The Cooperative of Photography, better known as COOPH, has released its latest YouTube video showing how to make the most of your smartphone footage by creating six different smartphone rigs using materials you likely have sitting around at home.
As you would expect for these rather primitive homemade solutions, the DIY rigs aren’t necessarily aesthetically pleasing but based on the resulting footage, hopefully your video will be. The six-minute video covers how to make a DIY gimbal, a DIY timelapse rig, a DIY stabilizer, a DIY automated slider, a DIY ‘spinning’ rig and a DIY Gorillapod-style tripod.
It’s quite the adventure, but considering there’s a good chance you’re still on some sort of lockdown or stay-at-home order, these DIY projects might be just what you need to keep your creative spirit alive in seclusion. You can find more videos from COOPH on their YouTube channel.
Improvising with available means is the hallmark of the creative pro (and amateur, of course).
Many years ago, I was the DP of a TV drama series. It was almost dusk, and we were tracking a close-up with a dolly in front of two walking actors. It proved difficult to dolly accurately enough to keep the focus on the actor's eyes.
The male actor asked, – Do you have a broom handle, or something?
We had, and we taped one end with gaffa tape to the dolly. The actor performed the scene while holding the other end of the broom in his hand. Perfect focus, take one was a wrap.
Nice music! And it shows that you can make stuff! And not only buy. I am a bit older and I have built my own speakers, amplifiers and also darkroom exposure meter and panorama camera and pinhole camera etc. Today some clever guy in Chine build it instead and we buy it. We lose the skills.
I read my own meter and submit to my energy provider online.
My electricity meter is in a cupboard that tapers down under the steps of a stairway. So hard to get into that cramped space.
It's about 1.5 feet off the floor. Getting out is hazardous too. Remember those hard wooden steps immediately above my head, as I reverse out.
Plus it has a supply of tins, containers, etc. that need to be removed first, and put back after.
My solution involves my smartphone, set with a 10 second delay, connected to 1 fully extended tripod leg, gaffer tape and some folded card to secure it in position.
I can reach over the clutter with this. The meter has a glass front so careful tilting/positioning is required to prevent blinding reflections from flash obliterating the digits.
When I got a new phone, and took my meter reading, to my amusement it asked if I wanted to 'share my photo with my friends'! Another feature to find & switch off.
Not sure if I'd ever get round to doing any of that but a fascinating watch; so thank you! Very resourceful and possibly spin-off ideas for other things...
These hacks can also be used for a compact camera. I made a similar egg timer timelapse device with a 1/4" x 20 tripod thread screw where I can attach my RX100M6 and make timelapses wit it. I have exactly the same egg timer, from IKEA.
Fairly creative. The need for gimbals is decreasing as more and more smartphones include reliable optical stabilisation in their phones and combine it with effective digital stabilisation, plus faster sensors and processing that eliminate the rolling shutter (or jello) effect. I was hoping this video would show me how to create a contraption that makes shooting photos with a smartphone more ergonomic and comfortable.
"Smartphones have cameras built into them. They’re just not easy to shoot with." That's why some manufacturers still put cameras into... camera bodies...
Maybe you think using a smartphone as a photography tool is a joke. But I'm not afraid to experiment with their capabilities. Here is a sunrise photo snapped spontaneously with my 4-year-old iphone 7 using the Lightroom for mobile app, which shoots 3 handheld shots in rapid succession and combines them to create a 12-bit RAW file. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/63976318 You might complain about noise/detail, but I can't achieve this kind of dynamic range spontaneously using my traditional cameras (Panasonic or Sony), without setting up a tripod beforehand, and then putting in a fair bit of post-processing work.
I don't think it is a joke to make pictures with a smartphone, it is just a bit funny to see people inventing all kind of tools to take pictures, because it is so small and thin that you can barely hold it.
I am a cool lover of a smartphone to take pictures. I don't like holding a display half a meter away from me to see the composition, I want a viewfinder, and control buttons that my fingers can recognise. Without a zoom lens, a lot of the pictures and videos I made would not have been possible.
A smartphone is like a swiss knife, doing a lot of things, but a chef will not use it in the kitchen.
I find it curious that, in some people's mind, because a smartphone can, today, take more than decent pictures and you have it always with you THEN you should get rid of your real cameras... Using a real camera (or a smartphone) is not linked to the image IQ only, and photography is not a question of IQ only.
“ photography is not a question of IQ only.” I agree exactly. And I think my sunrise photo demonstrates this. Noise and detail aren’t amazing. But I can’t achieve this kind of shot easily with my traditional cameras. My smart phone can do it easily.
Boss of Sony, "My smart phone can do it easily." For sure, but "real cameras" can also easily do things that your smartphone can't. That's why there is no perfect gear that does it all...
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