Month: June 2024

–Kenny drove me to the Folsom farmers market. Got melons, tomatoes, doughnut hole peaches.

–Watered/fertilized plants on back patio.

–“Silca” hose and chuck came in. Doesn’t say Silca anywhere; chuck says Euroline. Hose seems much higher quality than the ribbed, stiff ones I have on all five pumps. Took me a while to figure out it’s kind of a spring-loaded quick-release reversible chuck for Schrader and Presta. Advertised as aluminum, it’s clearly brass with chrome plating. I like it, I think–haven’t actually tried it yet. Ordered a second one–the last available in the U.S. Tough get, as they say.

–Red Baron pizza for dinner.

–Played with cameras. Gave up on the Canon again. Colors out of the camera just don’t seem great. Likely because I was comparing it to the SL2, which, like M9’s, really saturates the greens in the abutilon. It can be dealt with in Lightroom, but I guess I’d rather tone down the SL2 than juice up the Canon.

–Silca pump heads came in. They had no logos engraved and were too small–they were a loose fit in the hose. Started a return on eBay, got a long nasty letter back from the seller about how they were genuine and I just need to use smaller hose. Nope. Wrote them and said I’d cancel return if they sent me a couple of bigger heads. Haven’t heard back.

–Oz flipper with speed holes came in. Not as shiny as some of the videos, but darn nice.

–Took the InnerLight on a 14-mile ride west on the ARP.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–Red Baron pizza for dinner.

–Dug out the Canon R5 again. First, I mistakenly mounted the Zeiss 85mm on the camera using the Praktica adapter, and took a couple of nice sharp abutilon shots after dark. Then I mounted the (proper) Pancolar lens on that adapter, and the lens is so soft and useless it would hardly focus, and the shot was crap. Learnings: (1) The Canon is far from dead. Turns out the two knobs were good for ISO and shutter speed; (2) it has two levels of magnification (I’ve only been able to access one on the SL2 lately; even if I find the second it won’t be as powerful as the Canon max); (3) think hard about that M42 Pancolar 80 (whatever) in my eBay watchlist: it could be a thousand bucks down the tube for another ultra-soft lens.

–17th Silca pump came in. Found some flat black spray paint I didn’t know I had and touched up the base. Took it apart, put it back together: best-feeling pump I have. None of the farty stuff, just dead smooth and strong-feeling. Might have to spend another $300 and get a SuperPista tube for it.

–Final coat of paint on the pump tube was a disaster–mottled, lumps, runs. Stripped it all again, put it together. I just don’t have the patience to paint.

–Started painting the Silca pump tube with Krylon gloss black lacquer. Much better than the yellow paint–no drips or runs. After 5-6 coats it’s still kind of rough, so I might have to reort to some sanding.

–Glow-eyed turtle came in. I swapped out the solar control module with the triple frogs, and it seemed to work. We’ll know more when it gets dark.

–Sent off the CL that won’t turn on to Leica.

–Got some peanut butter/chocolate-dipped cookies at Bel Air.

–Took a shower, and shaved with the big Merkur razor: surprisingly smooth and close. I should use it more.

–Finally gave up on the Leica SL. SL2 focus magnification is so much higher (15x vs. 10x maybe; the web is silent on this) and the viewfinder is so much brighter.

–Tried to paint the Silca pump tube Krylon Sun Yellow. Total disaster. The paint from a foot away hardly showed up on the tube, and from six inches it globbed and ran. I had to go to Home Depot and get some paint stripper. It’s back to normal matte black now. I might try a gloss black Krylon, since I have some, or take it to Powder Coat-It and see what yellows they have.

–Went to UPS and picked up yellow Krylon spray paint.

–Made an offer on an expensive Helios 85/1.5.

–Took some pics. Learned (again) that the front patio at midday is a really challenging exposure. M11, SL and SL2 showed almost no difference between spot, center, multi or highlight-weighted metering. The only way to get a decent photo is to put the meter on spot, aim at the glaringly-bright leaves, half-press the shutter, then re-compose and shoot. Having fun with the SL. TL button is menus; BL is focus magnification (short press) and ISO (long press); TR is review (play); BR turns on focus peaking (it stays on) (short) and metering modes (long).

–Jack’s Urban Eats (takeout) for dinner.

–Went to Dr. Cripe to have temporary crown replaced with permanent one. All good.

