New Gadgets and Gizmos

Photo: Plutor/Flickr
The modern digicam does almost everything for you, from auto-exposure to face detection to firing you photos straight off to the internet. But where’s the fun in letting the camera make all the decisions? Take back some control with these four rainy day hacks.

Fire The Shutter With A Universal Remote

In the olden days, every camera came with a standard sized, threaded hole in the shutter release. Into this you could screw a remote release device which would push a plunger down through the hole and trigger the shutter. These came in several forms: The cable release was useful for short distances, usually when you wanted to avoid camera shake caused by touching the camera. A bulb release used a rubber ball connected to a long rubber tube. Squeeze the bulb and air forces the plunger to move at the other end. These are good for self portraits and controlling the camera from a distance.

Now, though, you won’t find this hole in the button. Why would camera makers opt for an open standard when they can sell you a proprietary one? Today you’ll have to spring for an electronic release or, more often, an infra-red remote control. But why? Using a universal remote, you can generate any wavelength of infra red light.

The easiest way is to just point the remote at your camera and start pressing buttons. Some wavelengths can lock up the camera, so check every few tries to see if it is still working.

An alternative is to head down to the local camera store and find the remote for your model. Take your own universal remote with you, put it into its “learning” mode and fire the official camera remote at it.

You can also program many older PDAs to fire a camera. OmniRemote should work for the Palm.

Controlling Your Digital Camera from Afar [Extrmemetech]

Pinhole DSLR

It might seem perverse to make your high-tech DSLR into a pinhole camera, but this hack is easy and can get you some unusual results. You’ll need to sacrifice a body cap and find a drill bit and a piece of tinfoil or thin metal. Drill a hole in the exact center of the cap, tape over the foil and use a dressmaker’s pin to make the smallest hole you can.

Exposures will be a lot longer than you’re used to, due to the tiny aperture. The beauty of doing this with a digicam, though, is that you can see the results immediately. And consider using a tripod. There’s no way you can hand hold for half a minute.

Making a Pinhole Lens for SLR Cameras [Camera Hacker]

SteadyCam

Low light photos need slow shutter speeds. Even in daylight you might want to blur the action but keep the back ground sharp. Sure, you can buy a tripod, but that won’t fit in your pocket. The easiest way is to use the viewfinder: holding the camera tight against your head is a lot more stable than waving it around at arms length whilst looking at the LCD screen. Or you could press your camera up against a tree or lamppost. Better yet, carry the bolt, string’n’washer ‘pod we covered back in January. It uses a stretched string to steady your camera, and it cost less than a dollar.

Add RAW Support to your Cheap Point and Shoot

Last, and probably best (if you own a Canon) is this open source firmware hack. Many Canon cameras share the same Digic II or III chip, the computer that processes the pictures. Because of this, lower end models have many features disabled to differentiate them from the pro versions. And guess what? You can switch them back on using the Canon Hacker’s Development Kit (CHDK).

The Wired How-To Wiki will show you how, and also where to grab the substitute firmware. You can enable RAW capture, higher ISO speeds, a live histogram and even crazy-fast shutter speeds. The best part? You can’t break the camera. The firmware is saved to the camera’s memory card and is loaded every time it starts up. If you have a problem, wipe the card and you’re back where you started.

Supercharge Your Camera with Open-Source CHDK Firmware [Wired How-To Wiki]

Tradition dictates that it is now your turn. Favorite hacks in the comments, but keep ‘em low tech and easy.