Photography: How To Remove Dust And Fungus From Inside Of Your Lenses

How to get rid of that little bugger under your lens glass?
Image from Locky's English Playground

Yesterday I took out my Canon EOS 7D again and realised that there is a little white spider on the lens glass, upon further inspection and consulting my wife, it may very well some fungal actions happening from inside. This is a terrible news because the L lens costs HK$8000+ when I bought it AND its warranty has already expired. Thus my only option is DIM -- Do It Myself.

The internet is a marvellous place, after a quick search I found an excellent guide which taught me how to get the job done.

Cleaning my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens

Here's what I have used
Image from Locky's English Playground

To begin with, I took out an inexpensive 32 in 1 screwdriver set with tweezers which I bought from Japanhome (highly recommended), a rubber air blower, lens cleaning cloth and the must have all-purpose Isopropyl alcohol (remember how it saved my seawater-damaged Galaxy S2)?

Makeup ring lift with finger and tweezers
Image from Locky's English Playground

First, I removed the makeup ring with the tips of my fingers easily. It is basically a simple sticker.

6 screws underneath
Image from Locky's English Playground

Hiding underneath are 6 small screws. Simply remove them.

Unscrewed and tweezers for the lifting
Image from Locky's English Playground

Then use your finger nails or tweezers to turn the front glass ring to one side.

glass removed with the little bugger now exposed
Image from Locky's English Playground

Turn the lens upside down and catch the front element with your other hand, and wah la! Here's the little fungal bugger!!! Kill it with a little alcohol and then use the lens cleaning cloth to wipe away any dust, and dry the glass with the rubber air blower before putting everything back into place.

Goodbye fungus, hello clean lens!
Image from Locky's English Playground

What I get now is a piece of beautifully clear glass!

L Lens revitalised!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Welcome back my revitalised L lens!!!


Cleaning my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk II

Fungus again!!!
Image from Locky's English Playground

After the success I had yesterday, I took a look at my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk II and I found yet another fungus under the glass! This time though, it is not the front element, but the back. After searching through YouTube, I found an excellent video and so I followed it closely.

2 microscrews on the side
Image from Locky's English Playground

First, I removed the 2 microscrews on the side, 

Turn the lens and off it comes
Image from Locky's English Playground

Then I push the contact down and use a tweezers pop the cap out. As for the rear element, hold onto the glass and turned anti-clockwise using a little force, soon enough it will come out in no time!

The feet of the lens are not regular and are of different angles
Image from Locky's English Playground

Do the fungal removal as clean as you want, 

rear lens in place waiting for the turn
Image from Locky's English Playground

When you do place the rear lens back into the socket, take note that the feet are spaced out unevenly and are of different sizes, meaning that there is only one way to fit the rear, don't rush.

Screws the contact back before placing back the cap
Image from Locky's English Playground

Before placing the cap back on, screw the contact back in place first using those two microscrews.

Clean and clear!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Pop the cap back on and there you have it!!!

Do check out the video I followed below! Great stuff!

If you also have a lens which you want to clean, you can also visit How to Do DIY Dust Cleaning Surgery on 6 Popular Canon and Nikon Lenses at PetaPixel to see if you can find the guide to cleaning your lenses, and as always, Google and YouTube are your friend.


Extra Time:

Sometimes, mistakes are not all that bad! That's because before I did all that I mentioned above, I actually watched the following video and I tried to follow.

Bummer 1
Image from Locky's English Playground

With my L lens, I actually unscrewed the the rear.

Bummer 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

I reached the part I even unscrewed the microscrews, got at least 3 sections of my lens loose before I got stuck because I couldn't remove the cap. It was then I realised I have to look elsewhere for another method. 

Lucky that I failed, if not, I would have removed everything part of the lens just to realise that all I had to do was to start from the front. Would have taken hours to put the whole thing back and be very lucky if it still works.