–Leica SL came in. Perfect as advertised. The unmarked buttons will take a little getting used to, but I think I’m going to enjoy it.

–Took Grace to the optometrist on Sunrise, where I got my glasses, for some progressive lenses.

–Went to Bel Air for pizza, milk, cream, cream cheese, dessert.

–Dead Leica CL came in from MPB Camera. Did I think they were fools? Tried everything, cannot revive it. Frustrating: it’s black, very handsome, and in perfect shape–except for a large ding on top. I’ll send it off to Leica and see what they say. Inconceivable (he said) that it could cost as much as the Paul Smith CL repair, which involved replacing the whole (special) top.

–Tombstone pizza for dinner. Much like Red baron, except the pepperoni isn’t hot.

–Well, the M11 is back in business. Highlight metering actually works, at least on the front patio bushes when it’s sunny. It’s even simpler in some regards than the SL2: dedicated dials for shutter speed and ISO; magnified focus is automatic with known lenses; thumbwheel brings it up (and alters power) with adapted lenses; it’s light and has good ergonomics; etc. Still some occasional flickering with the Visoflex 2–don’t know whether to replace that or not.

–Put the Biotar 75 back together, got a little focus range. Wrote to Youxin Ye to see if he would make it right. He responded that he’d never worked on this lens and wouldn’t be able to fix it. Will toss, I guess, and look for a Helios 85.

–Took a couple shots comparing M11 and SL2. 1. M11 seemed to set f wherever it wanted, even though it had a native M lens on it. 2. Pictures of the front patio through my bedroom glass doors were revealing: The SL2 was fine, while the colors on the M11 were atrocious. I have tried so many times to like the M11, but it always disappoints. I don’t get it. [edit] Got out the M10 Safari and took a night shot. Blew me away. The speed limit sign is crystal clear, sharp and bright–with only 24 megapixels, I believe. [edit 2] Same with the Hodinkee and its 35mm lens. Pretty impressive.

–The Biotar 75/1.5 came in. Body scratched up, glass really good. Noticed right off it wouldn’t focus anywhere near infinity. Also, the bokeh on a patio shot was really weird, though to be fair it probably would have been better if the bushes in the background were much farther away. I took the lens apart to try and fix infinity, and of course completely forgot the video where the tech carefully marked everything before disassembly. Guess I’ll send this one to Don Goldberg. Gettin’ tired of expensive vintage lenses that suck.

–Rode the InnerLight to UPS, got a screw in the front tire on the way back. Took it to Bob’s Bikes. Guy pulled the screw out, nothing happened. Yay!

–Played with Silca pumps. They kept falling over–really poor design on that small rectangular base. Swapped bases back so now both the Superpistas have triangular bases. The housing on one hides the brass innards, but that’s fine–at least it’s stable.

–Dropped Grace off at KP Market, got bagels (and a breakfast sandwich), got several boxes of protein bars at target to compare.

–Much stuff came in to UPS: Zeiss Pancolar lens (mint and nice so far; somehow the Canon knows what aperture it’s set to); brass and aluminum blacks; Rolex link; gifts from the non-communicative eBay Canon seller (SD card, batteries for the Canon).

–Japanese sellers on eBay are getting worse and worse. I noticed today a guy selling a Leica SL as “Mint++++” (what could that possibly mean?) with large gouges showing on top near the strap brackets. Super ugly.

–Played with cameras. Tested all four Q’s against each other (my Q2, Reporter, Hodinkee, Q-P). The Q-P is out: resolution not good enough for me. Hard to differentiate between the other three, so I’ll keep the Q2 I bought new. Not fancy, but all mine. Ordered a Leica SL on eBay, allegedly mint but missing a rubber cover on the bottom (put in a pre-order for the cover at Leica Miami). It’s only 24 megapixels, but that might be enough in a full-frame sensor–and it is the most beautifully minimalist camera design I’ve ever seen. There are four long buttons flanking the LCD screen (unlabeled) and a nipple button. The only words printed on the back are “On/Off.” Could be good…

–Watered/fertilized plants.

–Fixed the glowing-eyes frogs. Pried open the controller, found the lightest (i.e., cheapest) battery in there I’ve ever seen. Replaced it with an Eneloop, and it’s still glowing an hour later (recently it’s been lighting up for < 30 seconds).

