This contest is about gears and accessories which people have MADE THEMSELVES in order to ease certain photography tasks and/or save some money by not having to purchase that kind of gears or accessories. Such items may range from self-made carrying bag for camera gear, a monopod made from a broom handle, or a macro magnifier fashioned from an old FD lens, etc, etc.
A self-made item judged to be the most ingenious, effective and economical will win this contest. Your idea doesn't have to be "big".......it is often "little things" which facilitate our photography, perhaps make it more effective, and/or save us money.
A few contest rules:
(1) The self-made item submitted must be some sort of hardware, not software.
(2) Only self-made items associated with Canon dSLRs and their compatible lenses shall qualify.
(3) Any items associated with PCs, phones or GPS do not qualify.
(4) Modifications of bought gear/accessories of some substance will also be considered as self-made items.
(5) In order for a contest entry to be considered valid, a picture of the item has to be posted, in addition to its brief description which should allow others to understand what was done and to what purpose.
Here are two very simple self-made accessories of mine:
(1) "LENSHIRT"
Offers some lens barrel finish protection and conceals lens identity from curious/chatty individuals. It may also make a certain fashion statement.
The Lenshirt is made from old to-be-discarded cotton shirts, secured to the lens by masking tape.
One large size shirt can yield several Lenshirts, depending, of course, on the lens size.
If the Lenshirt is somewhat loose on the lens, I have no problem in operating switches or focus/zoom rings over it.
(2) "LENS FOOT COMFORTER"
Most long lens replacement feet of the Arca-Swiss type have sharp edges which cause hand discomfort when shooting with the lens handheld.
The disposable sleeves I fit onto my lens feet (see the enclosed picture) come from a 6' or 8' long section of foam insulation for residential hot/cold water tubing, available from most hardware stores.
The cost of both of the above self-made items is nil to negligible, and so is the time for their "fabrication"..
PetKal wrote:
Here are two very simple self-made accessories of mine:
(1) "LENSHIRT"
Offers some lens barrel finish protection and conceals lens identity from curious/chatty individuals. It may also make a certain fashion statement.
The Lenshirt is made from old to-be-discarded cotton shirts, secured to the lens by masking tape.
One large size shirt can yield several Lenshirts, depending, of course, on the lens size.
If the Lenshirt is somewhat loose on the lens, I have no problem in operating switches or focus/zoom rings over it.
(2) "LENS FOOT COMFORTER"
Most long lens replacement feet of the Arca-Swiss type have sharp edges which cause hand discomfort when shooting with the lens handheld.
The disposable sleeves I fit onto my lens feet (see the enclosed picture) come from a 6' or 8' long section of foam insulation for residential hot/cold water tubing, available from most hardware stores.
The cost of both of the above self-made items is nil to negligible, and so is the time of their "fabrication".. ...Show more →
OMG! and ! Stop it, you funny guy! I'm glad the coffee was not in my mouth!
Wow Peter, I like how your "LENS FOOT COMFORTER" supports that heavy lens to that tablecloth hanging over the side of the table! Advanced physics going on there!
I have a couple of items I designed from scratch and one modified however had my favorite friendly machine shop manufacture for me. Does that count!
Years ago I hand made/modified a couple of FD mount lens accessories items that I later sold on the famous auction site.
Edit: Oh wait, I just remembered that I hand modified my monopod in order to mount my newly machined part!
Edit #2: I'll haul HAL out of his hiding place for my demo picture! I'll explain further later so that you don't have to dig thru my past posts to figure who HAL is.
Photonadave wrote:
I have a couple of items I designed from scratch and one modified however had my favorite friendly machine shop manufacture for me. Does that count!
Safari long lens support: This is not a problem in East Africa, where van like vehicles, with doors, windows and a rigid metal roof can support the lens, using a bean bag.
Southern Africa uses jeep like vehicles with no doors or windows, and a tall soft canvas roof. Here is a discussion of the problem, look under “vehicles and camera support” section:
Virtually every Southern Africa vehicle has its own unique system of horizontal or vertical round bars. Many vehicles have no horizontal or vertical bars at all, in front of the photographer, in the middle and back rows of the vehicle. They only have a low, side armrest.
I designed an extremely modular system, adaptable to any vehicle, no matter what system of low bars it has. I designed it in wood and tested it in Botswana and Zambia. Then based on that experience, I made some design improvements, and hired a machinist to make a limited number of metal kits, precision machined for me. I will use two kits in my next South Africa trip.
prototype being tested in Zambia
precison machined kit, assembled to use on low, horizontal bar
Don Clary wrote:
"Safari long lens support: This is not a problem in East Africa, where van like vehicles, with doors, windows and a rigid metal roof can support the lens, using a bean bag."
For a moment there I thought the modified equipment was the tour vehicle visualizing a sawsall and cutting torches until I read the narrative & looked at the picture closer! &
Does the "white box" for shooting products count? It cost about 10 euros using 4 styrofoam panels (100x50x7cm) and a roll of white paper for the background.
! Stop it, you funny guy! 
I'm glad the coffee was not in my mouth! 
