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QUANTORUM
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Maintained by:
quantorum_sales ( 3595 )  
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Optical Products, new and used, buy, sell, overhaul, reconstruct. Cameras (all types), lenses, lens and body caps, lens filters, lens hoods, accessories. Microscopes, eyepieces, objectives, parts. Test equipment. Collectibles. General Surplus. TRADE ASSISTANT. CONSIGNMENT.
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This About Me Page is arranged with most recent musing and enthusiasms at the top. Because of that, topics may not make sense unless you read from bottom up as well. Oh, well...
Jan 25, 2009. We have made a Fluorescent Ring Lamp Light Box for Photographing Small Objects and put a description of the project on our site. Hope some of you find it useful.
Jan 8, 2009. We tried to sell a Zeiss Photomic II photomicroscope in near mint condition in repeated listings starting in our first ad on eBay at $2800 and finally dropping the opening bid to only $995 (no reserve) without success. So very reluctantly we took it apart and are selling in pieces. So far we have realized $895 and expect to finally get about $2000 out of it. It really hurts to destroy a magnificent instrument like this, but I guess we are helping to keep some other magnificent instruments alive a little longer.
We are setting up a new website for buying used microscopes, cameras, spectophotometers, telescopes and kindred equipment. Our domain is CanDoDeal.com, and you can email us there at CanDoDeal@gmail.com. Drop us a line with your ideas or, hopefully, some stuff to sell! Hope this is OK with eBay, but it should be since we're buying, not selling. Actually, sales are not so hot either right now...
Feb 8, 2008.We have had the opportunity to test the IR characteristics of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 10MP camera. Like the FZ30, it is very insensitive to IR. Otherwise we love it. We have tested several FZ7s and find they all give good results with IR. We are looking for Wratten 18A filters for UV testing. Anyone know where they can be purchased?
Oct, 11, 2007.We have sold the Filter and Microscope Adapter Kit to an Australian company engaged in examination of mineral and metal alloy specimens. Indications are that DMC-FZ7 used prices are coming down, which makes use of this camera for special applications like microscopy and IR forensics even more attractive. We plan to continue offering special kits using it.
Sept 30, 2007. We currently have (or will have had) several listings for equipment related to IR photography: 330171373632 (Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7K Camera), 330171392119 (Filter and Microscope Adapter Kit), and 330163293657 (Lot of Harrison filters including an IR Filter). We will post what receiption these items receive.
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IR Photo Taken with DMC-FZ7
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Sept 20, 2007. We do a lot of photography at QUANTORUM. I use a Panasonic DMC-FZ7 (6MP) point-and-shoot for web work, and my wife has the bigger and heavier DMC-FZ30 (8MP). Recently I appropriated an 87C IR filter from a lot of used filters purchased for resale. This is completely black and opaque to all visible light. Testing shows that the internal IR filter for the FZ30 blocks practically all incoming IR, so that exposures using the filter are impossibly long. But with the FZ7, the exposures are acceptable with a tripod. And the photos are really spectacular.
This is one of the first pictures I took, and I was, and still am, very pleased with it. But the credit has to go to the camera and Photoshop because I really don't understand why it turned out so beautiful. When taking the picture, the image is pretty hard to see in bright sunlight on the LCD screen, but it shows up fine in the viewfinder (in shades of red). I used the camera's normal automatic focus and exposure (about 1 second at f/2.8 with sensitivity set at ASA 80). White balance was adjusted all the way to the blue end. Processing in Photoshop CS2 was about as simple as possible: (1) Image - Adjustments - Auto Levels, and (2) Image - Adjustments - Auto Color. Presto, digital infra-red false color without really trying.
Where the sky can be seen through the clouds, and where it is reflected in the water, it is either black or very dark blue. The unreflected foliage is mostly pinkish white, but when reflected from the water, it is green. According to the transmission characteristics data for this filter, absolutely no blue or green wavelengths are reaching the pixel sensors of the camera. So, is it only coincidental that the reflections are reproduced in the colors seen in normal visible light?
