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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History
Japan
Name:Nagato
Namesake:Nagato Province
Builder:Kure Naval Arsenal
Laid down:28 August 1917
Launched:9 November 1919
Sponsored by:Admiral Katō Tomosaburō
Completed:15 November 1920
Commissioned:25 November 1920
Stricken:15 September 1945
Fate:Sunk as a target in Operation Crossroads, 29/30 July 1946
Status:Diveable wreck
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:Nagato-class battleship
Displacement:32,720 t (32,200 long tons) (standard)
Length:215.8 m (708 ft)
Beam:29.02 m (95 ft 3 in)
Draft:9.08 m (29 ft 9 in)
Installed power:
21 × water-tube boilers
80,000 shp (60,000 kW)
Propulsion:4 shafts; 4 × steam turbines
Speed:26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph)
Range:5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement:1,333
Armament:
4 × twin 41 cm (16 in) guns
20 × single 14 cm (5.5 in) guns
4 × single 76 mm (3 in) AA guns
8 × 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:
Waterline belt: 100–305 mm (3.9–12.0 in)
Deck: 69 mm (2.7 in) + 75 mm (3 in)
Gun turrets: 190–356 mm (7.5–14.0 in)
Barbettes: 305 mm (12 in)
Conning tower: 369 mm (14.5 in)
General characteristics (1944)
Displacement:39,130 t (38,510 long tons) (standard)
Length:224.94 m (738 ft)
Beam:34.6 m (113 ft 6 in)
Draft:9.49 m (31 ft 2 in)
Installed power:
80,000 shp (60,000 kW)
10 × water-tube boilers
Speed:25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range:8,650 nmi (16,020 km; 9,950 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement:1,734
Sensors and
processing systems:
1 × Type 21 air search radar
2 × Type 13 early-warning radars
2 × Type 22 surface-search radars
Armament:
4 × twin 41 cm guns
18 × single 14 cm guns
4 × twin 127 mm (5 in) DP guns
98 × 25 mm (1 in) AA guns
Armor:
Deck: 69 mm (2.7 in) + 100 mm (3.9 in) + 38 mm (1.5 in)
Turrets: 280–460 mm (11.0–18.1 in)
Barbettes: 457 mm (18.0 in)
Aircraft carried:3 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities:1 × catapult
Nagato (長門), named for Nagato Province, was a super-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). Completed in 1920 as the lead ship of her class, she carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. The ship was modernized in 1934–1936 with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nagato briefly participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and was the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the attack on Pearl Harbor. She covered the withdrawal of the attacking ships and did not participate in the attack itself.
Other than participating in the Battle of Midway in June 1942, where she did not see combat, the ship spent most of the first two years of the Pacific War training in home waters. She was transferred to Truk in mid-1943, but did not see any combat until the Battle of the Philippine Sea in mid-1944 when she was attacked by American aircraft. Nagato did not fire her main armament against enemy vessels until the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October. She was lightly damaged during the battle and returned to Japan the following month. The IJN was running out of fuel by this time and decided not to fully repair her. Nagato was converted into a floating anti-aircraft platform and assigned to coastal defense duties. She was attacked in July 1945 as part of the American campaign to destroy the IJN's last remaining capital ships, but was only slightly damaged and went on to be the only Japanese battleship to have survived World War II. In mid-1946, the ship was a target for nuclear weapon tests during Operation Crossroads. She survived the first test with little damage, but was sunk by the second.
Description
Nagato had a length of 201.17 meters (660 ft) between perpendiculars and 215.8 meters (708 ft) overall. She had a beam of 29.02 meters (95 ft 3 in) and a draft of 9.08 meters (29 ft 9 in).[1] The ship displaced 32,720 metric tons (32,200 long tons) at standard load and 39,116 metric tons (38,498 long tons) at full load.[2] Her crew consisted of 1,333 officers and enlisted men as built and 1,368 in 1935.[3] The crew totaled around 1,734 men in 1944.[4]
In 1930,[5] Nagato's bow was remodeled to reduce the amount of spray produced when steaming into a head sea. This increased her overall length by 1.59 meters (5 ft 3 in) to 217.39 meters (713 ft 3 in). During her 1934–1936 reconstruction, the ship's stern was lengthened by 7.55 meters (24.8 ft) to improve her speed and her forward superstructure was rebuilt into a pagoda mast. She was given torpedo bulges to improve her underwater protection and to compensate for the weight of the additional armor and equipment. These changes increased her overall length to 224.94 m (738 ft), her beam to 34.6 m (113 ft 6 in) and her draft to 9.49 meters (31 ft 2 in). Her displacement increased over 7,000 metric tons (6,900 long tons) to 46,690 metric tons (45,950 long tons) at deep load. The ship's metacentric height at deep load was 2.35 meters (7 ft 9 in).[6] In November 1944, the tops of Nagato's mainmast and funnel were removed to improve the effective arcs of fire for her anti-aircraft guns.[7]
Propulsion
Nagato was equipped with four Gihon geared steam turbines, each of which drove one propeller shaft. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 80,000 shaft horsepower (60,000 kW), using steam provided by 21 Kampon water-tube boilers; 15 of these were oil-fired while the remaining half-dozen consumed a mixture of coal and oil. The ship could carry 1,600 long tons (1,600 t) of coal and 3,400 long tons (3,500 t) of fuel oil,[2] giving her a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). The ship exceeded her designed speed of 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph) during her sea trials, reaching 26.7 knots (49.4 km/h; 30.7 mph) at 85,500 shp (63,800 kW).[3]
Funnel smoke would often choke and blind crewmen on the bridge and in the fire-control systems so a "fingernail"-shaped deflector was installed on the fore funnel in 1922 to direct the exhaust away from them. It was less than effective and the fore funnel was rebuilt in a serpentine shape in an unsuccessful effort during a refit in 1924.[3] That funnel was eliminated during the ship's 1930s reconstruction when all of her boilers were replaced by ten oil-fired Kampon boilers, which had a working pressure of 22 kg/cm2 (2,157 kPa; 313 psi) and temperature of 300 °C (572 °F).[8] In addition her turbines were replaced by lighter, more modern, units.[9] When Nagato conducted her post-reconstruction trials, she reached a speed of 24.98 knots (46.26 km/h; 28.75 mph) with 82,300 shp (61,400 kW).[10] Additional fuel oil was stored in the bottoms of the newly added torpedo bulges, which increased her capacity to 5,560 long tons (5,650 t) and thus her range to 8,560 nmi (15,850 km; 9,850 mi) at 16 knots.[2]
Armament
Nagato's eight 45-caliber 41-centimeter (16 inch) guns were mounted in two pairs of twin-gun, superfiring turrets fore and aft. Numbered one through four from front to rear, the hydraulically powered turrets gave the guns an elevation range of −2 to +35 degrees. The rate of fire for the guns was around two rounds per minute. The turrets aboard the Nagato-class ships were replaced in the mid-1930s with the turrets stored from the unfinished Tosa-class battleships. While in storage the turrets had been modified to increase their range of elevation to –3 to +43 degrees,[11] which increased the gun's maximum range from 30,200 to 37,900 meters (33,000 to 41,400 yd).[12]
The ship's secondary armament of twenty 50-caliber 14-centimeter guns was mounted in casemates on the upper sides of the hull and in the superstructure. The manually operated guns had a maximum range of 20,500 metres (22,400 yd) and fired at a rate of six to 10 rounds per minute.[13] Anti-aircraft defense was provided by four 40-caliber 3rd Year Type three-inch[Note 1] AA guns in single mounts. The 3-inch (76 mm) high-angle guns had a maximum elevation of +75 degrees, and had a rate of fire of 13 to 20 rounds per minute.[14] The ship was also fitted with eight 53.3-centimeter (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, four on each broadside, two above water and two submerged.[15]
Around 1926, the four above-water torpedo tubes were removed and the ship received three additional 76 mm AA guns that were situated around the base of the foremast.[16] They were replaced by eight 40-caliber 12.7-centimeter Type 89 dual-purpose (DP) guns in 1932,[7] fitted on both sides of the fore and aft superstructures in four twin-gun mounts.[17] When firing at surface targets, the guns had a range of 14,700 meters (16,100 yd); they had a maximum ceiling of 9,440 meters (30,970 ft) at their maximum elevation of +90 degrees. Their maximum rate of fire was 14 rounds a minute, but their sustained rate of fire was around eight rounds per minute.[18] Two twin-gun mounts for license-built Vickers two-pounder light AA guns were also added to the ship that same year.[7][Note 2] These guns had a maximum elevation of +80 degrees which gave them a ceiling of 4,000 meters (13,000 ft).[20] They had a maximum rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute.[21]
When the ship was reconstructed in 1934–1936, the remaining torpedo tubes and the two forward 14 cm (5-1/2 inch) guns were removed from the hull. The remaining 14 cm guns had their elevation increased to +35 degrees which increased their range to 20,000 meters (22,000 yd). An unknown number of license-built Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun 13.2 mm (0.52 in) in twin mounts were added. The maximum range of these guns was 6,500 meters (7,100 yd),[22] but the effective range against aircraft was 700–1,500 meters (770–1,640 yd). The cyclic rate was adjustable between 425 and 475 rounds per minute, but the need to change 30-round magazines reduced the effective rate to 250 rounds per minute.[23]
The unsatisfactory two-pounders were replaced in 1939 by twenty license-built Type 96 Hotchkiss Type 96 25 mm (0.98 in) light AA guns in a mixture of twin-gun and single mounts.[7] This was the standard Japanese light AA gun during World War II, but it suffered from severe design shortcomings that rendered it a largely ineffective weapon. According to historian Mark Stille, the twin and triple mounts "lacked sufficient speed in train or elevation; the gun sights were unable to handle fast targets; the gun exhibited excessive vibration; the magazine was too small, and, finally, the gun produced excessive muzzle blast".[24] These 25 mm guns had an effective range of 1,500–3,000 meters (1,600–3,300 yd), and an effective ceiling of 5,500 meters (18,000 ft) at an elevation of 85 degrees. The maximum effective rate of fire was only between 110 and 120 rounds per minute because of the frequent need to change the fifteen-round magazines.[21] Additional Type 96 guns were installed during the war; on 10 July 1944, the ship was reported to have 98 guns on board. An additional 30 guns were added during a refit in Yokosuka in November. Two more twin 12.7 cm (5 inch) gun mounts were added at the same time abreast the funnel[25] and her 14 cm guns were removed as she was by then a floating anti-aircraft battery.[7]
Armor
The ship's waterline armor belt was 305 mm (12 in) thick and tapered to a thickness of 100 mm (3.9 in) at its bottom edge; above it was a strake of 229 mm (9.0 in) armor. The main deck armor was 69 mm (2.7 in) while the lower deck was 75 mm (3 in) thick.[26] The turrets were protected with an armor thickness of 305 mm on the face, 230–190 mm (9.1–7.5 in) on the sides, and 152–127 mm (6.0–5.0 in) on the roof.[12] The barbettes of the turrets were protected by armor 305 mm thick, while the casemates of the 140 mm (1.6 in) guns were protected by 25 mm (0.98 in) armor plates. The sides of the conning tower were 369 mm (14.5 in) thick.[2]
The new 41 cm turrets installed during Nagato's reconstruction were more heavily armored than the original ones. Face armor was increased to 460 mm (18.1 in), the sides to 280 mm (11.0 in), and the roof to 250–230 mm (9.8–9.1 in).[27] The armor over the machinery and magazines was increased by 38 mm on the upper deck and 25 mm (0.98 in) on the upper armored deck.[9] These additions increased the weight of the ship's armor to 13,032 metric tons (12,826 long tons),[10] 32.6 percent of her displacement.[9] In early 1941, as a preparation for war,[7] Nagato's barbette armor was reinforced with 100 mm (3.9 in) armor plates above the main deck and 215 mm (8.5 in) plates below it.[28]
