Hacking
Digital Cameras
Chieh Cheng
Auri Rahimzadeh
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Hacking Digital Cameras
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Hacking
Digital Cameras
Chieh Cheng
Auri Rahimzadeh
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For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department
within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cheng, Chieh, 1974–
Hacking digital cameras/Chieh Cheng, Auri Rahimzadeh.
p. cm.
Indcludes index.
ISBN-13: 9780764596513 (paper/website)
ISBN-10: 0764596519 (paper/website)
1. Digital cameras—Modification—Amateurs’ manuals. 2. Photography—Equipment and supplies—Amateurs’ manuals. I. Rahimzadeh,
Auri, 1975–II. Title.
TR256.C44 2005
775—dc22
2005020485
Trademarks:Wiley, the Wiley logo, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its

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logo are trademarks of Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings, Inc. Used under license. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of
their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Hacking Digital Cameras
Published by
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Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN-13: 978-0-7645-9651-3
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About the Authors
Chieh Cheng has a Computer Science degree and is currently a Senior Software Engineer
developing radiation medicine control systems for cancer treatment. He is an avid photogra-
pher who has won photo contests and had pictures published in magazines. Hacking cameras
is one of his many long-term hobbies. He created and has maintained the Camera Hacker web
site (
www.CameraHacker.com) since its inception in 1998. The web site includes forums
and articles on camera hacking projects, practical photography tips, and photographic equip-
ment reviews.
Auri Rahimzadeh has been tinkering with computers ever since he was six years old and loves
all technology. Auri collects computers and has been involved with many computer projects,
including teaching computers alongside Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer. Auri
is the author of the book Geek My Ride, also published by Wiley in their ExtremeTech series.
He has written hundreds of articles on various computer technologies, and has contributed to
many standards, including HDTV, DVD, and interactive television. Auri contributes to com-
puter education for students across the country and has promoted technology awareness
through the Indianapolis Computer Society, where he has served as president for three years.
Currently, Auri runs his own IT consulting firm, The Auri Group (TAG), and spends his free
time programming, chatting in Starbucks, and going to Pacers games (Go Pacers!).
01_596519_ffirs.qxd 8/19/05 12:14 PM Page v
Credits
Executive Editor

Chris Webb
Development Editor
Tom Dinse
Copy Editor
Kathryn Duggan
Editorial Manager
Mary Beth Wakefield
Production Manager
Tim Tate
Vice President and Executive Group
Publisher
Richard Swadley
Vice President and Publisher
Joseph B. Wikert
Project Coordinator
Ryan Steffen
Graphics and Production Specialists
Carrie Foster
Lauren Goddard
Denny Hager
Melanee Prendergast
Quality Control Technicians
Amanda Briggs
John Greenough
Brian Walls
Proofreading and Indexing
TECHBOOKS Production Services
Cover Design
Anthony Bunyan
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To all my family and friends
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Acknowledgments
W
hile writing the proposal for Hacking Digital Cameras, I envisioned writing two to
three pages of acknowledgments. I wanted to thank all the people in the world who
had influenced me in one way or another. But during editing, we discovered that the
content of the book had exceeded the page limit! Tom Dinse, the development editor, and I
had a hard time deciding what to cut. We wanted to provide a quality manuscript. (By the way,
thank you, Tom.) So, to preserve the quality of this book, I’ll keep this section short and sweet.
My next thank you goes to Chris Webb, executive editor at Wiley Publishing, for finding me
and supporting me throughout the process. It’s a great learning experience. You and Tom are
extremely enthusiastic and very professional at the same time.
Thanks to Sasha Beloussov and Dan LaFuze for encouraging me with the book. As soon as I
told them, they immediately said, “Go for it!” They knew I’d finish the book from day one.
Thanks to Ambroise Confetti for providing the Macintosh screenshots. Ambroise is the author
of Cellulo, the award-winning Mac OS X movie player. We became great friends after he trav-
eled from France to work, temporarily, in the United States.
Clark Taylor has been a great mentor. He taught me all my racing skills. Clark doesn’t know it
yet, but he is going to proofread this acknowledgment section for me. Thank you, Clark.
Thanks to Paul Chang, my fellow childhood dreamer, for constantly writing and encouraging
both of us to write fiction. I’m sure we will both write fiction one day.
To my mom, Lucia, and my dad, James, thanks for believing in me. Although our family has
gone through some rough times and bitter encounters, it’s all in the past. I am sure things will
only get better. No matter what happens, I will always love you both with all my heart.
To my brother, Chiao: Thanks for being there for me all my life. Although we bond through
our brotherly fights and plays, I know you always cared for me. I am always here for you.
To my wife, Hao Yen: You are the loveliest woman I have ever known. I can’t wait to see how
our future unfolds before us. I love you.

