Saturday, February 05, 2005

Wide Angle Lens and Chinese Lanterns

The past few days I've acquired some useful items.

I ordered a Kenko .5X Wide Angle Lens w/37mm threads to fit the GS-70 camera from eEnid for a mind-numbing amount of $25.60, including postage! Their service is excellent; I ordered it online on a Saturday with my debit card, and received it from Arizona on Wednesday! Plus, they sent emails confirming receipt of the order and progress on their shipping. Great job, guys!


Kenko Wide Angle Lens


Thursday Ant and me went to the studio to test shoot with it. What a difference it makes! I think most video cameras have an unavoidable built-in "zoom" effect, that slightly magnifies what the eye would see...with the wide angle lens, you can stand in a doorway and shoot into a room, and see the walls on both sides, just like your eye sees. The only drawback is a slight "fish-eye" effect, where straight verticle lines curve a bit near the edges of the frame. It's hardly noticable, unless you look for it.

Also, yesterday I bought a pair of 18" chinese lanterns from Ikea (which, despite the fact that I HATE superstores, DOES have the widest selection and best prices on most items). Chinese lanterns are a great source for diffused light, and does a good job filling in shadows.


China Ball


You simply throw a powerful bulb in the lamp and stand by with a fire extinguisher in case it overheats and bursts into flames (Note to self: delete this paragraph if I accidently burn down the studio!) All told, I spent $16.81 on TWO 18" lamps, 15' cords, and two 150 watt light bulbs. They seem to work fine, and as long as I keep the bulb from touching the paper, the chances of a major conflagration is probably minimal.

Oh, and the Germans had NOTHING to worry about when using Hydrogen for their airships!

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