northwest. A second powerhouse was completed in 1981, and a larger navigation lock in 1993.
A Public Works Administration project of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, portions of Bonneville Lock and Dam Project were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
Finally the weather improved enough to be outside & do some yard work & more importantly ham radio from the patio.
We worked hard all morning & gave ourselves the afternoon off to enjoy the fruits of our labour & some jubes & other bad for you stuff!
My POTA contacts:
(Parks On The Air)
KD8BBK Tony in Ohio
AB8DE Ed in Michigan
K8RLE Ray in Michigan
KQ4YC James in Ohio
Regular contacts:
K8EHE Terry in Dublin, Ohio
W2FN Bob in Buffalo, NY
W4ELP Ed in Chester, Virginia
NJ8L Vern in Ohio
My Gear:
Yaesu FT-817
Power Output: 5W
Antenna: Inverted Vee up 30'
Key: Palm Radio Mini Paddle
Conditions: Fair - solar flux 163!!! some qsb (fading)
Weather: All sun & mid 60's F
I find myself reverting back to a paper log lately to cut back on screen time. The electronic log sure comes in handy when you don't recall having worked someone, you can easily check. Maybe I will just have to call CQ more often! :0)
73
Daryll
The clear early Spring sees Kriegslok 56522 depart Banaz upon 06.40 Afyon-Alasehir 'mixed' at just after 10 o'clock.
All-out effort has been applied over Dumlupinar followed by a spell of marshalling at Banaz. There is a less arduous run into Usak ahead.
Home processed / 35mm FP4.
17th March 1986
Reload with improved reproduction 2/2019.
Immersive water created by Chalice Yao and myself for the PoundLife viewer. This is the second video I made to show it off back in July of 2018.
London Smithfield Meat Market George Abraham Ltd Stall Products Two Trays of Twenty Duck Eggs at £7 per Tray and Keevil & Keevil British Triple Smoked Dry Cured Back Bacon 97% Pork 1.5Kg for £10.80 each. This bacon is significantly improved with a thicker cut and less Grunge when cooked. Impressive improvement
You can find more natural ways to improve vaginal tightness at
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If you liked this video, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get updates of other useful health video tutorials.
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List of changes:
#1 More defined eyes
#2 Fixed fur details
#3 Less yellow, but looks like this due to lighting
I had a hard time making the flash light fall exactly where I wanted... is there a way to find the exact place better than moving the light 5mm and taking so many shots at each angle?
Photo taken for Our Daily Challenge: New and Improved
I walked this afternoon in a new (to me) San Diego neighborhood and saw this unusual tree. Not sure if it is an improvement.
Fall is not my favorite time of year, in fact is is almost my least favorite time of year. Occasionally though, something happens to make it more tolerable.
Model/HMUA: Taylor from the archives.
In the rehearsal before the taping of a new infomercial for the new and improved ShamWowie 2, one of the show's demonstrators had put on his bathing suit, jumped into a tub of water, wrapped himself in the jumbo-sized ShamWowie 2 and then laid down on the floor- as he would during the taping- so then the host would proclaim that he would be completely dry in a matter of a few minutes as an example of the much greater absorbency of the new and improved product. However, he then fell asleep and was discovered a bit later by shocked backstage technicians as they realized just how vastly more absorbent the ShamWowie 2 is.
How can you improve on a Fringe show about superheroes? Simple. Make it a show about punctuation-based superheroes (and villains).
Here you can see (L to R): Forgotten Boy (Bethan Moore); Ellipsis (Miranda Parker); Question-Mark Man (Harrison Cole); and Exclamation Man (Alistair Bullen)
This is from the very silly and very enjoyable "The Baffling Adventures of Question-Mark Man" by Bottled Spider. The show runs until Aug 27th.
You can find out more and book tickets, here: www.thespaceuk.com/shows/the-baffling-adventures-of-quest...
'Copyright Saab AB'
Full-size "Draken's"
J 35A
Fighter version, total production 90 including prototypes. The J 35As were delivered between 1959 and 1961. The tail section was lengthened after the 66th aircraft to house a new afterburner for additional thrust, the longer tail cone unexpectedly reduced drag. This forced the installation of a retractable tail-wheel. The two versions were nicknamed Adam kort (Adam short) and Adam lång (Adam long). The Adam was fitted with a French Cyrano Radar (Swedish designation PS-02) (same as on the "Mirage III") as the Swedish radar hadn't been developed in time.