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Contents at a Glance
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Part I: Hacking Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1: Building Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2: Adding a Tripod Socket to Your Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Chapter 3: Accessing Raw Sensor Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Chapter 4: Hacking Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Chapter 5: Controlling Your Digital Camera from Afar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Chapter 6: Improving Your Canon EOS Digital Rebel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Part II: Hacking Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Chapter 7: Using Accessory Lenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Chapter 8: Making an Accessory Lens Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Chapter 9: Changing the Lens Magnification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Chapter 10: Making Your Own Pinhole Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Chapter 11: Extending the Lens on Canon EOS Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Chapter 12: Making Reverse Macro Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Chapter 13: Modifying the Canon EF-S Lens for Use on Canon EF Mounts . . . . . . 257
Part III: Creative Photography Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Chapter 14: Hacking with Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Chapter 15: Shooting Infrared Pictures with Your Digital Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Chapter 16: Eliminating the IR Blocking Filter from Your Digital Camera . . . . . . . . 317
Part IV: Building Fun Camera Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Chapter 17: Building a Car Camera Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Chapter 18: Building a Headrest Camera Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Chapter 19: Building a Spycam Mount for Your Bicycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Chapter 20: Building a Camera Stabilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Chapter 21: Building a Flash Bracket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Chapter 22: Building a Monopod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Chapter 23: Making a 500-Watt Home Studio Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
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Part V: Flash Memory Hacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
Chapter 24: Modifying the CF Type I to PC Card Type II Adapter. . . . . . . . . . . . 425
Chapter 25: Removing the 4GB Microdrive from the Creative Nomad
MuVo
2
MP3 Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Chapter 26: Removing the Microdrive from the Rio Carbon 5GB MP3 Player. . . . . . 451
Chapter 27: Removing the 4GB Microdrive from the Apple iPod mini . . . . . . . . . . 459
Appendix A: Soldering Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
Appendix B: Circuit Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
Appendix C: Glass Cutting Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
Appendix D: Photographer’s Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
xi
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Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Part I: Hacking Cameras
Chapter 1: Building Triggers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Making a Wired Remote Trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
How Does a Remote Trigger Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Drilling the Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Soldering the Wires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Fitting the Pieces Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Making a Delay Trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Circuit Diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Prototyping the Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Soldering the Wires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Putting It Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Making an Interval Trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Circuit Diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Connecting the Triggers to a Point-and-Shoot Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Taking the Camera Apart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Looking for the Shutter Switch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Determining the Shutter Button Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Soldering the Trigger Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Modifying the Camera Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Reassembling the Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Extending the Remote Switch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
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Chapter 2: Adding a Tripod Socket to Your Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Parts You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Making the Tripod Socket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Measuring the Base of the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Cutting the New Base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Placing the Socket Directly Under the Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Drilling the Hole for the Socket Screw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Gluing the Tripod Socket into the Wood Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Gluing the Wood Base to the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Chapter 3: Accessing Raw Sensor Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Understanding Unconverted Real Sensor Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Enabling Raw Mode on Nikon COOLPIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Getting the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Setting Raw Diagnostics Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Capturing Raw Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Watch Out for Side-Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Enabling Raw Mode on Casio Digital Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Enabling Raw Mode on QV-2000UX, QV-3000EX,
QV-4000, and QV-5700 Digital Cameras. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Enabling Raw Mode on QV-3500EX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Enabling Raw Mode on Exilim P600, Exilim P700, and Exilim EX-Z55. . . 78
Decoding Raw Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Getting the Decoder Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Creating the Decoder Executable for DOS and Windows . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Compiling the Decoder for Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Running the Decoder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Automating the Decoder with Batch Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Chapter 4: Hacking Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Interfacing to SLRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Canon DR-400 Pin-Out Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Cutting the Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Wiring the Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Interfacing to Point-and-Shoot Digital Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Making the Fake Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Building the Connector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Modifying the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
xiv
Contents
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Making a Portable Battery Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Parts You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Hacking the Lenmar Mach 1 Speed Charger Battery Adapter Plates. . . . . . . . 103
Parts You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Picking the Right Battery Adapter Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Disassembling the Adapter Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Soldering the Wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Drilling a Hole and Cutting a Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Reassembling the Adapter Plate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Powering on Your Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Chapter 5: Controlling Your Digital Camera from Afar . . . . . . . . . . 107
Basic Infrared Signal Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Using a Universal Remote Control with Your Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Searching for the Right Remote Code (Automatic Programming) . . . . . . 111
What Code Was Set? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Manually Programming the Universal Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Programming a Teachable Universal Remote
Controller with a Camera Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Learning Commands from a Camera Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Using Nevo with Your Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Programming Nevo with Your Camera’s Remote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Using Total Remote with Your Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Programming Total Remote with Your Camera’s Remote. . . . . . . . . . . 123
Using Pre-Made Remote Files from the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Chapter 6: Improving Your Canon EOS Digital Rebel . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Getting the Hacked Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Getting the Official Digital Rebel Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Updating the Camera Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Copy the Firmware to a CompactFlash Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Installing the Firmware onto the Digital Rebel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Using the Hacked Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
High Speed Shooting at ISO 3200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Auto-Focus Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Review Enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Custom Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Known Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Non-Functional Custom Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Reverting to Canon’s Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
xv
Contents
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Part II: Hacking Lenses
Chapter 7: Using Accessory Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Understanding Magnification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Understanding Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Using Wide-Angle Lenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Using Telephoto Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Filter Thread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Mounting Thread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Step-Up and Step-Down Rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Mounting to a Point-and-Shoot Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Mounting to an SLR Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Mounting to a Camcorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Chapter 8: Making an Accessory Lens Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Measuring and Cutting the Pipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Test Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Gluing Everything Together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Trying Out the Lens Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Using a P&S Camera like an SLR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Chapter 9: Changing the Lens Magnification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Understanding Lens Elements and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Reconfiguring the Cokin 0.5x Wide-Angle Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Disassembling the Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Reconfiguring the Lens Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
What’s Next?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Chapter 10: Making Your Own Pinhole Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Why Does It Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Making the Pinhole Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Parts and Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Measuring the Cap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Drilling the Preliminary Hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Creating a Pinhole Using a Needle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Trying It Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Lens Comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Shooting with the Pinhole Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Focal Length. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Aperture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
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Determining Exposure Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Tips on Shooting a Pinhole Photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Chapter 11: Extending the Lens on Canon EOS Cameras . . . . . . . . . 217
The Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Jury-Rigging the Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Modifying the Lens Permanently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Modifying the Lens Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Chapter 12: Making Reverse Macro Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Manual Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Automatic Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Manual Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Automatic Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Optional Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Making a Manual Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Disassembling the Sacrificial T-Mount Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Gluing the Reversing Ring to the T-Mount. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Making an Automatic Adapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Dismantling the Sacrificial Extension Tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Modifying the Extension Tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Threading the Ribbon Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Soldering the Wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Putting the Reverse Macro Adapter Together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Gluing the Step-Down Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Trying Out Your Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Lens Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Chapter 13: Modifying the Canon EF-S Lens
for Use on Canon EF Mounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Hacking Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Disassembling the Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Sawing the Plastic Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Reassemble the Lens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Trying the Lens on EOS SLRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Digital SLRs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
APS SLRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Full-Frame SLRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
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Part III: Creative Photography Hacks
Chapter 14: Hacking with Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Physical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Circular Screw-On Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Square and Rectangle Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Gelatin Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Putting a Filter Thread on an Accessory Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Parts You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Gluing the Step-Up Ring to the Lens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Making Filters Out of Plain Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Diffusion Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Fog Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Color Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Star Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Infrared Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Chapter 15: Shooting Infrared Pictures with Your Digital Camera . . . . 293
Understanding the Light Spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Can My Camera Shoot Infrared Photographs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Infrared Photography with Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Digital Infrared Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
How Well Does Your Digital Camera Perceive Infrared Light? . . . . . . . 301
Shooting Infrared Photographs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Enhancing Infrared Photography with Filters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Compensating Exposure for Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Bracketing Your Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Focusing on the Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Using a Larger Depth-of-Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Picking a Color Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Color Infrared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Manipulating the Resulting Photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Black and White. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Chapter 16: Eliminating the IR Blocking Filter
from Your Digital Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Exclusive IR Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Understanding the IR-Blocking Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Modifying Your Digital Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Converting the Sony DSC-P92 to Infrared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Testing the Infrared Digital Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Shooting Visible Light with an IR Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
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Part IV: Building Fun Camera Tools

