DIYPhotography.net

If you are spending a lot of time as a traveling photographer, you must have noticed that in addition to the usual energy consuming gadgets like strobe and camera batteries there are now a plethora of devices that need a USB charging buddy. Things like a Smart phone, an iPad or even a GoPro. Carrying around chargers and sockets for all this gear is kinda messy. Especially if you are traveling to a foreign country and need a power adapter for each charger.

Adam Dachis over at Lifehacker has a sweet solution for this utilizing a gadget travel organizer, a 7-Port USB Hub and an 11,000mAh Portable Battery to make a light weight, portable and tidy charging station. Click to continue ›

The thing about a GoPro is that if you constantly challenge it to stay in one piece, eventually the odds will accumulate against you and it will fall and hit the ground (see the compilation of videos after the jump).

While a GoPro placed low and getting hit is no issue, having a camera drop a few meter is not healthy for the camera of the people below it.

DIYP reader Joe Romie shoots a lot of volleyball and to get interesting angles he places a GoPro over the stadium mounted on a superclamp and manfrotto arm. Here comes the smart part (although somewhat trivial). Joe's idea for using a GoPro in an impact prone environment is tethering it to the rail with fishing leaders so if it gets hit by the ball, it will not fall all the way to the floor a few meters below.

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The folks over at HDSLR now just shared what might be the easiest rain camera rain jacket ever.

It's easy because it doesn't use anything but a Gore-Tex sheet and a pair of rubber bands.

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Most weather protection mods completely seal of the body and lens of the camera using Nylon (or some sort of nylon, at least). A very common hack is to use a UV filter as a front element for the lens and cover the rest with a bag.

The problem there is that drop on the lens cover may interfere with the shot. The folks at Digital Camera World came up with a different solution that uses a CD spindle for lens protection.

While this solution is not 100% tight, it looks like for non windy weather it provides good protection while removing the risk of drops on the lens of filter. (Yes, it also uses a nylon bag, I guess there is no way around this one).

If you want a more refined solution, you can buy similar "dedicated" bags for about $6-$8 in B&H.

The only question now (2013) is where the heck does one find an empty CD case spindle?

[why a blank CD case is the perfect rain guard for your lens | Digital Camera World] Click to continue ›

I recently purchased a new camera, which has quickly become one of the many loves of my life! It is my first DSLR camera - Canon Rebel T2i.

It came with a 2nd lens and a camera bag but I quickly realized there was no way I was lugging that case around with me day to day let alone to a party, BBQ or the Zoo. Click to continue ›

Rob Gipman submitted this great hack to our Flickr pool. It is a water resistant protective sleeve for the Canon 100-400L lens.

What makes this lens ideal for sleeve protection (aside than the $1459 price tag) is the fact that this lens zooms by retraction rather than by rotation Click to continue ›

If you ever took a camera bag to a restaurant, coffee shop or anywhere that makes you put it on the floor, you know that can be really be a peace killer. And you are constantly worried that someone might snatch it.

You try placing the bag under the seat / have one of the straps loop around the chair legs and put it in your lap. Not really convenient.

Youtue user Kipkay came up with a clever $2.5 hack that may not protect your bag, but will definitely let you know if someone is trying to pick it up.

The system is based on a $2 impact alarm (the kind that alerts on broken windows) with an added $0.5 tilt switch. Once the device is turned on any tilt, such as a bag grab, will trigger the alarm. (As with everything, there are commercial options for this, but they are not nearly as cool)

Now here is the clever part (back in my programming days we used to call those "features"). The alarm has not off switch. Once it goes on it can only be turned off by drowning it, smashing it or...applying a magnet to the tilt switch, which is not that trivial if you just picked up this bag and started running. Where would you even get a magnet.

[$2 Alarm Protects Your Stuff!! via Photojojo | PetaPixel] Click to continue ›

Looking to put together a sexy camera bag? Already have a messenger bag you want to carry your camera in? Love the look and feel of waxed canvas bags but don't want to fork over the money to buy one new? THIS TUTORIAL IS FOR YOU! Click to continue ›

Here is an awesome entry to our How I Took It Contest from Mambastik. It's a vintage case for vintage looking cameras. This specific one is for the Olympus Pen EP1, but the process described makes it a breeze to adopt to any camera.

Speaking of How I Took It, the submission period is over and we are working hard an rallying up the dozens of entries and reviewing them all. Results soon.

I decided to do this build as an alternative to expensive camera cases found on various online shops. I've always asked myself, "why is it so expensive? I could probably make it myself!" And so I took on the challenge. I made this a while back, but have made improvements since then.

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If your camera only has one extra lens, it sometimes makes sense to save on the number of bags on a trip by co-locating the lens in a laptop bag or a day bag.

The thing is, you wanna keep the lens protected. Dedicated camera bags have foam inserts, called dividers, that'll keep your lens safe from bumping against hard materials, but your laptop case will most likely won't have those dividers.

Taryn Fiol of apartment therapy came up with a smart way or protecting a lens (or a strobe for that matter) if you choose to go bag-light.

By using a beer cozy to wrap the lens Taryn was able to protect it from strap hard edges. (and won a makeshift snoot in the process).

Of course, if you want to go all the way to the other extreme, you can, with basic sewing skills, make your own camera bag insert all together.

[Creative Reuse: Keeping Camera Lenses Safe on the Cheap | Apartment Therapy] Click to continue ›