I was curious enough about the reputed ability of IR cameras to "see through" clothing (provided it is made of cotton and not synthetic material) to make a test of my own. I tried photographing a Play-Boy centerfold through one of my pure cotton shirts to no avail. Wet T-shirts work a lot better. But I did discover that you can see right through hair dye to the white underneath. Brings out the lines in people's faces, too. Makes one look much older (unless, like me, you don't have any hair on your head and look old whatever kind of light is used).
The one important disadvantage of the FZ7 compared with dedicated IR cameras with the blocking filter removed is lack of speed. Of course, by increasing the sensitivity to the maximum ASA 1600, exposures are reduced greatly against ASA 80, but at the expense of noise, which is especially noticeable in IR pictures. The image stabilization available in the FZ7 naturally helps when making long hand-held exposures. On the plus side compared with dedicated IR cameras, take the filter off the FZ7 and you have a normal (and very nice) digital camera. On the dedicated camera, you have to take off a filter blocking visible light, and replace it with one blocking IR. For this reason, as well as the conversion cost (or higher original purchase price), the FZ7 is a more economical option.
If we can find a source of suitable new or refurbished or decent used FZ7's, we may offer packages with filter, and possibly with microscope adapters for multiple applications, including forensics, scientific laboratory use and general photography. Comments and contributions on this theme will be most welcome.
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quantorum_sales at play
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August 3, 2007. The me that this is about is quantorum_sales. When I buy or sell on eBay, that's my dealer name, my eBay ID. Of course, I have a normal name, too (Dave Stevenson). I manage the eBay QUANTORUM store. That is owned by a real company, QUANTORUM LLC, a limited liability company registered in Florida, which is 100% mine.
I'm proud of the progress we are making with our little eBay store. In just over a year, we've had over 1275 people take the trouble to give us positive feedback for the way we did business with them. And only a couple of guys that were really pissed at us (served us right for not keeping up with our email). Right now we have about 600 items listed, and are going for more. With about 150 scores received for each of four service quality factors (listings as described, communication, shipping time and shipping/handling charges), we get nearly perfect ratings (a full five stars for each factor).
We must be doing something right to achieve this high level of customer satisfaction. For one thing, if more eBay sellers adopted our policy of guaranteeing 100% satisfaction or money back, their satisfaction ratings would be higher, too. This policy requires good quality merchandise, accurate product descriptions and attention to giving the customer a fair deal. We try to do these things, and consequently we can do business which is satisfactory and profitable for both buyer and seller.
We work hard researching the products we sell and explaining to the customer exactly what is available for purchase. Many of our listings include tables of specifications and product usage illustrations taken from user manuals, which may be difficult to find for vintage items. Particular attention is paid to making good pictures. In many cases, these help identify the product, and they (and the acompanying text) should accurately represent the condition, whether it is good or, especially, if it is bad. We act as agents for potential customers, and try to give them tips which will maximize the efficiency of their shopping. After all, that is what eBay is all about: maximizing efficiency in recycling and distributing products of all kinds, new and used, big and small, expensive and cheap, from everyplace to everywhere. A networked world makes it possible for us to buy and sell everywhere in the world, and to do so efficiently for items costing only a few dollars.
Like most folks selling on eBay, we think of ourselves as solid eBay citizens, fair and honest merchants working to make a little money in our virtual shops. Unfortunately, however, not everybody on eBay is fair and honest. Some people treat our listings, both photos and text, as if they were the canned descriptions offered by eBay for standard products for inclusion in listings. They take our ad, in whole or part, put their name on it, and sell their item in direct competition to ours. That hurts our image on eBay and our profitability. When we have complained to eBay customer support, they have recommended that we join eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) Program, and post an About Me page regarding our activities and reserving the rights to our intellectual property. We have taken their advice, which has been the immediate motivation for publishing this page.
The message to anyone tempted to use our nice, well-researched and well-written material appearing on eBay (photos, text or whatever) without our permission is DON'T. All we have to do is give eBay the item number and that listing is gone. Enough on that topic.
It has been nice visiting with you. We will periodically update this page when we have significant news to report.
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