Fire control and sensors
When completed in 1920, the ship was fitted with a 10-meter (32 ft 10 in) rangefinder in the forward superstructure; six-meter (19 ft 8 in) and three-meter (9 ft 10 in) anti-aircraft rangefinders were added in May 1921 and 1923, respectively. The rangefinders in the second and third turrets were replaced by 10-meter units in 1932–1933.[29]
Nagato was initially fitted with a Type 13 fire-control system derived from Vickers equipment received during World War I, but this was replaced by an improved Type 14 system around 1925. It controlled the main and secondary guns; no provision was made for anti-aircraft fire until the Type 31 fire-control director was introduced in 1932. A modified Type 14 fire-control system was tested aboard the ship in 1935 and later approved for service as the Type 34. A new anti-aircraft director called the Type 94 that was used to control the 127 mm AA guns was introduced in 1937, although when Nagato received hers is unknown. The Type 96 25 mm (0.98 in) AA guns were controlled by a Type 95 director that was also introduced in 1937.[30]
While in drydock in May 1943, a Type 21 air search radar was installed on the roof of the 10-meter rangefinder at the top of the pagoda mast. On 27 June 1944, two Type 22 surface search radars were installed on the pagoda mast and two Type 13 early warning radars were fitted on her mainmast.[7]
Aircraft
Nagato was fitted with an 18-meter (59 ft 1 in)[31] aircraft flying-off platform on Turret No. 2 in August 1925. Yokosuka Ro-go Ko-gata and Heinkel HD 25 floatplanes were tested from it before it was removed early the following year.[7] An additional boom was added to the mainmast in 1926 to handle the Yokosuka E1Y now assigned to the ship.[16] A Hansa-Brandenburg W.33 floatplane was tested aboard Nagato that same year.[7] A catapult was fitted between the mainmast and Turret No. 3[32] in mid-1933,[7] a collapsible crane was installed in a portside sponson, and the ship was equipped to operate two or three floatplanes, although no hangar was provided. The ship now operated Nakajima E4N2 biplanes until they were replaced by Nakajima E8N2 biplanes in 1938. A more powerful catapult was installed in November 1938 to handle heavier aircraft, such as the one Kawanishi E7K that was added in 1939–1940. Mitsubishi F1M biplanes replaced the E8Ns on 11 February 1943.[33]
Construction and service
Nagato, named for Nagato Province,[34] was ordered on 12 May 1916[35] and laid down at the Kure Naval Arsenal on 28 August 1917 as the lead ship of her class. She was launched on 9 November 1919 by Admiral Katō Tomosaburō, completed on 15 November 1920 and commissioned 10 days later with Captain Nobutaro Iida in command. Nagato was assigned to the 1st Battleship Division and became the flagship of Rear Admiral Sōjirō Tochinai. On 13 February 1921, the ship was inspected by the Crown Prince, Hirohito. Captain Kanari Kabayama relieved Iida on 1 December 1921. The ship hosted Marshal Joseph Joffre on 18 February 1922 and Edward, Prince of Wales, and his aide-de-camp Lieutenant Louis Mountbatten on 12 April during the prince's visit to Japan.[7]
After the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Nagato loaded supplies from Kyushu for the victims on 4 September. Together with her sister ship Mutsu, she sank the hulk of the obsolete battleship Satsuma on 7 September 1924 during gunnery practice in Tokyo Bay in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty. The ship was transferred to the reserve of the 1st Division on 1 December[36] and became a gunnery training ship. In August 1925, aircraft handling and take-off tests were conducted aboard Nagato. She was reassigned as the flagship of the Combined Fleet on 1 December, flying the flag of Admiral Keisuke Okada. Captain Kiyoshi Hasegawa assumed command of the ship on 1 December 1926.
Nagato was again placed in reserve on 1 December 1931 and her anti-aircraft armament was upgraded the following year. In August 1933 the ship participated in fleet maneuvers north of the Marshall Islands and she began her first modernization on 1 April 1934. This was completed on 31 January 1936 and Nagato was assigned to the 1st Battleship Division of the 1st Fleet. During the attempted coup d'état on 26 February by disgruntled Army officers, the ship was deployed in Tokyo Bay and some of her sailors were landed in support of the government. In August, she transported 1,749 men of the 43rd Infantry Regiment of the 11th Infantry Division from Shikoku to Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[7] Her floatplanes bombed targets in Shanghai on 24 August before she returned to Sasebo the following day.[37] Nagato became a training ship on 1 December until she again became the flagship of the Combined Fleet on 15 December 1938. The ship participated in an Imperial Fleet Review on 11 October 1940. She was refitted in early 1941 in preparation for war.[7]
World War II
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto issued the code phrase "Niitaka yama nobore" (Climb Mount Niitaka) on 2 December 1941 from Nagato at anchor at Hashirajima to signal the 1st Air Fleet (Kido Butai) in the North Pacific to proceed with its attack on Pearl Harbor. When the war started for Japan on 8 December,[Note 3] she sortied for the Bonin Islands, along with Mutsu, the battleships Hyūga, Yamashiro, Fusō, Ise of Battleship Division 2, and the light carrier Hōshō as distant cover for the withdrawal of the fleet attacking Pearl Harbor, and returned six days later. Yamamoto transferred his flag to the new battleship Yamato on 12 February 1942. Nagato was briefly refitted 15 March – 9 April at Kure Naval Arsenal.[7]
In June 1942 Nagato, commanded by Captain Hideo Yano, was assigned to the Main Body of the 1st Fleet during the Battle of Midway, together with Yamato, Mutsu, Hosho, the light cruiser Sendai, nine destroyers and four auxiliary ships.[38][39] Following the loss of all four carriers of the 1st Air Fleet on 4 June, Yamamoto attempted to lure the American forces west to within range of the Japanese air groups at Wake Island, and into a night engagement with his surface forces, but the American forces withdrew and Nagato saw no action. After rendezvousing with the remnants of the 1st Air Fleet on 6 June, survivors from the aircraft carrier Kaga were transferred to Nagato.[40] On 14 July, the ship was transferred to Battleship Division 2 and she became the flagship of the 1st Fleet. Yano was promoted to rear admiral on 1 November and he was replaced by Captain Yonejiro Hisamune nine days later. Nagato remained in Japanese waters training until August 1943. On 2 August Captain Mikio Hayakawa assumed command of the ship.[7]
That month, Nagato, Yamato, Fusō and the escort carrier Taiyō, escorted by two heavy cruisers and five destroyers transferred to Truk in the Caroline Islands. In response to the carrier raid on Tarawa on 18 September, Nagato and much of the fleet sortied for Eniwetok to search for the American forces before they returned to Truk on 23 September, having failed to locate them. The Japanese had intercepted some American radio traffic that suggested an attack on Wake Island, and on 17 October, Nagato and the bulk of the 1st Fleet sailed for Eniwetok to be in a position to intercept any such attack. The fleet arrived on 19 October, departed four days later, and arrived back at Truk on 26 October. Hayakawa was promoted to rear admiral on 1 November and he was relieved on 25 December by Captain Yuji Kobe.[7]
On 1 February 1944, Nagato departed Truk with Fusō to avoid an American air raid, and arrived at Palau on 4 February. They left on 16 February to escape another air raid. The ships arrived on 21 February at Lingga Island, near Singapore, and the ship became the flagship of Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki, commander of Battleship Division 1, on 25 February until he transferred his flag to Yamato on 5 May. Aside from a brief refit at Singapore, the ship remained at Lingga training until 11 May when she was transferred to Tawitawi on 12 May. The division was now assigned to the 1st Mobile Fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa.[7]
On 10 June, Battleship Division 1 departed Tawitawi for Batjan in preparation for Operation Kon, a planned counterattack against the American invasion of Biak. Three days later, when Admiral Soemu Toyoda, commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, was notified of American attacks on Saipan, Operation Kon was canceled and Ugaki's force was diverted to the Mariana Islands. The battleships rendezvoused with Ozawa's main force on 16 June. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Nagato escorted the aircraft carriers Jun'yō, Hiyō and the light carrier Ryūhō. She fired 41 cm Type 3 Sankaidan incendiary anti-aircraft shrapnel shells at aircraft from the light carrier Belleau Wood that were attacking Jun'yō and claimed to have shot down two Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. The ship was strafed by American aircraft during the battle, but was not damaged and suffered no casualties.[7] During the battle Nagato rescued survivors from Hiyō that were transferred to the carrier Zuikaku once the ship reached Okinawa on 22 June. She continued on to Kure where she was refitted with additional radars and light AA guns. Undocked on 8 July, Nagato loaded a regiment of the 28th Infantry Division the following day and delivered them to Okinawa on 11 July. She arrived at Lingga via Manila on 20 July.[41]
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Kobe was promoted to rear admiral on 15 October. Three days later, Nagato sailed for Brunei Bay, Borneo, to join the main Japanese fleet in preparation for "Operation Sho-1", the counterattack planned against the American landings at Leyte. The Japanese plan called for Ozawa's carrier forces to lure the American carrier fleets north of Leyte so that Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's 1st Diversion Force (also known as the Center Force) could enter Leyte Gulf and destroy American forces landing on the island. Nagato, together with the rest of Kurita's force, departed Brunei for the Philippines on 22 October.[42]
In the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October, Nagato was attacked by multiple waves of American dive bombers and fighters. At 14:16[Note 4] she was hit by two bombs dropped by planes from the fleet carrier Franklin and the light carrier Cabot. The first bomb disabled five of her casemate guns, jammed one of her Type 89 gun mounts, and damaged the air intake to No. 1 boiler room, immobilizing one propeller shaft for 24 minutes until the boiler was put back on line.[7] Damage from the second bomb is unknown. The two bombs killed 52 men between them; the number of wounded is not known.[43]
On the morning of 25 October, the 1st Diversion Force passed through the San Bernardino Strait and headed for Leyte Gulf to attack the American forces supporting the invasion. In the Battle off Samar, Nagato engaged the escort carriers and destroyers of Task Group 77.4.3, codenamed "Taffy 3". At 06:01 she opened fire on three escort carriers, the first time she had ever fired her guns at an enemy ship, but missed. At 06:54 the destroyer USS Heermann fired a spread of torpedoes at the fast battleship Haruna; the torpedoes missed Haruna and headed for Yamato and Nagato which were on a parallel course. The two battleships were forced 10 miles (16 km) away from the engagement before the torpedoes ran out of fuel. Turning back, Nagato engaged the American escort carriers and their screening ships, claiming to have damaged one cruiser[Note 5] with forty-five 410 mm and ninety-two 14 cm shells. The ineffectiveness of her shooting was the result of the poor visibility caused by numerous rain squalls and by smoke screens laid by the defending escorts. At 09:10 Kurita ordered his ships to break off the engagement and head north. At 10:20 he ordered the fleet south once more, but as they came under increasingly severe air attack he ordered a retreat again at 12:36. At 12:43 Nagato was hit in the bow by two bombs, but the damage was not severe. Four gunners were washed overboard at 16:56 as the ship made a sharp turn to avoid dive-bomber attacks; a destroyer was detached to rescue them, but they could not be found. As it retreated back to Brunei on 26 October, the Japanese fleet came under repeated air attacks. Nagato and Yamato used Sankaidan shells against them and claimed to have shot down several bombers. Over the course of the last two days she fired ninety-nine 410 mm and six hundred fifty-three 14 cm shells, suffering 38 crewmen killed and 105 wounded during the same time.[7]
