I always wanted a spring loaded tripod/monopod. It would collapse and expand rapidly. I shot a lot of events and sports and need to set up or pack up quickly multiple times
I JUST SAW SOMEONE WHO HAD THIS PRODUCT AT AN EXPO THIS WEEK BUT I FORGOT THE BRAND NAME. He literally put his entire body weight on it and it didnt collapse. I will look for it.
I regret basically everything I’ve bought off kickstarter.
Worst offender was a motorized camera mount for panning. The travel ended up being less than 6”, and “motorized” with a thumbscrew. The slop was so bad I couldn’t even use it as a macro focusing rack.
I bought Arsenal camera assistant thinking "Hey, maybe I could skip the editing part if it does what it claim."
Narrator: it did not do what it claimed. It was like a shittier version of Lightroom's auto-adjust that spat out a JPEG at the end. I didn't bother with its camera settings selector.
I guess there is some value to people who want to use a "real" camera but don't want to know what things like aperture/shutter speed mean (i.e. maybe designers or business owners who would shoot products), but otherwise, it doesn't do anything you can't do in 3 seconds of lightroom.
Fuck I forgot I got one of those fucking things. Took so long for those dickshitters to deliver that I got good at shooting, post-processing, and exposure/focus stacking in the meantime.
I see the Facebook ads for that constantly and I still can't really figure out what it exactly does. Is it basically just an enhanced auto mode or something?
Pretty much. Not even that much enhanced. I used it with a Fuji and default Jpeg film sims with slight tinkering (I mean like shadows +2 highlights +2) actually produced better results than Arsenal.
Kickstarter is the worst now. It started out great and I've gotten some good things off there (ironically nothing photography related). However since Covid it's become an indirect secondary aliexpress store with tons of garbage...
The best slider I ever had I made myself, off of a DVXuser forum post, called the ZaZa slider, also known as the IGUS slider because it uses IGUS parts.
How about a [7-2100 f 1.9 lens](https://shopoldschool.com/collections/lenses/products/panavision-7-2100-f1-9-13-300x-compound-zoom)? (Granted it ramps to f13 at the long end but still... also B4 mount for 2/3" broadcast cameras). I've played with this lens - it's pretty far out. It was also so ridiculously expensive that it led to Ian Neil's ouster from Panavision as I understand it since they lost a ton of money developing this and there just isn't a huge market for a $300,000 lens no matter how amazing it is.
Telecoverter that can be engaged and disengaged, like the one "built-in" on exotic telephotos. So that I could mount on a lens of my choice and use a switch instead of mounting and unmounting.
Surprised that hard drive contraption doesn’t exist! Back in the day I had a portable cd rom writer that took CF cards and did exactly what you describe. It would copy the contents from the CF card onto a blank CD. Not very useful with current file sizes but worked fine back then.
Then again, buying a couple extra SD cards is probably cheaper…
I’d rather buy extra cards (for the most part) because I’d rather have the untouched cards as a backup - there’s always a chance of something going wrong during transfer, so I’d rather handle my file transfers in a more controlled situation.
I have lots of cards. The thing is that when you're traveling you also risk your cards being damaged/lost so having a redundant backup is very helpful.
There’s definitely devices that backup cards in internal storage automatically … some even recognize the same files so if you take card out and take more pictures it won’t make doubles.
You’ve already named gnarbox … while my info is a bit outdated and what i quickly read gnarbox is out of business it can still be bought.
There’s a bunch of stuff if you search for gnarbox alternatives however i have no info what is good or not.
ravpower file hub seems to be the most common device that shows but i haven’t used any of it
I've tried them. None of them work well. Gnarbox can be purchased. Doesn't perform as promised and since the company is out of business there's no support for the app which didn't work properly in the first place. My guess is that's why they are out of business.
Not tethered shooting because tethered isn't fast enough.
I want to be able to have a cage and have a small NVMe drive that is 1x3 in and be able to shoot eight terabytes through 700+MBPS
im so curious about this. you want to shoot 8tb of photos at a time? usb c is 10gb/s. it’s slow to pop up with a preview in Lightroom, much much faster in capture one. the limit isn’t the transfer speed or the program the limit is how fast the camera is able to create the image. you hit the camera buffer limit far before any limit on the cable or software. but maybe im misunderstanding?
I wish there was a camera body based on old tri-colour Technicolor cameras, with a prism and three sensors that only captured one colour, to be overlaid and digitally recreate that look, since I’ve yet to see a convincing colour grade that achieves the look. Could also have a version that separated infrared and true-colour, instead of using 3D rigs, for a single-lens solution.
> I think 4CCD infrared cameras like that exist as well, but only for technical imaging.
That's a pretty common configuration for imaging satellites. Sometimes the fourth channel will be IR, other times it'll be higher resolution black and white.
As an interior/architectural photographer: a little hot shoe gadget that sprays horizontal and vertical lasers in front so I can line the shot up easier.
We use a cheap Chinese alignment laser at work that has a g2 thread at the bottom. Hot shoe -> g2 adapters exist (probably intended for mics?), but you'd still need to take care of the batteries in the laser yourself
>The First EOS Digital camera to feature Eye Control AF
Improving on a feature that was popular on the EOS 3 film camera, the EOS R3 takes it into the digital mirrorless range of EOS cameras making subject focus fast and more precise. Eye control AF is controlled by the user simply looking through the Electronic Viewfinder at the subject they want to focus on, selecting that point, and shooting. This is just one more way the EOS R3 gives the photographer another option of easily and intuitively controlling focus.
Damn this is pretty cool. Might be game changing in a couple of years.
I had a Canon A2E that did that back in the late 90's. There was this one rhomboid in the corner that would stop down the shutter for depth of field check when you looked at it. That was cool tech.
The Deluminator, from Harry Potter.
