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Unix time in PowerShell

📅 5. Februar 2013 · Software · ⏱️ 1 min

The Unix time is the number of seconds since 1 January 1970.
In PowerShell:

((Get-Date "02/05/2013") - (Get-Date "01/01/1970")).TotalSeconds

1360022400

To get back the date from the number of seconds, use:

(Get-Date "01/01/1970").AddSeconds(1360022400)

2/5/2013 12:00:00 AM

If your system has a different locale, use the culture specific writing. For example using German ('de-DE'):

((Get-Date "05.02.2013") - (Get-Date "01.01.1970")).TotalSeconds

1360022400

(Get-Date "01.01.1970").AddSeconds(1360022400)

Dienstag, 5. Februar 2013 00:00:00

In case you have a format in a locale that is different from your PowerShell locale:

$DateTime = [DateTime]::Parse("05/02/2013", [System.Globalization.CultureInfo]'fr-FR')
($DateTime - (Get-Date "01.01.1970")).TotalSeconds

Note the difference between french and american date order: 05/02/2013 - 02/05/2013

Redirect web pages is common practice and often done with the meta tag refresh, but there are drawbacks and it is not recommended by the W3C. Using a HTTP redirection status code is preferred, but often simply not practical.
If you have a page http://oldsite.com/project/index.html and you need a redirect to http://mysite.com/project/, you simply place this index.html in http://oldsite.com/project/. In case JavaScript is disabled, the default meta refresh is used as a default:

index.html

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
    <title></title>
    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
    <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="1; URL=http://mysite.com/project/" />
    <script type="text/javascript">
        window.location.href = "http://mysite.com/project/"
    </script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>

IIS - redirect subdomain to a directory

📅 5. Februar 2013 · Software · ⏱️ 1 min

Here is how to redirect a subdomain to a directory using the rewrite rule in IIS. For example, if you like to have subdomain.mysite.com/ point to mysite.com/subdomain/, you simply add the following domain-rewrite rule to web.config:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
  <system.webServer>
    <rewrite>
      <rules>
        <rule name="domain-rewrite">
          <!--
           subdomain.mysite.com/dir/index.html?abc -> mysite.com/subdomain/dir/index.html?abc
          -->
          <match url=".*" />
          <!-- {R:0} = dir/index.html -->
          <conditions>
            <!-- subdomain is the first capture '(.*)' = {C:1} -->
            <add input="{HTTP_HOST}" pattern="^(?!www)(.*)\.mysite\.com$" />
          </conditions>
          <action type="Rewrite" url="{C:1}/{R:0}" />
        </rule>
      </rules>
    </rewrite>
  </system.webServer>
</configuration>

Fisheye MC Zenitar-N 16mm f/2.8 Lens

📅 30. Januar 2013 · Panorama · ⏱️ 4 min

The Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 is a manual focus/aperture full frame fisheye lens manufactured in Krasnogorsk/Russia. The full frame (the covered rectangle of the projected image circle) covers 180 degree FOV in diagonal on 35mm. See http://wiki.panotools.org/Fisheye_Projection and http://wiki.panotools.org/Special_issues_with_fisheye_lenses. The lens is available for different mounts (M42, Nikon, Canon, ...). Zenitar-N is the model with a built-in Nikon F-mount and that is the model I ordered:

Here it is. Arrived in a weather proof bag from Russia:

Protected against the mail carrier:

With the seal already broken:

Inside the nylon case:

Wrapped in paper and authentically Russian manual:

And individually certified:

And it fits on the Camera (Nikon D-50)

With three additional color filters available

which get screwed in (at the F-Mount side):

But there was problem. The lens did not focused to infinity. Instead the lens focused from 0.05m to about 1m. The picture were really sharp there, almost like a macro, but no one needs a fisheye macro. Sending back the lens? I already waited three weeks.

Why does the lens does not focus at infinity? For some reason the distance settings ring was not aligned with the lens setting. Infinity for the distance ring did not match the position for the internal lens ring. See the left drawing. With the wrong aligned distance ring, the distance range of the lens is shifted from 0.3m-infinity to 0.05m-1m.

How to fix this? The distance ring needs to be aligned with the internal lens ring to allow the lens to be focused to infinity. This is illustrated in the right drawing. With the new aligned distance ring, the infinity distance can now be set. The minimal distance moved up from the 0.05 to the 0.3m.

The first step is to move back the rubber ring of the distance ring. Do not use any sharp tools, just slide the rubber back on one side a little bit and go around in a few circles to move it back slowly. On the lens barrel you will see three small holes (every 120 degree around the barrel) with a very small screw inside.

There are also three very tiny holes for the lens hood. Be careful with the tiny screws. Choose a screwdriver that matches the size perfectly. Do not use one that is too small. You might break the screw. (You screw up the lens!).

