#pixel winder

[puppizai]

doll key !

credit is highly appreciated, but not required. just don't claim as your own ! recolours are ok, as are edits, but if you do edit it credit is required. gonna start posting (or at least trying to) pixels i have drawn !

[dinkdonkjoolian]

(/lyr, lyrics from this place is death by deftones)

[atplblog]

Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] - Details) [ad_1] Product Description ABOUT THE PRODUCT Cartoon Animal Shape Item weight: 0.017kg Adhesive materials: Nano Gel adhesive Item Material: Acrylic Plastic, Metal Rotating Ring Package Dimensions: 5.9inches(L) 0.43inches(Thick) 4.02inches(W) Advantages Durable and Portable Easy to use and carry Anti-dropping & Theft 360 Degree Arbitrary Rotation & 180 Degree Folding Wide Compatibility Compatible with all devices, such as Apple: iPhone 8 / 7 / 7 Plus / 6s / 6s Plus / 6 / 6 Plus / SE / 5s /5 Samsung: Samsung Galaxy S7 / S6 / S5 / Note 8 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 Google: Pixel 1 / 2 / XL 1 / XL 2, Nexus 6P / 5X HTC, MOTO, HUAWEI, GOOGLE, LG, SONY And iPad series like iPad Pro 9.7, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 Note Each kickstand has a small plastic film on it. Durable material Acrylic cell phone ring stand holder with strong adhesive sticky. Designed with unique cartoon shape and make your phone look more fashion. It is convenient and safe in your life. Great Phone Grip & Desktop Cell Phone Stand. It's also a Great Gift shared with your friends and families Our phone ring stand holder can be used as kickstand, grip, car mount holder and cable winder. Anti-drop and theft by holding it firmly, perfect for propping it up to watch movies or freeing your hands to do your work KolorFish Phone ring stand holder stand support 360 degree rotation and 180 degree folding, which helps you adjust the phone to different viewing angles when you are watching movies and reading messages. Compatible with most phone devices, tablets and iPads etc 【FREE MOUNT HOOK】Durable material Acrylic cell phone ring holder with strong adhesive sticky. 【UNIQUE DESIGN & CONVENIENCE】 Designed with unique cartoon shape and make your phone look more fashion. It is convenient and safe in your life. Great Phone Grip & Desktop Cell Phone Stand. It's also a Great Gift shared with your friends and families 【MULTI-FUNCTIONAL USE】 Our phone ring holder can be used as kickstand, grip, car mount holder and cable winder. Anti-drop and theft by holding it firmly, perfect for propping it up to watch movies or freeing your hands to do your work 【FLEXIBLE ROTATION】KolorFish Phone ring holder stand

support 360 degree rotation and 180 degree folding, which helps you adjust the phone to different viewing angles when you are watching movies and reading messages. Compatible with most phone devices, tablets and iPads etc [ad_2]

[em2dplatformer]

Designing Enemies

To help me get a better idea on what I want my enemy(s) to look like, I'm going to look at some enemies from popular games.

Sonic the Hedgehog:

I really wanted to look at the enemies from Sonic the Hedgehog as I think their designs would fit really well into my game. Designs like the Moto Bug and Buzz Bomber were what first came to my mind when I was thinking about enemy designs. The combination of nature and machinery is exactly what I would use to explain the style of my game and the sonic enemy designs.

The bright colours of the enemies are also something I want to use as it both fits my style and makes them more clear to the player. Them also having different roles is something I like the idea of including with both a land and air variant.

Grounded:

Carrying on from the bug enemy idea, I wanted to look at the idea of using giant/mutated bugs. The first game that came to my mind for large insects was Grounded. Grounded's main enemies are larger insects such as spiders, ladybirds and beetles that are, compared to the player, massive. This helps to make enemies a lot scarier in Grounded, especially since the game is in third person.

With both of these ideas in mind, I started trying to design my first enemy. For this enemy, I wanted to focus on the mechanical bug idea from the sonic series and picked a mechanical bee to do. For this, I wanted to look at some pixel art bee for reference.

I didn't want my bees to be overly detailed because they would look out of place but I also struggled to keep them simplistic while still making it clear they're mechanical.

