Automatic Trigger For Lightning Photography

March 26, 2011 by Mike Nathan 19 Comments

lightning_trigger

[Vicktor] has always been fascinated by photographs of lightning and decided to try his hand at capturing a few strikes on his camera. Every time he attempted it however, he didn’t have much success. Instead of trying to operate his camera manually to take the images, he decided to build a lightning trigger that would do it for him.

His circuit uses a large photodiode to sense when lightning strikes, triggering the camera via a hacked shutter release cable. A PIC micro controller is used to adjust the sensitivity of the device, as well as to send the actual trigger signal to the camera. His circuit is connected to the camera via a pair of opto couplers to ensure that his circuit cannot cause any harm to the camera.

When the box is powered on, it enters a calibration mode where the user can adjust the circuit to compensate for whatever amount of ambient light is present. Once armed, the box waits for a sudden change in ambient lighting, sending the exposure release signal to the camera.

A schematic is available on his site, and he will send you the code he use on request. There is currently no video of the trigger in action, but hopefully we’ll see one soon.

If you’re interested in seeing some other remote camera triggers, check out this one made from air freshener parts, and this one which uses lasers.

Photographing Stuff That’s Not There By Using Stencils

March 23, 2011 by Mike Szczys 8 Comments

This image was not made in post production, but captured during a long camera exposure. The method uses stencils to add components to a picture. [Alex] built a jig for his camera from a cardboard box. This jig positions a large frame in front of the camera lens where a printed stencil can be inserted. He printed two identical sheets of paper with black covering the area all around the 8-bit joggers. When properly aligned and inserted in the jig, the black parts of the stencil will act to mask the areas where he wants to capture the natural surroundings of the image. Once the camera shutter is triggered, he uses a flash to illuminated the stencil, then removes the the paper image from the jig and ambient light from the dark surrounding is captured during the remainder of the 20-30 second exposure time. The real trick is getting the light levels between the flash and the ambient light to balance and produce a result like the one seen above.

Is anyone else hearing the Punch Out cut-scene music in their heads right about now?

DIY Camera Dolly Frees Up Your Hands To Take Care Of The Important Stuff

March 18, 2011 by Mike Nathan 11 Comments

diy_camera_dolly

Documenting your build process can sometimes be an incredible pain, as it’s quite difficult to take pictures or video while you are in the middle of soldering. Professionals who demonstrate things on TV for a living have the benefit of a camera crew and special rigs to catch the action from every angle – the rest of us don’t have that luxury.

[Steve] felt the same frustrations as many of us do, and decided to do something about it. He built a movable camera dolly that can be suspended from the ceiling above his work surface for less than $30. The bulk of his camera dolly is built from PVC piping, with assorted bolts and washers holding things together. Skateboard bearings were used as rollers to provide smooth 2-axis motion for the entire rig, then he hung the entire apparatus from the ceiling joists over his workspace.

According to [Steve], the build process seems relatively easy and should take no more than an hour or so, and it can support pretty much any full-size DSLR camera you can find.

Stick around for a quick video tour of his camera dolly build.

[via Make]

Continue reading “DIY Camera Dolly Frees Up Your Hands To Take Care Of The Important Stuff” →

Adding Digital Storage To An Analog Scope

March 16, 2011 by Mike Szczys 14 Comments

This is a hack in the finest sense of the term. It not only allows you to capture data from an analog oscilloscope for later analysis, but provides you with a great tool if you’re posting on the Internet about your projects. [J8g8j] used an empty cashew container to add a camera mount to the front of his scope. This is possible because the bezel around the display has a groove in it. A bit of careful measuring helped him make an opening that was just right.

You can see that the red cap for the jar holds the camera and gave him a bit of trouble in the original prototype. This version has a tray where camera sits, which replaces the Velcro with didn’t hold the camera level the first time around. He’s also painted the inside of the clear plastic to reduce glare on the oscilloscope readout. Black and white images seem to come out the clearest, but it can be difficult to make out the grid lines. The addition of LEDs to help them stand out is one of the improvements we might see in the future.

Tilt And Pivot Camera Base Uses Just Two Servos

March 15, 2011 by Mike Szczys 19 Comments

[Caled] shows us how to build a tilt and pivot camera base. One of these can be quite handy for taking precisely aligned images that can later be stitched together into panoramic, or even spherical images. We have grand visions of being able to produce something along the lines of these stunning interactive images with hardware that is cheaper and easier to build than this other motorized rig.

The design utilizes just two servo motors. In the image above you can just make out a pair of discs that serve as the base for the rig. In the center of the upper disc is the first servo, pointing downward, which rotates the camera. Two upright supports on either side of the point-and-shoot provide the framework for the tilt feature. The camera is mounted in a frame whose center is a threaded rod on the near side, and the second servo motor on the far side. An Arduino with a servo shield controls the movements along with a button pad and LCD screen as a user interface. The last step in the project log points to software options for combining the captured photos.

USB Dongle Hack Tethers DSLR Cameras At A Fraction Of The Price

March 12, 2011 by Mike Nathan 33 Comments

wireless_usb_grip

[Neal] wanted to tether his DSLR to his computer, but he wasn’t about to fork out the $1,000 Nikon was asking for their wireless adapter. Instead, he opted to construct his own solution using two separate camera accessories which cost him less than $200 when finished.

The two components he purchased were a wireless USB transmitter/receiver pair and an external battery grip. The battery grip allows him to use a pair of batteries to power his camera, while providing just enough space to wedge in the USB transmitter. He stripped the casing off the transmitter and connected it to a mini USB plug that he wired into the battery grip. He then added a small voltage regulator to step down the Nikon battery voltage from 7.2v to the 5v required by the USB transmitter.

The battery grip and transmitter were then hooked directly into his camera using the weatherproof plug built into the grip. Once he powered on his camera, it was connected to the PC immediately.

It’s amazing how the simplest hacks can save incredible amounts of money. Nice job!

Be sure to check out the video embedded below to see the wireless adapter in action.

Continue reading “USB Dongle Hack Tethers DSLR Cameras At A Fraction Of The Price” →

Bounce Flash In Multiple Mediums

March 11, 2011 by Mike Szczys 5 Comments

[Nigel’s] been trying out a series of designs and materials to make his own bounce flash. He set out on this mission because most of the images he used flash on ended up washed out with dark shadows. The flash add-on seen above seeks to curb the harshness of the direct light but shielding the subject.

What you see above is just a couple of pieces of paper. [Nigel] put together a template so that you can cut your own. Although the design is his favorite, he also put together a second generation that is built from hobby plastic with a piece of aluminum tape as the reflecting surface. The main link at the beginning of this feature leads to that version, but after the break we’ve included direct links to each article he published during his experimentation.

Continue reading “Bounce Flash In Multiple Mediums” →