Kipon adapter for Canon EF on NEX and m4/3 Mirrorless

This is some excellent news, has KIPON just announced they will be releasing "soon" an electronic adapter so we can use our Canon EF glas on Micro 4/3 and NEX cameras.

I've already got their adapter for EOS to m4/3 with manual aperture ring control and it's a must if you have the Olympus OM-D E5 and need some longer distances. It's manual focus but it's very easy to control since Olympus got a zoom function that actually works and make manual focus a sweat.

You can get this manual aperture ring adapter at their page KIPON or do an ebay seach for it has there are plenty of them for different kind of lenses.
 
Let's wait and see the availability of the new ones and also for what prices are they shipping in.

-- Press release --

KIPON developed electronic adapters through the co-operation with Japanese engineers,using Canon EF mount lens on NEX or m4/3 mirrorless cameras, through the dial ring or button to control the iris of original Canon EF lens, let those who bought mirrorless cameras can enjoy the Canon EF lens.

Listing specific dates and prices to be determined.

--//--

Xume Quick Release Filter Adapters

What if suddenly you could take of filter off your lens without having to unscrew them? Wouldn't that big a great help when you're out on the field having that great camera moment or even when you want to quick change that Polarize Filter from one lens to the other in a snap?

Fear no more... Xume got this great idea when they created the Quick Release Filter Adapters.

They are nothing more than a couple of magnetic adapters that you could screw in to your filters and your lens and BAM!! You got an instant filter exchange for your setup.

The adapters are a little pricey and they are available, for the moment, only on 77mm threads, let's hope they will make them on some other threats soon. You also need to pay attention if they will not produce some vignetting on your lens corners because of the extra height but they look pretty thin to me.

Filter Holder

And the Lens Adapter









Just take a look at their video for more info and their web page for online orders.

DIY: Improve your Manfrotto 026 Lite Tite Swivel & Umbrella Adapter

As you may noticed I have made some changes on the right side panel so it would now be much easier, for all of you, to get a particular article without having to go through the blog Month by Month in search of the one you would like, now you will have a drop down Menu with all the articles available.

By experience I know that Strobist products are difficult to find in Europe and some times people do not have time or patience to look for them through Google so I decided to make available a compilation of stores in Europe where you can get them and compare prices, will try to update it frequently. Take a look under the Strobist logo "Strobist gear: Where can I find it in Europe?" also as a drop down menu.

On todays article I decided to show you some improvement you can make to your already purchased Manfrotto 026 Lite Tite Swivel & Umbrella Adapter.

For quite some time I was trying to get a solution to fix the annoying metallic screw on the upper part of the adapter but without great results. Decided to give it another try around some of the hardware stores around here and found one that finally got what I needed.

Butterfly Wing Screws, well I think this is the correct English name for it even that it sounds like a sexy hot kinda of thing came out of a Kamasutra book. So correct me if I'm wrong on the name of this thing.



Here is what we will be needing to make this simple DIY:

- 1 Butterfly Wing Screw
- 1 Spray can of Black Mate ink

As you can see on the above picture I'm going to change that T-Type screw and replace it with the Butterfly Wing Screw. I do not know what you think about the T-Type screw but for me was kind of a difficult one to turn and sometimes I would get so desperate on how long it would take to screw or unscrew it.



Just remove the T-Type screw by unscrewing it from the Manfrotto 026 Lite Tite Swivel & Umbrella Adapter.



And now just replace it with the Butterfly Wing Screw on the Manfrotto 026 Lite Tite Swivel & Umbrella Adapter.



This is what it would look like after you have replace it with the old one. Do not fear since it would not put in risk the use of the round screw just beneath it.

They will work great together since the Butterfly Wing Screw would stay out of the way when you screw it in with the adapter.



The image above is another tip I wanted to show you and that a lot of people may not be aware of it.

Did you know that if you pull this lever out it will be able for you to put it on a different position without unscrewing it?

This is a great feature for when you have to store it on your bag and the handle always stays on the wrong position.



After replacing the Butterfly Wing Screw this is what it would look like. See the difference between each of the screws?

Wondering what that white plastic part is?
It's a Pocket Wizard holder.