My first attempt was very simplistic with the body being pill shaped. I tried to make the mechanical aspect clear using a winder from wind up toys instead of wings. This attempt does work and I like the winder part, I just think that it doesn't feel enough like a hostile enemy.

For my second attempt, I relied a lot more on my reference images to create a more detailed version of the bee. I added different colours for the bees stripes so that the arms wouldn't be lost on his torso, I added a fur collar for the bee to look fluffier and more natural so that the biological side was more apparent. To balance this out, I added a section of the bee's face that has peeled away to reveal the robot underneath. I also added shading to the now larger winder so that it isn't made insignificant by the rest of the bee's design.

I added an animation to make it feel more alive and its ready to be put into the game.

[interactivemediaahh]

pixel art

Also on the first week we began looking at pixel art. pixel art is mean and there are important bits about it that I have forgotten and will be adding to this afterwards and then deleting this sentence. We started by using a 64x64 canvas on photo shop and start making a character. I do not know how to character so I struggled for a time until I could receive assistance. Upon receiving assistance I was informed that I could do an object instead. I decided to do a hunter pocket watch. What I learnt from this decision is dont start with circles when first experimenting with pixels. to add to this issue of circles I then decided to add a cog to the back to relate to time. I never made it to 32x32. Once I had gotten the outside shape in a usable condition, including the winder on top, I started working on the cog. My original plan was to have a couple and then found ti was more effort than it was worth at this stage and so used only a single cog. Cogs are, in fact, much harder to do than circles in pixel form. I spent time working out how thick the teeth were going to be, the shape of the teeth and then the shape and size of the angled teeth until ending up with a claw shape.

The cog doesnt entirely look like a cog and when colour was applied it ended up looking like an odd snowflake.

After this we had to merge the layers and export it in order to make a character sheet. I am not entirely happy with it but at this point I doubt i'd be able to get it any better.

[anantradingpvtltd]

Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] - Details) [ad_1] Specification Color: Funky Animal Shape Item weight: 0.017kg Adhesive materials: Nano Gel adhesive Item Material: Acrylic Plastic, Metal Rotating Ring Package Dimensions: 5.9inches(L) 0.43inches(Thick) 4.02inches(W) Advantages ★Durable and Portable ★Easy to use and carry ★Anti-dropping & Theft ★360 Degree Arbitrary Rotation & 180 Degree Folding Wide Compatibility Compatible with all devices, such as ★Apple: iPhone 8 / 7 / 7 Plus / 6s / 6s Plus / 6 / 6 Plus / SE / 5s /5 ★Samsung: Samsung Galaxy S7 / S6 / S5 / Note 8 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 ★Google: Pixel 1 / 2 / XL 1 / XL 2, Nexus 6P / 5X ★HTC, MOTO, HUAWEI, GOOGLE, LG, SONY ★And iPad series like iPad Pro 9.7, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 Note ★Each kickstand has a small plastic film on it. If you want the ring stand looks more smooth, please tear off the plastic film on the top; ★The first time use, please clean your phone or phone case, keep the surface clean and flat, stick the ring stand with high pressure keep 5 minute then pull up for testing; 【UNIQUE DESIGN & CONVENIENCE】 Designed with unique cartoon shape and make your phone look more fashion. It is convenient and safe in your life. Great Phone Grip & Desktop Cell Phone Stand. It's also a Great Gift shared with your friends and families 【MULTI-FUNCTIONAL USE】 Our phone ring holder can be used as kickstand, grip, car mount holder and cable winder. Anti-drop and theft by holding it firmly, perfect for propping it up to watch movies or freeing your hands to do your work 【FLEXIBLE ROTATION】BeFunky Phone ring holder stand support 360 degree rotation and 180 degree folding, which helps you adjust the phone to different viewing angles when you are watching movies and reading messages. Compatible with most phone devices, tablets and iPads etc [ad_2]

[exothermicex]

Upgrade EP by Pixel Terror, featuring Emeline, Aviella & Dirty Chime Artwork featured on Pixel Terror’s Upgrade EP merch (hoodie)

[ka3l]

also some quick thank you art to @saralee-crossing and @brewsters-art-cafe for setting up the @acnl-artsecretsanta trade!