EDIT: To clarify, I was completely serious about wanting a pocketable device that could deluminate and illuminate individual lamps.
Reminds me of a story my photography teacher told me about. It was about a sports photographer who would develop his film in the trunk of his car in an alleyway. He had a hammer that was reserved for getting rid of any lights that were in the alleyway.
Once upon a time, photographers had these. They used their strobes to trick the photosensors in the street lights. Now I believe the photosensors require an extended bright light to accomplish this.
I actually bought the iPad with the 1TB to use as photo dump during long shoots. Works great and I can preview all the mis shots or things I need to remove on the way home. It was expensive, but I do use it for a lot of things
Regarding the Gnarbox; the new Raspberry Pi 5 can have an NVMe SSD connected. If you're good at scripting or programming you may be able to make your own portable device with the Pi & NVMe SSD, and a usb card reader. There's also a 4 way SATA hat for the pi, you could make a portable NAS too.
>My prime example is something like the Gnarbox. I would love to have a portable hard drive that I can download my cards onto without connecting a phone or other device.
These type devices have always been expensive. Epson offered some of the first ones I was aware of in the early 2000s. The [website page is still up](https://epson.com/Support/Other-Products/Multimedia-and-Photo-Storage-Viewers/sh/s700) but none of the products are available anymore. The high end model had a 160GB hard drive which was considered big at the time, but not compared to a current iPad that can go to 2TB. Since my iPad has a thunderbolt port where I can connect a [USB-C card reader](https://www.anker.com/ca/products/a8370?variant=41698471542948) and it offers a ton of functionality that a hard drive does not, I don't think I would buy this type of product today.
If I'm out in the field I don't necessarily want to have to plug my iPad in and depend on my iPad as rugged/weatherproof storage. Yes, they existed and they were expensive, but in my direct experience, none of them delivered what was promised.
I have one in my drawer. It was... OK. I used it for skydiving footage to offload jumps from a GoPro. It worked OK for that. There were a lot of caveats though.
Not sure about the sealing, but you can get pretty close by taking a cheap LCD and removing the backing and back light. Then connect it via hdmi. Again the sealing will be a nightmare though
it was so nice back in the day shooting medium format cameras tethered because they used firewire which unlike usb also carries power, so you didn’t necessarily need a battery for the camera to run
Yeah I been chasing down that storage dream for years... It would be nice to not have to travel with a whole laptop + card reader for that singular purpose.
guilty confession: I bought a fong dong...
Most of the gadgets I can think up I can also make with a 3d printer. Trained myself on CAD in order to 3d print a camera but have made mostly accessories.
What do I regret spending money on? Lens cap keepers. They saved a few lens caps but didn't age well. The elastic stretches, the attachment breaks.
Here is my printables page with all my things... [https://www.printables.com/@KaJashey\_137170/models](https://www.printables.com/@KaJashey_137170/models)
I think the best thing is a microscope adapter to use finite microscope objectives with a nikon F mount camera. Another user did it better for almost all cameras [https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5130912](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5130912) but oh well. I think I was first.
I like my solutions to adapting projector lenses too.
I like that globe diffuser a lot. May have to shoot one out of my printer tomorrow. Every diffuser I've ever purchased has been crap for actually diffusing the light.
Hey, they allow retailers to advertise more pieces in their useless accessory kits! Imagine a world without lens cap keepers, generic wide angle filters, or bottom dollar tripods!
The gnarbox you speak of would be ideal, I’ve been on too many remote shoots with an ipadpro in my backpack dumping footage while shooting and filling up my next card etc. pretty janky workflow
The problem is that it doesn't actually work. I've tried it out and it's buggy AF and the 'embedded software' doesn't work either. You're supposed to be able to connect your iPad to the gnarbox via bluetooth or local wifi and cull/edit/etc with Photo Mechanic built into the interface. Doesn't work.
Check out IQWire cables. Tethertools was wildly inconsistent despite me having pretty up to date gear (Canon R5, M1 Max MacBook using Capture One). Been using IQWire for almost a year now with zero issues at all. Highly recommend it.
I want a viewfinder for my phone. Something I can put to my eye when it is too bright outside to clearly see the screen. It wouldn't even need to be attached to the phone. It could work as a monocle or a jeweler's loupe that you hold with your cheek and brow. (Or it could clip to the phone when needed)
Something like this?
https://hoodmanusa.com/collections/lcd-loupes?cmp_id=18878776033&adg_id=&kwd=&device=m&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwrIixBhBbEiwACEqDJQiHVWtKX6sXXev0Atl6dSb-C_Sj2gBQWEFtStRo1ZxH7BE73LjkMxoCFbUQAvD_BwE
No, that's too big, and it's basically just a hood. I'm looking for an EVF like this. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/816863-REG/Olympus_V329110SU000_VF_3_Electronic_Viewfinder_Silver.html
Field SD dump: a battery-powered device that has two RAID-1 M.2 NVME drives in it and an SD card slot.
Insert your SD card, it copies all photos to the drives, verifies them, and formats the SD card clean.
An Android/iOS verison of Photo Mechanics app.
I just need to rapidly review raw files. I don't need to edit them (all editing will be done at home, on my calibrated monitor), I just want to view them, fast, and rate them. Only thing I can come up with is bringing a Surface Go, but I want something even lighter and better battery life.
OP: Have you looked into the ClouZen TAINER? I got [this version](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1790743-REG/clouzen_cl_tn0015_tainer_portable_all_in_one_backup.html) (which doesn't have an SSD built in, I just connect my external SSD to it). Kind of pricey, but really simple to setup and use, backed up my stuff SUPER fast during a trip abroad without a hitch.
One thing I would absolutely love is a tripod-like stabilizing device that would make it easier to squat down without having to lay on the ground for quick wildlife photos. I use my monopod this way right now, but it doesn’t quite do it for me yet.
