Photography by Tom Schneider
Images here are copyright by Thomas D. Schneider.
You may use them for personal uses (eg as
a screen saver) but they may not be sold
or used commercially.
Please contact me for commercial use.
Also, these are 'share images':
if you really like one and would like
to contribute something, please
email me.
(Sorry, you'll have to either eliminate all spammers
from the world or fix that email address by hand.)
Snow Drift.
I like the zen like quality of the shading - light on one side, dark on the
other and fading between the two around the edge.
(1.8MB = 1813324 bytes)
Tom learns to levitate.
The Super Levitron was from
the Discovery Store,
but it is not available anymore ;-(
Since there is a patent, you can search Google for
Levitron + "5,404,062".
-
An example of a source:
- Patent 5,404,062
- Patent 4,382,245
- Explanation (as I understand it):
The top is a magnet with the north pole pointing down (say) and
spinning. It is spinning above 4 magnets which have the north pole
pointing up.
The top has a yellow handle on top and a
yellow plastic base on the bottom. What you don't realize from the
photo is that at
the bottom of the picture is a part of a dark square. This is a set
of 4 magnets set in a square inside a black box. Interestingly, it
has been mathematically proven that magnets alone cannot levitate
stabily. However, surprisingly, if a magnet is spinning it can be
stable when it sits in a magnetic well. I was able to get it
to stay there about a minute! Above the yellow base are rings that
one has to adjust to balance it vertically in the field. Looks like I
had one large ring and one small yellowish ring. Above that are two
black O-rings that hold the others in place. It takes some playing
around to find the right weight and unfortunately the magnets change
strength with temperature, so a working arrangement is not permanent.
Other collections
Photographs were taken with an
Olympus
C-2500L.
It's a through the lense, near film quality digital camera.
Information and Reviews:
Here are the components I got:
I later got more toys:
- I had trouble transferring data using the Flash Path floppy
device so I upgraded to a
CameraMate
from
Microtech, which is a
USB device that takes both
SmartMedia and CompactFlash.
Data transfer is 12 times faster!
The nice thing about this device is that it handles both
kinds of card that the camera handles.
- I bought a U5000 tripod
from
Slik.
(Don't buy the SLIK U5000. It has a nice design and is compact,
but it broke in 2 years.)
Camedia E-20N
I now have an
Olympus
digital
Camedia E-20N
It has 5.0 megapixel, 4x zoom with a gazillion features.
Olympus has made dramatic improvements in this camera,
but it is larger than the C-2500L.
- MEMORY .
I got two 512 MB CompactFlash cards by SimpleTech
from
Insight.
Yes, they are expensive, but very impressive:
each can carry 332 high quality images.
So I can go on a trip and take up to 664 pictures!
At 36/roll that's 18 rolls of film in a tiny
volume (two of 4.3 cm x 3.7 cm x 0.5 cm).
- USB .
The E-20N has a direct USB connect, which is a dream.
Power off the camera, connect to a Mac running OS X (Unix
based!), switch camera to transfer, power up and voila!
The images can now be copied to the computer.
No special boxes to buy ...
- TRIPOD .
SLIK replaced my broken U5000 tripod with
a U5500. Unfortunately it is larger, does not fit in
my pack and still has the same poor leg design.
However it is taller and so more flexible.
It has a bit of plastic that screws to the camera to provide
a quick mount, but this takes up space and so I can't leave
it on my camera.
- BATTERIES .
As above,
don't spend lots on them.
See
Thomas Distributing.
Get the
MAHA
NEXcell 4pack AA (1400mAH 1.24V).
I found that it works fine.
- CASE .
The only carrying case available from Olympus has space
for a battery pack. If you don't have the pack it is a bulky
waste of space. My mom happened to have a perfect case,
but I don't know where it is from! (Sorry, it's not for sale ;-)
- PROTECT YOUR LENS! .
Get a 62mm UV filter.
I ordered one but the company sent me a polarizing lense instead.
It works and makes interesting effects.
Source (not the one I used):
Robin Kanta Photographic Supply
- REVIEWS .
- STORES .
NOTE: low price may mean horrible service!
Check the reviews.
To avoid problems with the Grey market be sure to get
stock number: 225315, UPC Code: 050332 135239, Silver Box.
Tom Schneider's Home Page
origin: 2000 February 19
updated: 2010 Sep 23
Snow Drift.
I like the zen like quality of the shading - light on one side, dark on the
other and fading between the two around the edge.
(1.8MB = 1813324 bytes)