[leicamoments]

Kodak Brownie Flash II

I promised you the results of shooting with the Kodak Brownie...so, being good to my word, here goes!

Background

I bought this camera in a shop in Helmsley, North Yorkshire a few years ago...more as a curio than something I was going to use...and it has sat in my camera display cabinet since then.

Every so often, I would get it out and try and work out how I could use it; ranging from buying 620 film to putting a digital camera inside (maybe using one of the Raspberry Pi computers I have hanging around).

Eventually, I decided to get some 3d printed adapters for 35mm film and try that out.

How Do I?

So having got the 35mm to 620 adapters, it was a question of how do I shoot with the camera.

Instead of putting a few long paragraphs of description, I'll summarise for your sanity: -

I worked out that it took six half turns of the film advance knob to get onto the next frame.

I needed to tape the film leader to the 620 film take-on spool, otherwise it wouldn't wind the film on successfully (most of the time the film leader slipped off the spool).

I needed 100 ISO film to match the sort of film speed this camera was initially intended to shoot with.

The shutter speed is around 1/50th second with a fixed F11-ish aperture.

Recommended shooting time is between an hour after sun-up and an hour before sun-down.

Bright scenes are best.

Issues

Summarising: -

Framing is almost impossible...it is a guessing game!

Winding the 35mm film on is a disconcerting experience. The feedback from the camera is, quite frankly, rubbish.

Knowing when the film is finished is tough...a few times, I thought I had exposed the film to the end of roll but could sort of wind it on more.

I was worried about snapping the film out of the canister when I got near the end of the 36 exposure roll.

You need to open the camera to release the film winding mechanism and rewind the film into the canister. The winder doesn't go 'backwards'.

Sitting on a hot summer's day in the shade on a wall, with your hands under a coat and inside a bag...quite frankly draws attention! It looks weird and gets you looks (I had someone approach me and ask if I was alright!).

You will get fingermarks and light leaks onto the film as you rewind if you don't use a light-proof film bag.

Results

This image is straight out of the camera...apart from scanning and inverting the scan.

So...points to note:

Framing is an issue!

You get around eight panoramic frames to a 36 exposure 35mm film.

The winding of the film introduces movement and the film can become skewed a little, so it is almost impossible to keep the horizon straight!

The light leak on this frame is not from the camera, but from my improvised under-the-coat unloading process.

With this effectively being a fixed exposure 'point and shoot', the image is slightly overexposed - it was a very bright day.

Sharpness for this approximately 65 year-old, fixed focus camera is surprisingly good.

The scan for this frame is around 20,000x6000 pixels. That's a 120 megapixel image.

Colour rendition from the lens is...well...interesting.

Conclusions

Would I shoot with this camera again? The short answer is yes...but taking into account the issues above, I would ensure I tried to mitigate the errors I made.

The downside is framing and I am unsure how that could be improved rather than be just a best guess.

If you have any questions, please get in touch!

[perfectirishgifts]

Microsoft Warns Of Massive New ‘Drive-By Attack’ Targeting Chrome, Edge, Firefox Users

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/microsoft-warns-of-massive-new-drive-by-attack-targeting-chrome-edge-firefox-users/

Microsoft Warns Of Massive New ‘Drive-By Attack’ Targeting Chrome, Edge, Firefox Users

Microsoft warns of ongoing browser drive-by attack campaign targeting Chrome, Edge and Firefox users

A well-organized threat campaign uses what Microsoft calls a “massive infrastructure” to stealthily distribute malware to web browsers including Chrome, Edge and Firefox.

Users who find themselves caught up in this attack scenario which can add malicious extensions, inject malicious ads into search results and even steal credentials in some cases should, Microsoft says, “re-install their browsers.”

In a write-up from the Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team, the “persistent malware campaign” named as Adrozek is explained in detail. It doesn’t make for easy reading, and I’m not referring just to the technical level of the report. The researchers discovered that the campaign is both sophisticated and persistent in nature.

