President Obama’s speech last week was excellent but it wouldn’t fix the global economy overnight. So for all the photographers who suffer from gear lust but still wise enough to refrain from spending the limited cash from who-knows-when-it-stops paychecks, DIY photography gear is a good option, especially when 1) it saves money, 2) it is as good as you can buy, 3) the details have all been prepared for you.
Karl Zemlin has created a very detailed instruction for building a mini softbox for your speedlight flash units. PDF templates for both large and small versions of the mini softbox are available for Nikon SB-600
, Nikon SB-800
, and Vivitar 285
.
What are needed on your part? Not much:
- Materials (a shopping list is provided)
- 3 hours to kill
- Access to a printer (print the templates)
- The ability to follow instructions
For American readers: When printing the PDF templates, use appropriate paper sizes. Based on the dimensions, Letter for A4 and Ledger/Tabloid for A3 should be good replacements. Make sure you don’t re-size it when printing.
Want to show off yours or need some help? Here is the flickr discussion thread …
Posted in
Photography DIY on March 1st, 2009.
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I came across this excellent resource recently. It was written by Russ MacDonald for practical use of the Nikon SB800 Speedlight with the D200 Camera. However the guide contains very informative and general information about Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) so users of other Nikon DSLR cameras and Speedlights should also benefit. With his engineering background, Russ explained the Nikon CLS in great details with very in-depth but easy to understand language and well thought out examples. Enjoy! Read More…
Posted in
Online Resources on January 17th, 2009.
2 Comments.
I received an email from NikonMall yesterday notifying me the shipment of my pre-ordered Nikon School DVD “A Hands-on guide to Creative Lighting”. Strangely, the NikonMall page still says “Temporarily Out of Stock”.
The DVD also showed up on Amazon
for the same price of $39.95. If you are Amazon Prime user, you can get free 2-day shipping (There are also some special offers available). However I am not sure if it is really shipping or not because the page says “Temporarily out of stock” but it is already ranked #130 (as of today) bestsellers in Bestsellers in Camera & Photo
.
Update [6PM Nov. 14, 2008]: Amazon has it In Stock now.
Posted in
Marketplace on November 14th, 2008.
No Comments.
Previously, we reported the new Nikon School DVD (A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting) that will be released in November. For anyone who wants to learn how to use Nikon Speedlights (SB-600, SB-800, SB-900, etc) and Nikon’s Creative Lighting System (CLS), this DVD is really a must see. The DVD is currently available for $39.95 at NikonMall for pre-order. There is a trailer (Youtube video) of the DVD available. IMO, it is much better than the video excerpt Nikon released earlier. Read More…
Posted in
Marketplace on November 9th, 2008.
No Comments.