Final days of the war
On 15 November the ship was assigned to Battleship Division 3 of the 2nd Fleet. After an aerial attack at Brunei on 16 November, Nagato, Yamato, and the fast battleship Kongō left the following day, bound for Kure. En route, Kongō and one of the escorting destroyers were sunk by USS Sealion on 21 November. On 25 November, she arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, for repairs. Lack of fuel and materials meant that she could not be brought back into service and she was turned into a floating anti-aircraft battery. Her funnel and mainmast were removed to improve the arcs of fire of her AA guns, which were increased by two Type 89 mounts and nine triple Type 96 gun mounts. Her forward secondary guns were removed in compensation. Captain Kiyomi Shibuya relieved Kobe in command of Nagato on 25 November. Battleship Division 3 was disbanded on 1 January 1945 and the ship was reassigned to Battleship Division 1. That formation was disbanded on 10 February and she was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District as a coastal defense ship.[7] Moored alongside a pier, a coal-burning donkey boiler was installed on the pier for heating and cooking purposes and a converted submarine chaser was positioned alongside to provide steam and electricity;[44] her anti-aircraft guns lacked full power and were only partially operational. On 20 April, Nagato was reduced to reserve and retired Rear Admiral Miki Otsuka assumed command a week later.[7]
In June 1945, all of her secondary guns and about half of her anti-aircraft armament was moved ashore, together with her rangefinders and searchlights. Her crew was accordingly reduced to less than 1,000 officers and enlisted men. On 18 July 1945, the heavily camouflaged ship was attacked by fighter bombers and torpedo bombers from five American carriers as part of Admiral William Halsey Jr.'s campaign to destroy the IJN's last surviving capital ships. Nagato was hit by two bombs, the first 500-pound (230 kg) bomb struck the bridge and killed Otsuka, the executive officer, and twelve sailors when it detonated upon hitting the roof of the conning tower. The second 500-pound bomb struck the deck aft of the mainmast and detonated when it hit No. 3 barbette. It failed to damage the barbette or the turret above it, but blew a hole nearly 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter in the deck above the officer's lounge, killing 21 men and damaging four Type 96 guns on the deck above. A dud rocket of uncertain size hit the ship's fantail, but failed to do any significant damage. To convince the Americans that Nagato had been badly damaged by the attack, her damage was left unrepaired and some of her ballast tanks were pumped full of seawater to make her sit deeper in the water as if she had sunk to the harbor bottom.[7][44]
Captain Shuichi Sugino was appointed as Nagato's new captain on 24 July, but he was unable to take up his appointment until 20 August. Retired Rear Admiral Masamichi Ikeguchi was assigned as the ship's interim captain until Sugino arrived. The Yokosuka Naval District received an alarm on the night of 1/2 August that a large convoy was approaching Sagami Bay and Nagato was ordered to attack immediately. The ship was totally unprepared for any attack, but Ikeguchi began the necessary preparations. The water in the ballast compartments was pumped out and her crew began reloading the propellant charges for her 16-inch guns. The ship received more fuel from a barge later that morning, but no order to attack ever came as it had been a false alarm. Sailors from the battleship USS Iowa, Underwater Demolition Team 18,[44] and the high-speed transport USS Horace A. Bass[45] secured the battleship on 30 August after the occupation began and Captain Thomas J Flynn, executive officer of the Iowa, assumed command. By the time the war ended, Nagato was the only Japanese battleship still afloat.[46] She was stricken from the Navy List on 15 September.[44]
After the war
The ship was selected to participate as a target ship in Operation Crossroads, a series of nuclear weapon tests held at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. In mid-March, Nagato departed Yokosuka for Eniwetok under the command of Captain W. J. Whipple with an American crew of about 180 men supplementing her Japanese crew.[47] The ship was only capable of a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) from her two operating propeller shafts. Her hull had not been repaired from the underwater damage sustained during the attack on 18 July 1945 and she leaked enough that her pumps could not keep up. Her consort, the light cruiser Sakawa, broke down on 28 March and Nagato attempted to take her in tow, but one of her boilers malfunctioned and the ship ran out of fuel in bad weather. The ship had a list of seven degrees to port by the time tugboats from Eniwetok arrived on 30 March. Towed at a speed of 1 knot (1.9 km/h; 1.2 mph), the ship reached Eniwetok on 4 April where she received temporary repairs. On her trip to Bikini in May, Nagato reached 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).[7]
Operation Crossroads began with the first blast (Test Able), an air burst on 1 July; she was 1,500 meters (1,640 yd) from ground zero and was only lightly damaged. A skeleton crew boarded Nagato to assess the damage and prepare her for the next test on 25 July. As a test, they operated one of her boilers for 36 hours without any problems. For Test Baker, an underwater explosion, the ship was positioned 870 meters (950 yd) from ground zero. Nagato rode out the tsunami from the explosion with little apparent damage; she had a slight starboard list of two degrees after the tsunami dissipated. A more thorough assessment could not be made because she was dangerously radioactive. Her list gradually increased over the next five days and she capsized and sank during the night of 29/30 July.[44]
The wreck is upside down and her most prominent features are her four propellers, at a depth of 33.5 meters (110 ft) below the surface.[48] She has become a scuba diving destination in recent years and The Times named Nagato as one of the top ten wreck diving sites in the world in 2007.[48][49]
Als diese Kamera 1981 erschien, war sie die kompakteste Kleinbildkamera der Welt mit Motor und Belichtungs-Vollautomatik. Auch das Gehäuse-Design war richtungsweisend und das Prinzip des motorisch versenkbaren Objektivs mit Schutzabdeckung bewährt sich auch im digitalen Zeitalter. Betätigt wird dieser Mechanismus durch einen vertikalen Schiebeschalter, der bei geschlossener Linse auch den Sucher verdeckt. Das Solinar ist ein Vierlinser mit der Lichtstärke 2,8 und der Brennweite 39 mm. Die Entfernung wird manuell eingestellt - Nahgrenze 1 m. Die Programmautomatik steuert den Verschluss von 1/45 bis 1/1250 Sekunde und die Blende von 2,8 bis 22.
Es gibt ein passendes Blitzgerät, das seitlich angeflanscht werden kann (wie bei der Olympus XA). Der Filmtransport-Motor schafft ungefähr 1 Bild pro Sekunde. Der Messbereich geht von 25 bis 400 ASA, im Sucher wird ausreichendes Licht durch ein grünes Signal angezeigt, sonst rot.
Die Stromversorgung erfolgt durch zwei AAA-Batterien.
Offensichtlich war die Agfa compact als Fortführung der Optima sensor electronic-Reihe gedacht, denn man nannte sie zuerst "Optima 935 sensor". Weil sie aber doch auf einem völlig neuen Konzept beruhte, verzichtete Agfa auf die namentliche Integration in die ältere Reihe – sie hieß nun einfach "Agfa compact".
Dieses feine Gerät war übrigens die letzte in Deutschland entwickelte und hergestellte Agfa-Kamera.
I was very happy with the detail that I could see in the photograph that I took with a Hasselblad 500C/M CFV-50c camera and a 250mm lens of the full Moon on 20160721. Looking up at the Moon this morning, 4 days later, I decided that it would be fun to capture a series of photographs of the Moon as it waned over a two week period, weather permitting.
What immediately caught my attention when looking at this photograph was the way that the low angle of the light near the dark limb (i.e., lefthand edge) emphasized the nearby topographic features. Post-processing methods such as "Clarity" and "Sun Illumination" can be used to achieve this effect, but it is always more convincing and beautiful when Nature does it in the reality of the moment.
Now for some trivia ... This photograph shows the Moon at 77.5% full and a distance of 379,644km from Earth. I have a number of iOS apps that can supply this sort of information and so much more - e.g., Moon+ by CDV Concepts, Moon Phase+ by Peter Smith, etc.
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For the other photographs in this "Strawberry Moon 2016" series that have been posted on Flickr, please see ...
www.flickr.com/photos/momentsforzen/27770588552/
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[ Location - Barton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. ]
Photography notes ...
The photograph was taken using the following hardware configuration ...
(Year of manufacture indicated in braces where known.)
- Hasselblad 500C/M body (1994).
- Hasselblad CFV-50c Digital Back for Hasselblad V mount camera
- Hasselblad Focusing Screen for the CFV-50c digital back, with focussing prism and crop markings.
- Hasselblad 45 Degree Viewfinder PME-45 42297 (2001).
- Hasselblad Carl Zeiss lens - Sonnar CF 250mm f/5.6 Superachromat lens (1987).
- FotodioX B60 Lens Hood for Select Hasselblad Telephoto CF Lenses
I acquired the photograph (8272 x 6200 pixels) with an ISO of 100, exposure time of 1/500th second, and aperture of f/8.
Post-processing ...
Finder - Removed the CF card from the camera digital back and placed it in a Lexar 25-in-1 USB card reader. Then used Finder on my MacBook Air to download the raw image file (3FR extension) from the card.
Lightroom - Imported the 3FR image.
Lightroom - Used the Map module to add the location details to the EXIF header.
Lightroom - Then applied various lighting and color adjustments in the Develop module.
Lightroom - Saved the basic adjustments carried out in the Develop module as preset 20160708-001.
Lightroom - Exported the image as a JPG file with 8272 x 6200 pixels from the Library module.
PhotoSync - Copied the JPEG file to my iPad Mini for the final processing steps and posting to social media.
BigPhoto - Cropped the image and saved it as an image with 800 x 800 pixels.
BigPhoto - Resized the image by a factor of x4 and saved it as an image with 3200 x 3200 pixels.
Photoshop Fix - Used the spot Healing tool to retouch a number of sensor noise spots in the background regions.
Photoshop Express - Applied sharpening adjustments (75). Converted the image to Black and White (B&W). Saved the image.
Exif Editor - Copied the EXIF data from the Lightroom output image to the final image.
Quality Line (Epsom Coaches Group) (MCS04, BV66 GYB, Epsom/Roy Richmond Way (EB)-based) at Morden Station, London Road, Morden, London. Delivered new 25/11/2016. Apologies for the mark on the left hand side of the photo, caused by a clump of sensor dust that got into one of the filters in my camera lens.
IR converted Canon Rebel XTi. AEB +/-2 total of 3 exposures processed with Photomatix.
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
High-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI) is a high dynamic range (HDR) technique used in imaging and photography to reproduce a greater dynamic range of luminosity than is possible with standard digital imaging or photographic techniques. The aim is to present a similar range of luminance to that experienced through the human visual system. The human eye, through adaptation of the iris and other methods, adjusts constantly to adapt to a broad range of luminance present in the environment. The brain continuously interprets this information so that a viewer can see in a wide range of light conditions.
HDR images can represent a greater range of luminance levels than can be achieved using more 'traditional' methods, such as many real-world scenes containing very bright, direct sunlight to extreme shade, or very faint nebulae. This is often achieved by capturing and then combining several different, narrower range, exposures of the same subject matter. Non-HDR cameras take photographs with a limited exposure range, referred to as LDR, resulting in the loss of detail in highlights or shadows.
