I'm sure a few of us remember the days when one could walk into Radio Shack and talk to an employee who knew about electronics. Gone are those days.
Radio Shack's electronics components were not always the best, but they'd do in a pinch. Now, the expansive wall of bits and pieces and parts has been reduced to a few drawers. And the experienced employees? Replaced with college kids who are trained to sell wireless phone plans, and nothing more.
So I decided I was going to build myself a DIY 35mm adapter for my DVX, using Daniel's design. I needed a few parts to wire the battery and controls for the motor, and my local electronics supply didn't have everything I needed. So it was off to Radio Shack for me.
As I was pouring over a small drawer of switches and LEDs, a girl walked up and asked if there was anything she could do to help. I politely said, "No, but thank you. I just need a couple of parts out of this drawer." She smiled and returned to the counter.
I went to check out, and laid out some resistors, LEDs, and a switch. As she begain to ring them up, she asked, "SO what are you building?"
"Oh, it's a lens adapter for my video camera." At this point, the only-slightly-older fellow behind the counter was intrigued. So I continued. "Long story short, it allows the use of 35mm lenses, the same as you have on a digital or film still camera, with a video camera. The light enters the lens and hits a ground glass, or focusing screen, and you macro/zoom the camera in on the ground glass and record that image."
The girl looked at me for a second. I could see the hamster turning the wheel. "Wait," she said, "wouldn't it take a while for the images to develop?"
Radio Shack's electronics components were not always the best, but they'd do in a pinch. Now, the expansive wall of bits and pieces and parts has been reduced to a few drawers. And the experienced employees? Replaced with college kids who are trained to sell wireless phone plans, and nothing more.
So I decided I was going to build myself a DIY 35mm adapter for my DVX, using Daniel's design. I needed a few parts to wire the battery and controls for the motor, and my local electronics supply didn't have everything I needed. So it was off to Radio Shack for me.
As I was pouring over a small drawer of switches and LEDs, a girl walked up and asked if there was anything she could do to help. I politely said, "No, but thank you. I just need a couple of parts out of this drawer." She smiled and returned to the counter.
I went to check out, and laid out some resistors, LEDs, and a switch. As she begain to ring them up, she asked, "SO what are you building?"
"Oh, it's a lens adapter for my video camera." At this point, the only-slightly-older fellow behind the counter was intrigued. So I continued. "Long story short, it allows the use of 35mm lenses, the same as you have on a digital or film still camera, with a video camera. The light enters the lens and hits a ground glass, or focusing screen, and you macro/zoom the camera in on the ground glass and record that image."
The girl looked at me for a second. I could see the hamster turning the wheel. "Wait," she said, "wouldn't it take a while for the images to develop?"
