Moppie
23rd of December 2004 (Thu), 22:07
One of a the reasons I own an A80 is I can't afford anything bigger, and all the gear that goes with it.
This is also means I can't afford any of the extras that go with the A80, I would rather save the money for a DSLR.
However I still crave more functionality from my little camera, and being the slightly inventive person I am Iv start looking for ways to add things to it, with as little cost as possible.
My first custom modifcation is a 23mm filter mount.
Currently fitted with a Soligor ND4 filter.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/Moppie/IMG_1829.jpg
You will have to excuse the poor quality of the photo.
Its simply two layers of plastic, laminated together with some epoxy.
Two small light springs are then threaded through holes, and the filter is screwed into a 22mm hole in the middle.
The springs reach down the side of the lens when extended, and clip onto the removable ring, normaly removed to fit the canon accessory mount.
The filter is just big enough to fit over the lens with out covering its corners, but is small enough to allow full use of the view finer, and AF assist beam.
I orginaly designed it so I could take panning shots of moving subjects in bright sunlight useing a low shutter speed.
With the ND4 I can get down to 1/100sec at F5.6 in bright sun light, and down to 1/40th at F8.
It still requires a lof of work though, it needs a 3rd spring, as its has a tendancy to slip to one side, and I plan to use much lighter springs, the current ones are a little strong. My plan is to have a springs, or rubber bands just strong enough to hold the filter in place, but still allow the lens to move through its full range of motion in and out of the body.
I also plan to buy some small sheets of ND4 material from a local panavision, and layer it to build some very heavy ND filters, allowing much much longer exposures in day light.
My goal is several seconds in overcast sunlight.
The trick will be layering the material in such away I don't lose to much sharpness, or colour saturation, something the ND filters seem to take away.
So, I know several other members have custom LCD covers, lens hoods, flash bouncers etc, care to share?
This is also means I can't afford any of the extras that go with the A80, I would rather save the money for a DSLR.
However I still crave more functionality from my little camera, and being the slightly inventive person I am Iv start looking for ways to add things to it, with as little cost as possible.
My first custom modifcation is a 23mm filter mount.
Currently fitted with a Soligor ND4 filter.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/Moppie/IMG_1829.jpg
You will have to excuse the poor quality of the photo.
Its simply two layers of plastic, laminated together with some epoxy.
Two small light springs are then threaded through holes, and the filter is screwed into a 22mm hole in the middle.
The springs reach down the side of the lens when extended, and clip onto the removable ring, normaly removed to fit the canon accessory mount.
The filter is just big enough to fit over the lens with out covering its corners, but is small enough to allow full use of the view finer, and AF assist beam.
I orginaly designed it so I could take panning shots of moving subjects in bright sunlight useing a low shutter speed.
With the ND4 I can get down to 1/100sec at F5.6 in bright sun light, and down to 1/40th at F8.
It still requires a lof of work though, it needs a 3rd spring, as its has a tendancy to slip to one side, and I plan to use much lighter springs, the current ones are a little strong. My plan is to have a springs, or rubber bands just strong enough to hold the filter in place, but still allow the lens to move through its full range of motion in and out of the body.
I also plan to buy some small sheets of ND4 material from a local panavision, and layer it to build some very heavy ND filters, allowing much much longer exposures in day light.
My goal is several seconds in overcast sunlight.
The trick will be layering the material in such away I don't lose to much sharpness, or colour saturation, something the ND filters seem to take away.
So, I know several other members have custom LCD covers, lens hoods, flash bouncers etc, care to share?