Wanna make one too so that your Pocket Wizards would not bang on the stands?
Just take a look at another post and see how you can build a Pocket Wizard holder.

DIY: PW Stand Holder for less than 5,00€



I did not like too much the shinny Silver look of the Butterfly Wing Screw so I decided to paint it mate black.



Spray that Butterfly Wing Screw !!!



And while spraying that out I thought why not take the time and paint also the PW holder?

So I painted it, now have a much Pro look and less eye catcher.



Manfrotto 026 Lite Tite Swivel & Umbrella Adapter and Pocket Wizard holder Before and After



Take a look at one side and the other after mounting it to the stand and adding the Pocket Wizard to the holder.



Closer look of the new Butterfly Wing Screw that I add to the previous version of the DIY: PW Stand Holder for less than 5,00€

Butterfly Wing Screw makes it easier to screw and unscrew the Pocket Wizard also making it more tight.



Closer look of the Pocket Wizard Holder from the front side.

Hope you have enjoyed another easy DIY Mod for your Manfrotto 026 Lite Tite Swivel & Umbrella Adapter and Pocket Wizards.

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Ring Flash adapter for Canon 580EX and Nikon SB800

Finally after browsing through some pages about ring flash adapters I discovered that the wheel was already invented and that a Ring Flash Adapter was already developed and made by a Czech photographer who got the DIY idea and conceived a commercial version of it.

It uses a clever system of internal prisms and reflectors to distribute the light emitted from the flash unit evenly around the large diameter of the ring flash adapter.

The ring flash adapter creates a very special lighting effect: a "3-d shadow-wrapped look" (if you are looking for that David Hill and Jill Greenberg look here is one solution). Because all light originates from the front, i.e. from around the lens, it produces a virtually shadow less look on the front of your subject, while a soft even shadow appears around the edges. It is ideally suited for fashion, portrait and beauty images as a main light or fill-in.

Due to it's large inner diameter (143mm), the ring flash adapter will accept almost all lenses from small, medium and large format cameras.

Exposure control is easy: using either Canon or Nikon cameras (or their derivatives) all TTL functions are operational as usual, as well as manual mode. It is of course possible to use the Canon 580EX and the Nikon SB800 in manual mode with other camera brands by using a simple hot-shoe adapter, which provides a standard synchronization lead, and improvising a suitable way of mounting the flash to the camera.

The ring flash adapter is a very affordable way to achieve typical ring flash lighting quality normally only available to studio flash equipment users.

The ring flash adapter comes in for now in 2 versions one for Canon 580EX and the other for Nikon SB800. After contacting the developer he told me that new models are in preparation for other flashes.


Take a look at the Instructions Manual for more details on the product.

This is not a cheap solution (139,00€ + 20€ shipping) compared to some of the DIY models available out there but it seems pretty good and portable enough.

I'm still waiting for my unit since it's on back order.

As soon as I have it I will make a full review with more pictures :)

Also take a look at some DIY Macro Ring Flashes here, here, here and here, a more fancy one here and another one build from a pan cake.

Udi J. Tirosh from the blog DIYPhotography.net is calling all builders to create one with disposable flash cameras. You can take a look at developments here.

DIY: PW Stand Holder for less than 5,00€

In my last post I wrote that I was working on 2 projects well here it is the first one.

I've been looking, for quite a while, for something to hold my PW when I use them.

Since I bought the Gadget Infinity system I haven't been using the PW a lot, first because of the too much wiring system required to connect them to my 580Ex, second their size and second because I do not like to have them bumping around on the tripod while on use.

I hang them by the little lanyard it bounce and bang on the stand every time I have to move the stand around for positioning the light so I was needing a solution for when I use them... this means that when you're into a more serious assignment you cannot trust the GI misfiring system and when a Client is near by watching every move you make this could be a terrible thing so I need the PW system.

There are people who are using the Velcro system with great usability but I do not think this would stick and hold very well on the thiner Manfrotto Nano 01 stands, so I was in need of a solution...

After seeing the Ziv's project for a Pocket Wizard holder that he's selling, a set of 3, on his blog for $24,00 plus shipping. I think this is a little bit too much for a small piece of metal that you have to bend, cut and shape.

But then again you could make one yourself, with the right tools, with no effort and with less than 5,00 euros I guarantee you that, just follow along.

