There are some projects out there that you look at them and you just think “How has nobody done this sooner?!?”. This is probably not one such project, but it sure looks like a whole lot of fun!
Created by Pedro Callisaya over at DSLR DIY CNC, this one is a vertical grip for your camera that adds WiFi capabilities but also has flashing RGB lights! And best of all, he’s made all of the files available for us to make our own.
It’s a very fun idea. Sure, it serves absolutely no practical purpose and while it probably wouldn’t leak light onto your sensor, it may spill onto and reflect off your subjects. So, it’s certainly not going to improve your photography.
But come on. Flashing LED lights! I almost want to make one of these and go shoot some street photography just to see what kind of reaction I get from random people walking by in public.
The grip isn’t just cosmetic, though. It does also serve a functional purpose. It acts as a wireless bridge between your camera and the rest of the world. It tethers to a Raspberry Pi Zero (buy here) inside it over USB. It uses the Pi’s WiFi to connect out to networks and talk to other devices, allowing for easy wireless remote control with just about any USB-capable camera.
And everybody knows that with RGB you have more FPS!
Pedro Callisaya
Of course, that’s all hypothetically speaking because the design is for a specific camera. Pedro says that he’s using a Sony mirrorless camera, as we can plainly see in the video above, but he doesn’t specify which one.
But all of the electronics and apps are pretty standard and then you just need to modify the housing to suit your camera or create one from scratch.
If you want to have a go at making your own, Pedro has provided instructions and download links to all of the files over on Instructables.
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