MORE FROM FORBESGoogle Chrome Update Gets Serious: Homeland Security (CISA) Confirms Attacks UnderwayBy Davey Winder

Sophisticated and persistent malware campaign

Within the space of five months, the researchers tracked a total of 159 unique domains being used by the threat actors to distribute “hundreds of thousands” of malware samples. Each sample is unique courtesy of the polymorphic nature of this beast. One domain was found to be hosting 250,000 unique URLs, another 100,000, to give you an idea of the scale of this attack campaign.

This distribution infrastructure is not only massive; it’s also dynamic. While some were alive for 24 hours and then vanished, others stayed active for as long as four months. The more persistent domains were distributing legitimate files in an apparent attempt to boost their reputation and evade detection. The malware itself poses as a legitimate Windows service once the infected file has been dropped into the program files directory via the Windows temporary directory.

The dangers extend beyond malicious advertising

What it does then depends, to a degree, on which browsers are installed. The primary payload appears to be the addition of browser extensions and modification of dynamic link-libraries (DLLs) that enable the insertion of malicious adverts into web pages, including search engine results. Adrozek will drop these ads over the top of legitimate ones, and if clicked, these generate revenue through affiliate programs.

However, because the malware maintains persistence and does more than just install malicious adverts, it’s more serious than most such campaigns. Within the Edge browser, for example, a DLL is modified to prevent security controls from functioning correctly. It will also prevent browsers from being updated to the latest version and in some cases can attempt to steal login credentials.

Re-install browser if infected, Microsoft advises

The researchers say that “Microsoft Defender Antivirus, the built-in endpoint protection solution on Windows 10, uses behavior-based, machine learning-powered detections to block Adrozek.” They also state that users who find themselves infected by this threat should “re-install their browsers” to get rid of it.

Of course, prevention is better than cure, and not downloading software from untrusted sources and clicking on links to suspicious websites goes a long way as well.

MORE FROM FORBESMicrosoft Confirms Serious Windows 10 Password Problem-Here’s The 5 Step FixBy Davey Winder

Security experts advise caution

“Microsoft didn’t specify what interactions are required for Adrozek infections to occur, so it’s difficult to give practical advice on how to prevent it. Microsoft mentions that infections occur through “drive-by downloads”, which is not very specific,” Paul Bischoff, privacy advocate at Comparitech, said. “A lot of drive-by downloads occur through malicious scripts,” Bischoff continued, “so a script blocker extension like NoScript could help protect your browser.”

Jake Moore, a cybersecurity specialist at ESET, said that “hijacking search results may sound harmless but this sort of malware funds cybercrime and future widespread attacks. Cybercriminals are quick to evolve with innovative new ways to finance their livelihoods, and this is the sort of malware that regularly goes on behind the larger-scale attacks such as data breaches.”

“This is a great example of how technically advanced modern attackers are,” Erich Kron, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, said, “campaigns like this quietly run in the background generating income by redirecting search results.” Kron also pointed out that “the addition of credential theft from the Firefox browser is a valuable tool,” and one which is “successful because people often reuse the same password for many different accounts.”

I’ll leave the last words with Chris Hauk, consumer privacy champion at Pixel Privacy, who advises “I can’t stress enough to users never to install an app or extension simply because a website informs you that your machine needs an update to Flash Player or some other app, extension, or plug-in.”

From Cybersecurity in Perfectirishgifts

[p2gamerblog]

wow Male Draenei Are Wider Than They Are Tall With the Right Shoulders

wow Male Draenei Are Wider Than They Are Tall With the Right Shoulders

With the proper shoulders, Male Draenei will be wider than they’re tall!

Reddit consumer Aaera measured the width and top of their Draenei and discovered the character’s wider than it is tall. The peak was 565 pixels and the width 601 pixels.

