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Photographer Finds $1,400 Lens for $7 at Thrift Store

One extremely lucky photographer recently experienced the find of a lifetime at his local Goodwill thrift store. While looking through the home entertainment section, he was shocked to find a $1,399 professional camera lens priced at just $6.99.

Anything Can Be a Light Modifier for Portraits with a Little Creativity

Light shaping tools are very expensive. What if you could take any object and turn it into a modifier? That would save you a lot of money as well as give some unique results. In this article, I will share some everyday objects that you can turn into light modifiers to get different looks.

How to Make a DIY Softbox for Free

Almost anything can be used as a light modifier. As long as it interacts with light in one way or another, it can be considered a light modifier. In this article, I will show you how to build a do-it-yourself (DIY) softbox with things you likely already have around at home.

Teen Finds Entire Leica M Camera Kit at Church Sale for $15

According to his Facebook profile, 16-year-old Tyler B. of Detroit, Michigan is into BMX, snowboarding and tennis. Soon, he may be into photography also. And who wouldn't be, after scoring a complete Leica M outfit, that is considered a dream camera rig, for just $15?

How to Make a Digital Polaroid Camera for Cheap Thermal Instant Photos

In this article, I'm going to tell you the story of my latest camera creation: a digital Polaroid camera that combines a receipt printer with a Raspberry Pi. To build it I took an old Polaroid Minute Maker camera, stripped out its guts, and replaced the innards with a digital camera, an E Ink display, a receipt printer, and an SNES controller to operate the camera.

Build Yourself a Rudimentary, Hand-Cranked Star Tracker for $30

Star trackers are important for capturing long exposures of star formations by slowly moving to compensate for the rotation of the Earth. Most modern star trackers use motors to do this, but in this 22.5-minute video, photographer Nico Carver shows how he built a hang-crank version for just $30.

Nikon D850 Price Cut by $500, Now Cheaper than Its Ever Been

If you're in the market for a full-frame DSLR, listen up, because one of the best cameras on the market is now cheaper than ever. The Nikon D850—once dubbed "the pinnacle of DSLR technology" by DPReview—just received a $500 price cut, making it more affordable than it's ever been since it was released in 2017.

How to Make a DIY Camera Timer for About $60

A must-have tool when shooting a number of photography genres, including the night sky, is a remote release trigger for your camera. Triggers range from very simple cable releases over phone apps that connect to your camera’s Wi-Fi to very specialized intervalometers. I wanted to build something even better...

This Cheap Projector Lens Creates the Most Intense Swirly Bokeh

Photographer, YouTuber, and weird lens connoisseur Mathieu Stern recently made one of his coolest finds yet. It's the Carl Zeiss 105mm f/1.9 Kipronar T, a cinema projector lens he describes as "one of the most amazing swirly bokeh lenses I ever tested"... and yet it only cost him $25.

How to Build a Giant Soft Box on the Cheap

Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut of the Hurlbut Academy recently shared a great DIY tutorial in which he shows you how to build a giant soft box using just some foam core and a few lengths of 1x3-inch wood. The result allows you to create a large, soft light source without breaking the bank.

Testing Out the Cheapest 35mm Film Scanner on Amazon

Photographer and YouTuber George Muncey of Negative Feedback recently set out on an ill-fated adventure in film scanning. He went out and bought the cheapest 35mm film scanner he could find online—the DIGITNOW! 135, which costs a whopping $60 on Amazon—and tried it out so that you don't have to.

Canon to Release Sub-$999 Full-Frame EOS R Camera in 2021: Report

Over the past couple of years, the barrier to entry for full-frame has dropped significantly—starting with the $1,300 Canon EOS RP, and followed by the almost-as-cheap $1,400 Nikon Z5. But it seems Canon may be planning to release an even cheaper EOS R camera in 2021.

How I Shoot High-End Portraits with Low-End Budgets

Over my past 7 years as a professional photographer, I have received many questions from startups and amateurs who are worried about the considerable investment they thought they had to make on cutting-edge equipment. Luckily, I am able to suggest more affordable alternatives while keeping quality as high as possible.

How to Build a Wall-Mounted Battery Charging Station on the Cheap

Photographer and YouTuber Duncan Dimanche has posted a quick tutorial that'll show you how to create your own DIY wall charging station on the cheap. Depending on your needs this setup can cost as little as $60, and the results look almost as good and functional as some of the more serious builds we've featured.

How to Create a Basic Home YouTube Studio for Less Than $100

If you've been thinking of trying your hand at vlogging or starting a YouTube channel, it might surprise you to learn that you can create a nice-looking "YouTube Studio" setup at home for less that $100. In this video, Boston-based videographer Kellan Reck takes you step-by-step through the whole process.

Tokina Unveils New 11-20mm f/2.8 Zoom Lens for Crop Sensor DSLRs

As promised back in March, Tokina has just the ATX-i 11-20mm f/2.8 CF: an ultra-wide angle zoom lens for crop-sensor DSLRs from Nikon and Canon. With a fixed f/2.8 aperture and affordable price tag, it should prove to be a very popular option for APS-C users.

NiSi Unveils Its First Macro Focusing Rail for Precise Focus Stacking

Cinema lens and filter maker NiSi continues its expansion into strange product categories. This time, the company has released its first macro focusing rail: a competitively-priced addition to the market that gives macro enthusiasts a lot of control and some nice-to-have features for precise focus stacking.

Lexar Unveils Ultra-Portable CFExpress Card Reader for Just $50

Being an early adopter of any technology usually comes with a hefty price tag, and CFExpress is no exception. The cards themselves are up to 3x to 6x more expensive than comparable SD cards, and the card readers out there can get pretty pricey on the high end. Enter Lexar.