Another mistake I made today is that I found another YouTube video on dissembling the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk II,

Bummer 3
Image from Locky's English Playground

and I got to the part as shown above, almost removing my buttons. 

Lucky that I stopped to think again! Had I not, I will probably break the lens.

The lesson learned here is that I should never look up the keyword "dissemble" and should go for "cleaning dust" instead.


Vocabulary:
bugger -- (n)[C] UK offensive a silly or annoying person:
revitalise -- (vb) [T] (UK usually revitalise) to give new life, energy, activity, or success to something:


Resources:
How to Do DIY Dust Cleaning Surgery on 6 Popular Canon and Nikon Lenses @ PetaPixel
http://petapixel.com/2013/05/16/a-few-easy-lens-dustings/

Technology: My First Galaxy S2 Surgery -- Sea Water Damage S2 Fixed!! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/02/technology-my-first-galaxy-s2-surgery.html

Canon 24-105 USM L IS Reparatur / Repair / Disassembly @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRUTrNoDD1M

How to Disassemble the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15tUQhVMScc

Canon EF 50mm 1.8 Lens Cleaning without damage @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHFMzKpQwMc

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bugger_1?q=bugger+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/revitalize?q=revitalised+

Cooking & Food: Hong Kong-Style Macaroni With Grilled Duck Meat In Duck Soup (And More) !

Peking Garden's Peking Duck
Image from FeedTheTang

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you are enjoying health and time with family.

Image from FeedTheTang

Ever wonder what you can do with what's left behind after an amazing peking duck dinner with the family? Last week, we went to Peking Garden at Cityplaza and had a yummy duck for the night, and every time we do we always request for a to-go with the "duck cage", that is the remains of the duck after having all the slices removed.

The cage has a lot of potential and I'm gonna share a couple of possibilities with you so that no food will be wasted.

Duck meat
Image from Locky's English Playground

First, you want to debone the entire duck cage. This is a very easy step, just put on some plastic gloves and use your hands. Usually I will start with the wings and legs by removing them as a whole, and then work on the rest of the meat on the cage body. Once done, put that away for awhile.

Post-processed duck cage
Image from Locky's English Playground

You don't want the neck and the butt because there is no meat there, and also, you can chuck away the skin because it is too oily. What's left will not be wasted at all.

In you go!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Because the best way to handle it will be to use it for cooking soup. I suggest 2.5 litres of water for one duck cage. Since I have two, I made it 5 litres.

Cooking is done in the vacuum pot for hours
Image from Locky's English Playground

I use a vacuum pot for this soup because it saves me gas, time and money. After high flame boiling for about 15 minutes, I will let the pot to do the rest for the hours to days to come.

Yellow liquid fat / oil on surface.
Image from Locky's English Playground

Since you need to reheat the soup every half a day, it is best for you to remove the excess fat that you see floating on the surface of the soup.

Chicken and dry fish, why not?
Image from Locky's English Playground

You may want to add anything extra as you like, such as the chicken you couldn't finish or the dry fish that has been sitting in the cabinet for months. The key is that you need to add a tablespoon of chicken powder and some salt.

After 4 repetitions of reheating and boiling, your broth is done! Now return to the duck meat.

Microwaved and fried! Yum!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Usually the duck meat has been sitting in the fridge for a day or two, so I will usually use microwave to reheat it to make sure the meat is soften before putting it to a pot or a wok for frying. The key is to add salt to bring out the aroma as the meat does smell excellent but is also quite bland. That's because when you have that dish in the restaurant, they gave you some rich flavour sauce to go with it and so the duck meat need not be particularly salted.

Image from Locky's English Playground

After you have done with the frying, don't be silly and start washing the pot or the wok,

Product of "2 days" of cooking
Image from Locky's English Playground

use the pot to reheat the duck soup, this way, you are adding extra flavour to the soup before it is served.

