DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

 

Submit A Story

Watch a craftsman build a large format camera from scratch

by 2 Comments

And when we say from scratch, we are not kidding. This isn’t just ordering a bunch of components online and bolting them all together. Other than the lens and a few hinges, every piece on this camera is hand made. Right down to the perfectly hand ground glass.

The camera is the wonderful creation of very talented camera builder, Dieter Schneider. Whether you want to build your own camera or not, it’s a fascinating video to watch. The attention to detail, and ridiculously accurate workmanship is remarkable.

[Read more…]

How to create 5 cinematic looks with 2 lights in under 3 minutes

by Leave a Comment

People always go on about 3 point lighting setups. They’re a staple amongst photographers, cinematographers, and even CG work. Or people talk about shooting with just a single light source. The two light combo, on the other hand, is often neglected. Personally, 2 lights is the route I take most often in my own work, for both photos and video.

In this two and a half minute video, Nerris from the A-Team walks us through five different lighting setups. Each uses only a pair of lights. Many of them are quite common in higher end production from commercial advertising to Hollywood cinema.

[Read more…]

DJI’s new AeroScope system can now track and identify your drone while flying

by 2 Comments

Tracking drones is a bit of a hot topic. With all of the legislation constantly changing and evolving around the world, authorities want to know who’s flying offending drones. Put simply, there’s really no accountability. Unless they can find the person holding the transmitter, or law-breaking footage is posted to YouTube or Facebook and reported, there’s no way to find out who’s breaking the rules.

Now, though, that’s about to change. The concept of tracking drones has been a difficult challenge to overcome. But DJI have come up with a solution. AeroScope. They figured, “Hey, we’re pumping out all this drone data to the operator, why not take advantage of the existing system?”. Which is exactly what AeroScope does, to provide information on nearby drones.

[Read more…]

Western Digital are using microwave tech to develop 40TB+ hard drives

by 3 Comments

I think I’m going to stop listening to anybody who says that hard drives are dead and SSD is the only future of storage. Don’t get me wrong, I love SSDs. They’re fantastic for when you need really rapid access to data. They’re great as a system drive for your operating system and software.

When it comes to pure storage, though, they still can’t really hold a candle to hard drives for capacity. Well, not unless you want to spend an absolute fortune. Western Digital have just announced a new “breakthrough” technology in hard drive storage. Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording. They say that it will allow them to create hard drives 40TB and larger.

[Read more…]

Epic drone footage captures wolf fighting a moose in the Canadian wilderness

by 1 Comment

Nature holds so many amazing sights the world never gets to see. Thanks to the proliferation of digital cameras and drones in the last decade or so, though, now there’s the chance that we can. It’s not that there are more people going out and looking for these sorts of things. When they do happen, though, it’s more likely that somebody’s got a camera handy to film it.

In this particular instance, that somebody is Ontario resident, Dan Nystedt. While out filming with his Phantom 4 Pro recently at Achigan Lake, Dan came across a moose. This moose sighting already excited him. But he definitely wasn’t prepared for what happened next, as a wolf comes running out of the trees to attack.

[Read more…]

This guy hated his Sony A7 electronic viewfinder so much that he just cut it off

by 18 Comments

I have to say, this is probably one of the more extreme camera mods I’ve seen in recent times. Sure, there were some doozies back in the days of film when everything was mechanical. But now? With all the intricacies of digital chips and circuits? Not so much beyond “How to add a microphone jack” hacks. This, though, takes it to the extreme.

One member of the Xitek forum decided he just really didn’t like his Sony A7’s electronic viewfinder. So, he got rid of it. Yup, that’s right, he removed it completely, then made a new top plate for his camera to cover the hole. Essentially, it’s now a sort of full frame version of the A6500.

[Read more…]

Samsung’s new dual pixel mobile sensor wants to eliminate dual cameras in smartphones

by Leave a Comment

It feels like only last year we were faced with a technological breakthrough. Dual cameras in our phones. Two cameras working together as one to improve image quality, and increase ISO performance. To let us realistically fake the shallow depth of field previously only possible with large sensors. Oh, wait a minute. That was last year.

Dual camera smartphones have pretty much become a requirement now for anybody taking their mobile photography seriously. Already, though, Samsung want to make the whole concept obsolete. They’ve now announced some new mobile image sensors based on dual pixel technology. Similar to that found in cameras such as the Canon 5D Mark IV. Only way smaller.

[Read more…]

Nokia cancels Ozo VR camera, will lay off up to 30% of staff

by 1 Comment

It probably won’t come as much of a surprise that Nokia have pulled the plug on their $25,000 Ozo VR camera. At least, not as much as it has come to the up to 310 Nokia employees (30% of their workforce) that are about to be laid off. Nokia blame the “slower-than-expected development of the VR market”, apparently.

Basically, we aren’t buying VR gear fast enough. So, it’s all our fault. Well, what did they expect when they put out a special use niche camera for $25K? Although, to be fair, this is less than half of its initial launch price of $60K. Still a little high, even for the somewhat higher end of the VR market.

[Read more…]

DJI’s new 6K drone camera packs a Super 35mm APS-C sensor with 14 stops of dynamic range

by 9 Comments

DJI have announced the world’s first Super 35mm digital camera designed specifically for aerial cinematography. The Zenmuse X7. It shoots 6K CinemaDNG raw video at up to 30fp. The X7 also features a new DJI Cinema Color System to maximise its 14 stops of dynamic range.

For aerial photographers, it’s also capable of capturing 24 megapixel RAW stills. Super 35mm means it’s an APS-C sized sensor. Currently, it’s only compatible with the DJI Inspire 2 drone, although future compatibility with other products is expected in the future. I wouldn’t get your hopes up about bolting this thing to a Mavic, though.

[Read more…]

Women’s suit company reverses gender roles in this advertising campaign using naked men as props

by 24 Comments

This advertising campaign is sure to raise a few eyebrows. Suistudio, a company which makes suits for women, has decided to do something a little different with a familiar theme for their new marketing. A total role reversal. Women in suits and naked guys sprawled around as props. Personally, I think it’s pretty awesome.

I’m going to say it because I have to say it. Some of you may find the images below NSFW. I suppose, though, that will depend on where you work. I don’t like that I had to censor the image above to appease the social media gods, either.

[Read more…]

Recent Posts