Metadata for film shooting

A very nice feature of digital photography is the support of metadata (EXIF). Even with non-electronic lenses, date/time/ISO/shutter speed is stored in the EXIF.

Nowadays, when I shoot with a film camera, I want to add EXIF to the scans. To do this, I take two pictures with my mobile phone after taking one with the film camera.

First picture with nearly the same scene. This is for image identification and date/time.

And second picture with the look of the film camera:

This view helps to determine:

1. The frame number (approximately 13)

2. The lens model (Pentax K 55/1.8).

3. The shutter speed (1/250).

4. The aperture value (f/8).

5. The lens filter usage (ND4 in this case).

So later, after scanning, it is possible to generate metadata and add it as EXIF.

But there is a big downside. This additional action takes the fun out of shooting with a film camera. So I often ignore the opportunity to know so much data. I only take a picture of the film camera after changing the lens. The only metadata I get is the lens model.

See also related notes:

• exiftool: Lens, camera, film information (2024-07-29)

Image albums:

• Photographic film

Audio-Technica ATH-AD700: Replacing ear pads (again)

I have had the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 headphones since 2011. And I use them a lot.

I have already replaced the ear pads with a non-original set from China. Unfortunately, they are made of bad faux leather and are extremely worn out.

So I replaced the ear pads again:

On the left is the previous non-original one, on the right is the new non-original one.

See also related notes:

• Headphones: Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 and ATH-AD900X (2025-03-29)

Image albums:

• PC

Sekonic Auto-Leader L-188 light meter

After disappointments with software light meters, I decided to use a dedicated light meter. I bought a used Sekonic Auto-Leader L-188:

(compared to a roll of 135 film)

It is a simple battery powered model that has been made for many years. And it is quite small.

The first Auto-Leader model was the L-38 (selenium based). 

The later L-188 Auto-Leader is from 1978. It has a related selenium-based Auto-Lumi L-158:

But I do not recommend to use old selenium-based light meters because of their low accuracy, especially with a time.

The L-188 is powered by an SR44 battery, but an LR44 will also work.

To get exposure data, you should align the guide mark with the pointer by rotating the dial while pressing the switch button.

I also like the nice looking and precise scales. There are many intermediate (and useful!) marks.

The speed scale: 1/2000, 1/1200, 1/1000, 1/800, 1/500, 1/400, 1/250, 1/200, 1/125, 1/100, 1/60, 1/50, 1/40, 1/30, 1/25, 1/15, 1/10, 1/8, 1/5, 1/4, 1/2

The aperture scale:  f/1, f/1.1, f/1.3, f/1.4, f/1.6, f/1.8, f/2, f/2.2, f/2.5, f/2.8, f/3.2, f/3.6, f/4, f/4.6, f/5, f/5.6, f/6.4, f/7.1, f/8, f/9, f/10, f/11, f/13, f/14, f/16, f/18, f/20, f/22, f/25, f/28, f/32, f/36, f/40, f/45, f/50, f/56, f/64

The ISO scale: 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 25, 32, 40, 50, 64, 80, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000, 6400, 8000, 10000, 12000.

The disadvantage is that the L-188 doesn't work with incident light, only with reflected light. This is not important for me.

The angle of incoming light is 65°. This corresponds to 28mm (for horizontal angle) or 35 (for diagonal angle).

See also related notes:

• "Optek" light meter: User manual (in Russian) (2025-08-05)
• Vivitar V3x00: Light meter limitation (2025-04-15)
• Sekonic Auto-Leader L-188: Calibration (adjustment) (2024-11-02)

Image albums:

• Light meter

Samsung NX 30/2: Samples [1] - APS-C - f/2

Cameras: Samsung NX2000 (1.5x crop factor, 20MP), Samsung NX10 (1.5x crop factor, 14.6MP)

Lens: Samsung NX 30/2 at f/2

The profiled lens (distortion) correction is disabled.

(NX2000)

(NX2000)

(NX10)

(NX2000)

(NX2000)

(NX2000)

(NX10)

See also related notes:

• Pentax K 30/2.8 (1): В сравнении с Samsung NX 30/2 (2010-12-10)

Image albums:

• Samsung NX 30/2

XR Rikenon 50/2 (K): Interesting 50mm lens

This is an underrated 50mm lens with Pentax K mount:

The XR Rikenon 1:2 50mm lens.

Note that this is the pure XR Rikenon version without extra letter (L, S, P). This is one of the standard 50/55mm lenses for Ricoh film SLR SLRs in the late 1970s and early 1980s:

(Ricoh KR-10 specifications)

(Ricoh XR-1s specifications)

The lens is believed to have been made by Tomioka and is sometimes called the "Poor-man's Summicron" (referring to a Leica Summicron 50/2 lens). Other sources claim that the lens was made by Cosina.

The optical design is 6 elements in 5 groups (Ultron-like):

The aperture has 6 blades:

The aperture ring has click stops at f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5,6, f/8, f/11, f/16.

The filter thread is 52x0.75mm.

The minimum focusing distance is about 0.45m. This is a special feature of this XR version, other Rikenon 50/2 versions have a longer focusing distance.

Often people don't like 50/2 lenses, preferring faster (f/1.8-1.4) lenses. But the overall image rendering of a 50/2 lens can be more interesting than a faster aperture.

See also related notes:

• XR Rikenon 50/2 vs Rikenon 50/2 (2025-03-27)
• Rikenon 50/2 (K): Cheaper version of XR Rikenon 50/2 (2025-03-23)
• XR Rikenon 50/2: Samples [1] - FF - f/2 (2024-10-04)

Image albums:

• XR Rikenon 50/2

Cannondale Cujo 1: Cutting handlebars

After my first experience with the Cannondale Cujo 1 bike, I noticed that the handlebars were too wide compared to my previous GT Avalanche 1.0.

