More fun with Kaleidoscopes

[sidd finch]

My little Kaleidoscope adventure inspired me to try to make a DIY kaleidoscope to attach to my camera. I used my trusty cardboard and tape to make a reflecting prism. After I duct taped it to my camera, I went out and then got some shots of some of the flowers blooming. I thought some of the shots would make good screensavers for my computer.



Sidd

[TreeTopsRanch]

Odd, that one crashed my video driver.

[momoffduty]

DIY creative award for April 2016 goes to.........drum roll.....Sidd Finch!

[Chuck Engels]

Sidd you are amazing, that is pretty cool What would we do without you and Bob

[Gerlinde]

This is pretty cool, Sidd! Although, I can't really picture the setup. How do you rotate the prism if it's taped to the camera?

[sidd finch]

Thank you Mom & Chuck for the kind words. I am really grateful to Muvipix for being a great place to learn, grow and share video with folks who enjoy the same passion. Most of these things always start out with a .... "I wonder what that would look like if I did this". So it is nice that others enjoy these clips too. I hold Bob in very high esteem. To me he is the "Data" from Star Trek's Next Generation.

For this video I was inspired by Mom's trip hop videos and Ron's star trails picture. How they are connected I am not sure but they connected somewhere in my synapse.

How do you rotate the prism if it's taped to the camera?

I do not rotate the prism but I rotate or move the camera around the object. The closer I got to the flowers the more different the pattern. I used mirrored plastic Mylar so the images are a bit soft. I am guessing if I had actual glass mirrors the images would be a lot sharper.

Sidd

[Bob]

Glass mirrors would be best. The best type to use is a "first surface" or "front surface" mirror. A first surface mirror is coated on the front of the glass rather than the back. You can buy a set of 3 mirrors from this kaleidoscope company.

[sidd finch]

Thanks Bob, If I use glass I will need to make a proper enclosure for it so that I do not break the glass. The one I used was dropped a couple of times but because it was Mylar and cardboard I was not too worried. I used the remote app on my smartphone to try to get the shots. I think I need to attach the camera and smartphone so that I get a better sense of the shot. It is hard to hold both try to frame the shot and press the record button.

Sidd