Why do you DIY?

[Brian]

Nice conversion

Thankyou- for anyone interested, I posted instructions on how to do this, hosted here:

50mm Jupiter 3 f/1.5 Information — Jason Howe

bulldog-octagon-ns4x.squarespace.com

So, Of course you can do that!

 

[hangbelly]

Any pictures?

One of my old camera hiders is a my sister's house in Georgia. I had her take some pics. I had actually forgot about that project.
I modeled it off a Kodak box camera from the early 1900s.It's a wooden craft box from Michael's. The paint is automotive engine paint that has a crinkle finish that those old cameras had. The lens is a small step up ring, the front plate has my last name as the company, The model A503 is the model of the Samsung digicam the box was made for as will as the serial number. Unfortunately,Samsung didn't make cameras in the USA in back in 1905.
The strap was cut from a thin belt from Goodwill. The back has a peephole which is just a hole I drilled into the back and framed with a metal washer. If you looked through it you could see the screen of the camera. The "exposure control" is a dial from an exposure meter. The crank is for rv windows, and the dial behind the crank is from an old 1970s cheap super8 movie camera. The little flap on the top slides open to give me access to the power and shutter button. And finally cigar box corners completed the look.
It was always fun to have people walk up and ask how I could still find film for a camera that old. That's another reason I diy.

 

[KlauSquare]

My photographic journey started more than fifty years ago, when money were scarce and there was no reason to buy anything if I could make it from scrap. I made a light stand out of a discarded VHF antenna, and lit my portraits with halogen lights made for home movie recording.
I had a white reflective umbrella, the frame was one I'd found in a bin with most of the fabric torn by the wind, and the white material was a sheet my mother kindly had sewn for it.

These days, if I make anything myself, it's because it doesn't exist.
I've improved my boom by putting the half handle bar of one of those dumbbells where you can mount different weight discs on the end of the boom arm to make a more secure fit of the counterweight.
I've also made a box with three black-out roller blinds - white, grey, and black - wide enough to act as portrait backgrounds. The box also has two stands to hold the blinds, so it's a self-contained, portable background system.
Recently, I've refitted two striplights that were made with Bowens S mount to instead have the new Godox mount that fits the AD300Pro. The Bowens mount adapter for the AD300Pro is either the S2-bracket, which is clumsy, or a contraption that takes ages to fit to the strobe.

 

[Michael Meissner]

When I do the steampunk camera, I take it all day. In the past, I've typically had the batteries run down after about 4 hours if I had a body that had a battery grip with a second battery. It can take me about 10 minutes to disassemble the box, take out the camera, replace the batteries, and put it all back together again.

So as I've said, I've been exploring various ways to power the cameras. I need to write this up some time.

I did the steampunk event this last Saturday. I had rebuilt the steampunk camera box, but some things about it were problematical, and I want to redo the box now that I have more time.

However, I did include an external battery in the setup, and it worked well. I used my E-m1 mark II as the camera. I had the HLD-9 battery grip mounted on the camera. I had 2 BLH-1 batteries fully charged up, and I used a Kastar NP-F clone battery to provide the power. In the 4 hours I was at the event, it used only used external power (i.e. afterwards the two BLH-1 batteries were still at 100%). The parts I used were:

• Smallrig professional NP-F battery adapter
• Kastar Battery F770 for Sony NP-F770 (43 watt hours)
• 2.1mm x 5.5mm to 2.5mm x 5.5mm right angle adapter plug
• Random 2.1mm x 5.5mm to 2.1mm x 5.5mm power cable

 

[Michael Meissner]

In terms of external power:

• The E-m1 mark III also uses the HLD-9 grip.
• The E-m1x has a 2.5mm x 5.5mm power jack directly on the camera.
• The E-m5 mark I, E-m1 mark I, and E-m5 mark II cameras with their respective battery grips (HLD-6, HLD-7, and HLD-8) also have a power port, but it uses a unique plug. If you find the PS-AC1 clone of the original AC1 external A/C adapter for DSLRs, you can harvest the cable, and wire up a 2.5mm x 5.5mm plug (or do like I do and use a more standard 2.1mm x 5.5mm plug, and use an adapter for 2.5mm x 5.5mm).
• The OM-1 uses USB C-PD, and you can plug in a power bank that supports USB C-PD into the USB cable slot on the OM-1.
• All other Olympus cameras would need to use a dummy battery to use external power. Unlike the above cameras, using a dummy battery is inconvenient in that the battery door must be removed or you have it hang down. It likely means the camera is no longer splash resistant.

 

[Holden09]

Here's a question for all you diyers out there. What makes you take on diy photo projects? For me it's a couple of things,at first it was a matter of cost.Being a broke kid in the '80s,I had to improvise and make my own backgrounds and other equipment. By making my own stuff I found I could save money and get some functionality that the "store bought stuff didn't have. With cheap lights, backdrops,stands ect on Amazon and Ebay,cost isn't as big of a problem. But,I still love to tinker,and build things,and lets face it,most studio equipment are dull. That's understandable.Lights,stands,and most other studio equipment are functional.Made to be used not really noticed beyond the set up.
My interest is in the early days of photography and motion pictures, 1900-mid 1950s. like to make my studio look like it was made during that era.It's not so much about cost. indeed, many of my projects cost more than they would from a store.But they wouldn't have that old-timey look or feel.
So tell me,what motivates you to create your diy projects?

Great post! I totally get the passion for DIY—it's often about creating something unique, not just saving money. I do something similar in digital marketing, building custom SEO tools and strategies that off-the-shelf options don’t offer.
If anyone’s interested in boosting their online presence. Always happy to share ideas!

 

[Holden09]

Excellent post! I completely resonate with the passion for DIY—it’s often more about creating something truly unique than simply cutting costs. In my work with digital marketing, I take a similar approach by developing custom SEO tools and strategies that go beyond what off-the-shelf solutions can provide. If anyone is looking to enhance their online presence, I’m always open to exchanging ideas.