Olympus Digital Cameras

We have found three early Olympus digital cameras that are capable of photographing auras. The earliest is the D-360L, which will produce tiny orb auras and does not even need a filter. My friend Kybob has made a video of this camera in action: https://youtu.be/USOH2GnspHg

Note that there is a vehicle in the background in some of the shots, which will produce auras in its own right, being a substantial chunk of metal. This is the second video in a two part series. Part 1 covers the Canon camera: https://youtu.be/-4u9F3qOrmcThe other two cameras: D-490 Zoom and C-460 Zoom del Sol both need a filter. I am using 850nm, 90% pass filter material successfully in the Cokin Compact Camera holder: Amazon link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cokin-Digi-Holder-Cat-BAD700/dp/B0000AQ4N1/ref=as_sl_pc_as_ss_li_til?tag=trutreboo-21&linkCode=w00&linkId=4fb7b0a2b30130c6c5dd74146690004b&creativeASIN=B0000AQ4N1

I have just been informed that Cokin also make a magnetic filter for compact cameras: Amazon link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cokin-Magnetic-A-Holder-BA400MM/dp/B000T8Z3Y6/ref=as_sl_pc_as_ss_li_til?tag=trutreboo-21&linkCode=w00&linkId=ddc2a72f2e3b2827ca347a92d4405d6d&creativeASIN=B000T8Z3Y6

However, when I used a round filter on the D-490, attached to the front of the lens with poster putty, I found I needed a 950nm filter.The orb auras become larger as the megapixels increase, the C-460 ZdS at 4.0MP produces the largest orbs of the three.

I haven’t tested all the early Olympus cameras and many can be bought so cheaply now, they may be worth buying just to test. Ideally look for one of the above models, which we know work. If you want to try another model, get one which has a viewfinder or viewing port as it is impossible to use the backscreen with an IR filter in front of the lens. I can tell you that I have tried the C-460 and D-545, which did not produce auras on my test site.

HOW TO FIND BRITAIN’S BURIED TREASURE HOARDS

Every detectorist dreams of finding a hoard and this new book will increase your chances of doing so.

The rich history of the British Isles has led to the burial of thousands of hoards for many different reasons – some as offerings, some as savings or in an emergency, intended to be recovered later. Although of course nobody knows exactly where hoards are buried, understanding why hoards came to be in the ground will help you to search in the right places.

Covering the Bronze Age to modern times, this fascinating book, by David Villanueva,

also gives lots of advice on how to research possible hoard sites, from researching local maps and records to clues to look out for on Google Earth. Contents include:

• Tools & Resources
• The Bronze Age
• The Iron Age
• Roman Britain
• Saxons & Vikings
• Medieval Britain
• Religious Houses
• Battle Sites
• Modern Times
• Treasure Law

152 pages, A4, beautifully illustrated in colour. A must have book for all detectorists!

Available from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Find-Britains-Buried-Treasure-Hoards/dp/1897738625/ref=as_sl_pc_as_ss_li_til?tag=trutreboo-21&linkCode=w00&linkId=961d0dcc489de094b4b206f9590071bd&creativeASIN=1897738625

In Search of King John’s Treasure

A few months ago, out of the blue, an Australian, Garry Brooker, inventor of Rangertell, long range metal locators, gave me GPS co-ordinates, which he claimed to be the possible location of King John’s treasure. He didn’t tell me how he obtained this precise location, just that he and some American friends have become very accurate at locating various hidden metals using Google Earth.

I had only just thanked Garry for the information, when my friend, Aquila Chrysaetos, an accomplished dowser and author, contacted me to discuss King John’s treasure to include as a chapter in his second book, Dowsed Treasure Locations Around The World.

We thought it would be worthwhile to go and check the site out, so we pooled our dowsing and research resources and headed off for sunny Lincolnshire. Aquila had dowsed a number of targets in the area, including several quite close to Garry’s co-ordinates. We had been fortunate to get accommodation within walking distance of the fields, so after a hearty breakfast we set out photographing fields. The fields were under crop, so we could only photograph from the public roads and tracks running alongside.

I use both the Canon 18-55mm lens and the Sigma 105mm lens so I get two different takes on any target and I need to get a good aura with both to confirm a good target. So it was a matter of taking  enough shots with one lens to cover the field and then changing lenses and repeating the shots, plus one shot without the filter to identify the field later.