Duck meat on ho fun (rice fettuccini)?
Image from Locky's English Playground

To go with the meat, some people like ho fun (Chinese rice fettucini),

Image from Locky's English Playground

or you can have your Hong Kong-style macaroni,

Duck soup macaroni with duck?
Image from Locky's English Playground

it is really up to you! Just pour in the soup and you have an excellent lunch or supper which probably costs you HK$50 if you have it at a restaurant, that is, if you can even find one that serves it.

Image from Locky's English Playground

You can even use my pork chop recipe if you have extra duck soup left, or ...

Duck soup rice anyone?
Image from Locky's English Playground

you have heard of Hainan chicken rice, right? How about some home-made duck soup rice? So unique that you've got to try it! You will need to condense the soup by 50% before you use the soup for cooking rice though.

For more easy recipes, do visit Locky's English Playground's Cooking page.

Vocabulary:

ho fun (Chinese rice fettucini) -- see Chinese Noodles @ Wikipedia

supper -- (n)[C or U] a main meal eaten in the evening, or a small meal eaten in the late evening:

broth -- (n)[U]  a thin soup, often with vegetables or rice in it:

Resources:

Cooking: Locky's Home-made Pork Chop Bun @ Locky's English Playground

http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/07/cooking-lockys-home-made-pork-chop-bun.html

Locky's English Playground's Cooking page @ Locky's English Playground

http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/search/label/Cooking

Fettucine @ Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fettuccine

Chinese Noodles @ Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_noodles#Rice

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/supper?q=supper

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/broth?q=broth

Sports & Opinions: Responses to David Wilson's Articles on Inter Milan

Image from Soccernet

I do like to write on Soccernet sometimes just to respond to the articles written by David Wilson and express my views. If you are not an Inter Milan or a football fan, then this is probably not your post.

In response to his article, Confusing messages coming out of Inter, I wrote,

Image from ESPN Soccernet

It has to be considered case by case. Old but useful, keep, look at Cambiasso he still rocks (though news has it that he is leaving for good). Evra and Vidic could be a good idea, they are aging but still useful. Kind of Mou's point when he wanted to buy Lampard at Inter. He said something like, "They are near the end of their career, but they can get the job well done and are good for one or two seasons," and they's transfer-free, great for those who are looking for a new challenge and are not interested in staying forever, but looking at his recent performance, can he adapt to the Inter stress?

Inter is kinda forced to renew Guarin's contract in case he leaves for free or cheap. If he really has no respect for the club and aren't playing well, then the club has all reasons to sell him at a good price (though Inter is infamous for selling low, eg. Sneijder), or trade him for someone even better! Inter tends to snatch excellent deals from Real Madrid in the past, eg. Sneijder, Figo, Cambiasso, Walter Samuel even Seedorf (if you like). An Álvaro Morata pairing with Icardi would be very interesting!

Milito can go, Walter Samuel and Javier Zanetti can be awarded with director or scout position like Materazzi, Cordoba, Figo and Zamorano to keep the passion going without losing real Inter legends to some 3rd division clubs.

At the mean time, use Kovacic!

Image from Soccernet

Image from ESPN Soccernet

Here's the comment for the second article,

This match could have easily flipped its results from 0-4 to 4-0, had Handanovic not performed extraordinarily well. Inter is lucky to have the hands of god with him this time round. Kovacic was superb with his movements, runs and tackling, but he is still less than half as brilliant as Sneijder's creativity and passing skills, keep working hard and he might get there, assuming that he is not being sold as quickly as Coutinho, see how well he did for Liverpool last match? It is nice that Mazzarri might have read my last 2 comments, that he really used Cambiasso to protect Kovacic, but Sampdoria allowing him space has to be taken into account.

Icardi played sharply and tenaciously, so he deserved the brace, but was stupid to celebrate the way he did. He is not only risky his career by making enemies, but also risking his life, you never know what the opponent fans will do after a lost match. Reputation matters, if you ruin your name, it is like the officials will be biased against you in all matches you play.

