Hackaday Links: October 10, 2010

October 10, 2010 by Mike Szczys 21 Comments

Old timey pics with a new timey camera

Update: We’ve already looked at this one… see the full article for all the details.

One way to get old-looking photographs is to use a vintage camera. Then again you can just connect a 1908 lens to a modern dslr with great results. [Thanks MS3FGX]

Cheap iPad mounting bracket

Need a way to hang your iPad but don’t want to spend some bucks? [Tumbleweed] used a $3 plate hanger to do the trick.

Hand engraving

You can get free laser engraving when you buy an iPhone but it won’t look as good as this does. [Viljo Marrandi] spent eight hours on this, but most of the time was spent resharpening tools dulled by the tough metal.

Let time prevent your computer from going idle

Want to keep your screen saver from running? No need to change settings, software, or use special hardware. Just set your mouse on an analog watch and let the moving hands jiggle it around. [Thanks Lovro]

Miniscule Intervalometer

August 6, 2010 by Mike Szczys 43 Comments

Calling this intervalomemter small would be a glaring understatement. It’s tiny enough to fit inside the plastic cover for a 2.5mm jack for use with a Canon DSLR camera. We should point out that the image we put together is a bit misleading. The picture of the jack is version 1 of this circuit and uses an 8-pin SOIC chip. The board in the oval is version 2, with a PIC 10f222 SOT23-6 package making it even smaller than the original version.

This is used for time-lapse photography. When plugged in the chip draws power from the camera. Get this: it learns the timing interval by listening for the first two images. Once you’ve snapped the first two pictures the PIC will continue to take images based on that initial delay. Amazing.

[Thanks AW via DIY Photography]

DSLR Shoulder Holster With Follow Focus

May 6, 2010 by Mike Szczys 26 Comments

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/11435910]

[Erik] and [Jonathan Bergqvist] built this shoulder mount for a Canon 7D camera. It’s made from wood and it hooks over the top of the photographer’s shoulder with a handle for each hand. The left handle also controls the focus, using a similar method to the hardware store follow focus we looked at in January. Like it or not, you’ll love watching a master woodworker build this starting with un-milled logs. It’s all about having and knowing how to use the right tools.

[Thanks Juan]

2-axis Motion Timelapse Photography

January 7, 2010 by Mike Szczys 6 Comments

[Milapse] picked up a motorized telescope base a few years ago. He’s using it to add motion to time-lapse photography. The base provides two-axis rotation controlled with a handheld keypad. Custom firmware and a bit of software allow for computer control. [Milapse] is pretty well-known in the time-lapse photography circles of the Inter-web. He’s posted a ten minute video explaining his setup and programming work for the hardware.

His use of a quality camera produces some nice video.However cost at $200 for the base, if you just want to play around with the concept you might want to stick to a webcam and LEGO setup.

[Thanks Jack]

Slide Digitizer

December 1, 2009 by Mike Szczys 24 Comments

Remember slide shows? The ones that used a carousel projector and real slides? [Brian] wanted to bring his slides into the digital age but was spending far too much time scanning in the 35mm relics. He set to work and built a rapid slide digitizer using a projector, a DSLR, and a microcontroller.

His system centers around an AVR microprocessor, the ATtiny2313. Some DIP switches are used to set the number of slides to be scanned, and the timing for synchronizing the projector and the camera. Using two relays, the cable release for the DSLR and the remote advance pins on the slide projector are connected to the AVR. [Brian] used a macro lens and sets the focus, exposure, and f-stop manual. Once everything looks good the touch of a button quickly steps through the entire carousel at about 1 slide per second. A small video of the process is embedded after the break and his writeup has some comparison photos between a slide scanner and this setup.

Continue reading “Slide Digitizer” →

Magic Lantern For Canon 5D

June 24, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 10 Comments

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/5267475%5D

[Trammell] has released a new firmware for the Canon 5D Mark II DSLR geared toward film makers. The stock firmware was very limited on the audio side. This firmware adds features such as live VU meters, reduced audio noise, and crop marks for filming in different formats. The firmware is written in a manner that it can be extended fairly easily. Hopefully this will turn out to be as helpful as CHDK has been for point and shoot cameras.

Wireless Portable USB Tether

May 21, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 13 Comments

USB

[Pete] has put together a fairly simple writeup on building a wireless USB tether for your DSLR. He’s basically using a pair of USB wireless adapters and a battery pack. In his original version, he did some slight modification to the dock that powers the USB dongle, adding his own battery pack too. He notes that this whole project can be done without the effort he put into it, at a little more expense. The only improvement we think would be nice would be a better way to package it to keep it out of the way while you shoot.