Supply: Reddit

Winder draenei 😮 should be a shaman, buffing his windfury totem with these shoulders

That is so random and…

[atplblog]

Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] - Details) [ad_1] Specification Color: Funky Fruit Shape Item weight: 0.017kg Adhesive materials: Nano Gel adhesive Item Material: Acrylic Plastic, Metal Rotating Ring Package Dimensions: 5.9inches(L) 0.43inches(Thick) 4.02inches(W) Advantages ★Durable and Portable ★Easy to use and carry ★Anti-dropping & Theft ★360 Degree Arbitrary Rotation & 180 Degree Folding Wide Compatibility Compatible with all devices, such as ★Apple: iPhone 8 / 7 / 7 Plus / 6s / 6s Plus / 6 / 6 Plus / SE / 5s /5 ★Samsung: Samsung Galaxy S7 / S6 / S5 / Note 8 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 ★Google: Pixel 1 / 2 / XL 1 / XL 2, Nexus 6P / 5X ★HTC, MOTO, HUAWEI, GOOGLE, LG, SONY ★And iPad series like iPad Pro 9.7, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 Note ★Each kickstand has a small plastic film on it. If you want the ring stand looks more smooth, please tear off the plastic film on the top; ★The first time use, please clean your phone or phone case, keep the surface clean and flat, stick the ring stand with high pressure keep 5 minute then pull up for testing; 【FREE MOUNT HOOK】Durable material Acrylic cell phone ring stand holder with strong adhesive sticky. 【UNIQUE DESIGN & CONVENIENCE】 Designed with unique cartoon shape and make your phone look more fashion. It is convenient and safe in your life. Great Phone Grip & Desktop Cell Phone Stand. It's also a Great Gift shared with your friends and families 【MULTI-FUNCTIONAL USE】 Our phone ring stand holder can be used as kickstand, grip, car mount holder and cable winder. Anti-drop and theft by holding it firmly, perfect for propping it up to watch movies or freeing your hands to do your work 【FLEXIBLE ROTATION】KolorFish Phone ring stand holder stand support 360 degree rotation and 180 degree folding, which helps you adjust the phone to different viewing angles when you are watching movies and reading messages. Compatible with most phone devices, tablets and iPads etc [ad_2]

[supertiedribbonsfan]

What unique gifts you can give to your brother on this Rakhi season……. 

Rakshabandhan is the only festival which is all about love, happiness, protection and gifts, of course! And who also loves you more than the one you grew up and shared the house with. So, this year gift that special guy something extraordinary. Gift him something delightful along fun with selected range of Rakhi gift for brothers available in the market.. By gifting him a perfect can bring a beautiful bond like no other. Finding Rakhi gifts for brothers just got easier. Look no further, we have got some cool and quirky Rakhi gifts online that he would love. Show him your love by gifting him something momentous which reminds him of you every time he uses it.

1. HARRY POTTER SORTING HAT 3D MUG

If your brother is a certified Potterhead & can while away an entire day, dreaming about Hogwarts. So, surprise him with the super cool awesome Harry Potter Sorting Hat 3D Mug, that also makes the promise to help him stay sorted the magical way. 

2. BEARD CATCHER

Does your brother also have a hard time cleaning up after he is mainly done shaving or trimming? If yes, save him from that hard-working effort by gifting him this beard catcher, This Rakhi. 3. SWAG WALA RAKHI GIFT SET  FOR BHAI- 3 PC

Your brother has always taught you all the cool things, from cool poses to cool dance moves. Also try to recognize his efforts with this uber-cool Swag Wala Bhai Gift Set, which is mainly a Pandora's Box of delightful products such as Swag Wala Bhai Rakhi, Thug Life Pixel Sunglasses, and also King for the Day Inflatable Crown

4. CORD WINDERS

This can be a creative gift for your brother as it is available as Minions and blue elephant monsters, these silicone cord winders can control pesky, tangled up cords. Now those ever-lasting wires won’t always be messing up his table anymore. 

5. A PERFECT MUSCLE BEER MUG

The perfect Rakhi gift for your brother as he always relaxes on his beanbag after a tough day. So, if he likes to show off his muscles and even swears that he can drink like a sailor then think no more and get him this glass. So, you want your brother to be happy on this Rakhi? Then Buy Rakhi gifts online. 

