CameraTrigger

I've simplified the macro diffuser that I open sourced last year . The MK1 version required printing out a custom lens hood which would only attach to a Canon 100mm macro lens. The MK2 version no longer requires a custom lens hood, it simply clicks on to the hood of whatever macro lens you might have making it far more versatile and easier to print. The tested lenses so far include: Canon 100mm  Canon 180mm Sigma 180mm Sigma 105mm This hood helps reduce harsh shadows you often get when using flash but the main advantage for me is that the head can be positioned depending on how close you get to your subject. This is the typical kind of result I'm getting with this setup now. To build your own version you just need to print the model and supply a few basic parts: M3 x 40mm Hex Head bolt (the shape of the head is hex, NOT the shape of the tool used to tighten it). M3 wingnut. Diffuser material. I use the plastic casing found on some notebooks and it seems t...

While recently browsing cheap tripods on amazon (you can never have too many tripod when doing camera trap type work...) I stumbled on one which included this image: Instantly I was drawn to something that made me suspect this advertisement had been photoshopped! How dishonest! Now, you might spot the giant hand next to the man and assume that is what I am referring to. Not so. Zoom in a bit closer to just the model.  The tripod on the backpack just looks wrong. Note the lighting on the left tripod leg in particular, very different to the fairly diffused light on the model. The colour is also wrong compared to the rest of the image. Pick out areas that you are fairly certain will be black, for example the lens hood. Does it match the black of the tripod? No. It is almost a greeny blue while the tripod appears very black. The tripod is much warmer than the rest of the picture. Can we prove the tripod has been added digitally? There are various techniques to try, such...

Previous experiments on this blog used a breaking laser beam to trigger the camera. While this approach has some advantages there are a few major disadvantages too. The main disadvantage is the requirement to set up and accurately align lasers around the target. In certain situations this isn't an issue, but in many cases it is completely infeasible. The goal for well over a year now has been to design a module that will slip over the eye piece on a DSLR and will only fire when something changes in the field of view. The idea being you set up your camera with whatever lens you want, frame up and focus on the target (an empty perch for example) and as soon as the picture changes, the camera fires. In theory this sounds like a simple problem to solve but in reality I've encountered many headaches that have stopped me building the ultra low latency system I envisaged. Rather than allowing these roadblocks to halt all progress though I've decided to work on a simpler syst...