New Cameras Learning Old Lens Tricks

July 25, 2012 by Mike Szczys 13 Comments

[Michael H] tipped us off about this guide to using view camera lens parts with DSLR cameras and lenses. We weren’t familiar with the term ‘view camera’ but we certainly recognize the accordion-like bellows that define that type of camera. The idea is that modern cameras with their fixed lenses miss out on some types of shots. Why not work out a way to get the best from both old and new?

The concept behind the view camera is that there are two plates connected by the bellows. One plate holds the film and shutter, the other holds the lens. The two can be adjusted for focal length but can also be set at an angle to each other. This modern adaptation uses an adjustable frame to hold the two plates in position. Custom connectors were made by attaching lens rings to the plates. It’s pretty much the same connection technique as we’ve seen when trying to mate cameras with lenses from a different maker.

Simple Light Painting Bar Build

July 24, 2012 by Mike Szczys 15 Comments

[SkyWodd] took the easy route when it came time to build this light painting bar. But he was still met with great success. Thanks to his well-documented work you should be able to throw this together for yourself in about an hour.

The idea here is to build a full-color display that will draw a picture in a long-exposure photograph. We’ve seen the concept used with 64 discrete RGB LEDs, but there’s almost no soldering to be done with this project. Instead, [SkyWodd] used an addressable RGB LED strip. It has 64 pixels, all taking commands via the SPI protocol. This helps keep the number of microcontroller connections to a minimum. He lashed the entire system onto a long hunk of wooden dowel and grabbed a camera.

You’ll need a DSLR as each image needs to have an exposure time approaching 10 seconds. One thing to note is that it may be best to leave the LED bar stationary and move the camera. If you use a tripod it should help keep the vibrations to a minimum.

Motorized Camera Rig Makes Panoramic Shooting Simple

July 24, 2012 by Mike Nathan 10 Comments

diy-panorama-rig

Where some people might see a pile of junk, Hackaday reader and budget-conscious photo nut [FantomFotographer] sees inspiration. He was in search of a rig that would help him take better panoramic photos and found all that he needed to build one right around him.

He had an old tripod kicking around, which serves as the base for rig. At the top sits a pair of servos [FantomFotographer] attached to the tripod with some scrap wood, screws, and glue. The servos are driven by an Arduino Nano, which sits comfortably in a plastic enclosure he scavenged from trash heap. He uses an IR receiver to control the whole thing, which allows him to not only change shooting angles, but camera settings as well.

While it might sound like all is well with his upcycled camera rig, [FantomFotographer] says that like every project, there is some room for improvement. He’s keeping the source code under wraps at the moment, but once he gets everything working to his liking, he says that he’ll release it.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the cool panoramas he has put together.

High Speed Photography Controller Built To Catch Water Droplets

July 17, 2012 by Mike Szczys 6 Comments

One high-speed photography controller to rule them all. If you’re looking to photograph droplets of water splashing on a still reservoir this is the ticket. But if you’re not, it still offers an incredible amount of flexibility for other high-speed needs. Inside you’ll find an Arduino Mega, which has plenty of room to bend to your will.

[Michael Ross] is the man behind this box. He wanted a system that did it all; timings, droplet control, camera shutter, etc. What you can’t see in the image above is the interface panel on the back of this enclosure (this shot shows the top of the box). The video after the break will give you a look at the overall setup. It has ports to control two different light sources, detectors to snap the images using an infrared sensor or via sound (we’re thinking bullet photography), and four ports to control solenoid valves.

He produced a mammoth PDF tutorial which will guide even the biggest noob through the entire build process. Find it at his site linked above.

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Optical Fiber Twin-flash Adapter

July 17, 2012 by Mike Szczys 7 Comments

[Marcell] has always been turned off by the price tag of commercially available double flash adapters. He decided to see what kind of performance he could get out of a flash adapter which he built himself.

The raw materials used should seem quite familiar. The optical fibers act as a conduit to redirect the light from the flash, but he needed a way to hold them in place. He chose to use locline. It’s a product we often see in CNC mill builds to blow debris away from the cutter head. It’s hollow, and holds its position. This is perfect because it allows for easy adjustment and provides a channel through which the fibers can be routed. The Y adapters used here run to a hard board base which connects to the mounting lug on the bottom of the camera. [Marcell] suggests using a T-piece if available because the Y fitting made it a bit more difficult to push the fibers through.

Laser Light Painting Includes Camera Control

July 13, 2012 by Mike Szczys 6 Comments

This laser light painting setup can even control the camera. But it probably will not work with your average point-and-shoot. The exposure time used is somewhere around 2 seconds long, a feature which is hard to find on anything but DSLR cameras.

The setup relies on a red laser diode to do the painting. When viewed in real time you only see a dot tracing out a cryptic pattern and occasionally switching on and off. But with a long exposure the intense light persists to achieve an image like the one seen above. Note the ghosting around the rig as it has moved while the shutter was open.

The Arduino controlled device consists of a base which pivots the diode horizontally, with a servo for aiming on the vertical axis. Since the sketch is divided up by letter, we wonder how hard it would be to adapt this for use with a point-and-shoot? Perhaps you could capture one letter at a time and layer the frames in post production?

It seems this is a lot easier to build than some of the LED plotters we’ve looked at. If you do make your own don’t forget to send a link our way.

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F/stop Printer For Analog Printing Black And White Photos

July 5, 2012 by Mike Szczys 3 Comments

This beautifully crafted device is a timer used for getting the perfect exposure when making film prints of photos. But in addition to keeping time, it also does logarithmic calculations that are based on the f-stop values used for each exposure. It does this in 1/100th of a stop increments. While he was at it, [William] also decided to pack in a bunch of other features like dry down correction, and support for making test strips. This is a little hard to understand when discussed in the abstract, but just take a look at his video after the break where [William] walks us through an example exposure and all will become clear.

You can see from the construction page that the device is basically an Arduino shield. It provides a relay for controlling the exposure lamp, a keypad, rotary encoder, and character LCD. Slap it in a fancy case, connect it to the equipment you’re using, and you’ll be creating perfect prints in no time flat!

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