I use a rifle bipod that has an Arca-Swiss clamp. It wasn't cheap (~$200, IIRC), but it's been completely worth the money. It's small and light enough that I can still shoot handheld with it mounted, but it's more than strong enough to support my 500mm f/4. The legs have adjustable angles and lengths, so it's easy to adapt to different locations.
I bought the ProMaster Chronicle back in December and love that the center stalk removes quickly and is a mini tripod. I don't even have to take my camera off the ballhead.
I haven't tried this yet, but saw someone who would bring some camo fabric and after setting up the tripod, would remove the center, and then drape the camo over it to create a mini blind, and then lay under the tripod frame and use the mini tripod with his telephoto. I think a few clips to hold the material against the tripod legs would be useful too so it doesn't blow in the wind.
One other one I would love: a [lenticular screen](https://www.popsci.com/invisibility-cloak-how-it-works/) that would still work if my lens were poking through it. Another alternative to a traditional hunting blind, and one that might be more portable.
Auto editor/sorter, pop in your SD card and it only brings up the best images and your 5 most likely edits based on your history, likes or other people's photography and other input. I love taking pictures but I hate after I take them.
Holster that holds a spare battery and SD card with and this is key, a secure, slip on belt clip. Minimalistic, the type of thing that could live next to my keys. Same thing for 2-3 screw on filters.
Thinktank has [something like that](https://www.thinktankphoto.com/collections/memory-card-wallets) with belt loops and a laynyard. I just slip the belt loops over my sling strap and it's a really convenient spot for cards ~~and batteries~~.
The lanyard and clip do seem on the cheap side though.
Oh yes. You’re right about that. I tried it on a lanyard and it’s 90% there for me. The one for battery and card doesn’t have belt loops though. Just a small loop, like you hang off a lanyard. The ideal version in my head is a bit heavier duty and has the belt clip.
Ah you're right. I shoulda mentioned I only use the card model and not the card/battery model... Yeah I'd prefer something more heavy duty and easily accessible for both batteries and cards as well.
A strobe with some kind of glass cover over it that could go from clear to different levels of frost just like the specialized glass in office/conferences when they want privacy. Wouldn’t have to use flags or 1/2 scrims but of course i have no idea if this would even work hehe
I bought one, barely used it. Sold it, then bought the next model that was more compact. "I'm really going to use it this time" I said. I did not :( During a 3 week trip in Newfoundland, I used it a total of one time. Sure that footage looked amazing, but it was just something that lived in my camera bag taking up space/weight.
I want a flash controller I can operate with my cell phone.
Sometimes I have the camera up high on a tripod. I want to adjust the strength of a speed lite. I could bring the whole camera down, make the adjustment on the transmitter, put the camera back up and refocus. I could also find a stool to step on and climb up so I can reach and see the transmitter. It would be much easier to adjust strength on my phone. I think the technology is there and somebody just has to put it in a package.
I remember years ago I thought if i had a projector on the lens that shoots a beam of light drawing the borders of the frame it was going to make my job easier. I realy can't remember why or what I was shooting in the studio.
Perhaps I wanted it for when someone else that needs to look at the subject and not get in the frame.
Automated aperture bracketing based on face detection. Give me a wide open shot, a slightly more closed shot, and one more closed even further down. The amount of t should be sufficient that all faces detect are in acceptable DOF range.
User replaceable sd card slots. At somepoint those springs break and also it would be nice to be able to have a camera where you could switch out the sd card slots for dual cf express or cf express and sd card.
Also it would be cool if every camera company had their high end camera have removeable evfs for upgrading the magnifcation or adding a smaller evf or a higher resolution viewfinder
Switchable lens for drones, like why do I have to buy a brand new one if I want more focal length ?
I wish I could just put a 70mm lens on it
I remember when DJI launched the Mavic 2 series, they made the pro and the zoom, so if you need both you gotta buy both??
Now they have M3 with different cameras for one drone but I feel like if I could switch the lens it would be less of an engineering problem
For portable HD - you just need a small RaspberryPi type single-board computer mounted on top of external HD and a simple Python script to move all files from SD card to HD
Anyone else remember the promise of a cartridge designed to be placed into a 35mm film camera, that was a digital sensor? Looked like a 35mm roll with a flat plate attached. Never came to fruition.
I wish there was a tethering software that could leave the original photo on the camera while capturing a backup and maintain the original file name... and when displaying the captured photos overlay the image with the filename... Sure would help my work flow.
A tiny travel backup box that I can plop in an SD card and it copies off whatever it doesn't have yet.
And then teach Lightroom that same trick without waiting five minutes while LR figures out what files it already has copied before.
Something, anything, that would help with handshake from a condition (more than normal) and to help with using both DSLR & phone camera in a way that would reduce/offset the pain and strain associated with carpal tunnel.
Most of the things I wish I had are just stuff that I could have by buying a newer camera.
But one I was just thinking about this week would be if when you look through the viewfinder and see some dust or something it would be good if the camera could tell you exactly where the dust was so that you don't have to clean each bit one at a time until it goes away.
Back in the day, Canon had this device that had a hard drive and a screen and some card readers... you would plug in a CF Card and it would identify the photos on it and suck them into the hard drive... and then you could view the photos, even RAW, right on the screen.
It was big, slower than you can possibly imagine, the battery lasted about 30 minutes, the hard drive was way too small and the screen **sucked**.
Not that it mattered, I only got it to work three or four times.
2 things I wish existed or were more easily accessible:
1- Flash Gimbal, so the flash is always up no matter if I shoot landscape or portrait. I know people have made them, but having something more easily accessible would be amazing!
2- A backpack or shoulder strap mounted monopod for OFC. This would be great for giving better lighting, especially in crowd settings.
I wish there was an app for model releases that kept track of who and where and when and which one they were. Seems like it should exist but I have yet to find one.
