If you use the LCD on your DSLR for shooting images or video, you probably know how much of a pain it is when sunlight shines directly on it, preventing you from seeing whether the scene is in focus. LCD viewfinders solve that problem, but can have devastating effects on your wallet. If you’re just a hobbyist that wants a simple LCD viewfinder for cheap, this video tutorial will teach you how to make one with items you probably have lying around the house worth $5.

You can also follow the tutorial in a step-by-step format here.

Time-lapses are usually created using intervalometers — devices that electronically trigger the shutter on a camera at set intervals for long periods of time — but what if you don’t have a camera that can use one? If you’re good with your hands, you can create a mechanical “intervalometer” that uses a motorized finger to trigger your shutter instead. Instructables member Constructer wrote up a pretty neat tutorial showing how you can build one yourself.

Pinhole cameras are usually very low-tech and dumbed-down in their operation, but how would one go about making it fancier like a digital camera? Basil Shikin decided to build his own custom pinhole camera using Lego Mindstorms, adding all sorts of awesome features to an ordinarily simple kind of camera. Features include automatic shutter speed calculation using a sensor, automatic film rewind, and the tracking of how much film remains.

If you’re interested in making your own, there’s a Google Code Project page that includes “making of” instructions and download links for the firmware.

legocamera (via Engadget)

Last year, Canon celebrated its 50th anniversary in manufacturing SLR cameras and released three super detailed paper craft cameras that you can print out and build yourself. These included the Canonflex, the AE-1, and the EOS 5D Mk II. Unless you have a good amount of time you can set aside for arts and crafts, this probably isn’t for you — each camera has dozens of pages of detailed instructions and a ton of tiny pieces that come together to form the final replica camera.
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Tilt-shift lenses are usually pretty pricey, so many people fake the effect during post-processing by selectively blurring sections of their photographs. There’s even simple web-apps that can add such blur to give your photographs a miniature scale model effect.

If faking the effect isn’t legit enough to satisfy your photo-geekiness — and you’d rather not drop big bucks on it either — there’s a nifty do-it-yourself solution you need to check out: Bhautik Joshi over at cow.mooh.org has a new DIY Tilt-Shift project that teaches you how to convert an old lens into various kinds of tilt-shift lenses.
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Bhautik Joshi, the guy who made the Phone-O-Scope that we tweeted a while ago, has a new do-it-yourself project for those of you who enjoy this kind of hack-ish photography project.

His latest project involves building a cheap fisheye lens using a peephole lens and a soda can.

Here are some sample photographs taken with the “tin cam”:

Built using a fisheye peephole as the main lens element and a decapitated soda can as the lens body (!), this attaches directly to my SLR camera. For well under US$20, I ended up with a lens that has nearly a 180-degree field-of-view, adjustable focus, a canon EOS mount, and due to it’s stylish and sleek exterior, can generate limitless amounts of admiration ridicule confusion.

To learn how to build one of these for yourself, head on over to the tutorial through the following link:

The fisheye tin cam (via Photojojo)

Image credits: Photographs by Bhautik Joshi and used with permission

When Instructables member bertus52x11 had his cast removed after breaking his arm, he found that his arm was too weak to handle his DSLR camera. Realizing that those less fortunate might have similar problems with handling heavy equipment, he created a do-it-yourself camera support using PVC pipe that transfers the weight of your camera to your chest.

In addition to allowing people to more easily handle heavy cameras, the chest support also acts as a stabilizer, reducing camera shake in situations where you don’t have a tripod. He writes,

This device can help people with a weak arm or hand, but it can be helpful to people with Parkinson to stabilise the camera. Naturally it can be used for stabilising pocket cameras as well. You can then slim down the design by using smaller (copper) tubing. Once you have chosen for copper, a Steampunk design is never far away. I would like to see that!

If you’re interested in creating such a support for yourself or someone you know, check out the easy-to-follow tutorial on Instructables:

Supporting a dSLR camera on your chest (via Lifehacker)