Accessories for P&S-Am I the only one??

[mrodgers]

....just store bought, as opposed to a milk jug diffuser. I'm not an elitist, just a consumer.

That's one for me, since it was me with the milk jug diffuser. The reason I do DIY is because I do not have thousands of dollars worth of camera like you mentioned earlier. I have a $200 superzoom point and shoot. I can't justify spending the $79 for a $200 camera as you mention about the Gary Fong diffuser thing.

I can't buy accessories such as this for my camera. I must go DIY. I don't have a hotshoe to mount stuff on. I can't see spending up to $150 for a piece of crap tripod (until I saw how sturdy the $30 Walmart one was) when I could have a DIY tripod from junk in my basement for nothing that was every bit as sturdy as the ones I was looking at for up to $150 as I said.

It's sometimes the thrill of doing and building things yourself as opposed to buying something also. Sometimes it has nothing to do with money, but just the enjoyment of doing it.

You can buy perfectly good RTF RC airplanes for pretty cheap, all inclusive. Yet, the RC forums are full of people spending thousands on their radios and recievers to use with a cut up chunk of foam they built themselves for $1. Not because the airplane cost only $1, but because they enjoy building something DIY out of a 4 mm thick chunk of flat foam and making it fly.

 

[chrisburke]

It's sometimes the thrill of doing and building things yourself as opposed to buying something also. Sometimes it has nothing to do with money, but just the enjoyment of doing it.

this is the main reason I DIY... i'm not handy at all.. infact almost all of my tools are from the dollarstore.... often times because I don't have a screw driver, I often use MitreBond instead of screws to secure things to my wall... and truth is, even if I had screws, I know I would miss a stud because I dont know how to tell where a stud is... when I sit down, and somehow figure out how to make something work that i've built for photography, it gives me some hope in my incredibly horrible handyman skills... makes me think just maybe if I had the right tools, I could actually build something... i've gained a few skills doing katrina relief work, and I'm really glad for those skills, but a lot of those skills have to do with having the right tools (which in my home I dont have)

 

[stsinner]

I haven't paid over $19 for any tripod that I own (I own 3).... And I'm not looking down on any one for any photo technique... It's just where we are...

Please stop acting like I'm looking down on you..

 

[Aye-non Oh-non Imus]

As far as the homemade add-ons, no offense intended to anyone who does this, but I'd rather use nothing than to have that ghetto crap hanging off of my thousand-dollar camera.. That stuff is fine for playing around in the house, but I'd never let anyone see me with it..

... I'm kind of a geek, so I like to have the store-bought stuff if I can afford it...

Please stop acting like I'm looking down on you..

Curious last statement.

 

[stsinner]

That's one for me, since it was me with the milk jug diffuser. The reason I do DIY is because I do not have thousands of dollars worth of camera like you mentioned earlier. I have a $200 superzoom point and shoot. I can't justify spending the $79 for a $200 camera as you mention about the Gary Fong diffuser thing.

I can't buy accessories such as this for my camera. I must go DIY. I don't have a hotshoe to mount stuff on. I can't see spending up to $150 for a piece of crap tripod (until I saw how sturdy the $30 Walmart one was) when I could have a DIY tripod from junk in my basement for nothing that was every bit as sturdy as the ones I was looking at for up to $150 as I said.

It's sometimes the thrill of doing and building things yourself as opposed to buying something also. Sometimes it has nothing to do with money, but just the enjoyment of doing it.

You can buy perfectly good RTF RC airplanes for pretty cheap, all inclusive. Yet, the RC forums are full of people spending thousands on their radios and recievers to use with a cut up chunk of foam they built themselves for $1. Not because the airplane cost only $1, but because they enjoy building something DIY out of a 4 mm thick chunk of flat foam and making it fly.

I actually admire people that get satisfaction from using their hands and brains to overcome an obstacle or create something from scratch. Almost envy. It's just not me. There. It's not that I think I'm better than you, or anything like that. It's just two different philosophies..

I don't want to get too personal, because I'm sure none of you really care, but I grew up extremely poor and with alcoholic parents who didn't do anything but drink, so I had nothing! And my brother and I were dirty.. How dirty, you ask? These are actual pictures of my house that I grew up in:

So maybe I'm trying to overcompensate from that horrible childhood. It's nothing about you, and more about me. I never want to feel that way again.. I never had anything as a kid, and now I want things.. So don't be offended.

 

[stsinner]

this is the main reason I DIY... i'm not handy at all.. infact almost all of my tools are from the dollarstore.... often times because I don't have a screw driver, I often use MitreBond instead of screws to secure things to my wall... and truth is, even if I had screws, I know I would miss a stud because I dont know how to tell where a stud is... when I sit down, and somehow figure out how to make something work that i've built for photography, it gives me some hope in my incredibly horrible handyman skills... makes me think just maybe if I had the right tools, I could actually build something... i've gained a few skills doing katrina relief work, and I'm really glad for those skills, but a lot of those skills have to do with having the right tools (which in my home I dont have)

I'm the opposite.. and maybe that's my problem.. I'm a mechanical engineer with a very large tool box with thousands of tools that I use every day when I'm at work. So maybe subconsciously I just don't want to even see a tool when I get home...

 

[chrisburke]

So maybe subconsciously I just don't want to even see a tool when I get home...

that totally makes sense... i work with young people for a living counseling and giving "spiritual guidance"... when I go home, I just want to sit down with adults and have "smart conversation" not to say that young people cant have smart conversation, but sometimes its just nice to talk to adults!!!

I envy your tool box!!!