Fancy Rakhi

Zardosi Rakhi

Divine Rakhi

Diamond Rakhi

Kundan Rakhi

Silver Rakhi

Pearl Rakhi

Kids Rakhi

Peacock Rakhi

Stone Rakhi

Chandan Rakhi

Photo Rakhi

Rudraksh rakhi

Metal Rakhi

Jewelled Rakhi

[anantradingpvtltd]

Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] - Details) [ad_1] Specification Color: Funky Animal Shape Item weight: 0.017kg Adhesive materials: Nano Gel adhesive Item Material: Acrylic Plastic, Metal Rotating Ring Package Dimensions: 5.9inches(L) 0.43inches(Thick) 4.02inches(W) Advantages ★Durable and Portable ★Easy to use and carry ★Anti-dropping & Theft ★360 Degree Arbitrary Rotation & 180 Degree Folding Wide Compatibility Compatible with all devices, such as ★Apple: iPhone 8 / 7 / 7 Plus / 6s / 6s Plus / 6 / 6 Plus / SE / 5s /5 ★Samsung: Samsung Galaxy S7 / S6 / S5 / Note 8 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 ★Google: Pixel 1 / 2 / XL 1 / XL 2, Nexus 6P / 5X ★HTC, MOTO, HUAWEI, GOOGLE, LG, SONY ★And iPad series like iPad Pro 9.7, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 Note ★Each kickstand has a small plastic film on it. If you want the ring stand looks more smooth, please tear off the plastic film on the top; ★The first time use, please clean your phone or phone case, keep the surface clean and flat, stick the ring stand with high pressure keep 5 minute then pull up for testing; 【UNIQUE DESIGN & CONVENIENCE】 Designed with unique cartoon shape and make your phone look more fashion. It is convenient and safe in your life. Great Phone Grip & Desktop Cell Phone Stand. It's also a Great Gift shared with your friends and families 【MULTI-FUNCTIONAL USE】 Our phone ring holder can be used as kickstand, grip, car mount holder and cable winder. Anti-drop and theft by holding it firmly, perfect for propping it up to watch movies or freeing your hands to do your work 【FLEXIBLE ROTATION】BeFunky Phone ring holder stand support 360 degree rotation and 180 degree folding, which helps you adjust the phone to different viewing angles when you are watching movies and reading messages. Compatible with most phone devices, tablets and iPads etc [ad_2]

[alexteltevskiy]

Vintage russki camera review - Zenit-B w/ Industar 50-2 f/3.5

Intro

I have a modestly sized family and most about every in it is/has been crazy about photography at some point in their lives. My father, in particular, has been in the cozy company of cameras since, like, forever. I've got a picture of him somewhere: a cheerful little lad, no older than a year, crawling around right next to my grandpa's trusty little rangefinder...

What does this have to do with anything? Well, today I'll be reviewing one of my dad's many old cameras - his trusty Zenit-B with an Industar 50-2 50mm f/3.5. He used this one as his 35mm camera of choice after his FED rangefinder, having abandoned it much later after moving on to Japanese SLRs. I actually accidentally bumped into this camera about a year ago in my older brother's attic. Turns out, my dad gave the camera as a present to my bro, who used it for a bit but ultimately forgot about its existence, having moved on to more modern snappers.

Imagine my surprise when I unearth the leather-case-clad tank-of-a-camera with a big bold Made in USSR stamped onto it. The thing was lightly used, lens had no malices typical of a subterranean attic-dweller (haze, fungus), nothing was seriously loose or wrong... until I popped it open to check shutter operation...

Design & build quality

The thing is built like a tank. Mass produced from 1968 to 1973. Rugged and over-engineered, and that is even before I tore it down to get inside and fix it. Inside it looked like it was built to withstand a nuclear blast. A Tchaikovsky Overture of heavy duty gearing, solid steel parts, heavy gauge springs, all tightly wedged against each other with thick flat head screws.

All the more baffling why, oh WHY did they bother to use simple glue to keep together the rubber-coated cloth shutter??? The most important piece of the puzzle, the cornerstone, the heart of the system... why was it made to be so weak? And it's not like there was a large amount of redundancy built into the mechanism - a little bit of glue going undone and the whole curtain self-destructs. Just don't get it.