J 35B
Fighter version, built and delivered between 1962 and 1963, total production 73. This variant had improved radar and gun sights, and was also fully integrated into the Swedish STRIL 60 system; a combat guidance and air surveillance system. Fitted with a Swedish built radar PS-03.
SK 35C
25 J 35As with short tail sections rebuilt into a twin-seated trainer version.The minor modification meant that the aircraft could easily be converted back to a J 35A standard if necessary. The trainer version lacked armament.
J 35D
Fighter version, delivered between 1963 and 1964, total production 120. The aircraft had a new and more powerful Rolls-Royce Avon 300 (RM6C), which could deliver 77.3 kN thrust when using its afterburner. This was also the fastest "Draken" version, capable of accelerating until out of fuel. It was also the last "Draken" to carry two cannons. Fitted with the PS-03 radar.
S 35E
Reconnaissance version, total production 60 with 32 built from scratch and the remainder converted from the J 35D model. The armament and radar was removed and several cameras (of ortho and oblique types) fitted. The aircraft was unarmed to make room for the nine cameras of Vinten design (five in the nose and four in the fuselage) but was fitted with a countermeasure system to increase its survivability. It also carried an active infrared reconnaissance system of EG&G design in a pod fitted to a hardpoint.
J 35F
Fighter version, delivered between 1965 and 1972, total production: 230. This variant had improved electronics and avionics, e.g. integrated radar, aim and missile systems. The aircraft's main armament were IR and SARH versions of the Hughes 'Falcon' missile originally intended for the J 35D, but one of the cannon was removed to make space for more avionics. The J 35F2 was a J 35F, produced with a Hughes N71 Infra-red search and track sensor. This was a change in the production line from the no. 35501 airframe. The Hawé mods I & II where carried out on the P/S-01/011 radar sets in the early 1980s to improve resistance to ECM.
J 35J
In 1985 the Swedish government decided to modify 54 J 35F2s to the J 35J standard.[20] In 1987, 12 more modifications were ordered: between 1987 and 1991, the aircraft received a longer lifespan, modern electronics and cannon, additional two Sidewinder (AIM-9P) pylons under the air intakes and increased fuel capacity. The final operational J 35J flew for the last time in 1999.
Saab 35H
Proposed export version for the Swiss Air Force; none sold or delivered.
Saab 35XD
51 Danish export versions: F-35 single-seat strike aircraft, TF-35 two-seat trainer and RF-35 reconnaissance aircraft. The type was heavily modified to make it into a strike aircraft; compared to the Swedish versions the outer wings where completely redesigned, and the radar was missing. These aircraft could carry heavy bombs as well as 'Bullpup' missiles; during the WDNS upgrade of the 1980s they received the ALQ-162 jammer, a Marconi 900 Series HUD and a Ferranti LRMTS (laser rangefinder and marked target seeker)
Saab 35XS
12 fighter version units for the Finnish Air Force; built by Saab and assembled under licence by Valmet in Finland. The "S" stood for "Suomi" (Finland).
Saab 35BS
Used J 35Bs sold to Finland.
Saab 35FS
Used J 35F1s sold to Finland.
Saab 35CS
Used SK 35Cs sold to Finland.
Saab 35Ö
In the mid-1980s, Saab re-purchased 24 J 35D aircraft from the Swedish Air Force and converted them into the J 35Ö version (also called J 35OE in English literature) for export to Austria. Austria bought AIM-9P5 all aspect 'Sidewinders' for these aircraft during the war in former Yugoslavia.
Improving laboratory safety. Plastic flask, beaker, and cylinder replacing glass in a chemistry laboratory.
Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director, IMF, participates in the seminar How Technology Can Improve Growth in MENA on Friday, October 13 during the 2017 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C. Ryan Rayburn/IMF Photo
To improve my SP bicentennial caboose, I went back to original photos and realized that my original version wasn't very accurate. I decided against a total rebuild this time around, but I wanted to improve the 'scale' and details a bit. Please enjoy version 2 of SP 1776 and Happy Independence Day!
Improved new version with revised paint scheme and additional details (render picture). The compact bulldozer is a mofified Sluban model.
London Smithfield Meat Market George Abraham Ltd Stall Products Keevil & Keevil British Triple Smoked Dry Cured Back Bacon 97% Pork 1.5Kg for £10.00 each. This bacon is significantly improved with a thicker cut and less Grunge when cooked. Impressive improvement
Since I bought a softbox for the SR-2 Bioware social platforms "shoot" I am starting to get a few photos with better lighting/overall quality...
