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Holy shit: "Filminator" DIY film coating machine

Posted 15 June, 2008 in Camera Hacking & DIY

Flickr member Dark Orange says:

Can’t buy the film you want any more? Just make the stuff!

In this set you will find random photos and information on a project a friend has undertaken - a machine to make his own camera film.

Plastic and goop go in one end, and camera film comes out the other end. This is not a trivial undertaking.

*update*

This bit of hardware seems to have created a bit of a stir…

On APUG

On galerie-photo

On the Nelson Foto Forums

Via MAKE Blog

DIY Canon SLR remote timer

Posted 26 January, 2008 in Camera Hacking & DIY + Extra Geeky

Check out Rob’s DIY 555-based remote timer for Canon SLRs! He says:

Canon makes a SLR camera remote timer that sells for a couple hundred dollars. Using inspiration from various web sites I built one for myself using about $15 worth of parts from RadioShack.

First, it is a simple wired camera remote control. Just plug the cable into the remote jack on the Canon SLR camera and the black button on top will trigger the camera auto focus, while the red button will focus then take a picture.

Second, it is a timer than can be used for time lapse photography…

Continue reading the plans at his blog, My Name Is Rob.

Via MAKE Blog

How to build and calibrate a photo-plane light meter

Posted 5 September, 2006 in Camera Hacking & DIY

Science photographer Ted Kinsman wrote this piece on building and calibrating a photodiode-based light meter:

Being in the professional science photography business, I often get asked to photograph the strangest stuff using some very weird lens combinations. Lately, I was asked to take some motion pictures of "microscopic animals". So I set up the microscope and attached it to a 35-mm motion picture camera – but how do you measure the exposure?

A typical answer would be to use a standard film plane meter, but such a device would not fit my situation, and I would still have to perform a calibration on the device.

The answer to my problem was to simply build the type of meter I needed and then calibrate the device…

Continue reading at Microscopy-UK

Via Paul Beard of A Crank’s Progress blog

DIY light tent

Posted 19 April, 2006 in Camera Hacking & DIY

DIY light tent

Flickr member idiot king writes, "”I just made a light tent that’s a little larger than this one (it’s 4′x3′) with a roll of paper for the backdrop and bedsheets as diffusers. I think it cost, in total, about $30 for wood and paper. This will come in real handy for portfolio shots!"

Via MAKE Blog

DIY flash mini-bouncer

Posted 6 April, 2006 in Camera Hacking & DIY

"Here Brian shows how to build a homemade cheap flash bouncer. The flash bouncer can be used to increase the size of a hot-shoe flash. The bouncer is great and very easy to build. An alternative to the bouncer is the home made softbox. Another option for building this homemade flash bouncer is to use polypropylene sheet, it is sterdier then cardboard."

Read how-to at DIYPhotography.net

Via MAKE Blog

How-to: 120 folding camera pinhole conversion

Posted 3 April, 2006 in Pinhole + Camera Hacking & DIY

Paul Beard posted a how-to for converting an old folding 6×9 120 Foldex 20 camera to use a pinhole instead of a lens and adding a cable release. Even if you’re an old hand at pinhole conversions, you may want to check out his elegant cable release design.

"After kvetching about the pictures of other camera HOWTOs, I figured I better do a good job on my own.

"Read on for some pictures and text on how to convert an old 120 roll film camera to a pinhole camera, as well as adding a cable release…"

Read instructions at paulbeard.org

Via MAKE Blog

Cheap DIY homemade reflector stand

Posted 31 March, 2006 in Camera Hacking & DIY

"This reflector panel holder made of 3/4 inch PVC pipe is handy if you have a spare tripod to use. The tripod provides a stable base that can be adjust for height and tilt angle. Reflector is the collapseable type used for an auto windshield (31 x 38 inches)…"

Continue reading at DIYphotoraphy.net

Via MAKE Blog

DIY extension tube / reverse mount for macro photography

Posted 27 March, 2006 in Camera Hacking & DIY

"The following is a tutorial on how to create an extension tube / reverse mount for a standard 18-55mm lens using common plumbing supplies found at your local hardware store… Reversing the lens using a ‘reversing ring’. This special adapter attaches to the filter thread on the front of a lens and makes it possible to attach the lens in reverse. Excellent quality results up to 4x lifesize magnification using fairly cheap, ’standard’ (not specially designed for macro) lenses can be produced."

Continue reading at jyoseph.com

Via MAKE Blog

How to make a flash-mounted DIY softbox

Posted 22 March, 2006 in Camera Hacking & DIY

"In the following article, I will demonstrate how to make your own flash mounted, home made softbox. You will need two good hands, and some patience, but your reward will be a nice softbox for the cost of only 3-4 dollars…"

Continue reading at DIYPhotography.net

Via MAKE Blog

How to modify the Lex 35/Vivitar T100 toy camera for multiple & bulb exposures

Posted 20 March, 2006 in Camera Hacking & DIY + Site News

Key and tape positioning

The Lex 35/T100’s shutter cocking mechanism is coupled to its film advance, so reliable multiple exposures are out on a stock model. If you’ve got a screwdriver, a metal coat hanger, a pair of pliers, and some tape, this is not a problem. This will show you how to add a key that will cock the shutter without touching the film advance and allow you to shoot multiple exposures with impunity as well as how to block the shutter from closing, allowing you to keep it open as long as you want…

Continue reading here on Photon Detector.