Shooting pictures on real film brings back much of the excitement and challenge of photography. When you’ve only got 24 or 30 shots to cover a day out in a new city, you have to think carefully about where and when to press the shutter. However, even if your composition is excellent, you need to carefully meter the light in each scene. Some professional cameras had this feature built in, but most photographers would carry their own light meters. This sleek little light meter with its metallic buttons and black case fits in with both classic and modern film cameras easily!
As far as features go, this gadget packs a lot of punch for such a small device. You can enter in the sensitivity of your film, of course, but you can also easily add or subtract exposure compensation values. It supports both shutter and aperture priority, and can take a single measurement at a press of a button, or it can take continuous measurements until you tell it to stop.
Battery life shouldn’t be a concern. The device will auto-sleep after 20 seconds, and if you carry around a USB power bank you can top up your light meter too! A USB-C charge port is available to charge the 150mAh battery. Even with the OLED at full brightness, the device draws less than 5mA during the short periods it’s awake, so it should easily last your entire day of shooting, even if you take multiple rolls of film with you.
Photography is one of those areas I periodically think I should improve my skills in. These thoughts usually culminate in watching a few tutorial videos and playing with camera settings until the feeling fades and my camera (when not gathering dust in lieu of my phone) returns to full auto settings! The CheatKard – Photography Basics might provide more motivation as it provides a beautiful pocket-able set of photography knowledge flashcards small enough to take out with your camera and begin your photography revival!
The CheatKards are wallet-sized at 80 * 50mm, slightly flexible and very rugged. The card information is printed in a gold plating making these really high contrast and easy to read. There are 5 cards in this basic set, each double-sided. Two of the cards cover basic camera setting information, aperture, ISO, shutter settings and other information to consider such as the benefits of shooting in JPEG or RAW mode. Other cards include a composition card that prompts you to think about the use of symmetry, movement in shots and more interesting concepts like leading lines and the golden triangle. The card set is rounded out with a card on shooting setup, which includes information on focal distances, flash use and more and a final card gives some example setups for different shooting styles.
We really like the idea that you can break away from learning photography online with these cards, just charge your camera, grab these cards and head out!
Modern digital cameras can take excellent pictures, with a significant amount of detail. Zoom in with a macro adapter, and you can capture even more minute details, over a much smaller range. To zoom in on your subject even more, the Metal Microscope Macro Set by DIY Imaging looks like a fantastic option.
The device, which is an upgraded version of the earlier generation setup featured here, is available with adapter options to fit Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Pentax cameras. There’s also an option to use a C/CS mount, which allows it to fit up to a variety of other devices, including the Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera. You can even order it with a second camera adapter, or even two if you’re a true photography aficionado.
The system uses several segments for sufficient spacing between the microscope objective and the camera sensor, and segments can be added or subtracted to change the magnification. Notably, the objective lens assembly isn’t standard, but is instead listed as an option. This allows you to use your own device, or buy one separately as needed.
Finally, if you want to do microscopic HDR photography, the set’s internal surfaces can be painted black, which should mean better performance in this role. It’s a fantastic looking kit, which was used to produce the partial image of a five dollar bill shown above. The listing has images of this bill zoomed in even more, which is both amazing, and perhaps even a little disturbing!
If you are into photography, you know how incredibly expensive most camera equipment can be. Once the word “professional” gets thrown into the mix, the prices go up another order of magnitude. Well, this incredibly well-made film camera tester is well within the budget of the hobbyist photographer, and gives you access to a tool usually only found in large, professional photo labs.
What does this kind of tester do? It helps you identify and potentially calibrate your film camera’s important settings, such as exposure, shutter time, delay between shutter and flash, and more. This can help diagnose issues with the shutter movement, such as uneven travel speed. It can also accurately measure exposure, which can be compared with the camera settings to see how well the camera is metering light.
For the exposure tests, you will need to provide or assemble your own calibrated light source, though the seller is working on building one (keep an eye on their store). However, the timing-based measurements can use any light source that is sufficiently bright.
The best part: it’s fully open source! This system could be expanded to perform any other camera tests you need. The documentation is great, and the fact it uses off-the-shelf components means hacking and/or repair is possible. The system is built around the Arduino Nano footprint, so both official Arduino boards and clones should work. This kit is a great addition to any film photo lab, big or small!
Over the past decade or so, smartphone cameras have gone from devices that can take a quick snapshot to document an event or item, to tools that can be used for serious photography. Images taken with phones can now rival dedicated digital cameras in many cases, but if you want to mount your phone to a standard tripod, things can become complicated.
Tripods, and other such camera accessories, generally feature a 1/4 – 20 UNC threaded bolt for attachment, but if you’ve looked at your iPhone, Android, or even BlackBerry device lately, you won’t find any corresponding female threads. To add this type of attachment capability without resorting to epoxy and permanent defacement of your beautiful pocket supercomputer, GS Industries is offering a magnetic 1/4″ threaded puck that attaches to your iPhone.
The puck is printed in black PLA, with magnets and a 1/4″ nut embedded mid-print. This makes the accessory a solid mass that, according to the listing, ‘should last a very long time.’ In addition to the magnetic attachment, the device comes with an adhesive sticker to add extra grip to your iPhone if needed. The device looks like a great way to really take advantage of this amazing device’s camera capabilities.
On the other hand, if you’d of a certain age and/or technical experience, you may be hesitant to place powerful magnets near expensive electronics. Superstition at this point or not, it still makes me a bit nervous. In the defense of magnets for such an application, Apple itself does use them in various attachment schemes, and it seems this setup has been well tested. So you really shouldn’t be concerned… Just don’t use it to mount an early hard drive-based iPod!
Snapping a photo these days generally means taking out your smartphone to capture whatever is in front of you. One might rightly say that the best camera is the one that you actually have available. However, as has been the case for roughly 200 years, photographers are constantly experimenting with new and sometimes unusual techniques to enhance their craft.
One such way to get a great photo is through the use of filters, and if you’d like a rather wild adjustable effect for your shots, then look no further than the Psychedelic Mice Wave-Plate Camera Filter from Wallfacer Design. The device is a combination of two rotatable lens filters, one of which is a fairly typical linear polarization setup, while the other is made using a .15-.21mm thick sheet of Muscovite mica. The assembly is 52mm in size, though it can be adapted to other sizes as needed.
Using this, one can reportedly “transform reflections, pure white light, displays, etc. into a rainbow effect, leaving everything else normal.” Per the product reviews, it looks like a lot of fun for experimentation, especially in bright light. You can see the effect in the clip below, and there are more photos via the product listing.
When you start getting serious about documenting your projects, getting lighting correct can make a huge improvement. Like many Tindarians, much of my work takes place in a garage, where lighting isn’t usually a priority. My solution was to put up several clamp lights to illuminate the area. While this generally works well, when you need to get really close to your subject to photograph or record video of small parts, the actual camera can get in the way of your illumination.
To solve this problem for photography, a ring flash is a great option where a series of LEDs forms a ring around your camera’s lens. This eliminates the shadow of the camera since the light source is in front of it. Unfortunately, the portable versions of this type of lighting are generally setup as a camera activated flash, not a continuous light source.
In order for more control over his shooting, Balearic Dynamics’ Enrico Miglino came up with a battery powered LED ring that emits light continuously, and can even be dimmed as needed. While meant for still photography use mounted on a DSLR camera, this type of lighting would also work for closeup videography work, such as showing how components are soldered onto a circuit board.
Smartphones have incredible cameras that are light years ahead of even what was available a few years ago. On the other hand, if you want to take photos of your small electronic creations with one, it’s difficult to set everything up consistently. After all, phone cameras are mostly billed as devices meant to capture sporting events and selfies, and aren’t necessarily optimized to photograph very small devices.
For this purpose, a DSLR camera with a proper tripod, light box, and a macro lens is the best solution. On the other hand, not everyone has $1000 or so in their photography budget. But if you look at Tindie’s catalog, there is a wide range of quality in the photography, meaning there is room for improvement even if you don’t have a professional setup.
For those that are on a tight budget, but would like a way to enhance their product images, Iotalot is offering a “small photo studio designed specifically to let makers take great photos of their electronic creations using their smart phones.” This device resembles—and was prototyped with—a shoebox, and comes with guides to help you place your phone consistently over your subject. For lighting, LEDs come installed in the lid, and you can optionally order an RGB controller and/or power supply if needed.
Consistency is one simple way to improve your product photos, which makes a big difference in how people perceive your hardware. Think about lighting, camera angle, and resolution. Look for great photos and ask yourself what makes them pleasing to the eye. It’s a poor musician who blames their instrument… and sometimes for better photos you simply need to think inside the shoebox rather than reaching for a fancier camera.
For the last few months I’ve been working on a motorized device with Strandbeest-style legs called the ClearWalker. As seen in the image above, it looks fantastic. I’d like to think this is a function of its clear polycarbonate construction, or the array of LEDs attached across its body. Though I’m not going to be insincerely modest and say that had nothing to do with it, check out the picture I took in my garage below:
Photo: Jeremy S. Cook
From a mechanical standpoint, I’d argue that this is still an interesting photo. You can see the linkages, lots of LEDs, and wiring. All things that are appreciated by Tindie product connoisseurs, but it obviously looks much less pretty here than in the image. In fact, it’s very hard to envision just how beautiful these LEDs and the clear construction is in this drab backdrop, and rather lackluster photography. At least it’s an improvement on this one, taken with my smartphone:
Photo: Jeremy S. Cook
So I think you see what I’m getting at. Though this device isn’t for sale, you can see lots of examples of excellent, as well as poor photography on Tindie. If you’d like to make people think (hopefully accurately) that your product is awesome, don’t forget to take that final step and take great photographs and/or video!
Photo: PJ Accetturo
In this case, a better cameraman took video for me, which may or may not be worth it depending on your situation. Even if that’s not practical, a simple white background (e.g. a white sheet) and clamp lights can produce great results. But for spectacular backdrops it is hard to beat nature. Look at your neighborhood with new eyes and you’ll start to notice places that will make epic photo shoot locations like the wet sands shown above.
Additionally, thinking about the issues your particular build will have when photographed will pay off too. If your project uses a lot of LEDs you’ll need to compensate for the unnatural brightness of a small part of the scene. You’ll also need to consider consider how PWM or multiplexing effects are used. In these cases, LEDs are flashing faster than the human eye can see, but not faster than the camera shutter. Here’s a guide to photographing LEDs, which you may find useful.
Think about the angle at which you are taking the photo. Does it show off the hardware in an interesting way? Often this is a camera angle that is not straight-on, but to one side or another and at a higher or lower angle. Take way more images than you need, and review them before you move anything in the scene. This gives you the chance to quickly reshoot if there are focus problems or the lighting needs to be adjusted. And frame the image larger than you need so that you have room to crop it to your desired view later on.
It’s also worth noting that Tindie sellers should consider at least two distinctly different types of photographs: those used to sell the item and those showing how to build/use it. You are marketing a product to pull in potential users; the first set of photos should serve that purpose. Show the item in a way that will immediately drive home its purpose. But don’t stop there. After you’ve sparked some interest, your target user will want to see what’s inside the case, and what’s involved in building a kit or setting up a product.
Look around and find images from other sellers that you find really stunning. Try to figure out how they did it (don’t be afraid to ask, Tindarians are a friendly bunch). And it never hurts to have a friend who’s into photography to show you the ropes, or even take some shots for you. If you’d like to see more of the Accetturo’s excellent images, check out his video edit below, or my longer howto video after that:
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.
One such way to get a great photo is through the use of filters, and if you’d like a rather wild adjustable effect for your shots, then look no further than the 