A widened SR 9 in Clearview will require new traffic signals for the extra lanes. Bigger traffic poles with longer arms extending out over the highway are being installed. A worker here helps position one of the new posts. The pole will hold traffic lights, street signs and pedestrian signals.
Improved Luke custom and Leia from Splinter Of The Mind's Eye with custom backpacks.
IMG_4973_181004-1_Low
Just making it better-ish by adding new pieces due to the horrendous original design, and poor use of space.
Class 43 HST power car, 43062 "John Armitt" leads the Network Rail New Measurement Train ("NMT") into Crewe as it works 1Q30 10:55 Derby RTC to Crewe Carriage Sidings L&NWR Site via Chester, Holyhead and Liverpool Lime Street (amongst other places).
When Darlington needed to improve their ageing stock and as usual, things were tight financially, they decided to take a number of Nottingham double deckers on loan. They proved to be ideal for the job in hand and purchase followed. Here we see Northern Counties bodied Fleetline PAU 209R which along with all of its siblings was smartly turned out in Darlington Blue and light Cream. On arrival the Green of Nottingham lacked a touch of lustre, however the Darlington brush painters worked their magic with a result which seemed to give these vehicles a new lease of life. Standing at the top of Tubwell Row, PAU will be heading off shortly to Firth Moor Estate.
Also known as a solar telegraph, a heliograph employs mirrors to transmit messages via flashes of light. This man-portable form of optical communication was infrastructure-independent and had a range of roughly ten miles of every inch of mirror diameter.
Despite these advantages, obtaining the correct angles with mirrors mounted on multiple tripods to direct the sun to the target was often a tedious effort. The telegraph gun alleviated these shortcomings by mounting both mirrors and shutter on a single, compact platform. A steady-handed operator could use the gun at shorter ranges and at longer ranges the stock could be removed and the remainder mounted on a tripod. The trigger, when pulled, opens the shutters and is returned by a spring when released. With a thirty-mile range, the light could be spotted by the naked eye. The telescope not only helped with receiving messages, but was also used to confirm that the outgoing messages had been properly received.
40 unique parts, 56 parts total.
Posting shots of churches we have visited has shown me that my photography has improved now I don't use the ultrawide angle lenses, so many churches need a revisit.
And with the orchid season now at an end, nearly, it is time to turn to churchcrawling.
And the easiest non-Kent church to revisit was Winchelsea, just over the border in East Sussex, also gave us the chance to call in at the fishmongers in Rye for some smoked haddock.
After the early morning coffee and then the rush round Tesco, back home to pack it all away and for me to make bacon butties and another brew.
And then: go west.
Traffic is not so mad now, so it was easy to drive to Folkestone then up the motorway to Ashford, before turning off, past the inland border facility, then out onto the Marsh past Hamstreet.
West of Brookland, the road meanders about, bend after bend, crossing and recrossing the railway until we reach Rye.
We stop to buy the fish, then round the river, over the bridge and out the other side, five miles to Winchelsea, turning off to go up the hill under the old town gate, parking near the village shop.
Whereas Rye was already busy, Winchelsea was quiet, and just past ten meaning the church had just opened.
We walk across the large churchyard through the ruins of the tower and into the church, where the triple wide nave was lines on the north and south walls with fine wall tombs.
I photograph each on in turn, and the corbel heads on each too.
I rephotograph the fine windows too, as despite being modern, they really are on another level.
One or two people come in, a family of three last 30 seconds before the mother and teenage son leave.
After completing the shots, I go out to meet up with Jools so we can walk to the shop to have ice cream, and sit to eat them on a bench looking at the north wall of the church.
After we had finished our ice creams, we climbed back in the car. It wasn't yet half ten. Time for some more churches!
So, after driving back through Rye and into Kent, we call into Brookland so I could check if the tower was open, as I have never found it open. The church was, but the candlesnuff tower was locked.
No worries, there's always New Romney.
I first came here with my friend, Simon, in 2014 when there was a formal dinner being prepared, and a year ago, we arrived just after one to find the building being locked for the day.
We parked opposite and I see the sign advertising a craft and record fair, along with refreshments.
Inside there were stall set up, and people in the Chancel drinking tea and eating cake.
I was able to get shots of some of the memorials and details, which is why I came back, really.
The fair happens on only one Saturday per month, just my luck to pick a day when it was on.
