Here’s a comprehensive list of the gear I use in 2019 to capture and edit my DIY projects, tutorials, and videos. You don’t need anything special these days to start out capturing great photos and videos– use whichever camera you have access to. These are the tools I personally prefer for the type of work I do. Since the last time I made this post (2017), a lot has changed about my setup. I’ve carefully optimized my tool selection for my professional photography/videography practice. For some practical tips I still stand by, check out my 2014 MAKE article about making great build videos. Links to products are affiliate links.
I do a lot of tabletop overhead photography featuring both of my hands, and a foot pedal shutter remote is an absolute must-have! Although it’s possible to modify the commercially available GH series remote to add a foot pedal, I wanted to create a more streamlined solution. The GH5 remote has a few resistors in it, which makes it a bit more involved to DIY than, a Canon shutter remote, for example. I looked it up, and sure enough, the switch contact is held high at about 41.1K ohms, and the shutter triggers when the switch brings it down to about 2.2K ohms. Resistor values add up when put in series, and some experimentation shows you can successfully deviate a bit on the resistor values (try what you have that’s close).
I am asked frequently what equipment I use to capture and edit my DIY projects, tutorials, and videos. Here’s a comprehensive list of my current arsenal for 2017. I maintain the opinion that you can always take great photos and videos with whatever camera you have (so long as you’ve got good lighting), which has lead to some scrappy choices over the years. My goal has always been to keep my equipment within my own personal operating abilities to keep productions as lean as possible, but to be honest these days I don’t want for much. These are the carefully selected tools I’ve come to incorporate into my professional photography/videography practice. All of the practical tips in my 2014 MAKE article about making great build videos still apply, even if the equipment is different.
Panasonic GH4 – Love this camera, more than any camera I’ve ever owned! This mirrorless micro four thirds interchangeable lens camera was designed to be a video powerhouse, and has literally never let me down. The screen flips all the way around, the battery life is incredible, the programmable buttons let you customize the controls to the things you use most often, and because I still edit video in 1080 but shoot in 4K, I can crop in on my shots in the edit to improve composition and clarity. For streaming, which I do significantly less of than I used to, the GH4 outputs clean HDMI video with the option of no menu overlays (try and name another prosumer level camera that does this). The newer GH5 doesn’t crop the sensor in video mode, but for me that’s the only feature that would make a difference in my day-to-day (the improved OIS wouldn’t give much benefit to my tripod-tabletop shots). At some point I did think about getting the Sony A7Sii (performs much better in low light), but upon trying out a friend’s, it became evident that the lack of screen flexibility was a dealbreaker in my workflow, which routinely puts the camera facing straight down.
Make a mirror that’s also a display! Use any Android device and some two-way mirror plastic to whip up a smart home mirror, using Hannah Mitt’s code on Github! This guide will walk you through my process of installing Hannah’s app on my Nexus 7 tablet and installing it at home. First up be sure to read this page and download the code:
The app has modules for date, weather, chore reminders, stock prices, XKCD comic updates, news headlines, and more. I find the temperature display particularly useful for deciding which jacket to grab on the way out the door.
I had never done any Android development before (though I did make my phone unlockable with an NFC ring), so I think it’s safe to call this project beginner-friendly. It took a little tinkering to get it working and then some crafting to assemble the mirror, but was very satisfying at each incremental step.
Besides your Android device and its power supply (and a long USB cable), for this project you will need:
two-way mirror plastic (see-through) – I got mine at Canal Plastics but you can also get it online
Using DotStar LED strips we can create a flexible, portable light source for video and photography. It can squish into small spaces, easily hang up on location, and it’s fun and simple to make.
Different lighting situations call for a different color temperature of light, so we’ll combine warm and cool white LED strips and program a Pro Trinket to adjust the light with a four-button membrane keypad.
We saw a crowdfunding campaign a while back for something similar, and when it was canceled we still wanted one. Now that we have these DotStar LED strips in the shop we can build it together.
Before you begin, read/watch the following guides:
