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A decade ago, I stumbled upon a page where someone detailed their process for crafting their own instant film, something similar to Polaroid Type55 or the New55. At that time, the instructions seemed too complex for me to tackle, and I never ventured into the world of instant film creation.
Fast forward ten years, and I’m now prepared to give it a shot. The reason? There’s now a lot more information and instructions shared by others who have explored this fascinating process.
Camera carts are wonderful things when working in the studio or at certain locations. That is to say, locations with a lot of flat ground that small wheels work on. Proper studio carts, however, can be expensive.
There are plenty of roller carts out there for other purposes, that are much less expensive and can be adapted. In this video, Chung Dha shows us an inexpensive $100 cart and how he modifies it for his needs.
We’ve seen a lot of DIY camera projects here on DIYP. Usually, though, they’re either Raspberry Pi-based or modified Game Boy Cameras. It’s rare we see a digital camera being built completely from the ground up.
But that’s what Wenting Zhang is doing with the Sitina 1. It’s a full-frame open-source camera that uses an off-the-shelf Kodak CCD image sensor. Now, it’s not a fancy sensor, at only 10.7-megapixels. But being CCD, it’s got a global shutter.
If your portraits are feeling a little bland or uninteresting lately, maybe it’s time to spice them up with some new portrait lighting hacks! The intricate dance of light and shadow is what give depth and form to your portrait. Light is what ultimately gives your portrait life, and it’s not something you can just “fix in Photoshop” later.
So here are 9 Portrait Light Hacks in 90 Seconds to get your creative juices flowing. Hopefully these DIY light modifiers will inspire you to create some beautiful portraiture and get creative with your lighting.
This is a video that was posted to YouTube a while ago but doesn’t seem to have seen much traffic. It was posted by the channel Handy Bear (aka, Michel), and unlike most camera slider motorisation conversions these days, there’s not a 3D printer in sight!
The Slider shown in the video is just a cheap one Michel found online. It looks like many inexpensive sliders, and these are often the best candidates for a motor conversion. An Arduino Nano controls the electronics.
I hadn’t heard of the brand Cinesaddle (buy here) until watching this video. After looking it up, though, I realised I’ve used this type of product before. It’s essentially a shaped beanbag that sits underneath your camera to provide more filming options.
While Cinesaddles look to have some excellent reviews, they are a bit pricey. In this video, Chung Dha walks us through how to make our own DIY camera saddle using a sandbag and some polystyrene beads.
GoPro cameras are typically only really used for one thing. Ok, maybe two things after you strip them down to their bare components for FPV drones. But typically, the main intention for the GoPro is to shoot action, not cinema.
They have, of course, been used in cinema – not always in a great way – but it’s not their primary intent. What if it was, though? What if it had interchangeable lenses? And a monitor? Well, let’s see what filmmaker and YouTuber Van Neistat has to say about it.
We’ve seen a lot of Game Boy Camera hacks over the last few years. We’ve seen them rehoused into camera cases, modified to take “real” lenses, converted into webcams, and shrunken down to game cart size.
But all of those mods have one thing in common. They require a Game Boy (or the guts of one). This mod, however, from Raphael Boichot, only uses the camera and some custom electronics based on the Raspberry Pi Pico.
Don’t you just hate having to deal with plugging in charging cables? Don’t you wish you could just set your camera or device down and it just charges? This is the concept behind smartphone docks. Now, it’s coming to cameras.
Developed by Fatih Arslan, this 3D printable dock lets you set down your Leica M11 (buy here) and charge it straight on your desk. The dock naturally requires a cable, but its plug slots straight into your camera automatically as you rest your camera down.
At some point, many of us will have a camera that just doesn’t feel right when it comes to shutter speeds. Maybe we’re seeing flicker when we’re shooting timelapse, or perhaps we have an old camera that doesn’t seem as quick anymore.
In the olden days, confirming shutter speeds was no easy feat. It required some specialised hardware and a book of charts to compare. These days, you can do it with an Arduino and a couple of lasers. This project by Stuart Brown shows you how.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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