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Here’s how to make your own high quality DIY USB microphone for voiceovers and streaming

There are a lot of microphone options out there these days. Since stills cameras started being able to shoot video, and particularly so since the whole mirrorless thing took off properly, it seems like every company out there is making microphones now. Even DJI’s getting in on the game. Btu you’re still going to pay a not-insignificant amount if you want a decent one.

So, how can you get quality on the cheap? Well, you can build your own. In this video, Matthew Perks walks us through building our own microphone from scratch that produces some great quality sound. And you can even plug it straight into your computer’s USB audio ports for digital audio.

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Save some money by 3D printing your own camera gear

Individuals often find it annoying to pay for extra gear after already spending a huge amount on the camera itself. Thankfully, 3D printing can help those on a tight budget. Not only is it cost-saving, but can offer users huge flexibility in terms of design and uniqueness. To be candid, there is no limit to the possibilities, given the advances happening around additive manufacturing technology.

Whether you are an independent filmmaker or a professional, a 3D printer is there for your rescue. You can create accessories such as organizational tools, mounts, lens caps, shoulder rigs and whatnot. Most importantly, you do not have to look through tons of marketplaces to find the exact match for your needs. Just modify the existing design to create unique gears and accessories.

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This 3D printed adapter lets you scan slides with your DSLR or mirrorless camera

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Ever since Nikon released its overpriced ES-2 slide mount holder in 2017 (for which you also need to buy separate film holders) that lets you “scan” your slides and negatives with a DSLR, I’ve seen more and more of these popping up from the 3D printing community.

This time around it’s the turn of Rotislav Persion who’s designed his version of a slide scanner for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras that should work pretty easily with just about any macro lens (or a regular lens with extension tubes). Rotislav’s is a nice design, that includes a foam-lined shim to prevent damaging your lens, too.

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Add a remote to any tablet teleprompter for $23

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Here at DIYP HQ, we are using a teleprompter to cut down on takes and have a more streamlined “talking head”. Using a prompter has significantly improved our workflow and cut down on recording and editing times. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to add a remote control to almost any tablet prompter software which will streamline your workflow even more.

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This DIY 3D printed “Micro Jib” is the world’s smallest camera crane and lives on your desktop

We’ve covered a lot of ways to mount a camera overhead over the last few years, but this is probably the fanciest and most elegant. Because it’s not just to give you an overhead cam. Oh no, this Micro Jib by Lewin Day at Mechanistic is a full-on mini crane that lives on your desk and will let you mount the camera at whatever position you want.

There are no commercial options available for small desktop-sized mini cranes, so Lewin designed and built his own. It was inspired by Ivan Miranda’s giant 3D printed camera crane (which is very different to Alex Chappel’s similarly massive 3D printed camera crane), but is small enough to sit on your desk without getting in the way.

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Breathing new life into an old vintage slide projector lens with 3D printing

Browsing through an antiques shop, I stumbled upon a Kodak slide projector with a very peculiar attachment: a large lens. This particular lens caught my eye as it was an absolute behemoth. It was heavy and had “ISCO GERMANY” engraved into it.

After seeing the price of only $10, I had no choice but to bring it home with me. My intentions were realized but not well thought out; remove the lens and convert it to fit on my DSLR. After poking and prodding the projector, I assumed the lens was removable and went at it with a screwdriver. Thankfully this assumption was right, and it was removed easily.

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Fast Stacker 2.0 is an automated focusing rail for macro photos you can build yourself for $180

Macro is a whole lot of fun, especially if you have a macro rail that lets you rack the camera to shoot a bunch of photos at different focal planes that you can stack together in post. We’ve covered macro rails on DIYP before, like this one from NiSi and they are extremely handy. Spinning that handle by hand, though, can be a slow and inaccurate process.

Well, the DIY Fast Stacker 2.0 from Sergey Mashchenko solves these issues by automating the entire process using stepper motors and a fancy controller. We featured the first version of Sergey’s Fast Stacker here on DIYP, but the new update is much more accurate and offers a much-improved user interface.

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How to make a simple 3D-printed grid snoot for your strobe

A grid snoot is a great light shaper for photographers who want to throw a little light into a tight spot or highlight a select part of a scene, or cast a beam across a surface.

It is a favourite of DIYers and can be hacked together using card, tape and a bundle of drinking straws. In the past I have made snoots using off-cuts of Nomex.

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How to make a DIY Photo Enlarger from an Afghan box camera

In a previous post, I shared how I converted my Afghan Box Camera into a slide projector. The principle of the slide projector involves putting a light source at the back whose light passes through some condenser lens. The light then goes through the slide and finally pass the projector lens and be projected big on the projector screen.

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How to make a DIY camera lens using a magnifying glass and cheap macro bellows

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If you ever want to experiment with optics, making your own lenses (or adapting old ones to fit on current cameras) is definitely a good way to do it. Lenses now have gotten pretty complex, though, with elements acting in pairs or groups that are often too complicated to try to reassemble in your own custom housing (especially if it’s held together with gaffer tape).

In this video, though, the folks at Fotodiox show us how we can make our own lens using nothing more than some macro bellows and a magnifying glass. This is about as simple as a lens gets and it’s absolutely not going to give you the same results as an expensive GM lens (not even close), but it’s a lot of fun to experiment with and can produce some pretty neat in-camera effects.

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