Chapter 17: Building a Car Camera Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Taking Apart the Child Safety Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Drilling the Mounting Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Assembling the Car Camera Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Installing the Camera Mount in Your Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Possible Enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Chapter 18: Building a Headrest Camera Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Removing the Headrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Sizing the Camera Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Drilling the Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Test-Fitting the Camera Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Installing the Camera Mount in Your Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Chapter 19: Building a Spycam Mount for Your Bicycle . . . . . . . . . 373
Many Different “Bikes” Out There. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Security Is Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Buy or Build? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Videotape, Film, and Motion Aren’t Always Compatible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Commercial Camera Mount Manufacturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Do-It-Yourself Projects on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Adding a Spycam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Parts You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Converting the Light Mount and Mount the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Connecting a 9V Battery to a Wireless Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Storing the Video Receiver and Video Recorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Plugging the Video Receiver into the Battery Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Plugging the Video Receiver into the Video Recorder . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Chapter 20: Building a Camera Stabilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Build or Buy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Tripods versus Stabilizers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Still Photography versus Video Stabilization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Building Your Own Steady Cam Stabilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Assembling the Handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Drilling the End Caps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Building the Camera Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
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Adding the Counterweight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Using Your Steady Cam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Chapter 21: Building a Flash Bracket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
How Do Flashes Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Hot Lights versus Flash Brackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Does Shutter Speed Matter with Digital Cameras?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Building the Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
Buy or Build? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
Parts You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
Cutting the Aluminum into Strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Preparing the First Aluminum Strip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Preparing the Second and Third Strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Attaching Ball Sockets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Attaching Bracket to Tripod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