–Went to S*T Strawberries, got a 4-pack. Grace wanted me to get some for the neighbors. Grace doesn’t want to be the one responsible for getting them to the neighbors.

==Played with cameras. Got the SL2 and R5 working, I think. SL2 seems to produce more saturated images. Going to be hard to choose.

–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.

–SCUBA stuff came in. Not new as I had thought, but nicest Tekna gauge console I’ve seen.

–Couple of camera batteries with charger came in from China. Not from eBay. Must have ordered them a while back for an M9 and forgotten. I’ll go through all my cameras again (5th time), checking for memory cards and batteries.

–Pizza for dinner.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 7 PM (5 days + 4 hours).

–Reconciled cameras some more. Decided (for now) to keep the Leica Q I bought new, the Q2 Reporter, and the SL2. The Canon R5 had edged out the SL2, but it turns out that IF you get the SL2 set up right (those wheels are a bear, and the setup menus are just wrong), it’s about as easy to use as the R5–exposure preview, focus magnification, wheels for shutter speed and ISO, etc. I’ll do some more comparisons, but at the moment it’s hard to see what the R5 has that the SL2 lacks. Yes, there’s ONE LENS I can’t put on the SL2 (at the moment)–the Pancolar. We’ll see if that’s a must-have lens in the arsenal. [edit] Well, ’bout to give up again. Went to take another night shot with the SL2, couldn’t get the wheel to change ISO. I swear I had it perfect, then turned it off, then an hour later turned it on. No good. Put the Summicron 50 on the Canon, set ISO and shutter speed, took a nice shot. Oh well…

–Picked up Silcas NOS pump at UPS. Not the yellow logo as I had requested (white instead), but it works great. It came with a boot covering the brass works under the gauge, but that was easily removed (unlike an earlier one). They also sent another decal, black letters with yellow outlines, that I put on another pump. Kind of hides, but looks okay.

–Aoto stone came. Kind of crappy. What did I expect for $220?

–Got corn and pork chops at Bel Air; barbecued. Yummy! Finally, great corn.

–Going bananas with watches and wath bands. Hope to get it all sorted soon.

–Took the Rolex 1680 that stopped working to Ivanov Watch Repair in East Sac. Stopped at Corti Brothers for a cucumber, cheese, sourdough.

–Played with pump heads some more. Much to learn. For example, the gasket hole in one of them is so small it won’t go on the valve without letting all the air out of the tire. There must be a way…

–The Canon R5 came in. Focus magnification (a big worry) is trivial at 6x and 15x. One wheel does ISO, another does shutter speed. What more could you want?

–Rolex Day-Date came in, and Rolex 5512 came back from unsuccessful consignment.  I need two links for the Day-Date, as usual. I put all my Rolexes on the Timegrapher. Datejust, GMT, 18038 Day-Date and 5512 were fine. Sea Dweller was pretty bad. Plan: take my 1680 to Ivanov to see if they can get it running again cheaply, then test it. If good, I would keep 1680, Datejust, GMT and Day-Date. I’d try to consign (somewhere) the Sea Dweller and the cursed 5512 “neat fonts” that I foolishly paid $20k for.

–Canon R seller finally wrote and said the camera would be here by 10 PM today. Total BS, and I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe they’re stalling until they get their funds from eBay, I don’t know. I just want to get it over with so I can order another.

–Saw Kenny, who said Leslie’s Pools would be replacing his filter for $800. Yay!!

–Got a haircut at Great Clips. Number 5 clipper, about 1/2 inch. Yikes!

–Broke the news to Kenny about cracks in his Hayward filter housing. I think he’s going to look into getting it replaced.

–Spent more time reconciling razors/brushes.

–No word from the eBay seller of the new Canon R5. Third scam in a year, I fear.

–Took a shower and shave. With all my new-found shaving abilities, I decided to try out, for the 6th time, a Blackland razor (beautiful polished brass). Blade feel was quite harsh, and I did get a couple of nicks. I don’t understand it–given how many razors I’m comfortable with–but no more Blackland for me. Until next time.

–Took a Tramadol last night around 5:30. Got to sleep (maybe) around 3 AM, and it wasn’t deep. That drug is self-limiting.

–Went for a brief ride on the InnerLight around the ‘hood.

–Talked to Kenny a bit about the filter. After some more internet searching, I am 99% convinced that the problem is vertical cracks in the filter housing, and has nothing to do with o-rings, tightness of top, etc. Bummer.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 3 PM.

