GIZMOLOGY
Heres where the rubber meets the road. For years maybe half a century I have been building gadgets that do the job of the most expensive toys out there a lot cheaper sometimes for a nickel on the dollar. It is how I got the nickname the "Gadget Meister".
Other than digital, few things have changed in the lighting end of the game. For those of you who think things are new in this industry and you need the later and greatest, you do have a lot to learn... knowing light and it's manipulation is Photography. Buying every new gadget out there is not. For some it's called a Bankruptcy.
Few things change. Especially when you see all the gizmos and gadgets made or recently praised as inventions. For better than forty maybe closer to fifty years, I have been building these things "invented just yesterday".
DIRECT FROM ACE HARDWARE TO YOU
A: Perfection bracket with the Stroboframe STAS General Purpose shoes and a simple umbrella holder.
B: WEIN slaves that were doing nothing important at the time and I decided I wanted a trigger for flashes I have adapted with a 1/8 audio monaural port.
Thats an RCA jack on the box for quick changes to the cables like 1/4, 5.5, 3.5 sizes and types. It also has prevented the loss of that peanut trigger reportedly missing in action no less than forty times last year.
C: The Gizmo Stud and smaller parts are all from the collection available at any ACE hardware store, thats where I get them. A tremendous array of gizmos may be built from simple parts.
D: This is a variable ratio module made for the 283-285 Vivitar which replaces the front module, you plug it in and you have a true variable ratio light. But the effort to build it is not worth it for some because the camera can do the same thing.
NEW! The GIZMO-STAND
Through the new tech standards in Gizmology, we have been able to offer the new Light Stand adapter for Black Boxes and Tuxedos. One part, one rivet, one clamp and two backing plates complete the project.
It is light weight, simplistically elegant, on the positive side. In addition, it adheres to the politically correct transparency financial encumbrance regulations, not requiring a stimulus package.
We think of it as simple, ingenious, remarkable, available and most important cheap!
Most others offer these light stand adapters for forty dollars. He-he.... but the frugal
Gadgetmeister doesn't work that way.
GIZMOLOGY
We called our associate and good friend Beau at the CLIP.com and looked to see what's in the bins. He had lollipop clips, Beau came through, lo and behold the epiphany of light stand adapters appeared and with nothing more than a 1/8 inch hole, a rivet and some backing plates we now have a simple holder that clamps to all stands high or low and did I tell you it's CHEAP!
OK... low-cost, fiscal correctness, fiducially within the parameters of true neo-fiduciary enthusiasts. It's also smart and it sets to break away and save the stud on the Black Box when needed. I can refit anyone that breaks, just call me and if you have a pop rivet gun you are in business.
As soon as we firm up pricing, for now they are eight dollars each. We will offer these cheaply to you so that you too make "hang your gear". This fits all Black boxes with rear tabs and almost anything else we can adapt for you. Another low cost accessory from the Gadget Meister and the CLIP.com.
(GIZMOLOGY ESSENTIALS)
The first item you'll need are half inch clamps used for mounting plumbing or conduit (electrical) on ceilings and walls. That's the key. See the picture. 1/2" inch fits the top section of most light stands. They will vary slightly in design. 3/4" will do bottom mounts nicely.
They are adjustable and also called 1/2 inch EMT or 3/4 HW, clamps. These are commonly also used head to head for a background stand which is another project. They have a 1/4 inch hole at the top looking at it as displayed.
ELECTRICAL TAPE OR SHRINK TUBING
Next take electrical tape or shrink tube to wrap the cable clamp to prevent scratches, I used shrink tube 3/4 inch (about) four dollars at a good electronics or shop or Mouser. One stick which is four feet makes most of these projects. I used the shrink instead of the tape since it's neater and no goo.
SCREWS NUTS AND BOLTS
All the nuts and bolts are 1/4 x 20 stainless, alloy or steel plated. USE one size for all , common sense. Aficionados can use stainless as I do, since I never know where folks will use these things. And for those who suffer from Cranial-Rectal Dyslexia, you can use Shrink tube material to make the Extender and the Flat Mend Plate "Black". Black nail polish looks good too, steal it from your daughter, black is out, green is in now.
I use Socket Heads preferred because few crooks carry Allen wrenches. 1/4 x 20 is the most common size used in Photography used with locking washers which prevent slipping, these are called "Star washers". Stainless or Nickel, doesn't really matter. Also, purchase either Locktite Blue or Clear Fingernail Polish.After you assemble, place some nail polish on the threads and it will lock them in place.
EXTENDERS
Extenders, also they are called couplers. They come two to a pack for .89 cents and very useful. They are used to connect 1/4 x 20 inch threaded rods for creating long lengths.