Let's not forget the other players who played a great game, Samuel, Hernanes were solid, Palacio moved quick as a team, Nagatomo was dangerously speedy and effective down the left. The weaker links are Ranocchia, who conceded a penalty, and D'Ambrosio, who tries hard but wasted shots like Guarin.


Resources:
Confusing messages coming out of Inter @ ESPN Soccernet
http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/intermilan/id/1914?cc=4716

Inter regain confidence with win at Sampdoria @ ESPN Soccernet
http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/intermilan/id/1924?cc=4716

Why Sports Are Unfair @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UA0WOfBgQM

Technology & News: How To Keep Reading SCMP Without Paying?

No Fish In An Empty Dish
Image from SCMP

Annoying man with no fish in an empty dish telling you to pay up if you want to read more from SCMP. In a world which every bit of news is free except SCMP, how can I read its news for free? Here's my guide!!!


1. Go to a coffee shop.

Image from 9cloudsacademy

I have seen people in Pacific Coffee actually cutting out the Pacific Coffee coupons to get a free cup of Pacific Coffee coffee.

2. Borrow it from a friend / colleague.

OMG!!! Big News!!
Image from thezooom

These news never get old.

3. Read those ordered by your company.

Image from guim

It's completely free, and you might be able to take home a tonne of old papers and sell.

4. Ask someone who has subscribed to it online for their login and password.

Username is 'username', Password is 'password'
Image from dw

If they don't mind sharing their their username being 'username' and password being 'password' to you.

5. Go to your browser and clear the cookies!!!

Image form laughingsquid

This works, but you will have to reenter all logins and passwords.

6. Use Chrome's Incognito Window to bypass it!!!!!!!

Keep repeating this step when you have no more articles to read
Image from HongWrong

According to HongWrong,

"To bypass this limit, simply open SCMP.com in an ‘incognito window’ in Google’s Chrome browser. Again, you will be limited to just four articles, but you can reset this by closing the window and re-opening another incognito window…"

Enjoy!


Resources:
HK LIFE – How to Bypass the South China Morning Post Paywall @ Hong Wrong
http://hongwrong.com/bypass-scmp-paywall/

Living: How To Clean Your Garment Steamer?

Image from Locky's English Playground

 Hi guys! This ... is a garment steamer, small, plasticky but sturdy, white and green. (For more adjective order, do see the links down below in Resources.)

Image from Locky's English Playground

This ... is a Philips QuickTouch Garment Steamer @ 1500W, a steamer listed top 3 models in Hong Kong recommended by the Consumer Council Hong Kong back in August 2012. I picked this because it is the smallest and the cheapest. It works brilliantly until months later, things begun to get weird.

It started shooting hot water from the nozzles together with bits of sand. Usually after shooting out water and sands for about 3 minutes, the steamer will work alright, but when it doesn't, there is no steam coming out at all but the hose is burning hot!

If you are thinking something must be wrong, you are right, but what is wrong?

Water inlet (inside the water tank) stuck with calcium deposits (Sorry for the poor CG)
Image from Locky's English Playground

The answer lies in the water inlet inside the water tank.

Turns out that the sand is not actually sand, but calcification and it happens whether or not you use soft, hard or filtered water. If the water inlet to the boiler is stuck, then no water can go in, and your boiler will be heating nothing but itself, thus no steam is emitted but the hose is hot.

A pair of bamboo chopsticks is all you need!
Image from Locky's English Playground

To remove those calcification, other articles will tell you to use vinegar or acid mixed with water, soak the tank for 15 minutes to an hour, bla bla bla. I tried and other advices are all useless!

Think about it, if the water inlet is already stuck, that means the mini plastic filter protecting the inlet is practically useless, which means I can brutally destroy it to take out those calcium deposits!

I need something long, thin yet strong, which allows me to shape into any sizes using a cutter, and I found it!

Bamboo chopsticks!

Sharpen the ends with a cutter
Image from Locky's English Playground

Using a cutter, I sharpened the pair into one thin and one thicker, and then I jammed first the small one into one of the filter gaps, applied force so that it opened up wide enough for the bigger chopstick end, and then I jammed the bigger chopstick end in.