I had to do some search around on several hardware stores near Luxembourg before I found the right one and the right holder. The one I bought was very cheap at Le Roy Merlin in France.

I know that there are a lot of hardware stores where you can get this stuff but the biggest one around here was Le Roy Merlin France, maybe IKEA would have this holder also I will have to check it out also.

As always I start with a picture from the setup light so you can see how one small strobe can do this kind of presentation.



580Ex shot through umbrella to camera left at 1/16 power. Camera ISO 100, Tv200, Av9.0.

Now let's go to business.



Picture of the inventory:

- Pocket Wizard (For testing purposes)
- Electric Drilling since I do not have a drilling one I used an Electric Screwer
- 1x 6mm (thick) snap ring
- 1x 6mm (thick) nut
- 1x 6mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw, size length 1,5cm
- 1x 8mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw, size length 4,5cm
- 1x Plastic Systemtac 2198 (used to hold together 2 corner pieces of a furniture) . It also bends in the middle making an L shape.

The Systemtac 2198 (name printed on the holder) you can find it near the pieces to build the pre-made furniture. At Le Roy Merlin they only had it in white but later on you can spray it black if you like.



Now let's drill on one side one hole of 6mm (thick) and on the other end a 8mm (thick). The holes are already made so it would not be very difficult to drill a larger one.



Since this is plastic you can drill them with almost anything. It's a kind of flexible plastic near the already made holes so it will be very easy to drill.

Just remember I did my holes with my electrical screwer :)

So you now have the 2 holes on each side let's move on.



Remove the original 8mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw from the flash adapter.



Here is a side by side from the original 8mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw with size length 3cm (on the right) and the new 8mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw bigger size length 4,5cm (one on the left).



Closer look.

The original 8mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw with size length 3cm (on the right) and the new 8mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw bigger size length 4,5cm (one on the left).

I choose another one bigger since this way you can now put the plastic holder between the umbrella stand and the stainless socket cap without loosing screw turns for better tight.



Let's assemble everything starting by putting the new 8mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw bigger size length 4,5cm back into the umbrella adapter.



Now we put the plastic holder, it's indifferent from which side you'll put it through I leave that to you.



I choose to put the white holder on the beginning part of the stainless socket cap screw instead of the end because this way you will have a more stable screw in since the socket cap will be fixed to the umbrella adapter see picture.



Now let's put a snap ring to better hold it together. On the final version I ended up adding another snap ring to the other side for a better tighten.



So the first part is now finished. You have the white holder in position so let's move on to the PW itself.



When I bought these 6mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw I took the PW with me and looked around for something that could be attached to the hole on the PW and that would not be very long so it won't stay out too much on the white holder.

The PW screw is not very deep so take this in consideration when buying yourself the stainless socket cap screw so they could fit in there. Maybe you could find some more fancy one's but where I looked I couldn't find none suitable for this except this one's.

------------ Update 05/01/2008 ------------

Found a better replacement for the PW screw in, much easier to screw and tight take a look at the picture below.


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At the end of the 6mm (thick) stainless socket cap screw I put a Nut to hold it against the white holder.



Next screw in the PW.



This is what it will look like when everything is in place.



As you can see the white holder is bendable at the middle so it will be easier for it to bend where it won't collide with any swivel or the umbrella hole. Main reason why I choose this.



A view of the all thing assembled together.



This is the setup shot for the next sequence.

580Ex shot through umbrella to camera left at 1/16 power. Camera ISO 100, Tv200, Av9.0



This is a standing view from one side and the other.

You can see how it's holding the PW straighten up. You can even swivel it for a better position.



Full picture with the umbrella on. I even put the umbrella metal holder a little bit out so you can see that it would not touch it even if you put it in a little bit.



Now for the final shots I would like to show them from above also made one straight and the other bend so you can see the possibilities.

Since you can bend this little piece of plastic you can point it to what best suits you.

------------ Update 05/01/2008 ------------

Finally got some time to paint it out for a more "Pro" look here are the pictures.


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Hope this all DIY would be helpful for you as it is for me.

Enjoy this inexpensive and very portable way to hold your PW while using your umbrella adapter and spray can it black if you like it better on black.