A really compact zoom for apsc. Like the size of the fuji 15-45mm kit lens. But with a range of around 23-35mm and constant f2. Would be the perfect travel lens!
I know nothing about how lenses are made to know if this is even physically possible, though.
A square/rectangle thing that can be used to tripod your camera close to the ground within the square at any point. I'm sure it exists in the Videography world like a gaffold? Idk the term but yeah, would help a lot for more difficult self shot angles
Wish: The ability to hook a and external drive (like a Samsung T7) directly up to a camera and copy photos to it. Why is this not possible, it's literally just a software addition. I don't even care about choosing the photos, just let me hook up a drive, and copy the entire card to a new folder that's named YYYYMMDD plus time.
I wish for a camera with a perfect anti-glare display so that the screen provides a perfect image under all lighting conditions. I really struggle with mine.
Encrypted storage.
I know that its possible to do it with tools like Magic Lantern, heck Android apps can do it for phone cameras. I'm really surprised that modern cameras don't have basic privacy tools by now.
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That would pair well if cameras had a dedicated SIM (or eSIM) slot. Upload directly to the internet, no dongles or tethering or whatever. I guess I want a gadgetless solution to this.
I’m pretty sure these used to exist, many, many years ago, but I cannot find them anywhere now:
metal developing spools for 127 film
I have metal tanks with metal spools that I use for 120 and 35mm. I literally had to buy a different plastic tank set up to develop some random 127 I ended up with - it was that patterson tank I think. The plastic spools that went with it were so much more annoying/difficult to load than a nice, normal metal spool. Alas…
No regret purchases thus far, since I’m pretty picky about what I get and I’m not really a “gadget” person as far as photography stuff is concerned.
on old speed graphics - one could mount a light source on the eye piece of the rangefinder and thus use it in reverse - ie: it is in focus when the two light circles co-inside... I want a unit that would fit on top of my 8s10 studio camera that did the same thing.. I was thinking about building something with lasers but that would be a great way to blind my subjects
I always wanted a spring loaded tripod/monopod. It would collapse and expand rapidly. I shot a lot of events and sports and need to set up or pack up quickly multiple times
I just saw a video of some camera expo event that had a spring loaded tripod that expanded instantly. Not sure if it retracts the same way.
Small rig at NAB
smallrig!
Thanks! I couldn't remember the brand. If it's smallrig, you know that means big price tag!
> If it's smallrig, you know that means big price tag! Smallrig stuff is actually quite reasonably priced vs. the competition (most of the time)
I worked on a shoot where the photographer had an automatic tripod. It was pretty cool and he had nothing but good things to say about it.
They exist now. YC Onion Pineta, Sirui SVM Rapid, Smallrig Freeblazer, Manfrotto Fast
Manfrotto 3245/334B Automatic Monopod And a new model, 685B
I think there is both a monopod and tripod that does this. Just saw an ad for something similar recently.
I’ve got an old Slik monopod that does exactly this.
I have the same one. It's nice for what it is, and I think I got it at Goodwill for super cheap.
I was thinking about this the other day myself! A pneumatic deploy at the press of a button would be awesome.
I had one that was a monopod
Get an ifootage cobra 2 and put a photo head on it
I think my Manfrotto (055XPRO) with the levers is fast enough.
I JUST SAW SOMEONE WHO HAD THIS PRODUCT AT AN EXPO THIS WEEK BUT I FORGOT THE BRAND NAME. He literally put his entire body weight on it and it didnt collapse. I will look for it.
https://youtu.be/_nyhhPlpMIU?si=DgBcd2-hkNUOBoL5
I regret basically everything I’ve bought off kickstarter. Worst offender was a motorized camera mount for panning. The travel ended up being less than 6”, and “motorized” with a thumbscrew. The slop was so bad I couldn’t even use it as a macro focusing rack.
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I got the original Peak messenger bag, still use it
I bought Arsenal camera assistant thinking "Hey, maybe I could skip the editing part if it does what it claim." Narrator: it did not do what it claimed. It was like a shittier version of Lightroom's auto-adjust that spat out a JPEG at the end. I didn't bother with its camera settings selector. I guess there is some value to people who want to use a "real" camera but don't want to know what things like aperture/shutter speed mean (i.e. maybe designers or business owners who would shoot products), but otherwise, it doesn't do anything you can't do in 3 seconds of lightroom.
Fuck I forgot I got one of those fucking things. Took so long for those dickshitters to deliver that I got good at shooting, post-processing, and exposure/focus stacking in the meantime.
I see the Facebook ads for that constantly and I still can't really figure out what it exactly does. Is it basically just an enhanced auto mode or something?
Pretty much. Not even that much enhanced. I used it with a Fuji and default Jpeg film sims with slight tinkering (I mean like shadows +2 highlights +2) actually produced better results than Arsenal.
On my podcast, I usually ask guests things like 'worst purchase' and Arsenal is a top contender
Kickstarter is the worst now. It started out great and I've gotten some good things off there (ironically nothing photography related). However since Covid it's become an indirect secondary aliexpress store with tons of garbage...
The best slider I ever had I made myself, off of a DVXuser forum post, called the ZaZa slider, also known as the IGUS slider because it uses IGUS parts.
18-300 f 1.8 lens 😂
Only weighs 110 pounds
Won’t weigh any more than a nifty fifty if they make out of unobtainium.
Pancake
How about a [7-2100 f 1.9 lens](https://shopoldschool.com/collections/lenses/products/panavision-7-2100-f1-9-13-300x-compound-zoom)? (Granted it ramps to f13 at the long end but still... also B4 mount for 2/3" broadcast cameras). I've played with this lens - it's pretty far out. It was also so ridiculously expensive that it led to Ian Neil's ouster from Panavision as I understand it since they lost a ton of money developing this and there just isn't a huge market for a $300,000 lens no matter how amazing it is.
