Borbin the 🐱

The day Nikon announced their new DX 16-50mm f/2.8 lens¹, I opened the optical upgrade protocol with a preorder 🚀

My previous lenses lined up for eBay, forming a support group titled "Former Stars of the Camera Bag". They successfully negotiated their exit strategy with descriptions that read like dating profiles: "Still sharp, loves sunsets, seeks photographer who appreciates vintage charm and no diffraction tests under f/8".

Inside the Upgrade Shop²

Announcement - October 16, 2025 📰

The new NIKKOR DX lens is available soon. Compact, fast, and ready to redefine the setup.
Optical upgrade protocol signaled.

Preorder - October 16, 2025 🛒

Optical upgrade protocol opened.
Shipping date: October 30, just in time for the Halloween magic³

Delivery - November 5, 2025 📦

Signature required delivery confirmed, package has achieved indoor status.

The First Light 🌅

Optical upgrade protocol in progress: lens mounted and ready for action.
Lens on a Z30 and Z50 II

Through the New Lens

First Frames In: Precision and Agility from the Start
(All pictures taken with the Nikon Z50 II)

1/160s f/6,3 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=16mm/24mm

1/320s f/2,8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=23mm/35mm

1/125s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/160s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=32mm/48mm

1/3200s f/2,8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/400s f/2,8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/80s f/6,3 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=25mm/37mm

1/640s f/2,8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/640s f/11 ISO 1600/33° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/320s f/16 ISO 1600/33° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/160s f/22 ISO 1600/33° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/80s f/4 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=24mm/36mm

1/200s f/4 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/640s f/2,8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/160s f/6,3 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=16mm/24mm

1/125s f/6,3 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=16mm/24mm

1/200s f/6,3 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/400s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

1/320s f/2,8 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/2,8 VR f=50mm/75mm

Why Does This Lens Show Strong Vignetting at 50mm f/2.8?

Observe the heavy vignetting at 50mm f/2.8, along with the visible distortion. Zoom in and it disappears. Left side is without correction, right side with correction using NX Studio.

The sample image shows noticeable darkening in the corners at 50mm and f/2.8. This effect is called vignetting and it is an unfortunate but common characteristic of optical design, especially in compact zoom lenses with a bright aperture.

The NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR combines a constant f/2.8 aperture with a small, lightweight form factor. To achieve this, the front element is relatively small. At longer focal lengths and wide apertures, light rays entering from the edges are partially blocked, which results in corner shading.

Vignetting increases when the angle of light hitting the sensor becomes steeper, as happens when zooming in. Eliminating this effect completely would require much larger lens elements and a heavier construction. A lens designed to avoid vignetting at f/2.8 would be significantly bigger, heavier, and more expensive, which goes against the goal of a compact DX zoom.

For this reason, some level of vignetting is considered acceptable and is typically corrected in-camera or during post-processing. If you shoot RAW, most software applies lens profiles to fix this. For JPEGs, Nikon's vignette control can reduce the effect.

Protocol Complete ✅

Adding this lens makes the setup minimal and faster, ready for decisive moments.
The 16-50mm f/2.8 combines a constant aperture with a compact design for a balanced, practical setup. From landscapes to portraits, the zoom range provides complete framing control while keeping everything light and portable. No lens swaps, just a responsive system that adapts quickly. Vibration Reduction works together with the bright aperture to maintain sharp, balanced results even in challenging light.

Understanding Adobe RGB: When a Filename Starts with an Underscore

Color management is a subtle but critical aspect of digital imaging. One often overlooked detail is how some cameras signal the use of wide-gamut color profiles like Adobe RGB using the filename itself. When a filename starts with an underscore _, it indicates that the image was captured using the Adobe RGB color space. This is a filename-based convention and not embedded in the image metadata.

	_DSC1234.JPG	→	Adobe RGB
	DSC1234.JPG	→	sRGB

Visual Comparison

Below is a comparison of the same image displayed with and without Adobe RGB interpretation. Notice the richer greens and cyans on the left.

D700 1/250s f/8 ISO 200/24° 8mm f/3,5G

Why Adobe RGB?

Adobe RGB is a color space developed by Adobe Systems in 1998 to encompass most of the colors achievable on CMYK printers. Compared to the standard sRGB, Adobe RGB offers a wider gamut, especially in the green and cyan regions. This makes it ideal for professional printing and high-end image editing workflows.

Color Space	Gamut Size	Best For	Display Compatibility
sRGB	Smaller	Web, general use, non-color-managed devices	Universally supported
Adobe RGB	Larger	Printing, professional editing, preserving rich colors	Requires color-managed software

The CIE 1931 xy Chromaticity Diagram

It shows color hue and saturation (not brightness).

• x-axis: how much red vs green is in the color.
• y-axis: how much green vs blue is in the color.

It comes from the CIE XYZ color system, where Y relates to brightness.
Like a map of all visible colors:

• The curved edge is pure spectral colors (rainbow).
• Inside the shape are all mixtures of colors.
• White (D65) is near the center.