These 1/4 x 20 Threaded Rod Extenders are also called a "coupling nut". They add the space needed at the joints to allow a myriad of possible combinations and various devices to be used. HINT: They are also used on the backdrop clamps and other gizmos that will be published here as soon as I get it done. If you see a bulk pack with a 1/2 dozen get it. we'll be using these things a lot.
FLAT OR RIGHT ANGLE MEND PLATES
Flat/ or Angle Mend Plates come in all sizes and Straight or angle, lots of options. Flat Plate or long rectangle allows the Pocket Wizard to Swivel or Rotate by offsetting the thumb screws.
The 90 degree angle iron shown allows even more variation on position with many of these projects. The beauty of this system is like working with Lego's. Don't like what you made, take it apart and redo it for another project or simply make it better. There is no waste in anything the Gadgetmeister does.
PERFECTION BRACKETS
PLUMBING DEPARTMENT - ANTI - TWIST FEATURE ON PERFECTION BRACKETS
Rubber Washers: I found these in the toilet repair bins in the plumbing department. They measure 1/4 inch Hole with 1 inch diameter approx 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick. Made by Danco. They are used as a seat between the stud in the floor and the nut that secures the toilet in place. They come four to a pack and I usually buy 200 at a time. For you, get a couple packs they are great anti-skids on anything photographic like flash brackets or light stands.
THUMBSCREWS
I use so many thumbscrews I make my own with an arbor press and thus I can make them in all sizes and either metric or SAE coarse or fine threads.
Since I use the press also for setting both aircraft rivets for aviation GIZMOS and leather rivets for holsters and sheaths, that little 100 dollar press earns it's keep. If you cannot find these thumbscrews, just contact me. Size: 1/2 inch long black or red doesn't matter. I stock the Black.
LIGHT STANDS INTO BACKDROPS
You can take four of these as shown below and connect them in pairs with a 1/2 inch screw and a locking (nylon insert) nut and use enough tension to hold in place. Turn the hangers 90 degrees and add two light stands and a piece of metal conduit. Voila, those old lightstands became a backdrop. I made a sleeve so the 9 foot conduit breaks down in half for travel. Stiff PVC can be made even easier.
MOR-ON GIZMOS - THE BASIC CLAMP GIZMOS
Basic clamp Gizmos are conduit clamps available at ACE HARDWARE. I use ACE because the quality of their products is superior to the low end import garbage I am finding at Home Depot.
I built the first usable Gizmo to hold Pocket Wizards from off the shelf spares and overages from my parts bins. Just a bunch of stuff leftover from various plumbing, oddball projects and fall-offs.
What's a fall-off? A fall-off is something that fell off your workbench and you found it after the job was complete, you were sweeping up and it was in the pile and you retrieved it. That's a fall-off.
POCKET WIZARDS
In the photo below you can see the GIZWIZ supporting the PLUS II. It secures with wing nuts, it is nonslip because of the shrink tubing and fully adjustable for angle and distance from the stem. It rotates 360 degrees in all axis's.
It is solid, period. No rubber duckies were used here and no Pocket Wizards hit the floor, nor were the damaged in any way. In the top picture I used a hollow plastic rod, for extension as it had to clear a certain other fixture on a customers lightstand.
COUPLERS
On mine I used one of the couplers to clear. Also the cable clamps are available in 1/2 inch for top mount and 3/4 for larger or lower on the light stand. These are the 3/4 size.
This is not a molding, with a rubber band or elastic string. This is nuts and bolts baby!
And if you use inserted lock nuts, few things will vanish at weddings. Most thieves don't expect to carry a 7/16 wrench.
A real fixture that can take some punishment and completely assembled from parts found at your local hardware store.. And it's about two and a half to three dollars for each one.
Also the same components are used in all the projects. Don't like something, rebuild it into something else. I used a right angle bracket (shown above) for even more offset clearance for my soft-box. So the receiver is not blanketed by the box itself.
THE GIZFOOT
Sometimes I have to mount a flash in an offset or odd position or add a repeater or almost any accessory that has a foot on it. So I took an ordinary shoe from B&H, got the drill out countersunk it to accept the screw as shown, backed it with a lock nut and used the same basic parts as the GIZWIZ.
That's why I keep saying GIZMOS work and you save money because you build what you need. I also said get more of each component than you need.
I even have a crash kit with all kinds of gizmos for location. As I built things I got more ideas. When we make a tent for shooting small parts etc. the flashes are held in place using a similar setup.