The two primary types of HDR images are computer renderings and images resulting from merging multiple low-dynamic-range (LDR) or standard-dynamic-range (SDR) photographs. HDR images can also be acquired using special image sensors, such as an oversampled binary image sensor.
Due to the limitations of printing and display contrast, the extended luminosity range of an HDR image has to be compressed to be made visible. The method of rendering an HDR image to a standard monitor or printing device is called tone mapping. This method reduces the overall contrast of an HDR image to facilitate display on devices or printouts with lower dynamic range, and can be applied to produce images with preserved local contrast (or exaggerated for artistic effect).
In photography, dynamic range is measured in exposure value (EV) differences (known as stops). An increase of one EV, or 'one stop', represents a doubling of the amount of light. Conversely, a decrease of one EV represents a halving of the amount of light. Therefore, revealing detail in the darkest of shadows requires high exposures, while preserving detail in very bright situations requires very low exposures. Most cameras cannot provide this range of exposure values within a single exposure, due to their low dynamic range. High-dynamic-range photographs are generally achieved by capturing multiple standard-exposure images, often using exposure bracketing, and then later merging them into a single HDR image, usually within a photo manipulation program). Digital images are often encoded in a camera's raw image format, because 8-bit JPEG encoding does not offer a wide enough range of values to allow fine transitions (and regarding HDR, later introduces undesirable effects due to lossy compression).
Any camera that allows manual exposure control can make images for HDR work, although one equipped with auto exposure bracketing (AEB) is far better suited. Images from film cameras are less suitable as they often must first be digitized, so that they can later be processed using software HDR methods.
In most imaging devices, the degree of exposure to light applied to the active element (be it film or CCD) can be altered in one of two ways: by either increasing/decreasing the size of the aperture or by increasing/decreasing the time of each exposure. Exposure variation in an HDR set is only done by altering the exposure time and not the aperture size; this is because altering the aperture size also affects the depth of field and so the resultant multiple images would be quite different, preventing their final combination into a single HDR image.
An important limitation for HDR photography is that any movement between successive images will impede or prevent success in combining them afterwards. Also, as one must create several images (often three or five and sometimes more) to obtain the desired luminance range, such a full 'set' of images takes extra time. HDR photographers have developed calculation methods and techniques to partially overcome these problems, but the use of a sturdy tripod is, at least, advised.
Some cameras have an auto exposure bracketing (AEB) feature with a far greater dynamic range than others, from the 3 EV of the Canon EOS 40D, to the 18 EV of the Canon EOS-1D Mark II. As the popularity of this imaging method grows, several camera manufactures are now offering built-in HDR features. For example, the Pentax K-7 DSLR has an HDR mode that captures an HDR image and outputs (only) a tone mapped JPEG file. The Canon PowerShot G12, Canon PowerShot S95 and Canon PowerShot S100 offer similar features in a smaller format.. Nikon's approach is called 'Active D-Lighting' which applies exposure compensation and tone mapping to the image as it comes from the sensor, with the accent being on retaing a realistic effect . Some smartphones provide HDR modes, and most mobile platforms have apps that provide HDR picture taking.
Camera characteristics such as gamma curves, sensor resolution, noise, photometric calibration and color calibration affect resulting high-dynamic-range images.
Color film negatives and slides consist of multiple film layers that respond to light differently. As a consequence, transparent originals (especially positive slides) feature a very high dynamic range
Tone mapping
Tone mapping reduces the dynamic range, or contrast ratio, of an entire image while retaining localized contrast. Although it is a distinct operation, tone mapping is often applied to HDRI files by the same software package.
Several software applications are available on the PC, Mac and Linux platforms for producing HDR files and tone mapped images. Notable titles include
Adobe Photoshop
Aurora HDR
Dynamic Photo HDR
HDR Efex Pro
HDR PhotoStudio
Luminance HDR
MagicRaw
Oloneo PhotoEngine
Photomatix Pro
PTGui
Information stored in high-dynamic-range images typically corresponds to the physical values of luminance or radiance that can be observed in the real world. This is different from traditional digital images, which represent colors as they should appear on a monitor or a paper print. Therefore, HDR image formats are often called scene-referred, in contrast to traditional digital images, which are device-referred or output-referred. Furthermore, traditional images are usually encoded for the human visual system (maximizing the visual information stored in the fixed number of bits), which is usually called gamma encoding or gamma correction. The values stored for HDR images are often gamma compressed (power law) or logarithmically encoded, or floating-point linear values, since fixed-point linear encodings are increasingly inefficient over higher dynamic ranges.
HDR images often don't use fixed ranges per color channel—other than traditional images—to represent many more colors over a much wider dynamic range. For that purpose, they don't use integer values to represent the single color channels (e.g., 0-255 in an 8 bit per pixel interval for red, green and blue) but instead use a floating point representation. Common are 16-bit (half precision) or 32-bit floating point numbers to represent HDR pixels. However, when the appropriate transfer function is used, HDR pixels for some applications can be represented with a color depth that has as few as 10–12 bits for luminance and 8 bits for chrominance without introducing any visible quantization artifacts.
History of HDR photography
The idea of using several exposures to adequately reproduce a too-extreme range of luminance was pioneered as early as the 1850s by Gustave Le Gray to render seascapes showing both the sky and the sea. Such rendering was impossible at the time using standard methods, as the luminosity range was too extreme. Le Gray used one negative for the sky, and another one with a longer exposure for the sea, and combined the two into one picture in positive.
Mid 20th century
Manual tone mapping was accomplished by dodging and burning – selectively increasing or decreasing the exposure of regions of the photograph to yield better tonality reproduction. This was effective because the dynamic range of the negative is significantly higher than would be available on the finished positive paper print when that is exposed via the negative in a uniform manner. An excellent example is the photograph Schweitzer at the Lamp by W. Eugene Smith, from his 1954 photo essay A Man of Mercy on Dr. Albert Schweitzer and his humanitarian work in French Equatorial Africa. The image took 5 days to reproduce the tonal range of the scene, which ranges from a bright lamp (relative to the scene) to a dark shadow.
Ansel Adams elevated dodging and burning to an art form. Many of his famous prints were manipulated in the darkroom with these two methods. Adams wrote a comprehensive book on producing prints called The Print, which prominently features dodging and burning, in the context of his Zone System.
With the advent of color photography, tone mapping in the darkroom was no longer possible due to the specific timing needed during the developing process of color film. Photographers looked to film manufacturers to design new film stocks with improved response, or continued to shoot in black and white to use tone mapping methods.
Color film capable of directly recording high-dynamic-range images was developed by Charles Wyckoff and EG&G "in the course of a contract with the Department of the Air Force". This XR film had three emulsion layers, an upper layer having an ASA speed rating of 400, a middle layer with an intermediate rating, and a lower layer with an ASA rating of 0.004. The film was processed in a manner similar to color films, and each layer produced a different color. The dynamic range of this extended range film has been estimated as 1:108. It has been used to photograph nuclear explosions, for astronomical photography, for spectrographic research, and for medical imaging. Wyckoff's detailed pictures of nuclear explosions appeared on the cover of Life magazine in the mid-1950s.
Late 20th century
Georges Cornuéjols and licensees of his patents (Brdi, Hymatom) introduced the principle of HDR video image, in 1986, by interposing a matricial LCD screen in front of the camera's image sensor, increasing the sensors dynamic by five stops. The concept of neighborhood tone mapping was applied to video cameras by a group from the Technion in Israel led by Dr. Oliver Hilsenrath and Prof. Y.Y.Zeevi who filed for a patent on this concept in 1988.
In February and April 1990, Georges Cornuéjols introduced the first real-time HDR camera that combined two images captured by a sensor3435 or simultaneously3637 by two sensors of the camera. This process is known as bracketing used for a video stream.
In 1991, the first commercial video camera was introduced that performed real-time capturing of multiple images with different exposures, and producing an HDR video image, by Hymatom, licensee of Georges Cornuéjols.
Also in 1991, Georges Cornuéjols introduced the HDR+ image principle by non-linear accumulation of images to increase the sensitivity of the camera: for low-light environments, several successive images are accumulated, thus increasing the signal to noise ratio.
In 1993, another commercial medical camera producing an HDR video image, by the Technion.
Modern HDR imaging uses a completely different approach, based on making a high-dynamic-range luminance or light map using only global image operations (across the entire image), and then tone mapping the result. Global HDR was first introduced in 19931 resulting in a mathematical theory of differently exposed pictures of the same subject matter that was published in 1995 by Steve Mann and Rosalind Picard.
On October 28, 1998, Ben Sarao created one of the first nighttime HDR+G (High Dynamic Range + Graphic image)of STS-95 on the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It consisted of four film images of the shuttle at night that were digitally composited with additional digital graphic elements. The image was first exhibited at NASA Headquarters Great Hall, Washington DC in 1999 and then published in Hasselblad Forum, Issue 3 1993, Volume 35 ISSN 0282-5449.
The advent of consumer digital cameras produced a new demand for HDR imaging to improve the light response of digital camera sensors, which had a much smaller dynamic range than film. Steve Mann developed and patented the global-HDR method for producing digital images having extended dynamic range at the MIT Media Laboratory. Mann's method involved a two-step procedure: (1) generate one floating point image array by global-only image operations (operations that affect all pixels identically, without regard to their local neighborhoods); and then (2) convert this image array, using local neighborhood processing (tone-remapping, etc.), into an HDR image. The image array generated by the first step of Mann's process is called a lightspace image, lightspace picture, or radiance map. Another benefit of global-HDR imaging is that it provides access to the intermediate light or radiance map, which has been used for computer vision, and other image processing operations.
21st century
In 2005, Adobe Systems introduced several new features in Photoshop CS2 including Merge to HDR, 32 bit floating point image support, and HDR tone mapping.
On June 30, 2016, Microsoft added support for the digital compositing of HDR images to Windows 10 using the Universal Windows Platform.
HDR sensors
Modern CMOS image sensors can often capture a high dynamic range from a single exposure. The wide dynamic range of the captured image is non-linearly compressed into a smaller dynamic range electronic representation. However, with proper processing, the information from a single exposure can be used to create an HDR image.
Such HDR imaging is used in extreme dynamic range applications like welding or automotive work. Some other cameras designed for use in security applications can automatically provide two or more images for each frame, with changing exposure. For example, a sensor for 30fps video will give out 60fps with the odd frames at a short exposure time and the even frames at a longer exposure time. Some of the sensor may even combine the two images on-chip so that a wider dynamic range without in-pixel compression is directly available to the user for display or processing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-dynamic-range_imaging
Infrared Photography
In infrared photography, the film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about 900 nm. Film is usually sensitive to visible light too, so an infrared-passing filter is used; this lets infrared (IR) light pass through to the camera, but blocks all or most of the visible light spectrum (the filter thus looks black or deep red). ("Infrared filter" may refer either to this type of filter or to one that blocks infrared but passes other wavelengths.)
When these filters are used together with infrared-sensitive film or sensors, "in-camera effects" can be obtained; false-color or black-and-white images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance known as the "Wood Effect," an effect mainly caused by foliage (such as tree leaves and grass) strongly reflecting in the same way visible light is reflected from snow. There is a small contribution from chlorophyll fluorescence, but this is marginal and is not the real cause of the brightness seen in infrared photographs. The effect is named after the infrared photography pioneer Robert W. Wood, and not after the material wood, which does not strongly reflect infrared.