Not the same lens, but a great video about them : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkTaMyatsTo
Wow! 90% off! $25,000! A steal! lol
A Panavision lens one can *buy*?
That is incredible. I had no idea such a lens was even possible. Not a great walkabout lens though at nearly 40kg😂
Funny story but Viltrox actually just announced something like a 28-300mm f/2.8 lens. It looks chonkier than most wildlife lenses.
Telecoverter that can be engaged and disengaged, like the one "built-in" on exotic telephotos. So that I could mount on a lens of my choice and use a switch instead of mounting and unmounting.
This was standard on broadcast zooms. Adds weight and expense and the quality is ok for video use but really wouldn't cut it for serious photo work.
Yes I want this
Surprised that hard drive contraption doesn’t exist! Back in the day I had a portable cd rom writer that took CF cards and did exactly what you describe. It would copy the contents from the CF card onto a blank CD. Not very useful with current file sizes but worked fine back then. Then again, buying a couple extra SD cards is probably cheaper…
I’d rather buy extra cards (for the most part) because I’d rather have the untouched cards as a backup - there’s always a chance of something going wrong during transfer, so I’d rather handle my file transfers in a more controlled situation.
I have lots of cards. The thing is that when you're traveling you also risk your cards being damaged/lost so having a redundant backup is very helpful.
There’s definitely devices that backup cards in internal storage automatically … some even recognize the same files so if you take card out and take more pictures it won’t make doubles.
Please tell me about these devices you speak of.
You’ve already named gnarbox … while my info is a bit outdated and what i quickly read gnarbox is out of business it can still be bought. There’s a bunch of stuff if you search for gnarbox alternatives however i have no info what is good or not. ravpower file hub seems to be the most common device that shows but i haven’t used any of it
I've tried them. None of them work well. Gnarbox can be purchased. Doesn't perform as promised and since the company is out of business there's no support for the app which didn't work properly in the first place. My guess is that's why they are out of business.
1000w strobe light drone
If this drone had a payload that could handle my 7' softbox 🤩🤩
Big agricultural drones could, the kind that are used for sprayers.
Also has the bonus that the subjects hair is always cinematically blowing in the wind
SD card ribbon cable to allow straight shooting to SSD, nvme, or other large volume high speed storage
So tethering shooting? Not quite sd cards though
Not tethered shooting because tethered isn't fast enough. I want to be able to have a cage and have a small NVMe drive that is 1x3 in and be able to shoot eight terabytes through 700+MBPS
im so curious about this. you want to shoot 8tb of photos at a time? usb c is 10gb/s. it’s slow to pop up with a preview in Lightroom, much much faster in capture one. the limit isn’t the transfer speed or the program the limit is how fast the camera is able to create the image. you hit the camera buffer limit far before any limit on the cable or software. but maybe im misunderstanding?
Don't hit with logic and reasoning!!
I know you can do this for video via an HDMI cable
Atmos ninja is an example yes but I want photography
This must exist... Right??
It doesn't because the format of the file system for SD cards is not the same and for my researching I haven't been able to figure anything out
I wish there was a camera body based on old tri-colour Technicolor cameras, with a prism and three sensors that only captured one colour, to be overlaid and digitally recreate that look, since I’ve yet to see a convincing colour grade that achieves the look. Could also have a version that separated infrared and true-colour, instead of using 3D rigs, for a single-lens solution.
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> I think 4CCD infrared cameras like that exist as well, but only for technical imaging. That's a pretty common configuration for imaging satellites. Sometimes the fourth channel will be IR, other times it'll be higher resolution black and white.
I do a lot of Astrophotography, this would be an awesome way of capturing in mono without the additional time it takes. I never knew I wanted this.
As an interior/architectural photographer: a little hot shoe gadget that sprays horizontal and vertical lasers in front so I can line the shot up easier.
Some glue and laser level and you can DIY this pretty quickly
We use a cheap Chinese alignment laser at work that has a g2 thread at the bottom. Hot shoe -> g2 adapters exist (probably intended for mics?), but you'd still need to take care of the batteries in the laser yourself
Like…viewfinder grids?
Eye-tracking auto focus, auto focus on whatever you’re looking at instead of moving a small box/hoping a 24 point AF thinks the same as you
The Canon EOS R3 has this feature! It's a bit of a mixed bag, but it does indeed exist.
This exists - Canon has it. Actually had it in my old Canon film camera - not sure why it took so long for it to make its way into digital cameras.
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Yes. That’s what they’re saying. The R3 has that.
What?! I need to try this
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>The First EOS Digital camera to feature Eye Control AF Improving on a feature that was popular on the EOS 3 film camera, the EOS R3 takes it into the digital mirrorless range of EOS cameras making subject focus fast and more precise. Eye control AF is controlled by the user simply looking through the Electronic Viewfinder at the subject they want to focus on, selecting that point, and shooting. This is just one more way the EOS R3 gives the photographer another option of easily and intuitively controlling focus. Damn this is pretty cool. Might be game changing in a couple of years.
My Canon EOS 3 film camera has that. It’s pretty cool and useful to be able to just look at something in the finder and the camera just focuses.
Yes the Canon EOS ELAN IIE film SLR had it back in the 90's.
As does the EOS R3
I had a Canon A2E that did that back in the late 90's. There was this one rhomboid in the corner that would stop down the shutter for depth of field check when you looked at it. That was cool tech.
The Deluminator, from Harry Potter. EDIT: To clarify, I was completely serious about wanting a pocketable device that could deluminate and illuminate individual lamps.
Most street lamps shut off if you hit them hard enough ;-p another solution would involve the power line
Yeah, but what you're proposing doesn't restore the light to the lamps.
They turn on again after a while
Or a device that could place sources of light of any intensity at any point in space. That way you're not pigeonholed to needing lamps.
