Small-Format Pinhole Revisited

This morning I finally ordered the drill bits I need to make some pinholes. Even though I’m very happy with my Lensbaby pinhole optic, I can get wider with a body-cap pinhole, which is also much more compact.

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Autumn in Didymia

The autumn leaves are peaking this week, so today was a good day to give the didymium filter a try...

The filter has a natural mauve cast, so I tried a custom white balance through the filter to neutralize it. It skewed everything towards the reds, diminishing the separation between the reds and the greens. When both warm and cool colors are present, using the standard daylight white balance gave an optimal effect.

New Lens, New Moon

Taken with NIKKOR 70-300mm Zoom, enlarged and sharpened.

I was excited to see how a moon shot would turn out with the Samyang/Phoenix 500mm cat lens, and tonight was clear enough to give it a try.

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Shooting 35mm with the Holga 120

There’s a 35mm film adapter kit available for the Holga 120 which enables you to take standard 3:2 35mm frames. It includes a 36mm x 24mm mask, and a back with the frame counter window covered up. The mask has two plastic brackets on the left side to center the film cartridge, and guides to ensure that the film remains centered on the mask opening. You use the original 120 take-up spool with no additional modifications.

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The Annual Autumn Tradition

Today my family and I will be embarking on our annual autumn tradition; a pumkin-picking pilgrimage to Alstedes in Dover. It seems the perfect opportunity load my Holga 120FN with 35mm film and test out the new .5x Wide Angle Adapter.

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How to Build a Grid Spot

I love to build stuff. It’s one of the many reasons I love photography. Every lighting situation is an opportunity to make a new gadget. So it stands to reason that after following Strobist for a while I’d find a kinship with them in the building of light modification devices for flash. And perhaps the most cool is the grid spot.

Thanks to Strobist, I was able to find a source of black Coraplast in manageable quantities. In case you didn’t know, Coraplast is basically corrugated cardboard constructed out of plastic, available in colors. You’ve most likely seen it as those silkscreen screen-printed campaign signs posted on folks’ front lawns. The hollow core forms narrow tubes through which light can pass in a narrow beam. You cut it into narrow strips perpendicular to these tubes, and laminate them into a flat panel, like this:

The greater the thickness, the narrower the overall beam, constructed of many smaller beams. One-inch is a good starting point. Grid spots, or grids as they are also known, essentially do the same thing as a snoot, but offer more control and are more compact. The challenge was to design mine in such a way that it can fit all the flashes I don’t have yet. And with the help of a friend who loaned me his Vivitar 285HV (probably the largest scenario) and Nikon SB-600 (probably the hardest to fit due to the projection on the top) I came up with the design above. The outer panel on the left is made 3/4" longer than the rest to form a tab which you can use to rubber-band it to the flash. I did’t want to attach it with something that wraps around the back of the flash, as there seemed to be too many variables to overcome, such as the size of the flash, and the angle of bounce, if it’s to be used. I’ve notched the corners so that the tab is slightly narrower than the flash head to make for a more secure fit.

The Vivitar 285HV not only has a large flash head, but its bezel is also very narrow. So, if I could make it fit this flash, it should be able to fit anyting else. And it does.

Coraplast Grid on Vivitar 285HV

Coraplast Grid on Nikon SB-600

The projection at the top of the SB-600 may at first present a mounting challenge, but in reality it creates an advantage; you could make slight adjustments to the vertical tilt if necessary by using the projection as a pivot point. Here the angle has been adjusted ever-so-slightly upward.

Detail: Using the Wide Angle Adapter projection as a pivot point. 

Of course, being a designer, the raw edges of the coraplast on the sides drove me crazy. So, I simply wrapped a 1-1/8" band of self-adhesive black craft foam around the whole thing. The extra width provide a slight rim around the front and back sides to give it a finished look and hide imperfections.

Not only does it fit these flashes, but also the D90’s on-board flash via the Janco flash diffuser bracket. You just insert the bracket into the appropriate holes. It fits perfectly.

Grid mounted directly on D90 using a Janco Flash Diffuser bracket.

For me, this was the icing on the cake. It gives me a level of control from the camera’s flash I would never have expected. A quick test shot reveals some dramatic lighting effects:

Taken at a distance of about five feet, with the grid mounted directly to the D90.

So now that I know a single design can meet the requirements of all my proposed flash purchases, I just have to duplicate it in multiple thicknesses for different beam spreads. I’m thinking a half-inch, one-inch, and two-inch version. Perhaps a four-inch version for pinpoint lighting. Perhaps experimental designs (what if every other row was blocked off, or random cells plugged?)

What’s next, a light diffuser made from Tupperware?

Hmmm...

Strobism

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been following strobist.blogspot.com and getting a feel for flash. I’m still working out my flash strategy, and it will likely be based on the Strobist concept. So far, I’m fully in sync with David Hobby’s preachings. Travel light, and work with what you’ve got. So I’m approaching flash cautiously, since again I need to purchase all new equipment. Well, almost

Eventually I’ll be needing two or three light stands, and I’m happy to find that in my original stash I have a nine-foot Smith-Victor stand, and two Manfrotto umbrella adapters with hot-shoe adapters. So, I’ve got a little bit of a head start.

With ten sheets of black coraplast in hand, I’ll be building a few grids, snoots and flags.

Then there’s the flash purchases themselves. I’m pretty much set on the Nikon SB900, since it will work not only as an excellent iTTL flash, but also as an off-camera flash. The very affordable SB600 would be my second flash, due to its compatibility with a wide range of Nikon cameras, including the N80. It has both i-TTL and D-TTL, plus TTL Auto and manual.) For a second backup/third flash I’m considering the Vivitar 285HV, and for Macro work the Sigma-EM 140 DG Macro Ring Flash.

For times when I absolutely, positively have to use flash on-camera, the Custom Brackets CB Junior rotating bracket wins hands down.

First Impressions: Samyang 500mm f/8 Mirror Lens

Samyang/Phoenix 500mm f/8 Reflex (Catadioptric “Mirror”) Telephoto Lens

Those who may think this is a poor quality product are sadly mistaken. The truth is, this lens is manufactured to high-quality standards with a fit and finish comparable to any high quality lens.

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New Arrivals: Holga .5x Wide Angle Adapter

Wow, a two-element plastic wide angle lens for my Holga 120FN. Now I can comfortably shoot 35mm film with the 35mm film adapter (mask and back), or as panoramic sprocket-hole with the modified 6x6cm mask.

It slides right over the existing lens covering the distance scale, which is OK, since it’s meant to focus at infinity anyway. It even comes with its own storage pouch, and front and rear caps.

New Arrivals: Samyang 8mm f/3.5 & 500mm f/8

I just unpacked my Samyang long and wide duo. The long is the Phoenix 500mm f/8 Catadioptric (“Mirror”) lens, and the wide is the ProOptic 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye lens. Both are manufactured in Korea by the Samyang company, and are marketed under many other brand names as well.

When it comes to equipment I’m very picky about quality, and the build on these lenses is outstanding. Both are manual focus, unchipped lenses, so they won’t even allow me to use any of the auto exposure modes on my Nikon D90. But this is just fine for the type of work I’ll be using them for. Besides, what’s better than a digital camera with a color histogram?