See github

sRGB: R(0.6400, 0.3300), G(0.3000, 0.6000), B(0.1500, 0.0600)
Adobe RGB: R(0.6400, 0.3300), G(0.2100, 0.7100), B(0.1500, 0.0600)
White point D65: (0.3127, 0.3290)

Working with Adobe RGB Images

When working with Adobe RGB images, especially in everyday scenarios, it is important to consider how they will appear across different devices and platforms.

General Use

For typical viewing and sharing, converting Adobe RGB images to sRGB is recommended. sRGB is the standard color space for the web and for devices that do not support color management, which helps ensure consistent appearance.

Accurate Conversion

Before publishing or sharing images online, ensure they are converted to sRGB to maintain consistent appearance across devices. Software with reliable color management support, such as the cPicture App, interprets embedded ICC⁴ profiles and filename-based color space conventions with quiet precision. This helps ensure that colors appear as intended, even in situations where other tools might not get it quite right, often without the user realizing why.

A cold, wet, and grey Sunday. Pacific Northwest in autumn is nature's way of saying, "Stay indoors."
So thats where we stay. In the Seattle Art Museum, of course.

Where architecture curves into art — captured in a fisheye projection

1/200s f/5,6 ISO 200/24° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama Seattle Art Museum 1

1/200s f/5,6 ISO 200/24° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama Seattle Art Museum 2

1/200s f/5,6 ISO 200/24° f=7,5mm

FriendsWithYou: Little Cloud Sky

Location: Brotman Forum (Main Foyer)

SAM exhibitions ⁵

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 640/29° f=7,5mm

1/30s f/5,6 ISO 250/25° f=7,5mm

1/40s f/5,6 ISO 1000/31° f=7,5mm

1/30s f/5,6 ISO 2000/34° f=7,5mm

American Art: The Stories We Carry

This exhibition includes several works by Andy Warhol, highlighting his iconic Pop Art style.

1/40s f/5,6 ISO 2000/34° f=7,5mm

1/40s f/5,6 ISO 2500/35° f=7,5mm

1/40s f/5,6 ISO 6400/39° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 3200/36° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 3200/36° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama American Art: The Stories We Carry

1/40s f/5,6 ISO 2500/35° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 1000/31° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 1000/31° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 1600/33° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 1600/33° f=7,5m

1/80s f/5,6 ISO 5000/38° f=7,5mm

Only Connect: The Art of Devotion

SAM exhibitions

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 16000/43° f=7,5mm

SAM Stories, The Visitation, 1643, Philippe de Champaigne

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 8000/40° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama Only Connect: The Art of Devotion

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 16000/43° f=7,5mm

A Goya worth reversing entropy for, but today I let time flow forward through my lens. Tenet.
SAM Stories

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 6400/39° f=7,5mm

Art and Life Along the Northwest Coast

SAM exhibitions

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 4000/37° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 4000/37° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 5000/38° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 5000/38° f=7,5mm

Chronicles of a Global East

SAM exhibitions

1/80s f/5,6 ISO 16000/43° f=7,5mm

Roman Art: The Diversity of an Empire

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 4000/37° f=7,5mm

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 4000/37° f=7,5mm

Impressionisms: The Global 19^th Century

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 6400/39° f=7,5mm

Winter Landscape on the Bank of the Seine, Henri Matisse

SAM Stories and SAM's collection

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 6400/39° f=7,5mm

Porcelain Room

SAM exhibitions

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 8000/40° f=7,5mm

The Italian Room

SAM Stories and SAM's collection

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 8000/40° f=7,5mm

Interactive Panorama The Italian Room

Noise reduction was not applied to retain details; the images were only graded⁶.
There was no time for multiple exposures for HDR, and of course no tripod because we were in a museum. I only had a brief moment when the room was empty to capture a 360°×180° panorama.

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 8000/40° f=7,5mm

It was really dark in this room. Here are the ungraded raw images:

1/50s f/5,6 ISO 8000/40° f=7,5mm

From Galleries to Sidewalks

When we left the museum, it was only partly cloudy with a hint of sunshine. The Pacific Northwest's quiet way of saying thanks for staying.

1/400s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

From the calm of the galleries to the vibrant pulse of Pike Place Market

1/125s f/5,6 ISO 2500/35° f=7,5mm

1/125s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

For years, Chang Jiang Unlimited (CJU) was the go-to resource for owners and enthusiasts of the legendary Chang Jiang 750 motorcycles. It offered technical documentation, restoration tips, parts information, and a wealth of knowledge that kept these classic sidecar bikes on the road.

❓ What Happened

The original CJU website changjiangunlimited.com disappeared years ago. The domain went offline, and most of its content was lost to time. Even the Wayback Machine only preserved fragments. For many in the community, this meant losing an irreplaceable source of information.