Water inlet jammed wide and calcium deposits washed out. Some residues can still be seen on the right
Image from Locky's English Playground

Once the bamboo stick is completely in, you add lots of water into the tank, then you shake the entire garment steamer vigorously for the calcium deposits to leave the gap, and then pour away the water. Repeat this until you are happy with the emptiness of the water inlet.

Wa-lah!! I have my water steamer working perfectly like brand new again!!!!

Not sure if your garment steamer has similar design, but surely when somewhere is stuck, that's where you need to work on to get it fixed!

"If you want to do something right, do it yourself." -- Charles-Guillaume Étienne

Vocabulary:
nozzle -- (n)[C] a narrow piece fixed to the end of a tube so that the liquid or air that comes out can be directed in a particular way:
calcification -- (n) see Hard Water in Resources
vigorously -- (adv) very forceful or energetic:


Resources:
Test on Garment Steamers and Steam Irons - CHOICE # 430 (August 15, 2012) @ Consumer Council
http://www.consumer.org.hk/website/ws_en/news/press_releases/p43002.html

Adjective Order
http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/exercises/adjectiveorder.htm

Philips QuickTouch GC510/05 - Garment Steamer
http://www.philips.com.hk/c/irons/garment-steamer-garment-steamer-gc510_05/prd/en/

How to Clean Calcium From a Garment Steamer @ eHow
http://www.ehow.com/how_5605863_clean-calcium-garment-steamer.html

Charles-Guillaume Étienne @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Guillaume_%C3%89tienne

Hard Water @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/nozzle?q=nozzle+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/vigorous?q=vigorously+

Movie & Opinions: "Welcome Back, Capt!!!" Captain America -- The Winter Soldier Quick Review

Image from Marvel

Haven't been movie-going for ages!!! Luckily, my wife and I realised that leaving our baby with her mother is the best way to regain some private time and so last Saturday, we did just that and got to watch our very first movie since... too long ago.

Let's start with a trailer.

Like it? Before we get into the movie, I want to talk about the much talked-about, Black Widow's hair. 

Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (left) and The Avengers (right)
Image from ONTD

Girls with long hair, always pretty. Girls with curly long hair waving about between punches and kicks, always cool! That's why Scarlett Johansson gained so much attention in Iron Man 2 and everyone was expecting more of her to return in the next movie. We were right about the return (in The Avengers Assembly), wrong about the hair, turned out that she had her hair cut short, not even shoulder-length. Understandable enough, since Black Widow often changes hairstyle in the comics and she's no longer an office lady working in Stark Industry, my logic says I can forgive her for that. (Actually, I forgive her because she rocked kicking those alien asses in The Avengers!)

But...

Captain with Black Widow
Image from Forbes

Straightened hair? Shoulder length? Seems like the really odd and old. The internet is not a big fan of this hair either. Does Black Widow look alright in the movie? Well, yeah, but just because Scarlett Johansson was awesome in the movie once more in her combat mode, not because her hair was particularly pretty!

What's more... it is not only her hair that drew attention,

Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow in Captain America : The Winter Soldier
Image from Marvel

Critics are saying that her movie poster has been over-retouched that her waist looks just about the same size as her head! I think so too! It was the first that struck me when I first saw the poster. Must all perfect superwomen come with a tiny outlet hourglass figure? It's ridiculous! A bit of fat is the new sexiness, haven't you heard?

Here's what the netizens on Twitter say,

Image from The Warp

Image from screenrant

Still about Black Widow, the next juicy bit is the intimacy between her and Captain America Steve Rogers. It was somehow weird for me because I thought she has this untold secret connection with Hawkeye from The Avengers, though having Hawkeye around will most probably hinder the development the love line between the Captain and Black Widow.