The other attributes of infrared photographs include very dark skies and penetration of atmospheric haze, caused by reduced Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering, respectively, compared to visible light. The dark skies, in turn, result in less infrared light in shadows and dark reflections of those skies from water, and clouds will stand out strongly. These wavelengths also penetrate a few millimeters into skin and give a milky look to portraits, although eyes often look black.
Until the early 20th century, infrared photography was not possible because silver halide emulsions are not sensitive to longer wavelengths than that of blue light (and to a lesser extent, green light) without the addition of a dye to act as a color sensitizer. The first infrared photographs (as distinct from spectrographs) to be published appeared in the February 1910 edition of The Century Magazine and in the October 1910 edition of the Royal Photographic Society Journal to illustrate papers by Robert W. Wood, who discovered the unusual effects that now bear his name. The RPS co-ordinated events to celebrate the centenary of this event in 2010. Wood's photographs were taken on experimental film that required very long exposures; thus, most of his work focused on landscapes. A further set of infrared landscapes taken by Wood in Italy in 1911 used plates provided for him by CEK Mees at Wratten & Wainwright. Mees also took a few infrared photographs in Portugal in 1910, which are now in the Kodak archives.
Infrared-sensitive photographic plates were developed in the United States during World War I for spectroscopic analysis, and infrared sensitizing dyes were investigated for improved haze penetration in aerial photography. After 1930, new emulsions from Kodak and other manufacturers became useful to infrared astronomy.
Infrared photography became popular with photography enthusiasts in the 1930s when suitable film was introduced commercially. The Times regularly published landscape and aerial photographs taken by their staff photographers using Ilford infrared film. By 1937 33 kinds of infrared film were available from five manufacturers including Agfa, Kodak and Ilford. Infrared movie film was also available and was used to create day-for-night effects in motion pictures, a notable example being the pseudo-night aerial sequences in the James Cagney/Bette Davis movie The Bride Came COD.
False-color infrared photography became widely practiced with the introduction of Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Aero Film and Ektachrome Infrared EIR. The first version of this, known as Kodacolor Aero-Reversal-Film, was developed by Clark and others at the Kodak for camouflage detection in the 1940s. The film became more widely available in 35mm form in the 1960s but KODAK AEROCHROME III Infrared Film 1443 has been discontinued.
Infrared photography became popular with a number of 1960s recording artists, because of the unusual results; Jimi Hendrix, Donovan, Frank and a slow shutter speed without focus compensation, however wider apertures like f/2.0 can produce sharp photos only if the lens is meticulously refocused to the infrared index mark, and only if this index mark is the correct one for the filter and film in use. However, it should be noted that diffraction effects inside a camera are greater at infrared wavelengths so that stopping down the lens too far may actually reduce sharpness.
Most apochromatic ('APO') lenses do not have an Infrared index mark and do not need to be refocused for the infrared spectrum because they are already optically corrected into the near-infrared spectrum. Catadioptric lenses do not often require this adjustment because their mirror containing elements do not suffer from chromatic aberration and so the overall aberration is comparably less. Catadioptric lenses do, of course, still contain lenses, and these lenses do still have a dispersive property.
Infrared black-and-white films require special development times but development is usually achieved with standard black-and-white film developers and chemicals (like D-76). Kodak HIE film has a polyester film base that is very stable but extremely easy to scratch, therefore special care must be used in the handling of Kodak HIE throughout the development and printing/scanning process to avoid damage to the film. The Kodak HIE film was sensitive to 900 nm.
As of November 2, 2007, "KODAK is preannouncing the discontinuance" of HIE Infrared 35 mm film stating the reasons that, "Demand for these products has been declining significantly in recent years, and it is no longer practical to continue to manufacture given the low volume, the age of the product formulations and the complexity of the processes involved." At the time of this notice, HIE Infrared 135-36 was available at a street price of around $12.00 a roll at US mail order outlets.
Arguably the greatest obstacle to infrared film photography has been the increasing difficulty of obtaining infrared-sensitive film. However, despite the discontinuance of HIE, other newer infrared sensitive emulsions from EFKE, ROLLEI, and ILFORD are still available, but these formulations have differing sensitivity and specifications from the venerable KODAK HIE that has been around for at least two decades. Some of these infrared films are available in 120 and larger formats as well as 35 mm, which adds flexibility to their application. With the discontinuance of Kodak HIE, Efke's IR820 film has become the only IR film on the marketneeds update with good sensitivity beyond 750 nm, the Rollei film does extend beyond 750 nm but IR sensitivity falls off very rapidly.
Color infrared transparency films have three sensitized layers that, because of the way the dyes are coupled to these layers, reproduce infrared as red, red as green, and green as blue. All three layers are sensitive to blue so the film must be used with a yellow filter, since this will block blue light but allow the remaining colors to reach the film. The health of foliage can be determined from the relative strengths of green and infrared light reflected; this shows in color infrared as a shift from red (healthy) towards magenta (unhealthy). Early color infrared films were developed in the older E-4 process, but Kodak later manufactured a color transparency film that could be developed in standard E-6 chemistry, although more accurate results were obtained by developing using the AR-5 process. In general, color infrared does not need to be refocused to the infrared index mark on the lens.
In 2007 Kodak announced that production of the 35 mm version of their color infrared film (Ektachrome Professional Infrared/EIR) would cease as there was insufficient demand. Since 2011, all formats of color infrared film have been discontinued. Specifically, Aerochrome 1443 and SO-734.
There is no currently available digital camera that will produce the same results as Kodak color infrared film although the equivalent images can be produced by taking two exposures, one infrared and the other full-color, and combining in post-production. The color images produced by digital still cameras using infrared-pass filters are not equivalent to those produced on color infrared film. The colors result from varying amounts of infrared passing through the color filters on the photo sites, further amended by the Bayer filtering. While this makes such images unsuitable for the kind of applications for which the film was used, such as remote sensing of plant health, the resulting color tonality has proved popular artistically.
Color digital infrared, as part of full spectrum photography is gaining popularity. The ease of creating a softly colored photo with infrared characteristics has found interest among hobbyists and professionals.
In 2008, Los Angeles photographer, Dean Bennici started cutting and hand rolling Aerochrome color Infrared film. All Aerochrome medium and large format which exists today came directly from his lab. The trend in infrared photography continues to gain momentum with the success of photographer Richard Mosse and multiple users all around the world.
Digital camera sensors are inherently sensitive to infrared light, which would interfere with the normal photography by confusing the autofocus calculations or softening the image (because infrared light is focused differently from visible light), or oversaturating the red channel. Also, some clothing is transparent in the infrared, leading to unintended (at least to the manufacturer) uses of video cameras. Thus, to improve image quality and protect privacy, many digital cameras employ infrared blockers. Depending on the subject matter, infrared photography may not be practical with these cameras because the exposure times become overly long, often in the range of 30 seconds, creating noise and motion blur in the final image. However, for some subject matter the long exposure does not matter or the motion blur effects actually add to the image. Some lenses will also show a 'hot spot' in the centre of the image as their coatings are optimised for visible light and not for IR.
An alternative method of DSLR infrared photography is to remove the infrared blocker in front of the sensor and replace it with a filter that removes visible light. This filter is behind the mirror, so the camera can be used normally - handheld, normal shutter speeds, normal composition through the viewfinder, and focus, all work like a normal camera. Metering works but is not always accurate because of the difference between visible and infrared refraction. When the IR blocker is removed, many lenses which did display a hotspot cease to do so, and become perfectly usable for infrared photography. Additionally, because the red, green and blue micro-filters remain and have transmissions not only in their respective color but also in the infrared, enhanced infrared color may be recorded.
Since the Bayer filters in most digital cameras absorb a significant fraction of the infrared light, these cameras are sometimes not very sensitive as infrared cameras and can sometimes produce false colors in the images. An alternative approach is to use a Foveon X3 sensor, which does not have absorptive filters on it; the Sigma SD10 DSLR has a removable IR blocking filter and dust protector, which can be simply omitted or replaced by a deep red or complete visible light blocking filter. The Sigma SD14 has an IR/UV blocking filter that can be removed/installed without tools. The result is a very sensitive digital IR camera.
While it is common to use a filter that blocks almost all visible light, the wavelength sensitivity of a digital camera without internal infrared blocking is such that a variety of artistic results can be obtained with more conventional filtration. For example, a very dark neutral density filter can be used (such as the Hoya ND400) which passes a very small amount of visible light compared to the near-infrared it allows through. Wider filtration permits an SLR viewfinder to be used and also passes more varied color information to the sensor without necessarily reducing the Wood effect. Wider filtration is however likely to reduce other infrared artefacts such as haze penetration and darkened skies. This technique mirrors the methods used by infrared film photographers where black-and-white infrared film was often used with a deep red filter rather than a visually opaque one.
Another common technique with near-infrared filters is to swap blue and red channels in software (e.g. photoshop) which retains much of the characteristic 'white foliage' while rendering skies a glorious blue.
Several Sony cameras had the so-called Night Shot facility, which physically moves the blocking filter away from the light path, which makes the cameras very sensitive to infrared light. Soon after its development, this facility was 'restricted' by Sony to make it difficult for people to take photos that saw through clothing. To do this the iris is opened fully and exposure duration is limited to long times of more than 1/30 second or so. It is possible to shoot infrared but neutral density filters must be used to reduce the camera's sensitivity and the long exposure times mean that care must be taken to avoid camera-shake artifacts.
Fuji have produced digital cameras for use in forensic criminology and medicine which have no infrared blocking filter. The first camera, designated the S3 PRO UVIR, also had extended ultraviolet sensitivity (digital sensors are usually less sensitive to UV than to IR). Optimum UV sensitivity requires special lenses, but ordinary lenses usually work well for IR. In 2007, FujiFilm introduced a new version of this camera, based on the Nikon D200/ FujiFilm S5 called the IS Pro, also able to take Nikon lenses. Fuji had earlier introduced a non-SLR infrared camera, the IS-1, a modified version of the FujiFilm FinePix S9100. Unlike the S3 PRO UVIR, the IS-1 does not offer UV sensitivity. FujiFilm restricts the sale of these cameras to professional users with their EULA specifically prohibiting "unethical photographic conduct".
Phase One digital camera backs can be ordered in an infrared modified form.
Remote sensing and thermographic cameras are sensitive to longer wavelengths of infrared (see Infrared spectrum#Commonly used sub-division scheme). They may be multispectral and use a variety of technologies which may not resemble common camera or filter designs. Cameras sensitive to longer infrared wavelengths including those used in infrared astronomy often require cooling to reduce thermally induced dark currents in the sensor (see Dark current (physics)). Lower cost uncooled thermographic digital cameras operate in the Long Wave infrared band (see Thermographic camera#Uncooled infrared detectors). These cameras are generally used for building inspection or preventative maintenance but can be used for artistic pursuits as well.
MOC: Sensor GTR. A variation of the theme from my previous Supercar - I wanted to see if I could build something a supercar that looked a bit more like it was meant for the road than for the track. Very happy with the result.
Made in ?? ; 1978 - ... . For 126 cassette . Simple viewfinder camera with fixed focus and aperture . Two shutter speeds . Socket for flipflash flashbulb bar .
Taken from the balcony of the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Seoul, South Korea. This is the result on the setup shown earlier in the week.
Si no me equivoco este es el sensor que recibe la luz reflejada por el dvd e interpreta la información leída.