✅ The Good News

Back when CJU was still online, site owner Dan Crossman offered to share the entire site content with anyone willing to preserve it. I accepted that offer and secured the complete dataset, which takes up about 10 GB of disk space across nearly 60k files.
Not sure if there is another copy, but anyway, here it is.

This archive includes:

• Original technical guides and toolbox resources
• Historical documentation for CJ750 models
• Restoration and customization guides
• Community knowledge

The content is now fully integrated into the new site and is freely available here⁷:
https://bitfabrik.io/cju
Everything is preserved in its original structure and format, including the classic gold-and-red colors we would never dare to put on a bike.

Zeichnungen von @jamila.draws

Marksburg

Die ungebrochene Burg am Rhein

Die Marksburg bei Braubach wurde im 13. Jahrhundert errichtet und gilt als einzige Höhenburg am Mittelrhein, die nie vollständig zerstört wurde. Mit ihren Türmen, Mauern und Zwingern verkörpert sie die Stärke und Beständigkeit einer Epoche, in der Schutz und Macht untrennbar verbunden waren. Ein seltenes Original, das den Geist des Mittelalters authentisch bewahrt.

Burg Maus

Bollwerk der Grafen

Die Burg Maus, offiziell Burg Peterseck, wurde ab 1356 von den Trierer Kurfürsten errichtet. Ihre Aufgabe war die Sicherung des Rheinzolls und die Machtdemonstration gegenüber den benachbarten Grafen von Katzenelnbogen. Schlanke Türme und massive Mauern spiegeln die Prinzipien von Ordnung und territorialer Kontrolle wider. Bis heute fasziniert sie als steinernes Zeugnis mittelalterlicher Macht.

Burg Katz

Symbol strategischer Macht

Oberhalb von St. Goarshausen erhebt sich die Burg Katz, um 1371 von den Grafen von Katzenelnbogen errichtet. Ihre Aufgabe war klar: Kontrolle des Rheins und Sicherung der Zolleinnahmen. Die kompakte Bauweise und die markante Lage stehen für Einfluss und herrschaftliche Dominanz. Noch immer beeindruckt sie als Monument strategischer Weitsicht.

Schönburg

Festung der Macht und des Ansehens

Über Oberwesel thront die Schönburg, deren Ursprünge bis ins 12. Jahrhundert zurückreichen. Sie war Symbol für die mittelalterliche Ordnung: Lehnstreue, Schutz und Kontrolle der Handelswege. Mit ihren Mauern und Türmen überwachte sie den Rhein und bot Sicherheit vor Fehden und Überfällen. Ihre Geschichte erzählt von einer Zeit, in der Kontrolle und Schutz über allem standen.

Burg Stahleck

Festung und Fürstenhof

Die Burg Stahleck bei Bacharach wurde im 12. Jahrhundert errichtet und war einst Sitz der Pfalzgrafen bei Rhein. Ihre Aufgabe: Kontrolle des Handels und Demonstration fürstlicher Macht. Die Burg vereint Schutzfunktion mit repräsentativer Architektur: ein steinernes Zeichen für Einfluss und Status. Heute beherbergt sie eine Jugendherberge, doch ihre Mauern bewahren die Aura fürstlicher Macht.

Burg Fürstenberg

Kontrollpunkt des Stroms

Hoch über dem Rhein erhebt sich die Burg Fürstenberg, errichtet um 1219 als Zoll- und Schutzburg. Ihre Mauern verkörpern die Ideale von Ordnung und Herrschaft. Strategisch platziert, kontrollierte sie den Flussverkehr und sicherte den Einfluss der Kurfürsten. Die Ruine öffnet den Blick in eine Vergangenheit, in der Besitz und Macht sichtbar gebaut wurden.

Burg Ehrenfels

Grenzposten des Rheingaus

Die Burg Ehrenfels thront oberhalb von Rüdesheim, erbaut um 1211 als Zollburg der Mainzer Erzbischöfe. Ihre Lage war ideal: Kontrolle des Rheins und Schutz der Weinbaugebiete. Die mächtigen Mauern und der dominante Bergfried zeugen von einer Epoche, in der Macht und Besitz durch Stein manifestiert wurden. Ein romantisches Relikt, das den Blick über Rhein und Weinberge eröffnet.

Mäuseturm

Legendenwacht im Rhein

Der Mäuseturm bei Bingen, ursprünglich im 13. Jahrhundert als Zollturm errichtet, steht auf einer kleinen Insel mitten im Rhein. Sein Name ist von einer düsteren Sage geprägt: Ein grausamer Bischof soll hier von Mäusen gefressen worden sein. Eine Mahnung gegen Hochmut und Tyrannei. Strategisch diente der Turm der Kontrolle des Schiffsverkehrs und der Sicherung von Einnahmen. Das markante Wahrzeichen verbindet Geschichte und Legende auf einzigartige Weise.

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Karte: Standorte der Burgen am Mittelrhein