The Best Invention Since The Invention Of The Power Cord
The following guest post about the best invention since the invention of the power cord (and saving space while traveling) is made by Simon Williams of Simon James Williams Photography.
You’ve been looking for something that will change your photography forever, something you’ve never quite been able to put your finger on, the “Zen” some people say that you have been looking for.
You have the best camera that your wife (or husband) will allow – in fact you’ve got more mega-pixels at your disposal that the Hubble space telescope. You are in more debt than the Lehman Brothers website designer because of it.
The children are on free school meals to afford you the best lighting rig in the universe – heck, the residents of Alpha Centauri see flashes in the sky on Saturday and Sunday afternoon photo sessions.
So, what is it that’s going to make a huge change in your photographic life?
Here it is ... the ‘mini-lead’.
Now, it’s pretty obvious here what’s been going on here, but basically I cut down the lead a couple of inches above the power adapter that goes into the Canon charger and attached a plug to the shorter lead. The only snag was that the lead that came with my Canon charger had a moulded plug, so I wasn’t able to re-use it. No matter, I had a spare plug that I could use.
What do you mean you don’t get it - eh?
The point is that you don’t need a gazillion feet of lead for your charger - cut it short. And the best thing is that you can save space in your camera bag while on your travels for all the other really important stuff you need like, sandwiches, sushi, cans of coke, hourly medication, Viagra, miniature booze and that all important Red Bull to keep you awake during the fathers speeches.
So there it is ... your photography will now take on a life of its own, and you will achieve a higher power because of it. Put the new lead in your bag - plug in when you need it, and leave it to dangle from the socket, it’s not heavy enough to put any strain on the connection.
I thought about marketing the idea, but meeh, take it with you, but don’t abuse the newly found knowledge to have gained. Share it.
If you liked this (or if oyu are thinking WTF) there are some more great travel power tips.
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Comments
Apple Plug
Even better when you are travelling with your iPod, iPhone MacBook etc. The removable plug 'head' on the charger has a figure 8 plug, so just plug the straight into the camera battery charger and plug the entire thing into the wall.
re: Apple Plug
Thanks for that tip, Nick. It looks like the tablet computing is not the only market they re-invented :)
I wonder if anyone tried this and can share the weight that the plug will hold.
Not innovative
I'm using a 15-year-old sony-ericsson cellphone charging plug just the one pictures (EURO socket). Works perfectly.
Apple plug
I use this for both my D300 charger and my D70 charger. Works great!
Fold out plug adapters
My Canon has a fold out plug that doesn't have a cord at all. It only takes up as much space as the block on yours. You might want to look into that as an option. I know that some aftermarket chargers are similar. Try here for some examples.
What can I say...
I just can't stop laughing with this amazing invention, better rush in for patent application
Very fun !
Hi
Interresting post !
I really enjoyed the part with "the residents of Alpha Centauri see flashes in the sky on Saturday and Sunday afternoon photo sessions" about photo gear :)
Go on !
Even better, add a switch in there
I've done the same with a power brick and a bunch of chargers. If you're going to cut up the cable anyway then it's worthwhile adding a simple light switch in there. That way you can have the chargers connected all the time and only switch on the ones needed.
To avoid confusion it's worth making sure that the "on" position is always in the same direction - or use tape or a marker pen to indicate on/off.
re: switch
This is a great idea.
It turns out that in some subs, they have all the "watches" align so the "ok" marker is precisely horizontal.
That way, if the engineer in watch sees any dial going "beyond the horizon" he knows that the reading is bad. much easier that remembering the values of each and every watch.
ha ha ha you are right. I
ha ha ha you are right. I have my lead all tied up
Nice!
Ok, nice, but how can we get it? I didn't see it in the stores
it is a DIY blog - you make it :)
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Plug Mod
I do a lot of my photography from my Harley. I made a similar mod for my Nikon battery charger. No need to carry 10 feet of cord anymore. It's sort of like backpacking, anything that can be reduced in size or weight allows me to take more of what I need in the field.
I got a solar power charger
I got a solar power charger that I just love - great for wilderness photos and camping!
Fold out plug
I have an American fold out charger, but dont live in America. so I think Ill make a 15 cm cord w/ an American female end, and an Israeli male end. the travel adapters are to clumbsy and a major pain. good thing the charger works on up to 250 v.
What an excellent idea!
Super tip. I am going to cut all my cables now!!
if you wanna buy them
you can here:
http://www.amazon.com/Cordtec-Prong-NEMA-Printer-Adpater/dp/B001HTOLR6
been there...
I've had one of the apple style plugs for 10 years or so from an old sony ericsson telephone charger. Super!
Heres my version of a few of the ideas from above.
Its a socket that takes any Apple plug and splits it three ways for all my chargers when travelling.
http://chriscameronphoto.blogspot.com/2009/08/power-octopus.html
why cut the end
If I did not have a spare plug I would just cut the cable in the middle, trim to lenght, solder up the wire ends, tape them and cover the outside with shrink tubing
It can be better.
Remove that god awful UK plug!
Replace with a standard 2 pin and THEN it's neat and tidy :)
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