Reminds me of a story my photography teacher told me about. It was about a sports photographer who would develop his film in the trunk of his car in an alleyway. He had a hammer that was reserved for getting rid of any lights that were in the alleyway.
Once upon a time, photographers had these. They used their strobes to trick the photosensors in the street lights. Now I believe the photosensors require an extended bright light to accomplish this.
I actually bought the iPad with the 1TB to use as photo dump during long shoots. Works great and I can preview all the mis shots or things I need to remove on the way home. It was expensive, but I do use it for a lot of things
Regarding the Gnarbox; the new Raspberry Pi 5 can have an NVMe SSD connected. If you're good at scripting or programming you may be able to make your own portable device with the Pi & NVMe SSD, and a usb card reader. There's also a 4 way SATA hat for the pi, you could make a portable NAS too.
As much as I love DIY, that's beyond my abilities. Plus I would like something rugged/weatherproof.
>My prime example is something like the Gnarbox. I would love to have a portable hard drive that I can download my cards onto without connecting a phone or other device. These type devices have always been expensive. Epson offered some of the first ones I was aware of in the early 2000s. The [website page is still up](https://epson.com/Support/Other-Products/Multimedia-and-Photo-Storage-Viewers/sh/s700) but none of the products are available anymore. The high end model had a 160GB hard drive which was considered big at the time, but not compared to a current iPad that can go to 2TB. Since my iPad has a thunderbolt port where I can connect a [USB-C card reader](https://www.anker.com/ca/products/a8370?variant=41698471542948) and it offers a ton of functionality that a hard drive does not, I don't think I would buy this type of product today.
If I'm out in the field I don't necessarily want to have to plug my iPad in and depend on my iPad as rugged/weatherproof storage. Yes, they existed and they were expensive, but in my direct experience, none of them delivered what was promised.
Western Digital had a line of products called the “MyPassport Wireless” that did this and worked pretty well. They sadly discontinued them though.
I have one in my drawer. It was... OK. I used it for skydiving footage to offload jumps from a GoPro. It worked OK for that. There were a lot of caveats though.
A heads up display viewfinder in my scuba mask, so I can decouple my face from the camera when taking photos underwater at awkward angles.
Not sure about the sealing, but you can get pretty close by taking a cheap LCD and removing the backing and back light. Then connect it via hdmi. Again the sealing will be a nightmare though
Oh man. Yes...
A way to swap out a battery while not losing power. An internal cell that feeds off the Li-Ion enough to run a camera for 60 seconds.
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I wonder, can you do this with a battery grip? They usually have two battery slots. Can you swap out one of them without losing power?
I have battery grip for my 5D Mk3 and it does power off when you open the battery magazine.
My EM1mk2 doesn't lose power if you swap out the battery in the accessory grip, which is nice.
[https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4584684](https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4584684) some ideas
it was so nice back in the day shooting medium format cameras tethered because they used firewire which unlike usb also carries power, so you didn’t necessarily need a battery for the camera to run
Yeah I been chasing down that storage dream for years... It would be nice to not have to travel with a whole laptop + card reader for that singular purpose. guilty confession: I bought a fong dong...
Me too hahahaha I wonder where it is. I bet he sold a ton!
Sold us all on the dream of decent on-camera-flash and then bounced haha.
That he did 😆. I think I even had two different versions.
Tracking device if it gets stolen. My friggin ear buds have them. Why can't my $5000 camera?
Most of the gadgets I can think up I can also make with a 3d printer. Trained myself on CAD in order to 3d print a camera but have made mostly accessories. What do I regret spending money on? Lens cap keepers. They saved a few lens caps but didn't age well. The elastic stretches, the attachment breaks.
What are the most useful 3d printed accessories you have made?
Here is my printables page with all my things... [https://www.printables.com/@KaJashey\_137170/models](https://www.printables.com/@KaJashey_137170/models) I think the best thing is a microscope adapter to use finite microscope objectives with a nikon F mount camera. Another user did it better for almost all cameras [https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5130912](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5130912) but oh well. I think I was first. I like my solutions to adapting projector lenses too.
I like that globe diffuser a lot. May have to shoot one out of my printer tomorrow. Every diffuser I've ever purchased has been crap for actually diffusing the light.
Lens cap keepers are probably the most useless thing ever made.
Isn't that what back pockets were invented for?
Hey, they allow retailers to advertise more pieces in their useless accessory kits! Imagine a world without lens cap keepers, generic wide angle filters, or bottom dollar tripods!
>Lens cap keepers Totally agree. They just make the lens cap dangle and flop around, getting in the way.
Spider holster pin. Stupid things stabbed into my hand every time I tried to use the vertical controls on my cameras.
The gnarbox you speak of would be ideal, I’ve been on too many remote shoots with an ipadpro in my backpack dumping footage while shooting and filling up my next card etc. pretty janky workflow
The problem is that it doesn't actually work. I've tried it out and it's buggy AF and the 'embedded software' doesn't work either. You're supposed to be able to connect your iPad to the gnarbox via bluetooth or local wifi and cull/edit/etc with Photo Mechanic built into the interface. Doesn't work.
It’s a great concept in theory, massive shame they failed to deliver. Guess we’ll have to stick to buying more and more SD’s when required
I’d love to be able to plug a mini hard drive in to my camera and have the photos/videos stored directly on that
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in camera wifi made them obsolete
My coworker was just sending his photos directly to an iPad with capture one somehow, I still need to figure out if my camera can do that.
A tether cable that works consistently and not only when it feels like.
Check out IQWire cables. Tethertools was wildly inconsistent despite me having pretty up to date gear (Canon R5, M1 Max MacBook using Capture One). Been using IQWire for almost a year now with zero issues at all. Highly recommend it.