To have the lens focus to infinity, the lens hood needs to be adjusted as well. When you rotate the distance ring to infinity, the lens barrel extents towards the lens hood and might be blocked there preventing the lens extending to the infinity setting.

Do not remove the screws holding the distance ring. Just unscrew until the distance ring moves without being attached to the internal ring. Rotate the distance ring towards a smaller distance and tight the screws just to move the internal ring towards infinity. Look at the illustration above. You are moving the outer distance ring to shift the internal distance ring. For the lens I received the infinity settings was exactly at the stop position of the internal distance ring. I had to move the ring as much as possible towards the infinity setting and the adjust the outer distance ring to match the red mark with the infinity symbol. Once this is done, carefully tight the screws and slide the rubber ring back.

The Nikon D-50 for example cannot meter with this lens and the internal flash is disabled. You need to use the manual setting, set the exposure time manually and use an external flash (SB600/800) set to manual mode if you want to use a flash. At f/5.6 the lens seems to have an optimal aperture.

Some samples:

With the sun in the front:

Das Objektiv Zenitar-N mit einer Nikon D700.
The Zenitar-N mounted on Nikon D700.

Beispielbilder mit unverkleinertem Ausschnitt des Randbereiches:
Sample pictures with 100% crop from the border:

f/2.8:

100% crop:

f/4.0:

100% crop:

f/5.6:

100% crop:

f/8.0:

100% crop:

f/11.0

100% crop:

f/16.0

100% crop:

f/22.0

100% crop:

Nahaufname:
Close focus:

Unverkleinerter mittiger Bildausschnitt:
100% center crop:

Entfernung auf Unendlich:
Infinity focus:

100% crop

Gegenlicht:
Lens flare:

Nokton 58mm F1.4 SL II

📅 30. Januar 2013 · Fotografie · ⏱️ 2 min

Im November 2007 hat Cosina/Voigtländer zwei neue Objektive für Nikon- and Pentax-Systeme vorgestellt: Ultron 40mm F2 SL II und Nokton 58mm F1.4 SL II.

In November 2007, Cosina/Voigtländer announced the Ultron 40mm F2 SL II and the Nokton 58mm F1.4 SL II for Nikon and Pentax systems.

Dieser Kurzbericht ist für das neue Nokton 58mm F1.4 SL II für Nikon.
This overview is for the new for Nokton 58mm F1.4 SL II Nikon.

Das Objektiv ist ganz aus Metall und macht einen sehr stabilen Eindruck.
The lens is all metal with manual focus and feels very solid.

Das Nokton-Objektiv verfügt über eine CPU und kann damit Belichtungsinformationen bereitstellen.
Der Blendenring muß auf f/16 gestellt werden (in orange).

The Nokton is a CPU lens and meters on all Nikon DSLR.
The aperture ring needs to be set to f/16 (orange).

Beispielbilder mit f/1.4:
Samples shot with f/1.4:

Die Tiefenschärfe ist bei f/1.4 sehr gering und die richtige Entfernung ist nicht immer einfach einzustellen.
Als Einstellungshilfe kann der grüne Punkt in der Anzeige verwendet werden, der angezeigt wird, wenn das Objekt in der Mitte scharf dargestellt wird (AF-Mode ist für Einfachfeld [.]).

The depth of field is of course very shallow at f/1.4 and the focus can be difficult to set.
In the viewfinder, a green dot is displayed for subjects in focus in the center frame (The AF mode is set to Single Area [.]).

f/1.6 1/40s (aus der Hand ohne Stativ)
f/1.6 1/40s (handheld)

1:1 Ausschnitt der unteren linken Ecke
1:1 crop lower-left corner

f/1.4 1/10s (Stativ)
f/1.4 1/10s (tripod)

1:1 Ausschnitt
1:1 crop

f/2.0 1/60s

1:1 Ausschnitt
1:1 crop

f/3.2 1/125s

1:1 Ausschnitt
1:1 crop

f/2.5 1/100s

f/2.5 1/80s

f/3.5 1/200s

f/2.8 1/125s

f/8 1/800s

1:1 Ausschnitt
1:1 crop

f/7.1 1/800s

1:1 Ausschnitt
1:1 crop

f/8 1/1000s

1:1 Ausschnitt
1:1 crop

Erstes Panoramabild mit dem Nokton-Objektiv:
Unter Verwendung der Pano-Tools wurde der 'b'-Parameter, der zum Ausgleich der Tonnenverzerrung verwendet wird, auf einen sehr geringen Wert von -0,001406 optimiert.

First panoramic image using the Nokton:
Using the pano tools, the 'b' parameter used for the barrel distortion was optimized to a very low value of -0,001406.

f/6.3 1/640s