Anyway, I had to hunt down a spare body with a functioning shutter on eBay to kindly act as a donor. As soon as the box touched down on my front porch the organ transplant was underway and not long afterwards my neighbors probably heard me go on a creepy "it's alive" howl. Frankenzenit was ready for action.

Apart from the shutter glue drama, the camera is a brick, chiseled out of the Terminator's spare parts. And there's just something about that Soviet design aesthetic that gets me every time. Like an old friend you'd sometimes like to forget, but can't. An eclectic mix of extreme cases of forms following function and the necessity for every single object in the country to be fixable with a skeleton toolset of dull screwdriver and hammer. Heck, most of the time even just the hammer was necessary.

Tech specs

Under the covers it was all business and no frills. Barebones feature set, all manual, nothing extra. Shutter goes from 1/30 to 1/500 (the accuracy of which I can't attest to after seeing the mechanism up close and personal), has Bulb. Shutter knob has twist-proof mechanism, reminded me of something you'd find on a T-34 instead of a camera but it has a charm to it, adding an extra step to process.

Winder/shutter button combo with a built-in hand-resetable frame counter and provisions for a standard cable release. A rewind button and rewind/ISO memory wheel. Oh, and a self-timer. Mirror slap is not too obnoxious but don't expect to pull a ninja with this camera - loud and clunky. Next to zero foam in the body, the only seals are made of felt that are still going strong after 45+ years.

The lens is a copy of a Zeiss design, M42 mount, opens up to 3.5 and stops down to 16. Filter thread is, wait for it, 35mm in diameter. Good luck finding a pinch lens cap for it. More details on image quality further down the review.

In use

Armed with a meter and a trusty roll of Ilford HP5+ @400 (I ran out of Tri-X at that moment), headed out Downtown with Kris from 43 Stories to see the sights and sounds of the Big City. From the sun-soaked vantage point of a 12-floor parking garage all the way down to chilly pale breeze of the distant skyline from the shores of Navy Pier, the 7-mile 6-hour walk took us all the way from Printer's Row, through the Loop on the L and onto River North, crossing the Magnificent Mile and into Streeterville. Crash at Navy Pier then back home.

Right from the beginning you get a sense that this will be a no-nonesense camera. Everything is roughly where you expect it. The gears are less ergonomic than its peers and the levers dig a little deeper into your skin, but the classic layout was a breather from some of the other cameras I've tested lately. Compact, easy to hold and grip, even with gloves. Aggressive knurling on the controls made fine manipulation easy. Everything clicks solidly.

In addition to the Victorian-Era steely thunderclap of a shutter, the camera has further handicaps that keep it back from being a street-smart photoninja. The shutter speed can't be set blindly, as there are no indicators of what speed you're on anywhere else but the knob. And to change speeds, you have to raise the knob, rotate it and plop it back into the correct setting. There are no physical clicks or stops when you rotate it, so unless you have super-dexterous fingers and a built-in angle meter accurate to the degree, you have to take the camera off of your eyes to readjust exposure.

Same goes for aperture, but this time it's even worse - camera needs to be focused wide open as the finder is too dim. And after you focus you'll most likely have to stop down the aperture. This cannot be done without peeling away from the camera and looking down at the aperture ring. It's clickless, so unless you have a sixth sense for degrees, you will need to look down. Forget quick turnaround time on the streets - this camera is a methodical shooter that requires planning ahead and patience, both from you and any animate object in front of you.

The viewfinder is pretty dim and features a regular ground glass - no fresnel circles in the center or any other focusing aids. With a f/3.5 lens it may not make that much of a difference, but any other lens with a larger aperture may require you to hunt quite a bit to nail that f/2 or f/1.4. Another minor (major, actually) annoyance is that the ring around the viewfinder is, just like most else on this camera, made of metal. Yours Truly Four-Eyes over here needs to first focus with glasses on, making sure not to have direct contact with the metal ring, then slide the glasses over to zoom the eye closer in to compose. The viewfinder optics are recessed deep into the body and it's impossible to see the entire viewfinder area coverage with glasses on. Haven't been able to dig up specs on viewfinder coverage but I have a hunch it's around the 80%-90% mark - I always saw extra features on the negs that I thought were long gone from the frame.