But I'm not the screenwriter or director, and I do enjoy seeing Steve and Natasha together, so why not? I do think the Captain does emit some sort of a charm being boring and single for decades and yet not changing any bit of his patriotic and righteous personality, so I guess Black Widow  is somehow drawn to him by that.

The kiss of the century, for Captain America that is.
Image from johanssonweb.org

I'm expecting a lot more for romance from them in terms of the intensity and depth in the upcoming movies for the two.

Finally, onto the rest of the movie,

Kind of expected, right guys?
Image from screenrant

The box office speaks for itself, Forbes reported that the movie earned an amazing US$96.2M in the US for the first weekend, and US$303 worldwide.

And we all know the Captain, and we expect lots of shield-throwing actions, but seems like his throws are perfected to such a degree that it is almost like playing a pinball machine when he wants to hit his targets! 

Falcon
Image from Marvel

Maybe the addition of Falcon is another reason why we don't need Hawkeye in this movie, then again, it is time we add a few more black heroes to the show. We aren't going to see Will Smith's Hancock for sure, so we need someone else, and Anthony Mackie does his flying job really well! 

Strength VS Strength
Image from IMDb

For those of you who have read the comics, you knew who the Winter Soldier really is from the start. Still, it is pretty cool to see a not-so-villain villain demonstrating a power that can match the captains.

For most of the previous Marvel superheroes movies, the villains are just themselves, just a bad defective version. Can't remember? Let me remind you.

Iron Monger in Iron Man (2008) villian
Image from IMDb

Ivan Vanko as Whiplash in Iron Man 2 (2010)
Image from sadpanda

The Abomination in The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Image from Wikipedia

The Red Skull in Captain America The First Avenger (2011)
Image from listal

Venom in Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Image from nukethefridge

If it wasn't of Iron Man 3, we will never get villains who aren't replicas of the heroes. Luckily with Captain America 2, we will too get something different.

For more behind the scenes and future developments, you surely should read IGN's Marvel Studios Boss Kevin Feige Talks Captain America: The Winter Soldier Spoilers and What's in Store for the Marvel Cinematic.

For those of you who have already watched the movie and want to learn more about the movie, you may like to check out Hey U Guys.co.uk's 10 Things You May Have Missed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

And as always, don't forget to look for Stan Lee this time!

Resources:
Marvel's Four Secrets to Superhero Success @ Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/marvel-s-four-secrets-to-superhero-success-m_~pmYC9TZOCv7NSKQQI0w.html

What Will Black Widow's Hair Look Like in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier?' @ ONTD
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/77156177.html#ixzz2yG6mflOS

Scarlett Johansson's ‘Captain America 2' Waistline Sparks Cries of Photoshop Foul (Photo) @ The Warp
http://www.thewrap.com/scarlett-johansson-captain-america-2-photoshop-sparks-backlash

Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson Mtime Interview @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ONLrZGhK8

Review: 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' Proves More Is Less @ Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/03/27/review-captain-america-the-winter-soldier-proves-more-is-less/

‘Captain America 3′ Tugs On ‘Batman-Superman’s Cape With May 6, 2016 Release Date @ Deadline
http://www.deadline.com/2014/04/captain-america-3-release-date-may-6-2016/

Weekend Box Office: 'Captain America 2' Tops $300M Worldwide @ Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/04/06/weekend-box-office-captain-america-2-scores-record-96m-debut/

Best Comic Book Live-Action Villains @ Listal
http://www.listal.com/list/best-comic-book-movies-villains

Marvel Studios Boss Kevin Feige Talks Captain America: The Winter Soldier Spoilers and What's in Store for the Marvel Cinematic Universe @ IGN
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/04/07/marvel-studios-boss-kevin-feige-talks-captain-america-the-winter-soldier-spoilers-and-whats-in-store-for-the-marvel-cinematic-universe

Spoiler Alert! 10 Things You May Have Missed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier @ Hey U Guys.co.uk
http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/spoiler-alert-10-things-may-missed-captain-america-winter-soldier/