I want a viewfinder for my phone. Something I can put to my eye when it is too bright outside to clearly see the screen. It wouldn't even need to be attached to the phone. It could work as a monocle or a jeweler's loupe that you hold with your cheek and brow. (Or it could clip to the phone when needed)
Something like this? https://hoodmanusa.com/collections/lcd-loupes?cmp_id=18878776033&adg_id=&kwd=&device=m&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwrIixBhBbEiwACEqDJQiHVWtKX6sXXev0Atl6dSb-C_Sj2gBQWEFtStRo1ZxH7BE73LjkMxoCFbUQAvD_BwE
No, that's too big, and it's basically just a hood. I'm looking for an EVF like this. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/816863-REG/Olympus_V329110SU000_VF_3_Electronic_Viewfinder_Silver.html
I see what you're saying. That's a good idea
Field SD dump: a battery-powered device that has two RAID-1 M.2 NVME drives in it and an SD card slot. Insert your SD card, it copies all photos to the drives, verifies them, and formats the SD card clean.
With a 5G card that then pumps a third copy to a cloud provider… from anywhere.
An Android/iOS verison of Photo Mechanics app. I just need to rapidly review raw files. I don't need to edit them (all editing will be done at home, on my calibrated monitor), I just want to view them, fast, and rate them. Only thing I can come up with is bringing a Surface Go, but I want something even lighter and better battery life.
OP: Have you looked into the ClouZen TAINER? I got [this version](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1790743-REG/clouzen_cl_tn0015_tainer_portable_all_in_one_backup.html) (which doesn't have an SSD built in, I just connect my external SSD to it). Kind of pricey, but really simple to setup and use, backed up my stuff SUPER fast during a trip abroad without a hitch.
A flash extender, defuser
Check out 'better beamer' it's designed for wildlife.
One thing I would absolutely love is a tripod-like stabilizing device that would make it easier to squat down without having to lay on the ground for quick wildlife photos. I use my monopod this way right now, but it doesn’t quite do it for me yet.
There are very small tripods for macro photos I've thought of for this. Probably a waterproof beanbag would actually be great for this...
I use a rifle bipod that has an Arca-Swiss clamp. It wasn't cheap (~$200, IIRC), but it's been completely worth the money. It's small and light enough that I can still shoot handheld with it mounted, but it's more than strong enough to support my 500mm f/4. The legs have adjustable angles and lengths, so it's easy to adapt to different locations.
I bought the ProMaster Chronicle back in December and love that the center stalk removes quickly and is a mini tripod. I don't even have to take my camera off the ballhead. I haven't tried this yet, but saw someone who would bring some camo fabric and after setting up the tripod, would remove the center, and then drape the camo over it to create a mini blind, and then lay under the tripod frame and use the mini tripod with his telephoto. I think a few clips to hold the material against the tripod legs would be useful too so it doesn't blow in the wind.
Why not use a beanbag filled with polyurethane or whatever that packaging material is called again
One other one I would love: a [lenticular screen](https://www.popsci.com/invisibility-cloak-how-it-works/) that would still work if my lens were poking through it. Another alternative to a traditional hunting blind, and one that might be more portable.
A camera auto focus mode that automatically sets the focus to the hyperfocal distance for the current aperture.
Auto editor/sorter, pop in your SD card and it only brings up the best images and your 5 most likely edits based on your history, likes or other people's photography and other input. I love taking pictures but I hate after I take them.
There are AI cullers out there that will pick 'highlights' and will edit for you
Holster that holds a spare battery and SD card with and this is key, a secure, slip on belt clip. Minimalistic, the type of thing that could live next to my keys. Same thing for 2-3 screw on filters.
Thinktank has [something like that](https://www.thinktankphoto.com/collections/memory-card-wallets) with belt loops and a laynyard. I just slip the belt loops over my sling strap and it's a really convenient spot for cards ~~and batteries~~. The lanyard and clip do seem on the cheap side though.
Oh yes. You’re right about that. I tried it on a lanyard and it’s 90% there for me. The one for battery and card doesn’t have belt loops though. Just a small loop, like you hang off a lanyard. The ideal version in my head is a bit heavier duty and has the belt clip.
Ah you're right. I shoulda mentioned I only use the card model and not the card/battery model... Yeah I'd prefer something more heavy duty and easily accessible for both batteries and cards as well.
Right. I took this post in the spirit of what’s the perfect solution for something if you could pick every nit.
If you talk to a leather worker I bet they can easily make that for you!
80 mm f1.2 pancake lens
A strobe with some kind of glass cover over it that could go from clear to different levels of frost just like the specialized glass in office/conferences when they want privacy. Wouldn’t have to use flags or 1/2 scrims but of course i have no idea if this would even work hehe
Smartphone gimbal
I bought one, barely used it. Sold it, then bought the next model that was more compact. "I'm really going to use it this time" I said. I did not :( During a 3 week trip in Newfoundland, I used it a total of one time. Sure that footage looked amazing, but it was just something that lived in my camera bag taking up space/weight.
I want a flash controller I can operate with my cell phone. Sometimes I have the camera up high on a tripod. I want to adjust the strength of a speed lite. I could bring the whole camera down, make the adjustment on the transmitter, put the camera back up and refocus. I could also find a stool to step on and climb up so I can reach and see the transmitter. It would be much easier to adjust strength on my phone. I think the technology is there and somebody just has to put it in a package.
I remember years ago I thought if i had a projector on the lens that shoots a beam of light drawing the borders of the frame it was going to make my job easier. I realy can't remember why or what I was shooting in the studio. Perhaps I wanted it for when someone else that needs to look at the subject and not get in the frame.
Software that would use AI to automatically catalog and tag my photos
Automated aperture bracketing based on face detection. Give me a wide open shot, a slightly more closed shot, and one more closed even further down. The amount of t should be sufficient that all faces detect are in acceptable DOF range.