I tried to get used to it over the years, but finally decided to cut the handlebars.

Before cutting I measured the width (with grips):

It is about 765mm.

At first I wanted to use a hacksaw, but then I remembered that I have a tube cutter (from a tool set).

The tube cutter is suitable for the diameter of the handlebars.

Cutting the handlebar with the tube cutter:

The result after cutting and before processing with a file:

Cut-off parts:

The width (with grips) after cutting:

It is about 730mm. I like this width more than the stock one.

See also related notes:

• Cannondale Cujo 1 (2018): впечатления от первых поездок (2018-10-21)
• Мой новый велосипед: Cannondale Cujo 1 (2018) (2018-10-06)
• Suzuki Jimny: тормозные магистрали (практика-1) (2013-11-12)

Image albums:

• Bicycle
• Tools

Filter thread: 40.5x0.5 vs 40.5x0.75

There are two main kinds of 40.5mm filter threads.

1. 40.5mm with 0.5mm pitch (40.5x0.5)

This is an old and quite popular thread in the past for rangefinder film camera lenses. I have several lenses with 40.5x0.5 filter threads: the Industar-26M, the Steinheil Quinon 50/2, the Meyer-Optik Helioplan 40/4.5, the Staeble-Lineogon 35/3.5.

2. 40.5mm with 0.75mm pitch (40.5x0.75)

This is a thread of modern compact lenses. My Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 14-42/3.5-5.6 has this filter thread.

However, if you want to buy a modern lens accessory with a 40.5mm filter thread mount, it is quite difficult to determine its thread pitch (0.5 or 0.75) in advance.

For example, there are both versions of 40.5mm-52mm filter step-up adapters. But sellers don't know the exact pitch of the adapter they sell.

These are my two 40.5mm-52mm adapters (Noname, made in China):

The left one is 40.5x0.75, the right one is 40.5x0.5. Both have no pitch information.

The 40.5x0.75 adapter is mounted on the Steinheil Quinon 50/2, only one rotation is possible due to the wrong pitch:

While the 40.5x0.5 adapter fits well on the Steinheil Quinon 50/2:

The good thing is that the 52mm filter thread has a 0.75mm pitch for old and new lenses/accessories. So with these 40.5mm-52mm adapters I can use very old and very new filters.

See also related notes:

• Carl Zeiss Jena Triotar 80/4 (M40x1): Long-focus uncoated (non-T) triplet lens (2025-08-07)

Image albums:

• Lens accessories

Viltrox AF 20/2.8: Samples [1] - FF - f/2.8

Camera: Sony a7c (FF, 24MP)

Lens: Viltrox AF 20/2.8 at f/2.8

The profiled lens (distortion/vignetting) correction is disabled.

See also related notes:

• Viltrox AF 20/2.8 (FE): Ultra wide angle autofocus lens (2024-08-31)

Image albums:

• Viltrox AF 20/2.8 FE

External optical viewfinder (35mm)

A modern external optical viewfinder (35mm FOV):

For mounting in a camera shoe.

It is made in China and quite cheap. Expect it to be all plastic. I think even the optical elements are some kind of plastic.

I tried it a little. Unfortunately, while the image is quite good, the frame limit is not clear, it depends on the position of the eye relative to the viewfinder.

Also, it is difficult to mount the viewfinder in the shoe of some old cameras. It looks like the adapter part of the viewfinder is too wide.

See also related notes:

• External optical viewfinder (35mm): Accuracy (2024-10-11)

Image albums:

• Photo

Far Manager vs Midnight Commander: Keyboard shortcuts

For many years I used file managers with two-panel (usually text-based) user interfaces. Starting with the classic Norton Commander,  then Volkov Commander, File Commander/2 (for OS/2), and even muCommander (for macOS).

And today I still use Far Manager (for Windows) and Midnight Commander (for Linux).

I have prepared a keyboard shortcut memo for frequently used actions.

Far Manager vs Midnight Commander

Find file (in tree):  Alt-F7 vs Meta-?

Find file (in panel): Alt+... vs Meta-s (or Ctrl-s)

Paste panel path: Ctrl+[ (left) Ctrl+] (right) vs Meta-a (active) Meta+A (inactive)

Paste file name: Ctrl+Enter vs Meta+Enter

Paste file path+name: Ctrl+F vs Ctrl+Shift+Enter

Previous command: Ctrl+E vs Meta-p

Next command: Ctrl+X vs vs Meta-n

Command history: Alt+F8 vs Meta-h

Directory history: Alt+F12 vs Meta+H

File attributes (chmod): Ctrl+A vs Ctrl-x c

Change another panel to the same directory: Alt-F1/F2 and select disk vs Meta-i

Reread/refresh panel: Ctrl+R vs Ctrl+r

Show directory size (short): F3 vs Ctrl+Space

Show directory size (detail): Ctrl-Q vs Ctrl+x i

Hide panels: Ctrl+O vs Ctrl+o

To enter Meta combinations, I prefer to use the Esc key instead of the Alt modifier key. 

Also, Esc followed by a number key ("1", "2"..."9", "0") works as F1-F10 in Linux. This is very useful for those awful modern notebook keyboards.

Steinheil Quinon 50/2: Samples [2] - FF - f/2

Camera: Sony a7c (FF, 24MP)

Lens: Steinheil Quinon 50/2 at f/2

See also related notes:

• Steinheil Quinon 50/2 (M39x1/44): "Planar" version (2024-05-02)

Image albums:

• Steinheil Quinon 50/2