Mobile Magazine » mods

Nikon SB-600 Flash AC/DC power modification

Fabrizio Pilato — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:49:36 +0000

Doing product photography without a dedicated set of strobes is a bit restrictive. Using a flash like the Nikon SB-600 can do wonders, especially with a remote setup and a soft box. I thought it was a bit of a waste to use up all these batteries while in the studio and shooting with ample access to power sockets, with that in mind I decided to do something a bit risky and possibly crazy. I don’t know how long the flash will last now that I have done this modification, if the internal capacitors will overload and explode, or they’ll just keep running as usual, your guess is as good as mine. I’m no electronics expert either, so this was completely done at my own risk and will void all warranties. I do not recommend you do this, you could be seriously injured, so with that in mind, this information comes with no warranty and is strictly a documentation of my findings. I will not accept any liability for damages as a result of this information.

I luckily had a variable output power adapter kicking around, this can be set in the ranges of 1.5V to 12V @ 500mAh with multiple steps in between. Considering the Nikon SB-600 runs on four 1.5V AA (6V total) batteries at varying mAh’s, I thought this AC adapter was a good fit.

On the bottom side of the SB-600 where the hot shoe adapter is are four screws. I started by taking these out. Once the screws are removed the entire plate attached to the hotshoe will pop off. You will see a circuit board and a sheet of copper attached to a plastic film, this is rigid plastic and acts as a ground. The black cable attached to the copper is quite fragile and I actually broke it off twice meddling around with things, so making sure this is always connected is a good thing. I cut away some of the plastic since it covers the positive and negative solder points where I soldered the positive and negative wires from my power adapter to. It was much easier than I suspected, so easy I was expecting some explosion once I plugged it in. I broke the small tab of plastic off from the top of the battery door cover, this allowed the newly soldered cable to neatly come out of the flash. I suppose I should have soldered an actual power socket where I can plug the power adapter to for easy disconnect, but I didn’t have any on hand. This would be a great future add-on.

I ran tests on the voltage when the batteries were installed and the flash was off, when the flash was in a “ready” state waiting to be triggered, and when it was discharged. The most amount of power, possibly due to the battery type, was 4.8V, when discharged it drops to 0V and loads back up. Knowing this, I plugged the power adapter in with the newly soldered connection to the SB-600 at the lowest setting, 1.5V. I slowly worked my way up, finding 4.5V to be the most efficient with the least amount of humming, but 6V being the fastest with a moderate amount of hum. The higher the voltage, the quicker the refresh. You can fire off multiple flashes in sequence, up to 10 in a row until the flash capacitors need to refresh itself. When you leave it idle it goes into standby as usual. It works with the batteries too, but you still have a power adapter hanging off, again, a disconnect connection would be ideal.

There’s not much more too it, I’m sure other flashes would work in a similar fashion, but perhaps the positive/negative terminals may not be as easily accessible as the Nikon SB-600 was. I would have tested with a cheap garage sale flash, but I just went all in on this one. Now I have a studio strobe made from a Nikon SB-600. Should it ever explode or fail I will update this posting with details and possibly photos.

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XBox 360 re-invented as a 17-inch laptop

Fabrizio Pilato — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:45:18 +0000

What the heck is this you ask? It’s a handmade Xbox 360 laptop using a 17-inch Gateway LCD. It’s not going to win any design awards, nor any special mention for being “slim,” but this thing is sure going to be a favorite for a hardcore Xbox 360 gamer. If you’re used to lugging it around and would like a streamlined 720p gaming experience wherever you go, this mod may be something for you. If you’re too lazy to make it yourself, you can win one courtesy of the Ben Heck Show or buy one of the three being made. It’s got Wi-Fi, plenty of vents, and lots of SATA harddrives.

SOURCE: Ben Heck

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MacBook Air project meshes components into a mini portable-computer

Fabrizio Pilato — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:03:33 +0000

What does it take to get someone’s creativity going these days? Not much. A free busted up MacBook Air did it for Bart, a guy behind The MacBook Air Project. He’s been taking the guts of a MacBook Air, and integrating them into Apple’s wireless keyboard. The entire package should be a bit thicker than the original Apple Wireless Keyboard, with a few noticeable changes – wires coming out of it.

The project seems to have morphed from the full-sized Apple Wireless Keyboard with numeric keypad, to a combination of the Apple Wireless Keyboard and the Magic Trackpad. Bart is dremelling up a clear polycarbonate casing to make the DVI, USB and MagSafe port accessible from the rear. Perhaps Apple will be stealing some of these ideas for the next iteration of the Mac Mini?

Check out his blog for more pics and to follow the progress.

MacBook Air Project [Blogspot]
The MacBook Air Project Is The Ultimate Apple All-In-One Computer [TechCrunch]

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Guy makes iPhone into a DSLR, but why

Bob Bounila — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:32:29 +0000

A Canon DSLR lens mounted on a solid piece of anodized billet aluminum weighing 1.1lbs

It must be a “mine is bigger than yours” thing, because this iPhone DSLR mount prototype is just way out to left field. Anyone with any photographic sense knows that the quality of glass you shoot with is tres-importante. But adding a lens on top of a lens seems on top of an iPhone is like a sick act of desperation, perhaps some type of shooters withdrawl? There is no internal mirror system on the iPhone, which is why DSLRs have such high quality. The iPhone 4 now has a 5MP sensor, and megapixels aren’t all that matters, it’s the quality and size of the sensor your glass is projecting the image onto.

This prototype seems like a good act of engineering exploration, to balance a DSLR lens on your iPhone can’t be an easy feat. And I would be surprised if any of the images actually turned out.

[Gizmodo via Guy making DSLR iPhone website]

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USB typewriter brings a bit of nostalgia to the iPad

Fabrizio Pilato — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:38:30 +0000

USB Typewriter hooked up to the iPad

The ClamCase was a pretty realistic concept that is basically what we would expect of a product that aims to destroy the iPads true purpose and innovation. Dragging it back in to the notebook or netbook segment, it still got alot of attention, but I don’t think it will turn as many heads as the Jack Zylkin USB typewriter mod will. They sell for anywhere from $400 to $500, hook up to your iPad, and gives you that little bit of nostalgia that you were missing. If you have your own antique typewriter kicking around, Zylkin will digitize it for $200. Of course, for $75 to $150 you can get a kit of your own and give it a whack.

You will without a doubt have some work to do if you buy the kit.

Just in case you thought this was a joke, here’s the video.

[Gizmodo via Technabob]

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