One final note about the viewfinder is that in the camera that I have, the viewfinder is misaligned horizontally, with a couple degrees of rotation to the right. Plain English: when the horizon is straight in my viewfinder, it's actually crooked in the actual photo. I haven't tested this with a bubble level yet, but people call me "human horizon" for a reason - I'm usually very, very careful with that. You hear horror stories about little irking details like this all the time with Soviet cameras, guess they've got some validity behind them, eh? Looking inside, I found no way of adjust the mirror or the ground glass. After peaking into the donor body, that one was misaligned as well, this time leaning to the opposite side.

The winder on this camera is an absolute beast. Quite literally. Be very, very gentle with it. Treat it real slow, nice and easy. The winder sprocket cams inside the body are born from a crude metal cast with razor-sharp edges on the teeth. I consider the Ilford HP5+ film base to be on the pretty durable side, yet even it has had ripped sprockets along most of the length. The winding lever has virtually zero feedback compared to modern cameras and Hulk-like leverage. The only way I was informed that I'd gotten to the end of the roll is when I heard a loud rip of the film from it's canister. Removing it required a dark changing bag. Apart from that expect to get 37-38 shots per 36 exposure roll. Film spacing is pretty consistent and film gate is at a slight angle but at least with no major light leaks (pressure plate still good after all these years).

Image quality

So what do the images look like? They're pretty good, actually. I was expecting it perform a lot worse, but it is a knock-off of a Zeiss design, so that probably helps. First, the numbers. 3.5 is predictably soft, with decent center, medium vignetting and mildly mushy corners. Modern pixel peepers would consider this atrocious, but that's not what film aficionados are after, and to my eye it actually appears pleasantly vintage looking. I found the lens sharpest in the center by f/5.6, with f/8 improving the corners but starting to lose a bit in the center. F/11 exhibits a uniform image from center to corner, that's as in "uniformly soft", and f/16 starts looking like somebody took the photo and printed it on a rug made of low-denier fabrics.

Bokeh is minimal and can get quite busy unless you get REAL close to something. Wide open the bokeh is also quite swirly (couldn't find a more technical term), reminiscent of many vintage lens, where it looks like time and space itself are being bent around your subject matter. A look I actually quite like and one that is currently being revived thanks to Lomography's efforts with lens based on ancient optical formulas.

Flaring can be an issue, but the way the lens handles it is by dissipating the flare across the entire field of view, unlike some other lens where the flare affects the image only partially. I would assume this is because minimal, if any coating was used on the elements. I actually prefer this.

I was also quite surprised by the copious amounts of barrel distortion I noticed when photographing objects close up. I mean, come on - it's a 50, not even a 35! At infinity though, distortion is gone and buildings don't look like they're binging on burgers.

Conclusion

So, what do I think about a camera that has more misalignments than a knocked over vase that was superglued back together? The camera has a lot of sides the modern snapper would find archaic, impractical and irritating. It's a menace to film rolls and close ups of straight brick walls. It's an exercise in patience and meticulousness. And it's a lottery of settings and angles plagued by inconsistency and vagueness. But despite all this it still works, and works solidly. I am still surprised by the engineered heart failure on these cameras, but at a dime a dozen, there's no reason one should stay away from these exotic relics from a bygone world order.

PS: Did I mention that it's a conversation starter? "Hello sir! May I make a portrait of you?" "What kind of camera is that?" "It's almost 50 years old, shoots black and white film and was made in the USSR!" (eyes bulging in surprise) "No way! Sure man, take as many as you like!"

Sample pics

[dametraveler]

Autumn In Washington, DC: An Insider's Guide

Autumn In Washington, DC: An Insider’s Guide

Every inch of Washington, DC fills up with tourists every spring because of its iconic cherry blossom season… and there’s no doubt why. The pink blooms, beautiful weather and seasonal events are a treat after a cold winder in the north east. But I truly believe a visit to Washington, DC in the fall is a real delight! The area isn’t packed with travelers and visitors, and the quaint and historic…