Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
A few years ago, Nikolas Moldenhauer of Media Division showed us how he and Kolari Vision modified and used an ultra-fast f/0.7 lens. And now, Nikolas and his team have gone even further and built something “impossible.” It’s an f/0.3 lens, faster than any lens you’ve ever seen.
In a video, Nikolas shares the entire process behind this incredible piece of gear. What’s more, Media Division also filmed a short film on it to show you its capabilities.
If you’re a fan of cinematographer Roger Deakins’s work, you’re most likely familiar with Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Deakins modified a lens especially for this movie and used it to get a unique and dreamy tilt-shift effect. This type of lens has become known as the Deakinizer lens, and in this video, Chung Dha Lam shows you two simple and affordable methods for making your own.
If you like retro-style cameras and photos, but you’re not confident with shooting film, you’ll love this DIY project. Photographer and cinematographer Ryan Ao brought retro and modern together, blending a Rolleiflex-style DIY camera and a smartphone. I loved his invention so much, that I just had to learn more! So, I chatted with Ryan and he shared a bit of information about “Phoneiflex” along with some tips for building it and the photos he took with it.
Whether you’re on a tight budget or just want to experiment with new techniques, it’s always good to have some DIY tricks up your sleeve. Indian photographer Sani Patel shares a cool and simple DIY method for shooting commercial video on a $0 budget, and I think it’s definitely one of those that we should have in our bag of tricks.
It can get a bit monotonous in isolation, especially if you’re out of work right now. But hey, there’s always something to do, and Mathieu Stern has some crazy ideas and makes them real. After the crappy lens made from toilet paper, he now turned to Lego and made another working lens. And unlike the previous one, this DIY lens actually does a pretty good job!
You might know the Pixelstick. “nothing compares” is one of their statements. And this is true. At least price-wise. The Original Pixelstick retails for EURO 399,– here in Germany. I have always wanted one to at least try out some lightpainting with it.
The Pixelstick is a 188cm RGB lightstrip on a stick that plays bitmap files. It weighs 1,6kg, has a nice display to select files, has a remote release and runs on 8 AA batteries. Oh and it comes in a nice bag. Still 399,– is a bit steep.
Many of us are in self-isolation or quarantine right now, and it requires a lot of self-discipline. You may have extra time on your hand and you need to spend it at home. If you ask me, it’s not easy at all, especially if you live alone. Starting a DIY project will help you fulfill your time, divert your thoughts, and make something new for your photography. A perfect combo.
So, in this article I bring you some suggestions for DIY projects. I chose ten of them and focused on those that require mainly the stuff you already have. This way, you don’t have to leave home to get the parts and you can start building right now.
What would you do with a computer you used 20 years ago? Most of us would take it to a recycling center, perhaps feel a bit emotional about ditching it, and that’s about it. But Iranian photographer Alireza Rostami had other plans for his old, broken computer. He dismantled it and turned it into a working large format camera.
If you want to bring out your inner hunter but you wouldn’t hurt a fly, Alex of I did a thing has a fun DIY project for you. He has made a rifle that lets you shoot animals in the only humane way: with your camera. This camera rifle is cheap and easy to make, and Alex shares the build process in the video below.
Perhaps you’ve already used an egg timer to add some motion to your timelapse videos. But have you tried turning it into an orbiting 360° timelapse rig? With a PVC pipe and a few more simple and cheap “ingredients,” you can raise your timelapse videos to a whole new level. In this video, Dave Knop a.k.a. Knoptop will show you how.[Read More…]
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