When photographing the second field I noticed this unusual orb formation on the camera backscreen.

It was only when photographing the third field that Aquila commented on how slow the camera shutter was operating that I looked at the setting and realized that I had the selector on AV, which is the setting I use when photographing finds, to get the necessary depth of field. So, moving the selector to the correct Auto-No Flash setting, we had to retrace our steps and take the shots of the three fields again. As it happens, we are both a bit overweight and undoubtedly benefited from the additional exercise!

Rule 1; always check the camera settings before taking photos!

To be continued…

Magical Treasure Hunting

This is a history of treasure hunting from the middle ages to the present day, rather than a how to book. Nevertheless, it is well researched and despite being written by a university senior lecturer, is quite entertaining, although biased towards Europe, as medieval North America is largely undocumented. The study leads to the conclusion that treasure hunting in the medieval period was all about dealing with treasure-guarding angels, fairies and ghosts, where wizards were willing to face demons in order to get rich quick and resourceful tricksters exploited greed and stupidity, all watched by profit-seeking authorities. Generally speaking, most authorities regarded treasure hunting as benign and not evil like witchcraft. In the modern period treasure hunting evolved through searching for saintly relics to today’s method’s of researching, gathering and interpreting historical clues to find the treasure.

 

Interestingly, dowsing or divining has been used throughout the history of treasure hunting and another finding I picked-up on, was that flames, particularly blue flames were claimed to appear above buried treasures. Compare this with Louis Matacia, writing in Finding Treasure Auras, (1996). “When the full moon is highest in the night sky, the Indians would see a bluish-green flame glowing above the ground in the mountain. The glowing flame appeared to grow very slowly, reaching an impressive height and then retreating to the earth from whence it came…And this is where they found the silver and gold.” It seems the phenomenon of treasure auras existed well before the invention of the camera.

 

Going back to the book, I read it from cover to cover and found it a good read. First printed in hardback in 2011 and paperback 2012. The drawback, as with academic books in general, is the eye-wateringly high price. Even the E-book is priced at over £20.00 GB Pounds. You can always try and borrow the book from your local public library though.

The Colour of the Money

Buried metals interact with the earth’s magnetic field to emit electro-magnetic radiation. Radiation seems to be emitted across a spectrum of wavelengths from Near Infrared, through visible light to Ultraviolet. Different metals may have different dominant colours of radiation, as processed by the camera. This seems unrelated to the natural colour of the metal or alloy, since similarly coloured metals such as gold and brass do not necessarily produce the same colour radiation or aura. Colours can also change according to the size of the target. A single gold coin can produce a red aura and a bucketful will, presumably, also produce a red aura; a handful of iron junk, on the other hand, will produce a yellow aura but a lump the size of a car engine will produce a red aura. The colours do not work perfectly, unfortunately, but you can generally say that if the aura is not red then it will not be gold and you probably will not miss gold buried in an iron box. These colours are typical of the Canon camera using a long (Sigma) lens, which does not normally produce orbs.

The shorter Canon kit lens almost invariably produces an aura in the form of coloured orbs with a background colour. I believe the orbs form because of the geometry of the lens and is a function of radiation bouncing between the internal IR blocking filter or hot mirror and the rear of the external IR filter. Gold tends to produce multiple blue orbs on a red background and again, the size of the target may affect the numbers of orbs and colours. 

Book Review – Dowsed Treasure Locations Around the World

I must confess to knowing Aquila personally; however I do think that the concept here is brilliant. The author has used his expert research and dowsing skills, honed in searching for Yamashita’s gold, to investigate and pin-point the location of many of the lost treasures around the World. Some of the fabulous treasures featured include Nazi war loot and King John’s crown jewels in Europe; the burial place of Mongol leader Genghis Khan with his vast riches; Oak Island Money Pit in Canada and the lost Dutchman Gold Mine in Arizona, USA. Each account makes fascinating reading in its own right. And with over 30 treasure locations, in almost 20 countries, identified and documented with GPS co-ordinates, it will give a head start in recovering a king’s ransom in gold, jewels and artifacts! A must read book for every treasure hunter!

CONTENTS INCLUDE:

 Your Plan of Action for A Successful Treasure Recovery, Finding Buried Treasure,           

European Treasures:

Lake Toplitz; Lake Lünersee; Alt Aussee, Austria                                                                                       

Waltham Abbey; King John; Capt. Avery and Merchant Royal Wreck, Cornwall, England

Loch Arkaig; Largo Law, Scotland                                                                                   

The Royal Charter Wreck, Anglesey, Wales

Rennes-le-Château, France

Deutschneudorf, Germany

HMS Frigate Lutine, Holland

Monte Sorrate, Italy

Adolf Hilter’s Wolf’s Liar, Poland

Zbiroh Castle, Czech Republic

North American Treasures:
Superstitions Mountains Lost Dutchman Gold Mine, Arizona; Spanish Fleet in the Great Hurricane of 1553 and The Alamo Mission, San Antonio, Texas; Atocha & Margarita Wreck Sites, Key West, Florida; Poverty Island, Lake Michigan, USA                                                

Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Asian Treasures:

Yamashita; The Awa Maru, The Philippines

Flor Do Mar Ship, Malacca Straights, Malaysia                                                          

 “The Dolphin Wreck”, Sri Lanka

Genghis Khan, Mongolia  

Egyptian Treasures:                           

Red Sea Ship Wrecks; the Ancient City of Tanis

Other Treasures:

Cocos Island

Spanish Fleet Wrecks, Island Of Dominica


The book is available on Amazon http://amzn.to/2ramTT3  links to Amazon.co.uk, price £14.99. Also available on Amazon.com price $19.99                                   

Filters and Holders

I still get asked many questions about infrared filters so I am going to cover a few points here.  The Canon camera is a Single Lens Reflex, which means you view directly through the lens, not a viewfinder, so when you put a nearly black infrared filter in front of the lens, with the best will in the world, you cannot see a thing through it. You can use screw on filters but I don’t recommend it. You will need to have the camera mounted on a stand and if you keep taking the filter off to view the target, then screwing it back on again to take the shot, not only is it a real pain but sooner or later you are likely to cross-thread the coupling and have to replace the lens and the filter. 

I do recommend the Cokin type square filter holder (above), you only have to screw it on once and you can slide the filter in and out at will. Simples! It is not necessary to buy a Cokin brand holder, there are plenty of low-priced copies available, that are perfectly adequate for our purposes, such as the Polaroid one above, which you can buy on Amazon.co.uk for £3.99 http://amzn.to/2r6M79y  You will also need an adapter ring to fit the holder securely to the camera lens. The Canon kit lens is 58mm diameter.

The holder has four slots. The slot against the lens is designed to take the round filter and this position will probably only work with a very large target, if at all, as we need a light and air gap between the lens and IR filter.

The remaining three slots are designed for square filters. P size IR square filters are no longer manufactured by Cokin because, they say, unwanted reflections occur if the filter is not against the lens. Suitable square filters may be available from other manufacturers or available in sheet form that can be cut up into squares..

If you have a round filter then it is desirable to trim two flats opposite each other so the filter will slide comfortably into the ‘square’ slots. I advise putting the filter in the centre ‘square’ slot.

You can buy this Cokin filter at amazon

You can increase sensitivity to capturing auras by moving the filter forwards away from the lens but this may cause unwanted reflections. Conversely you can reduce sensitivity and unwanted reflections by moving the filter backwards, towards the lens.

The round filter has a ‘squashed top-hat’ profile so you have a couple of extra options for changing sensitivity as it can be fitted two ways into the slots furthest from the lens.

For compact cameras, Cokin make a filter holder that screw fits onto the camera’s tripod mounting. The holder takes an A size (67mm) square filter. Cokin still manufacture an A007 square infrared filter but compact cameras like the Olympus tend to need a higher rating than Cokin’s 720nm. The solution is to buy 800nm – 950nm sheet and cut it to fit.

You can get the compact camera filter holder from Amazon Here

The Yellow Peril

A while ago a guy in the Middle East kept sending me infrared photos, taken with a Canon camera during the day, like the one above top. I had not come across this before and it did not seem to matter what we tried, the photos always came out yellow and with no sign of an aura even when using a suitable test target. The new contact who took this picture also sent a photo of the same area, taken at sunset, which produced a more usual and interesting aura image, above bottom. Now I enhanced the images, myself from straight-off-the-camera images my contact supplied me, so there is no ‘photoshopping’ or fancy editing going on here. The temperature was 23 degrees centigrade in both cases, so the yellow caste does not seem to be temperature related. At the moment, I can only put it down to an anomaly with the particular camera perhaps letting more light than normal reach the sensor but if anyone has any other ideas, I would be pleased to hear them. Nevertheless if anyone else comes across the ‘yellow peril’ you now have a solution – take the photos at sunset as we had to do with the old Polaroid camera.