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A wonderful church of grand proportions, the exterior of which is best seen from the east where the three reticulated windows chancel and chapels of the Decorated period may be clearly seen. The nave is Norman, with interesting decoration on the arcades and solid circular piers. The church was owned by Potigny Abbey and in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it invested heavily in rebuilding the east end, with fine octagonal pillars, piscinae and sedilia in each of the three eastern chapels. Between the chancel and chapels are hagioscope openings. It is interesting that the floor remains unrestored, with brick, tile and old ledger slabs. This is the result of the intervention of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings when John Oldrid Scott started over-restoring the church in 1878. The early aisles must have been very low as the Norman clerestory windows rise straight from the top of the arcade. The best place to see Norman work at New Romney is in the main west door where the zigzag decoration has few parallels in the county.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=New+Romney
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THE TOWN AND PORT OF NEW ROMNEY,
WRITTEN in the survey of Domesday, Romenel, lies the next adjoining southward from Old Romney, to distinguish it from which it was called New Romney. The greatest part of it is within the liberty of the cinque ports, and of the corporation of the town and port of New Romney; another part is within the level of Romney Marsh, and the liberty and jurisdiction of the justices of it; and the residue is within the level of Walland Marsh, and the jurisdiction of the justices of the county.
THE TOWN of New Romney is supposed to owe its origin to the decay of the antient port and haven of Old Romney, which being rendered useless by the withdrawing of the sea from it, that of New Romney became frequented in its stead, and being esteemed a large and commodious harbour for shipping, and the town adjoining to it increasing to a considerable size, and being well filled with inhabitants, it gained the privilege of being one of the cinque ports, and had annexed as members to it Lid, Old Romney, Dengemarsh, and Oswardestone, and that part of the parish of Promhill within this county, with which jointly it was bound to provide five ships, with twenty one men and one boy to each of them. After the battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror, on his march to Dover castle, passed this town, where he is said to have revenged himself on the inhabitants, for having killed some of his men, who by mistake had landed here. (fn. 1) After which this haven seems to have been in danger of ruin; and king Henry III. being informed of its danger of being destroyed, by stoppage from the river at Newenden, directed Nicholas de Handloe to re pair hither in person, with the sheriff of Kent and twenty four knights and lawful men, to examine into it. And among the patent rolls in the tower is one, in consequence of it, for the new making of this port. In this state New Romney, in all probability continued till king Edward I.'s reign, when the river Limen, or Rother, as it was afterwards called, being forced from its old channel hither, by a violent tempest, which destroyed likewise part of the town and several villages near it, and the sea at the same time retiring to a still further distance from it, the haven was soon irretrievably choaked up by the beach and became dry land, and the town itself never regained its former consequence; yet in the regin of king Edward the Confessor, it seems to have been of considerable note; for at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in the 15th year of the Conqueror's reign, which was little more than fourteen years from king Edward's death, it appears by the following mention of it, that there were in it eighty-five burgesses, which belonged to the archbishop's manor of Aldington.
In Romenel there are four times twenty and five burgesses, which belonged to the archbishop's manor of Aldington, and were, and now are worth to the lord sixpounds.
Besides which, Robert de Romenel, who held the manor of Lamport of the archbishop by knight's service, had twenty one burgesses here, which belonged to that manor, and fifty which he held of the bishop of Baieux, as may be seen by the following entries in the same record:
To this manor (viz. Lamport) belong twenty-one burgesses, which are in Romenel, of whom the archbishop has three forfeitures—theft, breach of the peace, and robbery on the highway. But the king has all service from them, and they have all customs and other forfeitures for service of the sea, and they are in the king's hands .
And further, under the general title of the bishop of Baieux's possessions:
The same Robert (de Romenel) has fifty burgesses in the burgh of Romenel, and of them the king has all service, and they are quit from the service of the sea, from all custom except in three—thest, breach of the peace, and forstel .
In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was forty shillings, now fifty shillings. Alsi held it of earl Godwin .
