DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

Search

Submit A Story

Caleb Pike

The 3D printed MicBack turns your on-camera mic into a wireless shotgun

by Add Comment

Despite being referred to as on-camera microphones, the array of such microphones from companies like Rode, Deity, Sennheiser and others are just as capable when used as an off-camera microphone, too. However, the one problem with using them off-camera is that the cables supplied with them are extremely short. After all, they’re only designed to go from your hotshoe to your microphone socket.

Even if you do pick up a long third-party cable, these microphones aren’t designed for long cable runs. The best option is to use them wirelessly. That, too, can be tricky on the end of a boom pole. However, Caleb Pike at DSLR Video Shooter has created a great-looking solution, called the MicBack, to solve this problem with several small on-camera shotgun microphones.

[Read More…]

Personalise your camera with spray paint and sandpaper

by 3 Comments

A few years ago, I remember there was a craze of people buying brand-new guitars and immediately attacking them with sandpaper to make them look “vintage”. If this video from Caleb at DSLR Video Shooter has any say, it looks like that trend is coming to cameras, too. And not only is he making his camera gear look old and worn with sandpaper, but he’s also attacking cameras with spray paint.

You might be seeing Ryan Reynolds in your head right now, asking, “But why?” I was also thinking that while watching this video. But customising your kit isn’t a new idea. Even completely painting your camera isn’t a new idea, either. Although, Caleb does it much better than Kai did back in 2010. Caleb didn’t even have to take his camera apart to do it, either.

[Read More…]

Is this the perfect portable and versatile key light setup for video?

by Add Comment

Whether you’re shooting stills or video, the key light is arguably the most important part of your lighting setup. Getting it looking just right can be challenging, especially if you’re regularly switching between different setups for different shooting angles. But what if you could have one single setup that worked for everything? Wouldn’t that be great?

In this video, Caleb Pike at DSLR Video Shooter walks us through the ultimate video key light setup he’s been using for the last couple of years. It’s a complete setup that allows Caleb to shoot a bunch of different angles and lighting setups with ease and efficiency. He explains how it’s made, how he uses it and the kinds of shots you can get with a setup like this.

[Read More…]

This DIY battery adapter lets you unify your battery power system across your video devices

by Add Comment

We’re quite lucky in the photo and video industries that there aren’t many weird or non-standard batteries, for the most part. Sure, some companies do seem to update their battery design every time they release a new product – which gets very frustrating every time you upgrade and need to buy 3-4 more spares – but for mirrorless cameras, field monitors, LED lights, etc. there aren’t many different ones.

One of the most common types of batteries out there that many photographers and filmmakers will own are the Sony NP-F style batteries. As the name implies, these were developed by Sony, primarily for their own products but they’ve become a standard for many brands now. In this video, though, Caleb Pike shows us how we can adapt our regular camera batteries to work in NP-F slots.

[Read More…]

This 3D printed cage stops your microphone cable from falling out of the Rode Wireless GO II Transmitter

by 1 Comment

Now, I have to admit, this isn’t a problem I’ve faced myself, but it is a problem I’ve seen a few other people mention, both in person and on social media. The Rode Wireless GO II is pretty much the standard by which others are judged when it comes to tiny wireless microphones. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the best in every aspect, it just means they set the original standard because they’re the second generation of the first type.

One aspect where some users have issue is that the microphone cable occasionally pops out of the transmitter – or gets removed by talent and forgotten to be put back in again. As I mentioned, this isn’t a problem I’ve had but it’s one Caleb Pike’s had and he’s done something about it. He’s designed the Go-LOCK. It’s a 3D printable cage for the Wireless Go II transmitter that locks the mic in place and still gives you access to the belt clip.

[Read More…]

How to turn your old TV into a stunning photo and video background

by 1 Comment

TV isn’t only for spending countless hours in front of it when you don’t feel like doing anything. Instead, you can turn it into a creative prop, and a pretty awesome one.

Caleb Pike of DSLR Video Shooter will show you how to turn a TV, a monitor, or even a projector into a fantastic background for all sorts of product shots. He guides you through the process step by step, helping you build a setup for some neat stills and videos.

[Read More…]

This $30 DIY Shure SM7B alternative sounds almost as good as the real thing

by Add Comment

So, that title deserves some qualifiers. It doesn’t sound as good as the Shure SM7B, but almost as good? Yeah, sure, it’s pretty good, especially considering what it costs – and assuming you already own a 3D printer. It’s not a totally DIY project from scratch, more a modification of an existing microphone to put it into a new housing. A bit like modifying old film photography lenses with a new housing to turn them into cinema lenses – they’re not really cinema lenses, but they’re close.

The Shure SM7B is a staple amongst podcasters, vloggers and live streamers but at around $400, it’s not exactly an inexpensive microphone. In this video, Caleb Pike shows us how we can take an inexpensive $20 Behringer microphone and a couple of bits and turn it into something that gives a very similar sound to the vastly more expensive microphone.

[Read More…]

Here are 15 filmmaking items you can buy for under $100

by Add Comment

Once you get hooked to them, photography and filmmaking can become pretty expensive hobbies. But it’s good to know that there are many items that offer a fantastic price-quality ratio. In fact, there’s a bunch of gear you can buy for under $100, whether you’re a photographer or a filmmaker.

In this video, Caleb Pike of DSLR Video Shooter gives you 15 affordable items that will kickstart your filmmaking career or just be a great, yet cheap addition to the gear you own.

[Read More…]

Everything you need to know about adapting lenses

by Add Comment

Adapting lenses has become a lot more common in recent years as now that pretty much every DSLR and mirrorless camera out there shoots some form of video. Older lenses give us a favourable aesthetic that’s often lost with the latest high tech lenses that try to eliminate every lens imperfection possible. I’ve been doing it myself for about a decade now and it’s a lot of fun to see what some of those old lenses can do for your footage.

While adapting lenses might seem quite easy now, there are a few things you’ll want to look out for when buying an adapter and a couple of “gotchas” you’ll want to beware of. In this video, Caleb Pike at DSLR Video Shooter walks us through the adapting process and things we will need to think about when buying adapters and using old lenses on our current cameras.

[Read More…]

This detailed comparison shows how the Sony A7 IV stand up to the Sony A7S III for video

by Add Comment

People waited a long time for Sony to replace its ageing A7S II body. It finally came mid-2020 in the form of the not surprisingly named Sony A7S III. And despite being no slouch at stills, its video capabilities were its big selling point. It lacked the 8K capabilities of the Canon EOS R5 and it can’t record internal raw video, but it does offer the core of features that many Sony video shooters want.

Last year, we saw the release of the Sony A7 IV, the successor to the popular Sony A7 III. It, too, brought some very impressive video features with it and it offers some distinct advantages over the A7S III when it comes to shooting stills, but how do the two stand up when shooting video is your primary need? Well, in this in-depth comparison video, Caleb Pike answers exactly that question.

[Read More…]

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts