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What is the CameraShed?
CameraShed is for those, like me, who wish to go a little further than
the usual stuff you can do with your natty cam from Fuji. In it you will
find all sorts of DIY projects, together with helpful tips and tricks
in using your camera.
Why have a CameraShed?
After a while, I got a little frustrated with some of the limitations
of my 6900Z camera (not that there are many - it's a cracking piece of
kit and produces some excellent results). I decided to perform a few experiments
with the camera to try and overcome these annoyances.
Most of these projects will work with any digital camera, although
some of the more complex ones (eg CCD cleaning and battery packs) may
be model specific.
Some of the experiments resulted in projects that are very straightforward
and no-one can really claim any credit to them, they're just sensible
things. Others require more skill and ingenuity, but are worth it.
Over time, more projects will be added after they've been designed, tested
and uploaded. It may be an idea to bookmark
this page and revisit occasionally to see what's new.
The "Component Cost" in the following table should give you
an estimate of how much you can expect to pay in the shops for the bits
necessary to complete the project. However, you may find some items cheaper
on ebay
etc...
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Tip of the Month...
Seeing Another World - Amazing infra-red photography.
With the Spring season approaching (Northern hemisphere anyway), why
not have a go at some infra-red photography?
You can generate some pretty spectacular images that are impossible
to reproduce accurately with any post-processing in, say, photoshop?
You can check out some more digital infra-red photography using
the Fujifilm 6900z at the Digital
Friends website.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
 
(Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £3.00 each |
| Popularity: |
5487 visits |
| Description: |
This is the first reader project submitted to the 'Shed. It's a brilliantly simple way to build your own version of the 'expensive' Fuji FX-9 extension tube using black plastic tubing and a couple of step up/down rings. BRILLIANT!!!
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £0.60 each |
| Popularity: |
9985 visits |
| Description: |
Plastic scratches easily, especially when used in sandy environments. But even putting your camera into the camera case could possibly cause scratches if sand / dirt particles etc have entered the case. Prevention is better than cure as they say, so instead of having to risk buffing out a scratch, use one of these disposable screen protectors that will protect your LCD plastic screen cover from everyday scratches and wear.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £15 - £20 |
| Popularity: |
23991 visits |
| Description: |
At times you'll want to take photos in low level light. However, the autofocussing may not work properly because there's nothing bright enough to lock the focus onto. This little project will enable you to attach a focussing light to the camera and use it when necessary to assist the autofocus.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Very Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £7 - £30 |
| Popularity: |
13239 visits |
| Description: |
With the advent of Photoshop / Paint Shop Pro et al, there's no need to buy fancy filters to give you special effects in your digital images as these can be done in the digital darkroom. However, sometimes there are effects that even the best software packages cannot produce (eg reflection removal) and a filter is required. Here's the simple way of attaching a filter to your Fuji 4900z / 6900z / s602.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Expert)
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| Component Cost: |
Free - Approx £1.50 |
| Popularity: |
26729 visits |
| