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From the mid
1950's onward, I've been a fan of cool technology. The following
source links will lead you to items worthy of owning, items I've
personally experienced and have been impressed by. If I can tell you
a special use, a hack or bend, I'll note that too. So here's some
really cool stuff!
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Nauticraft Escapade Pedal
Boat
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I added a
lighting system and depth gauge to my Escapade, but it's a fantastic
watercraft right outta the box! It gets my Mega Cool rating. Nauticraft
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Laser Pod
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Custom-Cut
Glass Lenses
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I've been working with
electro-lumia (light shows) for 40-plus years. As far as
bang-for-bucks, in the world of swirly laser-like diffusion, the
Laser Pods are really neat! With a little hacking (make your
own battery box) your camping tent is rave-ready. A set of nice
diffusers is available. I cut a few more from wavy glass (photo).
Laser Pod
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The PCE-FWS 20 meteorological
station
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I'm a big fan of
weather watching. Check-out this weather station with a
touch-sensitive screen (more soon) PCE-FWS Meteorological
Station USA/UK: industrial-needs.com Spain:
www.pce-iberica.es
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Kaossillator
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If you're into
experimental music and want a fun toy, try-out the kaosillator. I
repainted mine and added some vintage glass. Here's more Korg's
Kaossilator
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Honda Ruckus
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This is one cool
scooter! See more in my Gallery and at Honda
Powersports
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Master Replicas Light
Saber
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No, I'm not a
Super-Trekkie. But I know a good lightsaber when I see one! Neat
sound effects, nice LED lighting, metal grips, and great for special
effects photography, too! With careful work, body-contacts can be
added to the electronics to change the pitch of the
various sound-effects. Force-FX
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Buddha Box
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These chant loop players are becoming better-known, and
lots of versions are appearing on the marketplace. For circuit-benders,
they're great: find the resistor controlling speed and replace it
with body-contacts, a 5 Meg pot or photo cell. Here's a
favorite
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Star Laser
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Here's another
really neat light effect. Using diffraction grating and a powerful
green laser, this projector fills a ceiling with wandering green
stars and a wispy, ever-changing blue nebula. My favorite use is to
set the projector outside aimed into tree branches at night.
The green laser looks really bright on the leaves, and the 3-D effect
is amazing since the trees are illuminated from top-to-bottom.
Available at ThinkGeek
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Canon 5D
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Having to switch from
Nikon to Canon was upsetting to me - I'd been a Nikon "system"
photographer for 40 years. Digital changed all that! I found that the
Nikons competing with the Cannon 5D were incapable of long time exposures
- magenta vignetting resulted as I tried to photograph the northern
lights! I was told that the Nikons use a Sony imager that "overheats"
during long exposures. I work with the time exposure a lot, and,
thusly, Nikon was eliminated from my pro gear. The Canon 5D, backed
by Canon's fine lens line-up, is now standard equipment. Here I am
with the 5D, the 100mm macro lens with tubes and dual-head macro
flash. Great system! Canon USA
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Canon Vixia HF S10
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I started shooting
movies in the early 1960s - then it was 8mm movie film and you got
about 3.5 min of grainy, off-exposure flickering from your 25-ft
hand-threaded reel of film. Next, Super 8, in a cartridge. Finally,
video tape, in the form of VHS-based, shoulder-balanced cameras,
huge and heavy, began to obsolete film. Downsizing the idea, 8mm
video became hip, followed shortly by 8mm Hi-Band, a higher
res system recording to a yet smaller tape and camera. But all
these systems (including the nice 16mm film cameras I used for
college projects in the 1970s) have the same failing point, to a
greater or lesser degree: tape or film, that fragile, tangly, jam-up
material stressing the drive systems dragging it through the cameras.
No more! Video direct to memory is a real step forward in the
evolution of photography. After so many imager failures from the Sony
camp (stuck pixels, poor contrast, exposure, and worse), I again
looked to Canon. The Canon Vixia HF S10, a full HD (1920 x 1080)
camcorder (and 8MP still camera) is a real winner, IMO, and has
become the heart of my video work (adding the Canon DM 100 stereo
shotgun mike, OPTIKA fish eye lens, OPTIKA X-Grip and two Sima
SL-20LX 36-LED video lights completes things). Canon
USA
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