–Did some reconciling of shaving brushes. Discovered that I no longer have the Simpsons Colonel XXL Centenary–the one with the chip in the base that I polished out. I strongly suspect it was pocketed by someone looking at the Tunnel Hill house when we had it up for sale. Mark Solich made a point of asking me to leave my shaving stuff out because it was so neatly arranged and looked so cool. I have no memory of using it at Discovery–though to be fair, I have no memory of missing it either. CRAP!

–Went back to Kenny’s to try and stop fountain filter leaks. Made them worse.

–Went to UPS to pick up some tire pump stuff. Can’t seem to get locking pumpheads to work, but straight on/off head still works.

–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.

–Picked up bike pump parts at UPS. Put new internals in the two pumps. Strong and smooth.

–A very large tree branch blew down into the parking area across from our front door. Scary, but no damage to anything.

–Dr. Cecille Taylor, who diagnosed and treated the glaucoma in my right eye, is retiring. Now where do I go for cataract surgery?

–Went to Dr. Cripe at 9:30 and got a temporary crown on tooth 4. No pain, but there’s still a small area of gum that seems hyper-sensitive (painful) to touch.

–Watered plants.

–Moved dresser/night stand in my bedroom to make room for a work table.

–Ordered a Canon R5 and several lens adapters (including one for the Pancolar). I’m done with this Leica crap.

–Went in for the last PT session. Nice folks, but there wasn’t much they could do for me.

–Picked up yet another Silca pump at UPS. Not great, but not bad. It does have the base that shows (rather than hides) the brass parts under the gauge, so I swapped it out with one of the other pumps. May start restoring these. The hardest part would be to find shipping boxes if I sell them on eBay.

–Very warm today, and very windy.

–Second Silca Pista bike pump came in. Very nice. The plastic part on top that centers the pump rod actually threads in, as opposed to the first one which just presses in and is held by a couple of screws. I did swap gauges, as I like the one with the second pointer that you can set at your desired PSI.

–Took Grace shopping at Target, and picked up a dozen sesame bagels at New York Bagel Cafe.

–Red Baron for dinner.

–Brought out the Leica SL2. Looks like it will be the mainstay. Really nice viewfinder with three levels of magnification. Got it set up so thumbwheel does shutter speed, top wheel does focus magnification. It’s heavy, but has no other real drawbacks compared to CL (low res) or M11 (Visoflex 2). [edit] Winner! Took a night shot with the SL2/Summicron 50; really gorgeous and ultra sharp. AND it worked like I wanted it to: shutter speed would only go down to about 1/4 second, so I upped the ISO from 800 to 3200. Bingo! Also surprisingly little noise with those settings. Hard to believe I gave up on that camera 3-4 times. It does take some figuring out, but they all do, and we’re talking a couple of hours, not a week.

–The Rabbit AI device came in. What a joke. Will toss.

–Went to Bel Air for apples, milk, cream cheese, peanut butter cookies.

–Rolex Sea-Dweller stopped. While starting it, I noticed there was no o-ring gasket on the caseback. Also s ome corrosion (independent). Found a gasket amongst my stash (which includes several parts for a Day-Date) and installed it. Scary stuff. Did it never have a gasket? I lose stuff, but that’s hard to imagine.

–Finally dealt with paperwork. Desk is clean.

–Reconciled cameras again. Keeping the M11, M-E, Hodinkee Q2, C-Lux. In a showdown between Hodinkee and Reporter, it LOOKED like the Hodinkee had a (slightly) brighter, clearer, more saturated viewfinder. Now sure how that’s possible.

–Put the bigger Silca pump together with a new leather gasket. It works! I used 5-weight Knife Pivot Lube for the gssket; it can’t be vastly different from the synthetic oil that’s coming from Silca. I’ve also bought two more Silca pumps, small and large like I have now. Should be able to put together a wining pair out of all these parts. [edit] It seemed MUCH easier to start the leather gasket in either tube than it did with the older gaskets, which I was always tearing up as I tried to insert them. Because this gasket is new? Or because I now finally have the proper fore and aft metal gaskets surrounding the leather one. Who knows…

–Went to the Sunrise farmers market for squash, cherries, mandarins, tomatoes.

–Brought out the M11 again. Visoflex 2 isn’t ideal, but the camera just seems a little more serious than the CL.