Toda la imagen (horizontal) sería de algo menos de 1 cm.
Nikon D800 Photos Beautiful Swimsuit Bikini Lingerie Model Goddess! Modeling the Gold 45 Revolver Gold'N'Virtue lingerie which is inspired by classic, epic mythology--Homer, Odysseus, Achilles, Aeneas, et al.--Hero's Journey Mythology! :) Using silk black and gold scarves (scarfs?) for a top!
Shooting stills & video @ the same time: youtu.be/QNLkIYNilB8
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Modeling Gold 45 Revolver Gold'N'Virtue Lingerie with the famous golden gun! The Colt 45 Revolver comes directly form Clint Eastwood's/Sergio Leone's Fistful of Dollars--my favorite Western--heck my favorite all-time film, exalting the classical, archetypal themes I seek in all my photography!
She was tall, athletic, thin, pretty, and fit with gorgeous blue eyes and long legs! Shot with the D800 and my favorite workhorse lens the very sharp Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Nikkor Zoom Lens. A slight change of pace for all my flickr fans!
Here's some HD video shot during the swimsuit/lingerie shoot that day:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDRyjOsK93s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL3eoYHBxw0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91IFFvbyDI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq-4rZme9aA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uqo_z51YNc
The tall, golden-haired, blue-eyed goddess was modeling the black & gold "Gold 45 Revolver" Gold'N'Virtue swimsuits with the main equation to Moving Dimensions Theory on the swimsuits: dx4/dt=ic. Yes I have a Ph.D. in physics! :) You can read more about my research and Hero's Journey Physics here:
herosjourneyphysics.wordpress.com/ MDT PROOF#2: Einstein (1912 Man. on Rel.) and Minkowski wrote x4=ict. Ergo dx4/dt=ic--the foundational equation of all time and motion which is on all the shirts and swimsuits. Every photon that hits my Nikon D800e's sensor does it by surfing the fourth expanding dimension, which is moving at c relative to the three spatial dimensions, or dx4/dt=ic!
May the Hero's Journey Mythology Goddess inspire you (as they have inspired me!) along your own artistic journey! Love, love, love the 70-200mm F/2.8 Lens! Holding it up all day, alongside the Sony NEX 6 with the 50mm F/1.8 lens for cool video bokeh which I have mounted under the Nikon D800E camera, is quite the workout! My shoulders have gotten bigger after so many days with six hour shoots in the AM and 3 hour shoots in the PM holding that rig up :). Plus I have to carry all the gear, books, and clothes a few hundred yards up and down the steep cliffs. I count my photography days as two workout days. :) But I love it! Every day presents a puzzle--how to figure out the light, and every model presents a mystery to be unlocked--what are her best angles/poses/actions? Nothing beats the challenge of capturing the natural beauty of a day out there, when the light's dynamic range can change by a factor of ten in a few minutes as the mist burns away to reveal the sun, and then the wind whips up and a fog rolls on in, making it seem like a windy December dusk in July. One must always be mindful of tide, times, and temperatures and work quickly before the cameras get too hot in the sun, or the model gets too cold in the wind, as the tide and rogue waves reach out to grab your equipment/props/clothes and claim them for Poseidon, the god of the sea . Beach photography/video is just like surfing, with the conditions always changing and every wave a bit different. Studio photography is like riding an exercise bike set at level 1 in a gym in front of a TV. And shooting stills and video @ the same time is like Jimmy Page or Slash improvising on his double-necked guitar.
I'm working on a book called "Lone Cowboy Photography: A Humble Hero's Journey into the Art of Photography" about how to shoot it all on your own--stills and video for sports, portraits, and landscapes--with no assistants nor teams. Just you and the goddesses, the heroic athletes, the majestic, epic landscapes, and a copy of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey to teach you of the poetry of epic, heroic beauty. You gotta be ready, son--you gotta be ready for quick-draw showdowns at sunrise and sunset, during the magic hours and in the harsh light at high noon. Every shoot is over the second you finish packing your bags for the day with all your batteries, backup cameras, freshly-cleaned lenses, washed and folded clothes and hoodies, and props and polarizer filters. Every shoot ends the second the prep is over, and the fun, and art, and life of the live performance begins. :) "Every fighter has a plan," said boxing great Mike Tyson, "Until they get hit."
All the Best on Your Epic Hero's Journey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
It started as a thought, a small niggle that just wouldn't go away. What would shooting with film be like? We've been totally digital in this house since 2003 and when I started this doing-it-seriously thing I was dismissive of it. But in learning more about photography I started to realise a few things.
The picture one takes is inextricably bound to the thought processes of what you are doing in that moment. If you change that equation with kit you will change the thought processes and the pictures. I am used to going out the door and getting 200 pictures. If I am forced to think more with only 36 chances to make something good, at 50p per chance, with a fixed lens, with manual focus, with a manual rangefinder, with no chimping and a fortnight until I can see the result - will it change my brain?
I was also thinking about how contrast, grain and colour in photographs make up our syntax of how we interpret photography. Like when we hear someone's accent, the words they say are made to mean more than they are by the interpretation of what that accent means. The syntax of photography is completely wound up in how film has rendered images, and not knowing what that means leaves me floundering. We spend hours fiddling with sliders and curves, applying filters but I'm not sure most of us know what it means. Sometimes I think we are squawking like a parrot that has managed to pick up a few phrases of tourist human.
I was interested in medium format with a Mamiya 6, but I feel it is too expensive as a proof of concept. I thought about Leicas and Voigtlanders but again it was too much of a leap of faith. I thought about a Nikon FE but I thought an SLR would just lead me to think it was my usual Nikon and I'd behave in the same way.
So for virtually no money I give you an immaculate Olympus 35 RC. It feels solid and it is dirt simple. The battery will last for ages and it won't get dust on the sensor. Hopefully when I pick it up I will see the world in a different way again and, most importantly, maybe take a good picture.
I have no idea what I'm doing again and it feels great.
Today i took the opportunity to use a Sony NEX-7 [Crop-Sensor] with a Sony-Zeiss Full-Frame 35mm 1.4f lens.
I have recently read that using a full-frame lens with a crop sensor may not produce better results than using a lens designed from a crop-sensor camera and in fact the images will be less sharp.
When starting out, many photographers choose to go with a crop body and invest in full frame lenses. This is usually recommended as a good approach as you can keep your lenses and swap out your body for something newer down the road, eventually leading to that high quality full frame sensor that you always wanted. However some experts, especially Tony Northrup, claim that starting out with the full frame lens and crop bodies does not provide you with the sharp images.
In my case I had a top end full frame camera [Canon 1DSIII] with a set of very expensive glass and I was not at all happy as the combination was way too heavy and totally unsuitable for street photography. About five years ago I decided that I needed a better solution and after using a Sony NEX-5 for about a year I decided to purchase a NEX-7 and switch from DSLR to Mirrorless [at the time that was a big gamble]. In theory it would be possible to use my Canon lenses with the NEX-7 but in reality it was not a workable solution. The NEX-7 featured a crop-sensor so I purchased a set of suitable Sony lenses and they were not expensive.
My reason for getting the NEX-7 and associated lenses was greatly reduced weight coupled with the fact that my equipment did not attract unwelcome attention.
The NEX-7 performed way beyond my expectations and I was really pleased and then towards the end of last year because the camera was giving problems at random I threw all logic out the window and took an ever bigger gamble by purchasing a Sony A7RMkII full frame mirrorless camera which is larger and heavier than the NEX-7.
To be honest, there is no comparison between the two cameras, the A7R is very much superior and while it is heavier it is actually easier to use. Also the Canon lenses actually work with the A7R but using the necessary adaptor was a pain and added weight. However the Canon lenses showed what the A7RMkII could do so I decided that maybe I should consider getting some native Sony FE prime lenses and then I discovered that they all were expensive and heavy [ unless I got manual focus lens such as the Loxia ]. Anyway I ended up with a set of primes [and no cash] but I now have serious weight issue especially when I travel.
I was planning to use the NEX-7 as a backup or when I travel but the crop-lenses are not very good so it would make no sense to leave my full-frame lenses behind so a possible solution would to bring along one of the FE primes [35mm 1.4f] but then I came across discussions online claiming that FE lenses underperform when used with a crop-sensor. Of course there is another issue in that the NEX-7 is at the end of its life and needs to be replaced by something like the A6300 but as I already said I have no spare cash.
APS-C sensor swabs, fluid and dry brush with magnifying glass, cleaning the Sony α 77 ii sensor today.
Sony α 77 ii
DT 18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 SAM
Agfa Optima 200 Sensor (second version).
German viewfinder camera produced c.1969.
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Removing the Bottom Cover. 2x Short crosshead screws on this side.
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WARNING :
This image is intended as a reference for the more experienced camera service man. If you have no experience in camera repair please do yourself a favor and send your camera to a professional service shop. It would be a pity to lose a vintage camera in a failed repair attempt !
DISCLAIMER
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The MiG-37Sh (Sh = shturmovik) was a heavily modified version of the basic MiG-37 stealth attack and reconnaissance plane. Dissatisfaction with the basic MiG-37 sans suffixe in the air-to-ground role, esp. due to its limited internal weapon load and agility at low level of flight, and the need to replace the ageing Russian MiG-27 and early Su-25 fleet after the millennium led to a further and radical development of the basic airframe, while keeping the proven stealth features.
The resulting 'Sh' variant was consequently optimized for all-weather ground attack, with a focus on a high chance of survival in front line service as well as an improved low-level handling and loiter time.
The 2nd generation 'Sh' prototype flew in summer 1999. A small number of MiG-37Sh has been built since, and in the long line of the MiG-37 development the aircraft received the NATO code ‘Ferret G’. Probably 20 of these machines serve alongside 1st generation versions of the MiG-37. Lack of funds seems to hamper large-scale production, even though the type already proved its effectiveness, e .g. in the Chechen conflict (see below).
Most visible difference of the new 'Sh' to its predecessors was a completely new wing. This new design featured a bigger wing span, lower sweep, a much higher aspect ration and also a much bigger profile. This new wings, together with the type's typical medium grey RAM surface coating, quickly earned it the nickname ‘бе́лая сова́ ‘ (‘Snowy owl’).
The new wings' anhedral had to be strongly reduced and the bigger internal wing space not only allowed additional fuel tanks to be integrated.
The more rigid wing structure now also allowed the optional attachment of two hardpoint per wing for external ordnance loads, the inner ones being able to carry 1.000kg, the outer ones 500kg. The inner pair is ‘wet’ for PTB-800 drop tanks in ferry configuration, there seems to be no provision for an IFR probe installation. But compared to the 1st generation MiG-37 versions, this new feature considerable expands the offensive potential, esp. for long range deployment or when the plane is simply on a non-stealthy mission.
Another new feature was a downward-sloping nose profile for improved pilot visibility. It also holds the highly effective Kyra-23 laser-television sighting system, which includes an A/W TV camera, a missile guidance antenna and integrates an S-31E2 KOLS, a combined laser rangefinder and IRST. This system more or less replaces an active, radar-based fire control system and is also installed on MiG-29 and Su27 interceptors. It provides exceptional gun-laying accuracy and is used for both air-to-ground guidance as well as to track and combat low-flying planes, helicopters and even cruise missiles.