Robert de Romenel certainly took his name from his possessions in this place. He is mentioned several times in the record of Domesday. Albritha de Rumenel, in the reign of king John, was marshal of the king's birds by inheritance, and married William de Iarpenvile; their daughter and heir Alice, married Thomas Fitzbernard, to whom and their heirs for ever, on the petition of their mother, the king granted that office after her death. The latter afterwards gave to the abbot and convent of St. Augustine, for her sepulture there, twelve pounds sterling of Old Rumenell and Langport, to be received of Stephen deAudintune, or whomsoever should posses the same. (fn. 2) Camden, in his Remains, says, Sir Robert de Romney, for so the name was afterwards spelt, bore for his arms, in imitation of the family of Criol, Two chevrons, and a canton, to which he added, on the latter, three leopards faces; and so late as the 1st year of king James I. Sir William Rumney, was sheriff of London, and there are some of this name still remaining. But to return, so great a number of burgesses as one hundred and fifty-six, serves to give us an idea of its antient state and populousness, and even at the time of the dreadful tempest which caused its ruin in king Edward I.'s reign, as mentioned before, it is said to have been divided into twelve wards, and to have had in it five parish churches, a priory, and an hospital for the sick. But when the river, by so tremendous a convulsion of nature, which not only destroyed men and cattle, but whole towns and villages, had been driven from its proper channel, and its antient mouth here being stopped up, had opened for itself a nearer passage into the sea by Rye, then the sea began to withdraw itself from this town, which afterwards decayed apace, insomuch, that in king Henry VIII.'s reign the sea was two miles distant from it, and there was only one parish church remaining, and that scarce well maintained. Leland, who wrote his Itinerary in that reign, says, "Rumeney is one of the v portes, and hath bene a netely good haven, yn so much that withyn remembrance of men shyppes have cum hard up to the towne and cast ancres yn one of the church yardes. The se ys now a ii myles fro the towne so sore therby now decayed that where ther wher iii great paroches and chirches sumtyme, is now scant one wel mayteined."
There were certainly four other parish churches besides the present one of St. Nicholas, as will be further mentioned hereafter, to which, on the decay of the others about the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign, the parishes belonging to them were, united and made one parish, as at this time. The town stands rather higher than the neighbouring country, on a soil of gravel and sand. There are about one hundred houses in it, which are mostly modern, neatly built of brick, and sashed, and about five hundred inhabitants. It consists principally of one very wide street, well paved, running the whole length of it, and a cross street, in that part of which leading to the church stands the hall, or brotherhood-house, where the mayor, jurats, and commons of the cinque ports and two antient towns usually keep their court, called a brotherhood, of late newly built in a handsome manner, but not large enough to hold the several members to sit there with them in their court, called a guestling, which is therefore kept in the church, usually on the Tuesday after the feast of St. Margaret, being the 20th of July. In the midst of the high-street is the market-place, a neat modern building, the market being kept here weekly on a Saturday; and there is a fair held yearly on the feast of St. Laurence, now, by the alteration of the stile, on August 21. There is an establishment of the customs here, under the out-port of Dover. On the east side of the town is a large common, of about three quarters of a mile in length, called Romney Warren, belonging to the corporation, the soil of which is a deep sand, and the surface of it exceedingly uneven, and thrown up in that form, as to induce us to believe the whole of it was once covered at times by the sea, and then deserted by that inconstant element. It consists of four hundred acres of land. The rest of the grounds round the town are an entire flat of marshes, very fertile; and those on the south side especialy, have a plain appearance of having been left by the sea, and since inclosed and made pasture ground of.
THE CINQUE PORTS were in very early times enfranchised with divers privileges and customs, though of what antiquity they were, or when enfranchised, has not as yet been with any certainty discovered; and therefore; they are held to enjoy all their earliest liberties and privileges as, time out of mind, by prescription, and these were confirmed to them and their members by magna charta, by the stile of, barons of the cinque ports; and again by one general charter of king Edward I. which by inspeximus received confirmation, and sometimes additions from most of the succeeding kings and queens of this realm. New Romney being one of the cinque ports, became thus a corporation by prescription, and in Edward III.'s time was incorporated, by the stile of barons of the town and port of New Romeny; afterwards by that of jurats and commonaltie of the town and port of New Romney; and lastly, by queen Elizabeth, who by her letters patent, in her 5th year, anno 1562, again incorporated this town, by the stile of the mayor, jurats, and commonaltie of the town and port of New Romney, and she by the same letters patent ratified all the privileges which they had enjoyed in the reign of king Edward the Confessor, or any other since. And likewise granted to them the soil of the river Rother, from the entrance of its haven here to Redhill beyond Apledore. The members mentioned in this charter, being a mayor, five jurats, and twentysix freemen, or commoners. But the charters of this corporation, as well as those of the other cinque ports, were in 1685, by the king's command, surrendered up to Colonel Strode, then governor of Dover castle, and were never returned again. By the above-mentioned charter of queen Elizabeth, the corporation is governed at this time. It consists at present of a mayor, ten jurats, (the mayor being one) and fifteen commoners or freemen, together with a chamberlain, recorder, and town clerk. The mayor, who is coroner by virtue of his office, is chosen on Lady-day, March 25th, yearly, and together with the jurats, who are justices within this liberty exclusive of all others, hold a court of general sessions of the peace and gaol delivery, together with a court of the record, the same as at Dover; and it has other privileges, mostly the same as the other corporations within the liberties of the cinque ports. It has the privilege of two maces. The arms of this town and port are, Azure, three lions passant-guardant, in pale, or.
The cinque ports, as well as their two antient towns of Rye and Winchelsea, have each of them the privilege of returning members, usually stiled barons, to parliament; the first returns of which, that are mentioned for any of them, are in the 42d year of king Edward III.
Charities.
MARGREAT, daughter of James Boyes, late wife of William Swan, of St. Nicholas in New Romney, by her will anno 1502, gave every year perpetual, a thousand billets, against Christmas, to be delivered among poor people. to be paid out of her principal messuage, in which the then dwelt, by the possessors of it for ever.
ADRIAN MARDEN, of the town and port of New Romney. by his will in 1554, devised his smiths shop or forge, with the garden adjoining, to the use and intent that there should yearly for ever, be distributed among the poor people of the town, in the presence of the bailiffs, jurats, and churchwardens, the yearly rent of the premises, the reparations thereof being first deducted; and in default of such distribution, or reparation, then he gave the premises to the bailiffs, &c. their successors and assigns, for ever, for the like intent and uses.
ROBERT DODD, of Lid, by his will in 1570, gave his barn and lands in the town of New Romney, to be by the mayor and three of the jurats put to farm yearly for ever, the money thereof to be bestowed upon the reparations of the church of New Romney.
JOHN SOUTHLAND, gent. of New Romney, by his will in 1610, gave all his houses, lands, and tenements, to his executor Thomas Broadnax, of Godmersham, his son-in-law, upon condition that he should make over by due course of law, to remain and continue for ever, the house wherein his schoolmaster then dwelt, and all his houses and lands in the parishes of Harrietsham, Ulcombe, and Smarden, to the only use of a schoolmaster, and the relief of two couple of poor folk, and the said houses and lands his said executor should make a body politique and incorporate, for ever to endure, for their maintenance; the schoolmaster to pay out of those lands to the poor folk, 5l. by half-yearly payments clearly, and to the churchwardens of St. Nicholas, in New Romney, 5l. by like half-yearly payments to the reparations of the church for ever; and he ordered that the schoolmaster should keep the reparations of the houses and the closures, and should teach from time to time two poor children to write and read the English tongue, and cast accoumpt, until they should come to the age of 14 years clearly; and that the poor folk and poor children should be placed and displaced by the mayor from time to time; the schoolmaster to be a scholar of Oxford or Cambridge, sufficient to teach the Latin tougue as well as the English.
This hospital and school-house is situated in St. Nicholas. and is made use of for the residence of the schoolmaster, now called the governor, and the four poor folk. It was incorporated anno 30 Elizabeth. The estates left for the support of it consist of 30 acres of land and 18 acres of wood in Smarden, and one tenement with 51 acres of land in Harrietsham, and one other tenement and 12 acres of land in Ulcombe. The Rev. William Wing Fowle, A. M. of New Romney, is now governor or schoolmaster of it.
THOMAS BAKER, by his will in 1728, gave for the benefit of the four poor persons living in Southlands hospital, to be paid half yearly for ever, the rents of 20 acres of land in Ivychurch, now of the annual product of 25l. which is given away by the mayor and jurats. Likewise 5l. per annum, being part of an annuity of IIl. per annum, out of lands formerly belonging to Epps, but now of the widow Coates, lying in Old and New Romney and Midley, to be given yearly on the 14th day of October, for the benefit of poor persons, so estimated by the mayor and jurats; the same being annually distributed by the mayor of New Romney for the time being.
The poor constantly maintained are about fifty-four.
NEW ROMNEY is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Limne.
