Give Your Tripod Some Extra Stability By Adding a Weight Hook
Heavier tripods are generally more stable than lighter ones — wind doesn’t affect them as much — but hauling them around can be a pain. Instructables user Andrew Axley came up with the brilliant idea of making his simple tripod more stable by adding his own weight hook. The tripod is light when not in...
Use a Marble to Find Good Available Light
Steve 21 has an interesting trick for finding good available light: he places a marble in his hand to simulate what the light would look like on a human face: Just hold a fist in front of you (like holding a telescope), tuck the marble just under your forefinger, and there you have it –...
Siri Ported to the Canon 5D Mark II?
A Swedish hacker and robotics student named Björn Mabrö is claiming that he has successfully developed a custom firmware for the Canon 5D Mark II that adds Apple’s Siri voice assistant to the DSLR. Mabrö claims that the hack allows the camera to respond to 124 different voice commands that control everything from the shutter...
Plastic Wrap Can Be Used as a Pellicle Mirror Substitute
After damaging the pellicle mirror in his Sony A55 with cleaning fluid, a guy named Dario decided to look for a makeshift replacement while waiting for a real replacement mirror to arrive. He then discovered that food wrap (AKA Saran wrap) works nearly as well as a real pellicle mirror. The only downsides are occasionally...
Nikon D5100 Gets Unofficial “Star Wars”-Themed Firmware Update
Nikon’s firmware got decrypted last month, and now an unofficial firmware for Nikon DSLRs has emerged. Rather than offer useful adjustments, the firmware is purely for geekiness: it gives Nikon D5100 DSLRs a Star Wars theme. Here’s a list of new menu items and the text they replaced: Holocron – Playback menu Weapon System –...
How to Turn Your Tripod Into a Makeshift Music Stand
Love music just as much as you love photography? Want an extra music stand? You can make a makeshift one by combining your tripod with a music stand! The IKEA BRÄDA stand is perfect for this, and only costs $2.50. Peter Janssens of grow for it make his stand connect to the tripod using a...
Magic Lantern team deliver Xmas gift of improved Canon DSLR hack with FPS control and HDR mode
By Dan Chung I’m generally not into hacking cameras myself but the new Christmas release of the Magic Lantern hack for Canon 550D (t2i), 60D, 600D (t3i), 50D and 500D is certainly very enticing. Magic Lantern offers a greatly improved feature set which makes Canon DSLRs into much more fully feature video cameras. You simply...
Become Familiar with Your New Camera by Putting Its Manual in the Bathroom
Reading a camera’s user manual is a great way to become familiar with all of its features and functions, but what if you don’t have the patience to sit down and chew through it? Here’s a strange but useful trick for making sure you read the manual thoroughly: put it in the bathroom. By placing...
HDR video firmware for Canon DSLRs? Magic Lantern adds new features!
Is it really true? A tweet this evening said that Magic Lantern has added HDR video for some Canon HDSLRs to their arsenal! We watched the video and it looks pretty impressive – but there are indeed some limitations – please read on for more info and thanks to gizmag.com for their story with all...
Use a Christmas Wreath Case to Protect Your Beauty Dish
Beauty dishes are pricey, and so are dedicated cases for carrying them around. If you want a cheap and simple way to protect your dish, LA-based photographer Mariusz Jeglinski suggests buying a Christmas wreath bag for less than $10. The shape works nicely for dishes, and you can add some extra padding to the case...
Add a Clip to Lens Caps to Make Them Easier to Hold On To
Have a habit of losing your lens caps? Add a clip to them to keep them attached to your camera strap when not in use! All you need are a lapel clip — the kind found on old wired cellphone headsets work great — and some strong mounting tape. It’s basically a DIY version of...