The Mig-37Sh's PrNK-23K nav/attack system was borrowed from the sophisticated MiG-27K. It provides automatic flight control, gun firing, and weapons release. The capabilities of the aircraft in the ASM role are being enhanced by the incorporation of modern avionics systems consisting primarily of two Multi-Function Displays (MFDs) Mission and Display Processor (MDP), Sextant Ring Laser Gyros (RLG INSI), combined GPS/GLONASS navigation, HUD with UFCP, Digital Map Generator (DMG), jam-resistant Secured Communication, stand-by UHF communication, data link and a comprehensive Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite. A mission planning and retrieval facility, VTR and HUD Camera are also fitted.
The aircraft retains stand-by (conventional) instrumentation, including artificial horizon, altimeter and airspeed indicator, to cater for the failure of HUD and the MFDs. The modified plane also received much-improved electronic and Infra red countermeasure (ECM & IRCM) systems, including an SPO-15 radar homing & warning system (RHAWS) and an SO-69 identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) transponder.
Additional kevlar cockpit armour plates were installed. The undercarriage was revised to facilitate operation from poorer-quality airfields. It has a much simpler design and also allows more room under the plane for easier maintenance.
In order to improve agility, the MiG-37Sh received two Klimov RD-33MK turbofans (the same as used in the MiG-29MK, without afterburner and a special nozzle arrangement which adds cold air for a reduced IR signature) and modified vectored trust nozzles. The latter are still 2D, as featured on the original MiG-37 design, but can now move independently so that roll and slow speed manoeuvrability are considerably enhanced – the MiG-37Sh is not solely a ground attack aircraft, it is also supposed to take on attack helicopters and even cruise missiles near ground level. Rumor has it that its agility is immense, largely limited by the g-forces the pilot can accept.
With the emphasis on strike and low-level attack requirements, a fixed single-barreled GSh-30-1 30mm cannon with 300 rounds was installed in a shallow fairing under the plane’s starboard belly. It features a closable nozzle, so that the radar and also IR signature of the weapon is minimized – it is only exposed when actually made ready to fire.
Compared to the MiG-37 sand suffix, provisions were made to mount more weapons, mainly missiles and precision-guided munitions against ground targets. Self defence and limited air-to-air capability was also on the designers’ agenda. Therefore, and thanks to the bigger fuel capacitiy in the bigger wing tanks, two additional internal weapon bays could be incorporated into the lower wing roots.
These are to store a single, compact R-60/AA-8 "Aphid" IR missile each, leaving the original weapon bays free for offensive armament like a single KAB-500 guided bomb in each of them.
Overall, the offensive potential of the ‘Sh’ variant increased tremendously compared to the 1st generation MiG-37 types: thanks to its uprated engines and the new wings with greater lift, the MiG-37Sh can carry up to 3 tons of weaponry, about 40% more than the original MiG-37 sans suffix. It is able to deliver strikes with much more accuracy, in all weather conditions and with a much higher chance of survivability in hostile environment.
MiG-37 actively took part in the Russian Army's operations against rebels in the Chechen Republic. In December 2000, a pair of early production MiG-37Sh from Lipetsk-based 970 IISAP (Instructional & Test Composite Air Regiment) arrived to the area, accompanied by several Su-25, to provide reconnaissance and target designation in the conflict theatre.
The MiG-37Sh were quickly thrown into action: On 6 January 2001, the MiG-37Sh used live weapons against a real enemy for the first time. On 9 January, at the entry into a mountain gorge in the area of a settlement named Komsomolskoye, a single MiG-37Sh used Kh-29L missiles to destroy a warehouse full of ammunition belonging to Chechen insurgents.
On 6 February, in the forest-covered mountain area to the south of the village of Tsentoroj, the strike group composed of two MiG-37Sh and two Su-25 discovered and, from a range of 3 km, destroyed a fortified camp of insurgents using KAB-500L guided bombs.
14 February, saw a similar strike group carrying out a "hunting" mission in the area of Oak-Yurt and Hatun. In difficult conditions, pilots found and destroyed eight targets. These missions tested the type's airframe, as well as its on-board systems and armament. Its successful performance in difficult, mountainous terrain once again confirmed the usefulness of the many advanced features of the MiG-37Sh design, including its power and manoeuvrability.
It is unclear if the type has been used in combat since, e .g. in Afghanistan. It has participated in a number of exercises, though, including "Boundary 2004" which took place on the Edelweiss mountain range in Kyrgyzstan, in August 2004. Once again the "Ferret G" demonstrated its advantages by operating at a high altitude and an air temperature of more than 30 °C. Among other sorties, a single MiG-37Sh provided cover for the landing of troops, taking down two Ka-50 helicopters in mock air combat, and then successfully worked on ground targets using its precision weapons as well as unguided rockets.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 53 ft 6 in (16.34 m)
Wingspan: 43 ft 1 1/2 in (13.18 m)
Height: 10 ft 9 in (3,24m)
Empty weight: 24.250 lbs (11.000 kg)
Loaded weight: 33.730 lbs (15.300 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 39,690 lbs (18.000 kg)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 610 mph (980 km/h)
Range: 1.030 miles (1.650 km)
Service ceiling: 39.400 ft (12.000 m)
Rate of climb: 12.960 ft/min (72 m/s)
Engine: 2 Klimov RD-33MK turbofans w/o afterburner rated at 53.0 kN (11,900 lbs.), fitted with 2D vectored thrust nozzles
Armament:
1× GSh-30-1 30mm cannon with 300 rounds .
Four internal weapon bays (two bays for a single AA-8 "Aphid" or a twin ‘Igla’ light air-to-air missile starter; two bays in tandem fore and aft the main gear wells for various weapons incl. guided missiles and bombs).
Four external hard points (2 under each inner wing); total internal and external weapon ordnance 3.000kg.
Five UV-26 dispensers in the tail section (w. 120 chaff/flare cartridges in each pod)
The kit and its assembly:
I guess that everyone who is into whiffy model is familiar with Italieri’s fantasy MiG-37B kit from 1988, and I already built 3 of them since then.
Nevertheless, with my recent interest in Soviet/Russian air industries I felt an itch to build another (better) one, this time with major modifications. Esp. the stubby wings and the senselessly wide and low MiG-23-style landing gear had always been points that did not truly convince me. And since I had such a kit in 1:72th scale in store, I took action.
Surprisingly, you find a lot of individual conversions of the ‘Ferret E’ kit in the Internt. Many are colourful, but few are IMHO convincing as a complete work, lacking thought about the plane’s concept or mission. So, here’s my take on it, the ‘Snowy Owl’ version. All in all I wanted to present a realistic and optimized ground attack plane, based on the original and pretty interesting MiG-37 design, pushing my personal “Sh” version towards Su-25, MiG-27 and even Su-24 ground attack aircraft.
Most obvious change concerns the wings. These were taken from an F-117 donation kit, a horrible thing (probably the early Revell kit) that a friend gave me. Installing them to the fuselage was tough, since they are much thicker than the original, stubby wing spades!
A new landing gear, borrowed from an F-18, and a new nose section (built from scratch & putty and inspired by the installation on MiG-27 fighter bombers) were further changes. Other modifications include additional weapon bays for short range AAMs under the wing gloves à la F-22, the narrow gun fairing nect to the front wheel well and the auxiliary air intake doors on the upper side.
The engine exhaust area has been modified, since I wanted to get away with the original tabletops that are supposed to be vectored nozzles(?). I added some side panels, made from styrene sheet, as well as a central divider, which now offers space for some warning sensors and chaff dispensers. The vectored nozzles were re-built from the original parts as well as styrrene profiles.
Minor changes were made to several antennae and sensors all around the plane. The cockpit was left more or less OOB – it is pretty detailed, and together with the landing gear one of the original kit’s highlights. I just added a Matchbox pilot figure and some details behind the ejection seat.
The weapons come from the scrap box: the AA-8's belong to the ESCI Ka-34 whif Hokum helicopter, the guided bombs are fantasy weapons built from scratch.
Painting/Finish
A tough task from a creative point of view. I neither wanted the stereo-typical all-black stealth look, nor a Russian tactical paint scheme (even though the latter would have been appropriate for the aircraft's role).
A Flanker scheme or even the garish Su-34 ‘Greenbottle Fly’ look also did not seem appropriate, as well as the Su-24-inspired light grey/white livery which is suggested in the OOB kit.
Since I wanted something murky and mysterious, still with a kind of prototype look, I finally settled on two simple grey tones: a uniform medium grey for the upper sides (Testors 2059, 'Dark Sea Grey') and for a twist, a dark grey for the undersides (Testors 1592, RAL 7021 'Schwarzgrau').
I find that such simple designs make a whif plane much more realistic than flamboyant colours or weird paint schemes – leave this to “real” planes in whiff guises. Another factor for this all-grey livery is that I wanted to use the (many) light grey OOB stencil decals, making them stand subtly out against the darker shades below. Lighter shades of grey and ochre were used for antennae, di-electric covers and the wings' leading edges.
The cockpit was painted in typical Russian Blue-Green, air intakes, air brakes and the landing gear with its wells were, after consulting pictures of modern Russian fighters, painted in Barley Grey (Humbrol 167).
The wheels received dark green disks (Humbrol 149), the bomb/missile bays were - as a contrast - painted in a chromate primer color (a mix of Humbrol 81 and 225, Olive Yellow and Mid-Stone), a detail I found on photographs of Tu-95 and Tu160 interiors. Looks weird, but: why not?
Unfortunately, the final matte varnish ended in a minor disaster: I used a water-based, acryllic matt varnish (for a VERY matt finish), but it reacted with both some decals and the enamel paint, not certain why? Probably not enough stirring, and the Begemot decals seem to be very sensitive to humidity and setting solution.
Originally, the machine sported neat low-viz Russian insignia (just red outlines for the stars, featured e .g. on Suchoi’s T-50/PAK FA prototype) from a Begemot decal sheet (called “Demo Flankers” – it is massive, featuring decals for almost 20 prototypes with all markings and the respective paint schemes in a booklet!). They looked great, but crincled under the matt varnish and had to be scraped off, together with some other Begemot decals.
Hence, the final finish of the kit is not the best, I tried to save as much as possible. Since I did not want to invest into another aftermarket decal sheet, I used the light and dark red, opaque Red Stars without outlines from the original Italeri decal sheet. With the light and dark grey as backgorund the result is O.K., but I had another outcome envisaged. :(
All in all, though, a small but catchy project. Not as good as planned, but an attempt to make more of the wacky Italeri MiG-37 than just another black piece of charcoal.
Nikon D810 Photos Pro Women's Surfing Swatch Women's Pro Trestles Sports Photography With New Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens for Nikon!
New blog!
I get a lot of questions here, so if you have one, please ask at the blog! Thanks!
Swatch Women's Pro in Trestles San Clemente with pro surfers /models Alana Blanhard, Lakey Peterson, Laura Enever, Sally Fitzgibbons, Coco Ho, Stephanie Gilmore, newcomer Nikki Van Dijk, and more!
The new Nikon D810 rocks for sports photography! New Instagram!
Goddess videos! vimeo.com/45surf
Nikon D810 Photos Pro Women's Surfing Van's US Open Sports Photography Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD !
I shot in DX mode which crops away the extra pixels and takes me 1.5X closer while allowing for up to 7 FPS with the Nikon D810's Nikon MB-D12 Battery Grip using the 8 AA battery option! 8 Duracels took me through around 3,000 shots no problem--maybe more! I was shooting at the equivalent of 900mm with the 1.5x crop factor! Pretty close! Had I gone with the Nikon D4s, I would have gotten 12 fps, but no DX crop factor, as the sensor has only around 14mp, compared to the d810's 36 megapixels! Sure the larger pixel size on the Nikon D4s full frame sensor comes in handy indoors or at night, but in the bright sun, there's more than enough light for the smaller pixels in crop mode! Sure we lose some pixels from the outer edges when shooting in DX crop mode, but most of those pixels would be cropped away in lightroom anyway. And the smaller files make the memory cards last longer, while also upping the FPS to 7 shots per second! Not quite 12 FPS, but still awesome and enough I felt!
What a beautiful way to test the Nikon D810 and Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens for sports photography!
Athletic graceful girl goddesses! Tall, thin, fit and in shape! Pro women's surfers form the van's us open wearing both long wetsuits and bikini bottoms with shorty wetsuit tops/summer wetsuits. Sexy, beautiful beach babes and water goddesses all! Many are professional swimsuit bikini / surf lifestyle models too!
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD Autofocus lens for Nikon AF-D Cameras.
The new Nikon D810 rocks for sports photography New Instagram!
My latest acquisition. Very nice compact camera. Large, bright viewfinder.
The Agfa Optima sensor electronic was identical to the Agfa Optima 535 Sensor electronic and — like the Agfa Optima sensor Flash - produced in Portugal.
Manufactured in 1982.
Lens: Agfa Solitar 40mm / 1:2.8
Shutter: 1/30 sec. to 1/500
Aperture range: 2.8 to 22
Dimensions: 104 × 70 × 56 mm
Weight: 265 g
Batteries: 3 x alkaline / silver oxide 625G
Information retrieved from this website (in German), which also features beautiful photos of all the 1970s Agfa Optima line.
Another good read (in English) is the Agfa Optima 1535 page on Alfred's Camera Page.
Manufactured by Agfa Kamerawerk AG, Munich, West Germany
Model: c.1970, (all models of Silette produced between 1953-1974)
Agfa logo on the front of the camera: black relief
35 mm film Viewfinder camera
Lens:Agfa Color - Agnar 45mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/2.8 -f /22 , stepless allowing for easy adjustment with the TTL meter
setting: ring and scale on the back of the lens
Focusing: front ring manual focus, w/ DOF scale
Focus range: 1-5m +inf.
Shutter: Parator speeds: 30, 60, 125, 300 +B, extremely quiet
setting : ring and scale on the lens
Shutter release: Red "Sensor" shutter release button,
very smooth and sensitive so no camera shake
Cable release socket: on the back of the top plate
Exposure meter: TTL (coupled to the lens) Selenium Optima 200 Sensor (working !.)
Exposure setting: via 1- the small needle window on the top plate, 2- the indicator in the viewfinder, set the speed and turn the aperture ring
Film speed range: ASA 25-400 (DIN 15-27), setting knob and scales on the lens
View finder: bright frame finder,
Cocking lever: also winds the film, short stroke, on the left of the bottom plate
Frame counter: advance type, manual reset by a button behind the counter window, on the bottom plate
Re-wind release and re-winding: the black lever marked R and arrow on the right lower side of the lens releases and engages the reversing gear
thus the cocking and winding lever is the re-wind lever now
Flash PC socket: none, you can use a flash sync. cord with an Agfa flash adapter
Hot-shoe: flash sync. bulbs 1/30, electronic all speeds
Self-timer: none
Back cover: hinged, opens by a latch on the right side of the camera
Film loading: special easy quick loading system
Body: metal
Tripod socket: 1/4''
serial no. LW 6837 BC
The Silette series' rangefinder models were called Super Silette. There was also an interchangeable lens rangefinder model called the Ambi Silette.
Sensors get dirty, it is impossible to change lens and keep them clean...
Mine has to be cleaned two times a year or more.
When you choose smaller apertures, the dirt spots show shamelessly. In one of my last photos, www.flickr.com/photos/henrique_silva/6600173785/, the aperture was f/36 and so every little tiny bit of dirt was showing, I spent a little time in Lightroom cleaning them, but there are still some in the picture... It was urgent to clean the 40D's sensor
Again I went trough this delicate process, I use Sensor Scope from Delkin Devices, it works well, it uses a combination of vacuum cleaner and moistened sensor wands to get the job done. Here is a before / after mosaic, it is not completly clean, but in fact there is a compromise between having the sensor damaged or have one or two dust spots...
If you want to know more about the process, I will be happy to answer!
Check your sensor for dust!
a - Create a new image in Photoshop or any other application and fill it with white
b - Set your camera to Aperture Priority, ISO100, and aperture to it's minimum f/22 - f/45
c - Set lens focus to Manual, and focus to closest possible
d - Shoot in raw or if in jpeg, turn off special image processing functions
e - Zoom in until the photoshop image fills your camera focusing screen
f - Shoot camera facing the white image on your monitor, and during this exposure, move your camera back and fourth being careful to not to point the lens outside of your white image. You can also zoom in in the image...
g - Process your image, adjust contrast, brightness, clarity, whatever, so that you get a clear view of the dirt spots!
h - Now you can go through the cleaning process - remember that what shows on the bottom of the image will be towards the top of the camera sensor...
i - Repeat the process from a to g and if you are happy with the result, then you are done; otherwise, repeat again... this time I had to make three swab cleanings. It is preferable to clean gently several times than applying to much force.
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Technical Info:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: EF-S15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Focal Length: 40 mm
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Exposure: 0,3 sec at f/22
Exposure bias: 0 EV
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: no flash
GPS
Coordinates:
Altitude:
©Henrique Silva, all rights reserved - no reproduction without prior permission
"Magic Wire" is so called because of detecting proximity to antenna.
THE MAGIC WIRE
As shown in the diagram, the input tube is a type 6R7 duo-diode triode. The triode section forms the oscillator, in conjunction with the coil L1 which is center-tapped to the cathode. When the triode section is oscillating, the r.f. voltage developed from cathode to ground is impressed on the diode section, causing current to flow through R2 and making the diode plates negative with respect to ground. The control grid of the 25L6 power tube is connected to the diode plates of the 6R7 and consequently a negative bias is placed on the grid which reduces its plate current to a very low value. As soon as the triode ceases to oscillate, there is no longer any r.f. voltage applied to the diodes, the voltage drops and the 25L6 draws high plate current, causing the relay to operate.
It will be noted that no rectifier tube or filler circuit is required in this design, yet the instrument functions on either a.c. or d.c. On a.c., the 6R7 oscillations and the 25L6 draws plate current only on the positive half-cycles. This principle effects a considerable saving in construction cost and in the size of the instrument.
After the parts required have been obtained, the first step in building the unit is to make the chassis, which consists simply of a piece of 16-gauge aluminum or steel bent and drilled in accordance with the plan shown. The front panel, which is included with the standard 6 by 6 cabinet, is drilled and a hole and grommet are placed in the rear panel. The oscillator coil is made by winding 100 turns of No.28 d.c.c. wire on a one-inch bakelite tube 3-1/4 inches long. A tap is brought out at the center of the winding. When the winding has been completed, the entire coil is dipped in a hot half-and-half mixture of beeswax and paraffin to keep the winding in place and exclude moisture. The sensitivity of the outfit is largely dependent upon the efficiency of the coil, so it should be carefully made. C1 is mounted on a small piece of 1/8-inch bakelite, because it must be insulated from the panel.
Wire the chassis first, starting with the heater circuits. Do not connect in the power cord until all wiring has been completed. The shield of the 25L6 is connected to its cathode, the shield of the 6E7 to the heater terminal which goes directly to the line. When all the main wiring has been completed, bring the power cord through the rear panel hole, and solder the three terminals to the terminal strip. The antenna wire is brought in through a rubber-grommeted hole in the top of the cabinet and connected to the stator or plate terminal of C1. A knot in the wire will relieve any strain on this connection. Stranded wire is preferred for the antenna.
The capacitances of C1 and C2 are largely dependent upon the length of antenna wire desired. If only 4 or 5 feet are required, C2 may be omitted. On the other hand, if the wire exceeds 15 feet, C2 will have to be larger than the value given. If the capacitance of C1 were made large (say 150 mmf. or more), C2 could of course be omitted but then the adjustment would become too critical.
The relay employed is a 3,000-ohm plug-in type of standard manufacture. It is a double-pole model and will handle a non-inductive load of 100 watts. It is somewhat more sensitive than is required and any other good relay of 1,000 ohms or more resistance should be suitable. The capacitor, C4, is shunted across the relay coil to prevent chattering. It may be advisable, in some cases, to put a 0.1 mf. paper capacitor across the relay contacts to stop sparking on heavy loads. It is better practice, however, to use a separate power relay when operating any but light loads.
In operation, the antenna wire is strung out well away from grounded metal objects and a 110-volt lamp is plugged into the outlet on the panel. When the tubes have heated, the lamp should light when the antenna wire is touched. If it lights without touching the wire, C2 should be screwed down until the lamp goes out. These adjustments should be made with C1 about one-half mashed. The panel may then screwed in on the cabinet and final adjustment made. This is done by gradually adjusting the vernier knob of the dial until the light remains lit when adjusting but goes out when the hand is removed from the dial. This may be carried to a point where the light will flash as soon as one approaches within 3 feet of the wire or instrument. It is better not to aim for such sensitivity, though, since it will vary somewhat with line voltage. A good, practical and stable point is about six to fifteen minutes or so for the instrument to acquire a stable point of operation owing to its sensitivity.
PARTS REQUIRED
C1 - Midget variable capacitor, 60 mmf. (see text)
C2 - Trimmer capacitor, 35 mmf. or more (see text)
C3 - Tubular paper capacitor, 0.05 mf. or more, 200 v.
C4 - Electrolytic capacitor, 10 mf., 100 V.
R1 - Carbon resistor, 5 meg, 1 watt
R2 - Carbon resistor, 1 meg., 1 watt
R4 - Wire-wound resistor, 5,000 ohms, 10 watts
R5 - Wire-wound resistor, 10,000 ohms, 10 watts
1 -- Steel cabinet 6x6x6 inches, front & back panels removable
1 -- Piece 16-gauge aluminum, for chassis 5-1/2 x 7-3/4 inches
1 -- Piece bakelite tubing, 1 inch diameter., 3-1/2 inches long
1 -- Piece bakelite, 1'1/2 x 1-1/2, 1/8 inch thick for C1
2 -- Octal wafer sockets, 1-1/2 inches center for mounting holes
1 -- 5-prong wafer socket, 1-1/2 inches center for mounting holes
1 -- Relay, Utah type RAC-110, 3,000 ohm
1 -- 6R7 metal tube
1 -- 25L6 metal tube
1 -- Kurz-Kasch vernier dial, small
1 -- Resistor line cord, 280 ohms (R3)
1 -- Single outlet receptacle
Miscellaneous screws, nuts, mounting bracket, and grommets.
- James P Hughes
Seen on Flickr EXPLORE - # 376 - September 22, 2017, click here
Green trees on a suburban street in the morning sunlight. This picture is straight out from the camera, no processing except darken a the brightness a bit. What I call the magic of the CCD Sensor, no longer used in digital cameras.
Made with the Pentax Optio Z-10 point and shoot.
He sacado "de paseo" la cámara ya casi de vintage Samsung EX1.
Los colores son impresionante porque tiene sensor CCD
Los 13699 fotogramas restantes se pueden ver acá:
Y de yapa, un bellísimo collage inspirado en esos fotogramas: