Hacking Digital Cameras
Check "Each project is described carefully … I must take my hat off to the authors for their ingenuity. "(Northern Echo, August 2006) Why waste a thousand words? Photos tell stories. And the more you can do with your digital camera, the better the story you can tell. To build a remote control and sneak up on this image that keeps you avoid. Create an adapter that lets you use SLR-type lenses on your point-and-shoot. Play with lens magnification or create a pi…
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July 8th, 2009 at 12:40 am
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hacking digital cameras
Recommend this book to anyone who wants to hack digital cameras.Instructions more than adequate, and plenty of projects.
July 8th, 2009 at 1:28 am
When I see a picture in a photo book showing how I can open a digital camera and access to the interior to make changes, I fear. The thought of the courage to take my camera is like the thought of major surgery to my internal organs. And yet, as I read through the "hacks" suggested by the author, I find just playing for fun, even if I did not attend one of these projects (or at least no more.)
Years ago, a hacker is a person who has modified the software to suit its own purposes. Over time, it has also come to mean an attacker who deliberately attacks the operation of computers, but the author is to use this effect earlier.
In this book, Cheng spoke of a series of simple changes you can make to other cameras and cameras to allow them to be used to extend their capabilities. Some are very simple, as the construction of a remote trigger for a camera, or a battery that can be hidden inside the jacket of the user for winter shooting. Other projects are more complex, such as obtaining data in the RAW format cameras, which normally only JPEG files. And I wondered why they would open an MP3 player to withdraw its micro-disc. (The answer is because the player with micro drive at a time really less expensive than a micro-disk to be inserted directly into a camera.) Projects are well explained and illustrated with numerous photographs. The equipment needed for hacks is inexpensive, and tools are readily available in most homes.
Now I must tell you that if I wanted a camera with a tripod grip on him, I would buy one that has been equipped. But I see that some kind of DIY could have a camera on socketless hand, and consider it a great challenge. Ditto for a camera that shot RAW files, especially if I have to learn to decode RAW files after downloading. On the other hand, if I had a camera that requires a filter holder, but did not provide for the device, I doubt one of the author hacks.
Most projects aimed at the modification of specific equipment, but can easily be converted to other devices. For more complex hacks, the author can both provide you with a project idea and a website where you may be able to find detailed instructions.
Because this book probably appeals to a small audience, the publisher probably keep production costs low. The paper quality is not high and the photos of the project are the stages of a rudimentary, but sufficient nature.
I must confess that what this book reminds me more was the project of the books that I had my children for science fairs. I loved to browse through these books, and I am always asked why my children have never tried one of the cool projects. Maybe now I can try a project for me.
July 8th, 2009 at 1:59 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must read book
This provides very crucial ideas and the rare how to do them lists that all photographers should read.
July 8th, 2009 at 3:38 am
Here is another benign use of the word "Hack". Meaning of tinkering, or experience. The authors engage fully in this sense, applied to digital cameras. The activities described are almost all related materials. Ie, hands on, manual crafts.
Such as making triggers. An entire chapter is devoted to this issue. You can see here that the questions are not so different from the construction of the triggers for analog cameras. A trigger is an important and extended functionality for many camera users.
There are many other features experimental data. The most interesting seems to be taking infrared photographs. Many digital cameras to meet the IR. Unlike film, which promotes the visible spectrum. As with analog cameras, you need special IR film if you have a digital camera, it should already have a good IR sensitivity. For some of you, May this unexpected bonus of using a digital camera.
Two chapters deal primarily with software. Get a raw sensor data or Casio Nikon, then using some publicly available software to decode the standard in a graphical format. While other chapter on programming is a remote control for the camera.
July 8th, 2009 at 4:16 am
2.0 out of 5 stars
Be warned!! once read, it’s a throw away.
If you are consider buying this book, you might as well buy it, look it and give it somebody else for Christmas.
July 8th, 2009 at 6:13 am
You really want to live on the edge of your digital camera? Perhaps even void the warranty? Hacking Digital Cameras by Chieh Cheng and Auri Rahimzadeh perhaps your taste if you want to build your own add-ons, without spending a bundle. . .
But all is not as adventurous as that. If you have a camera without a tripod, there is a nice hack that shows you how to add one. You can go at once and had a block that you can Velcro your device, or it may be as simple as a nut paste of the same size as your tripod screw. Something that I could not think. . .
Summary:
Part 1 - Hacking Photo: Building triggers; Adding a tripod for your camera, access to raw data from the sensor; Hacking Power control of your digital camera by far the improvement of your Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Part 2 - Hacking Objectives: The use of accessory lenses; Make an accessory lens adapter, change the zoom lens to create your own Pinhole Lens extension of the lens on the Canon EOS cameras; Reverse Macro Adapters ; Amend Canon EF-S for use on Canon EF Lens Mounts
Part 3 - Create Photography Hacks: Hacking with Filters; Shooting infrared photos with your digital camera, eliminating the IR blocking filter from your digital camera
Part 4 - Building Fun Camera Tools: building a car Camera Mount, construction of a camera head Mount; Building a Spycam Mount for your bike, build a camera stabilizer; Flash Bracket Building, Building a Monopod; Make a 500-Watt Home Studio Light
Part 5 - Flash Memory Hacks: Changing the CF Type I to Type II PC Card Adapter; Remove Microdrive 4 GB Creative Nomad MuVo2 MP3 Player; Removing the Microdrive from the Rio Carbon 5GB MP3 Player; Remove 4 GB Microdrive the Apple iPod Mini
Appendixes: Soldering Basics; Circuit Symbols; Glass Cutting Basics; Photographer's Glossary Index
If you are the type who likes to craft things to see how they work, you will find things here that I have not seen in other photography books. I think this is the first book I've seen with a section on taking your camera apart. . . literally. Once outside, you can start adding things like triggers shutter to give you more options than the period of 10 seconds timed. I guess you can just go out and buy something that already does, but what is the fun in that?
To be honest, I'm not sure I would have the courage to try many things like that. I'm not good with tools and prying open my camera because of bad things happen. Maybe not for you, but it would be for me. As such, I am probably not the target audience for this book. But I was surprised to see what you could do with a little ingenuity and a soldering iron. I can see where this book offers hours of entertainment for the right type of photographer / geek. . .
July 8th, 2009 at 7:09 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
batteries not included
I started reading this book four weeks ago and have improved my photography skills considerably, regarding what settings to use, how best to work with wide angle lenses, whether…