Using the Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
Chapter 22: Building a Monopod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Chapter 23: Making a 500-Watt Home Studio Light . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
Mechanical Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Photography with a Home Studio Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
White Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Part V: Flash Memory Hacks
Chapter 24: Modifying the CF Type I to PC Card Type II Adapter . . . . 425
Parts You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Making the Modification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Using the Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
Chapter 25: Removing the 4GB Microdrive
from the Creative Nomad MuVo
2
MP3 Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
MuVo Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
Downloading the Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
Which Firmware Version Should I Use? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
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Tools You Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Disassembling the MuVo

2
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Taking the Case Apart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Removing the Microdrive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Putting the MuVo
2
Back Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
Substituting CF Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Booting Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Using the Microdrive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
Chapter 26: Removing the Microdrive from the
Rio Carbon 5GB MP3 Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
Overview of the Rio Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
Disassembling the Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
Taking the Case Apart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
Removing the Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
Putting the Device Back Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
Installing Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
Installing a Different Microdrive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
Using the 5GB Microdrive in Your Digital Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
Why It Might Not Work with Your Digital Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
Chapter 27: Removing the 4GB Microdrive
from the Apple iPod mini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
Disassembling the iPod mini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
Getting Inside the Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
Removing the Microdrive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
Putting the iPod mini Back Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Resetting the iPod mini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

Updating the Firmware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471
Appendix A: Soldering Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
Appendix B: Circuit Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
Appendix C: Glass Cutting Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
Appendix D: Photographer’s Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
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