DOWSING for TREASURE: THE NEW SUCCESSFUL TREASURE HUNTER'S ESSENTIAL DOWSING MANUAL

DOWSING for TREASURE: THE NEW SUCCESSFUL TREASURE HUNTER'S ESSENTIAL DOWSING MANUAL reveals secrets known only to a few amazingly successful treasure hunters.

If you want to find all the treasure you can handle — gold, silver, coins, jewels or anything else you call treasure — real fast. And if you want to find all this treasure without spending a fortune on expensive equipment or books and courses, using up all your free time studying and trying to put complicated rituals into practice in the field, then this essential manual was written for you! Expert metal detectorist, treasure hunter and internationally acclaimed author, David Villanueva, draws on his many years of experience at successfully dowsing for treasure to reveal ALL in this fact-packed manual. This completely revised and updated edition of the original SUCCESSFUL TREASURE HUNTER'S ESSENTIAL DOWSING MANUAL incorporating FAITHFUL ATTRACTION, is a revolutionary new guide to finding treasure, which shows how anyone — beginner or seasoned professional — can easily use the skills they probably never realized they had, to locate treasure — wherever it lies hidden. And, just as importantly, how to pinpoint and recover that treasure fast. Please note: This book is based on the two previous E-books mentioned above, which have been combined, revised and updated with some material subtracted and some new material added. If you have either of the previous E-books then this book will be an excellent companion volume; if you have both previous E-books, then you have the main issues covered.

Contents include:

1 Introduction 2 A Brief History Of Dowsing 3 How Does Dowsing Work? 4 Why Not Just Use A Metal Detector? 5 Finding And Using A Dowser 6 The Pendulum 7 Map Dowsing 8 The L-Rod 9 To Bait Or Not To Bait 10 Building A Better Gold Trap 11 To Look For Or To Unlook For 12 Buying A Better Gold Trap 13 All That Glitters 14 Metal Detectors And Search Heads 15 Photographing Treasure Auras 16 Research 17 Putting It All Together 18 Treasure Hunting Basics 19 Search Agreements 20 Bibliography

 

Taking better aura pictures

People, animals, vehicles and metal structures (including part metal structures like steel reinforced concrete) produce auras as does a lot of sky, so keep these things out of your pictures as much as possible. The tunnel effect in the picture is a reflection of the inside of the lens, it can usually be removed by increasing the focal length (the 18-55 range on Canon kit lenses). Set the focal length below maximum if you can to avoid problems with auto-focussing.

Infrared photo enhancing

I use Arcsoft Photostudio 5.5, as originally supplied with the Canon camera, for enhancing my aura photos. I have managed to keep this running on PCs up to and including Windows 7, although it does flash up a compatibility issue message at start-up. I haven’t found that to be a problem as long as I don’t use the browser function on Photostudio’s toolbar. In the past I had been told that version 6.0 did not work but I was recently told that a newer version 6.x did work. We did a few tests and sure enough I could not tell the difference between enhancing performed on 5.5 and that on the newer version, which can be downloaded free from: http://arcsoft-photostudio.en.softonic.com/

The day I got my hands on a real gold bar

On a recent trip to London, my partner and I visited the Bank of England Museum. The signage wasn’t very clear, or perhaps I should have gone to Specsavers the opticians, and we actually ended up in the Bank of England itself at the first attempt. The security man, in pink frock coat and top hat, told us where to go and we found the museum entrance in Bartholomew Lane running off Threadneedle Street down one side of the Bank building.

The museum collections were interesting and varied, covering a range of objects related to the bank’s history since its founding in 1694. Coins and banknotes, as you would expect, plus books and documents, furniture, silver, paintings and statues. The part that fascinated me though was the 400 troy ounces 999.9 fine gold bullion bar that was held captive in a plexi-glass case but which allowed you to insert your hand to grasp and lift the bar a couple of inches. At approx. 21.5 kg or 27.5 lbs it is surprisingly heavy. The value of the bar flashes up on a screen in front of you: over £400.000/ $500,000 at today’s prices. Unfortunately I couldn’t figure out how to remove it from its case without anyone noticing!