THE GIZCLAMP:
The GIZclamp came about as I was doing some tabletop and needed fast background changes for jewelry. It's nothing more than the GIZ light stand clamp with an extension (Coupler) two screws, couple washers and a "Bankers Clip".
I found an assortment of colored paper closeouts at an art supply store and for the small objects I photograph background changes take almost three seconds, time is money in small product photography especially jewelry because of the time spent on Photoshop cleaning up things. I place it next to the table and let the fold go horizontal as seen in the photo.
THE GIZSLAVE
Here is a small project you can have fun with.
If you have modified your VIVITARS to 1/8 sockets and removed their miserable proprietary pin plug, here is an inexpensive alternative for a light slave trigger.
"THE SHACK"
I used an inexpensive box from the shack and added an RCA jack, I have hundreds from the cable upgrade and an "H" model WEIN light slave.
The jack allows different ends, for different strobes, the GIZMO allows mounting on a stand or tripod. And one other feature very important to me. I have lost this "H" light slave three times and found it in my shop vacuum, behind my work bench and buried in a camera bag. It's a lot harder to lose now and works on a variety of strobes by changing cords.
DIFFUSER GIZMOS Under $1.00
To me a hardware store is like a candy shop. I get ideas and inspirations just walking the aisles. With my innate and restless brain going at 100 miles ann hour, the projects just seem to come alive. With that said I present to you GIZMOS and proclaim myself the "The Wizard of GizMO". No secret rings, no hobbits, nor fire dragons, just a nuts and bolt approach to things someone else wanted you to spend a lot of money on.
DIFFUSERS: POOR MAN'S FLASH CARD
Most of the name brand flash manufacturers are supplying some form of diffusion with their 300-400 dollar flash purchases. Some are the original Sto-Fens and some are merely knock-offs of Sto-Fens.
This is called a bounce card diffuser, and is just a sample of the 4000 plus add on lighting diffusion, shadow killing, red-eye elimination wallet grubbing, plastic, "save me arse" add-ons that we cannot live without.
Flash units simply are an electrical dispersion producing light. The problem is the light is sharp and specula. think crisp. High guide numbers are achieved for sales purposes with this specula light but it is not flattering to people. We take this narrow light and either diffuse it in a huge softbox, or try to bounce it off a 30 foot ceiling. Usually the latter results in a disaster.
So the obvious and simple answer is bouncing light. Too much bounce and we get a bunch of soft shots that are too equal all over and we lose the modeling effect. This works fine
NEW! Professional Flash Diffuser Under $10.00
We knew in advance the $1.00 flash diffuser might not be sophisticated enough for some of our folks so we came out with the professional model, THE PRO. "PRO" sells, always does.
Rangefinder did a test of five of these various styles including the Fabric, Tupperware, and Plastic and concluded they all did about the same, no real gain of one over the other.
It's so Frickin simple I laugh when I see the guys buying a fifty dollar (cost two bucks) gadget that can do the same thing. Bounce is bounce and you don't need all that gadgetry confusing your settings.
Screw the reflector, If it's white, it's right, Yellow makes it warm and mellow. But attaching these things is a pain in the butt. We designed a new axle, wheels are still round!
PLEASE NOTE:
We don't sell the part needed. It is called the Bantam Belt Clip. We do, however, work very closely with theCLIP.com on a lot of products and designs I fiddle with.
I use them simply because they are the best ones out there, the others being knock-offs.
We like to support our vendors out there just as I also support my customers. I need both.
Using a different kind of tab and clip available from the folks who make my Black Box clips, we adapted the clean one shot locks in place unit as shown below.
Slick clean and reasonable, adaptable and CHEAP. Push button on and off. Still allows use of the other modifiers like a Sto-Fen.
Bantam Belt Clip Features:
High-strength polymer composition, Self-lubricating, ratcheting design allows device to swivel for comfort, Sturdy belt clip retainer on back for security, Compact design, Versatile, Absolutely 100% plastic. NO metal, NO interference, NO corrosion.
Check with http://www.theCLIP.com but I believe this item ships with one Bantam Belt Clip, two round bantam tabs and two round 3M VHB adhesives $7.99 plus shipping, discounts for volume and they have ten different styles and types for a multitude of function and creativity and they do ship overseas for minimum costs. I have other styles that we can use.
GIZMO-STANDS FOR WEDDINGS and EVENTS
This is a series of usable projects all based on simple parts you will find at almost any ACE HARDWARE store. "No tools, nor fingers were harmed in the making of these projects" and to the best of our ability we feel "Even a Caveman can do it!" The new GIZMO-STAND and QUIZMO allow the BLACK BOX and the TUXEDO to be mounted on lightstands easily and safely.
THE MONOPOLY
