Category: Camera Hacking & DIY

f295 adds DIY photography forum

Nicolai Grossman Leave a comment

Tom Persinger’s f295, home of the excellent International Pinhole Photography Discussion Forum, have added the DIY (Do It Yourself) Photography Discussion Forum, "dedicated to the exploration and discussion of self-made photographic equipment and materials".

The quality of conversation, experimentation, knowledge, and helpfulness on the pinhole forum is exceptionally high, and I expect this to be no different. Camera builders, lens hackers, homemade kit traders, come check it out!

(Note that this about a day old, so it may take some time to get up to speed.)

Lex 35/Vivitar T100 crapcam disassembly instructions

Nicolai Grossman Leave a comment

Eben Ostby posted step-by-step disassembly instructions, with photos, for the Lex 35/Vivitar T100 toy camera. Check it out in this thread in the Trashcams group on Flickr.

Lest you be tempted to splurge for the Vivitar T100 for US $7.50, be aware that it’s the same camera as the Lex 35 except that it has a tripod mount and says Vivitar on the front. While I don’t think that’s worth the extra 6 bucks, it does mean that Eben’s instructions apply to it as well.

The Lex 35 is available for a whopping US $1.50 from American Science & Surplus in the Optics -> Optical Devices section. (Sorry, can’t link directly.)

2 on DIY ring flashes

Nicolai Grossman Leave a comment

Ring flashes are circular flash units that mount around the lens and produce flat, even lighting. They’re generally used for macro photography and were popular for fashion photography in the 90s. As they’re quite expensive, these two articles on how to make your own are quite handy. Both have solid step-by-step instructions.

First is a how-to from DigiHack about making an adaptor rig for an existing flash unit. Cheap and easy.

Then there’s one from Robots Kick Ass on how to make a ring flash from scratch using LEDs.

Via MAKE Blog.