The church, which is exempt from the jurisdiction of the archdeacon, is dedicated to St. Nicholas the bishop. It is very large and handsome, consisting of three isles and three chancels, having a square tower, with four pinnacles on it, at the west end, in which hang eight bells. The church is antient, the pillars between the isles being very large, with circular arches and Saxon ornaments. The tower at the west end seems still more so, having several ranges of small circular arches on the sides, and at the bottom is a circular arch, over a door-way, with zig-zag ornaments. The stone pinnacles on the top are of unequal sizes. On the roof is a stone work, of an octagon form, carried up a few feet only, seemingly for the purpose of continuing a spire of the same form on it. The inside of the church is fitted up exceedingly handsome and elegant. In the middle chancel, on the wainscot, on one side, are painted the arms of Furnese, with the hand of Ulster, impaling Broughe, and underneath Sir Henry Furnese beautified this chancel at his cost, and made the mayor and jurats seats, 1712. On the other side are the arms of Furnese impaling Balam, and underneath, Sir Robert Furnese, bart. combaron, completed the work of this chancel, begun by his fa ther Sir Henry Furnese, in 1713. Throughout the church and chancels are numerous monuments and memorials, mostly for those who have been mayors and jurats of the town, and their families, among which are those of Wilcocke, Martin, Wightwick, Mascall, Coates, Hassenden, Brett, Bassett, Pix, Baker, Cobbe, and Bachelor. In the middle chancel is a memorial for Arthur Kight, A. M. rector and vicar of Newchurch, obt. March 18, 1765. In the south chancel, a memorial for Joseph Philpot, gent. son of Joseph Philpot, of Worde, obt. 1768. A monument in the south chancel for Thomas Lancaster, obt. 1728, arms, Lancaster, argent, two bars, gules, on a canton of the second, a lion passant of the first . A like monument for Isaac Warguin, M. D. born in France, who fled from persecution to New Romney in 1689, where he practised physic, obt. 1725. In the north chancel is a fine tomb of Bethersden marble, with the figures in brass of a man and woman, and behind her of one daughter, for Thomas Smith, jurat, obt. 1610. A tomb of black marble for Thomas Tookey, gent. jurat, and once mayor and bailiff of Yarmouth, obt. 1653, arms at the east end, Tookey, a chevron engrailed, between three estoiles of six points , impaling ermine, on a chief dancette, three crowns . A stone, with a figure in brass, for Thomas Lambarde, of Romene, obt. 1514. Several memorials for the Tookeys. A memorial for Edward Goulstone, esq. sixth son of John, of Widdall, in Hertfordshire, esq. prothonotary of the king's bench, who married Joane, daughter and heir of Thomas Tookey, gent. of Romney; she afterwards married Mr. John Goulstone, late of Tutsham hall, who lies buried here. He died leaving Edward Goulstone, of Tutsham-hall, arms, Goulstone, two bars nebule, over them, on a bend, three balls . In the north isle, several memorials for the Normans, arms, A lion rampant; and for the Durants, arms, Argent, on a cross, gules, five fleurs de lis, or. A stone, with an inscription in brass, the figure gone, for William Holyngbroke, obt. 1375, arms, A chevron, between three estoiles; and several memorials for the Wilsons.
When this town was in its most flourishing state, there were four other parish churches in it besides the present one of St. Nicholas, named St. Laurence, St. Martin, St. John, and St. Michael, all which there is frequent mention of in the several wills in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury. The last of them I find mentioned in wills in the beginning of Henry VIII.'s reign, and the three former as late as the 25th year of it, but before the end of that reign they seem to have been all disused, and the present one of St. Nicholas to have been the only one in use, and to have been accounted the only parochial church of this town and parish of New Romney. Besides the church-yard adjoining to St. Nicholas's church, there are five others belonging to it, viz. that of St. Laurence, in Mr. Russell's land, and of St. Michael in the Hardres land, both near Old Romney; of St. John, St. Martin, and another of St. Laurence converted into a garden, all three in the town of New Romney. All which are now part of the glebe belonging to the vicar of New Romney. The church of St. Nicholas seems to have had some pre-eminence over the others; for though mention is made in the several wills in the Prerogative-office, in Canterbury, of the other churches, their church-yards, and the parish priests and curates of them, yet the several vicars of this church are always stiled in them, from the year 1458 downwards, vicars of New Romney, without any other distinction.