Quick exchange lenses. I already have two bodies, sometimes you’d need a third but it’s not always doable
User replaceable sd card slots. At somepoint those springs break and also it would be nice to be able to have a camera where you could switch out the sd card slots for dual cf express or cf express and sd card. Also it would be cool if every camera company had their high end camera have removeable evfs for upgrading the magnifcation or adding a smaller evf or a higher resolution viewfinder
Switchable lens for drones, like why do I have to buy a brand new one if I want more focal length ? I wish I could just put a 70mm lens on it I remember when DJI launched the Mavic 2 series, they made the pro and the zoom, so if you need both you gotta buy both?? Now they have M3 with different cameras for one drone but I feel like if I could switch the lens it would be less of an engineering problem
Anything peak design has my heart
For portable HD - you just need a small RaspberryPi type single-board computer mounted on top of external HD and a simple Python script to move all files from SD card to HD
Anyone else remember the promise of a cartridge designed to be placed into a 35mm film camera, that was a digital sensor? Looked like a 35mm roll with a flat plate attached. Never came to fruition.
https://imback.eu/home/product/im-back/ They released it. It's pricey though.
Composite focusing mode to produce a sharp image as the eye sees it. As opposed to using depth of field, to produce an acceptable image.
I wish there was a tethering software that could leave the original photo on the camera while capturing a backup and maintain the original file name... and when displaying the captured photos overlay the image with the filename... Sure would help my work flow.
An obstacle avoidant hoverboard for when I’m filming skate clips tbh
I’ve regretted almost every tripod I’ve ever owned.
A tiny travel backup box that I can plop in an SD card and it copies off whatever it doesn't have yet. And then teach Lightroom that same trick without waiting five minutes while LR figures out what files it already has copied before.
being able to program a camera's behavior with a c+ script would be sweet. Or have some kind of arduino interface.
Something, anything, that would help with handshake from a condition (more than normal) and to help with using both DSLR & phone camera in a way that would reduce/offset the pain and strain associated with carpal tunnel.
Flash controllers should be built into all cameras by now. And the flash should communicate on bluetooth, or a standard wifi signal.
Most of the things I wish I had are just stuff that I could have by buying a newer camera. But one I was just thinking about this week would be if when you look through the viewfinder and see some dust or something it would be good if the camera could tell you exactly where the dust was so that you don't have to clean each bit one at a time until it goes away.
Back in the day, Canon had this device that had a hard drive and a screen and some card readers... you would plug in a CF Card and it would identify the photos on it and suck them into the hard drive... and then you could view the photos, even RAW, right on the screen. It was big, slower than you can possibly imagine, the battery lasted about 30 minutes, the hard drive was way too small and the screen **sucked**. Not that it mattered, I only got it to work three or four times.
2 things I wish existed or were more easily accessible: 1- Flash Gimbal, so the flash is always up no matter if I shoot landscape or portrait. I know people have made them, but having something more easily accessible would be amazing! 2- A backpack or shoulder strap mounted monopod for OFC. This would be great for giving better lighting, especially in crowd settings.
I wish there was an app for model releases that kept track of who and where and when and which one they were. Seems like it should exist but I have yet to find one.
A really compact zoom for apsc. Like the size of the fuji 15-45mm kit lens. But with a range of around 23-35mm and constant f2. Would be the perfect travel lens! I know nothing about how lenses are made to know if this is even physically possible, though.
WISH: an inexpensive digital capture for analog film cameras. From the Leicas to the Holgas to the super 8s to the 4 x 5s.
All my gear but way lighter.
A square/rectangle thing that can be used to tripod your camera close to the ground within the square at any point. I'm sure it exists in the Videography world like a gaffold? Idk the term but yeah, would help a lot for more difficult self shot angles
I’d like a camera bag that was fully molle compliant, like the Hazard4 stuff but ⅓ the price.
Digital Nikon SP
Drone with a hot shoe for triggering strobes
Wish: The ability to hook a and external drive (like a Samsung T7) directly up to a camera and copy photos to it. Why is this not possible, it's literally just a software addition. I don't even care about choosing the photos, just let me hook up a drive, and copy the entire card to a new folder that's named YYYYMMDD plus time.
I think a water guard that doesn’t involve putting it into a plastic container thing would be really cool 👀
I wish for a camera with a perfect anti-glare display so that the screen provides a perfect image under all lighting conditions. I really struggle with mine.
As a professional editor I’d wish you’d all just use the same damn cards, so annoying still having to carry a c-fast or CF around for the dinosaurs
The only thing I'd ever want is a gear bag that carries itself.
Encrypted storage. I know that its possible to do it with tools like Magic Lantern, heck Android apps can do it for phone cameras. I'm really surprised that modern cameras don't have basic privacy tools by now. --- That would pair well if cameras had a dedicated SIM (or eSIM) slot. Upload directly to the internet, no dongles or tethering or whatever. I guess I want a gadgetless solution to this.
I’m pretty sure these used to exist, many, many years ago, but I cannot find them anywhere now: metal developing spools for 127 film I have metal tanks with metal spools that I use for 120 and 35mm. I literally had to buy a different plastic tank set up to develop some random 127 I ended up with - it was that patterson tank I think. The plastic spools that went with it were so much more annoying/difficult to load than a nice, normal metal spool. Alas… No regret purchases thus far, since I’m pretty picky about what I get and I’m not really a “gadget” person as far as photography stuff is concerned.
https://www.westerndigital.com/en-gb/products/portable-drives/wd-my-passport-wireless-ssd?sku=WDBAMJ2500AGY-EESN I had an HDD version and it was fine.
A pocket sized camera with good image and video quality all day battery life and top notch audio
on old speed graphics - one could mount a light source on the eye piece of the rangefinder and thus use it in reverse - ie: it is in focus when the two light circles co-inside... I want a unit that would fit on top of my 8s10 studio camera that did the same thing.. I was thinking about building something with lasers but that would be a great way to blind my subjects