The church of St. Nicholas, of New Romney, was antiently part of the possessions of the abbot and convent of Pontiniac, in France, who had a cell or priory here, to which abbey this church was appropriated before the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, at which time the church appropriate was valued at twenty pounds perannum, and the vicarage, among the small benefices not taxed to the tenth, at four pounds. On the suppression of the above abbey, among the rest of the alien priories, in the 2d year of Henry V. anno 1414, this church, with the advowson of the vicarage, came into the hands of the crown, where it remained till Henry VI. on the petition of archbishop Chicheley, in his 17th year, settled it on the warden and fellows of All Souls college, in Oxford, with whom the parsonage appropriate, and the advowson of the vicarage, still remain.
It appears by the valuation in the king's books, taken anno 26 Henry VIII. that the several parishes before-mentioned in this town, had been before then united to the mother church of St. Nicholas, which was at that time the only parish in it, and that the churches of St. Martin and St. Laurence were accounted but as chapels of ease to it. The vicarage of St. Nicholas, with those chapels, is valued in them at 6l. 16s. 3d. and the yearly tenths at 13s. 7½d. In 1588 it was valued at ninety pounds, communicants three hundred and sixty-one. In 1640, at 105l. the like number of communicants The parsonage is usually demised by the college of All Souls to the vicar for the time being, at the yearly rent of seven pounds, which is nearly the full annual produce of it. There are seven acres of glebe land.
The vicarage of New Romney was endowed by archbishop Arundel, in 1402, and a competent portion assigned to the vicar for his maintenance.
¶There were formerly continual controversies between the vicars of New Romney and their parishioners, concerning the payment of tithes in kind, and especially for setting aside the custom for the payment of two-pence an acre in money, in lieu of tithe-wool and pasturage in kind, other tithes being paid by composition at such rates as could be agreed on; and two suits were commenced in particular, by Knight, vicar, against Brett and Clark, on the same custom, the former in 1637, and the latter in 1640, at the king's bench bar. In the first of which, the jury gave their verdict against the vicar, and in the latter he was nonsuited; but the custom in the latter trial was so plainly proved, that it has been uniformly acquiesced in by the vicars to the present time.
So now that I have Photomatix 4.1 which can cope with moving objects, I decided to revisit my favourites. I was able to use my 3 RAW files and improve on the cloud definition of this image ( previous attempts were done with 1 RAW). Still used the cartoon filter ( I like the increased defintion) and added a flare in GIMP
after bogie model developed for improved 2TE10V locomotive and used later in 2TE116 with diagonal link arm primary suspension and only helix springs designers returned to more complex variant very like to the used in the 3-axle bogie of electrical locomotives of VL60 family by NEVZ that have inter-axle equalizer bars and combination of helical and leaf springs in the second level of primary suspension.
2ТЭ121 mainline diesel-electric locomotoves were developed in mid 1970s as more powerfull model followed 2TE116 having two 3000 hp diesels. It traditionally composed of two sections but have many progressive elements as frame support of traction motors, the load-bearing body with new 4000 hp / 2942 kW diesel 2В-5Д49 (16ЧН26/23), increased wheel size (1250 mm) and high wheel loading (up to 27 t). Unfortunately it remained low-production (only 80 for 1978-1992) and after USSR breakage Ukrainian plant VZOR (renamed to Luhansk Locomotive Works) continued to develop the series 2TE116, which in the last, the UD model received 4000 hp diesel engine of American manufacture.
2TE121 mainly operated on the Northern Railway of Russia and Donetsk Railway of Ukraine. After the collapse of the USSR, repair of diesel locomotives available in Russia was difficult, and they were not needed in Ukraine, where they were massively decommissioned by 1994-95. In Russia some of them continued to operate on the Oktyabrskaya railroad until 2010, the last one was decommissioned in 2014.
Another iteration with improved lei niho palaoa, correction of an error on the lower left margin of the ahu'ula, and improved shading on the human hair bundles to each side of the lei niho palaoa. Compared to the previous draft, seen here:
www.flickr.com/photos/67108153@N00/495896827/
facial tattoo added, detailed barbed spear point, change malo (loincloth) to puali form: tied high and front flap tucked in to offer no hold in in-fighting. Added shark-tooth pahoa (dagger) in left hand.
150901-N-ZZ999-001
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Sept. 1, 2015) The U.S. Navy's fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications satellite, encapsulated in a 5-meter payload fairing, on the pad at Space Launch Complex-41. The weather-delayed launch is now scheduled for Sept. 2nd. MUOS is a next-generation narrow band tactical satellite communications system designed to significantly improve beyond-line-of-sight communications for U.S. forces on the move. (Photo courtesy of United Launch Alliance/Released)
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.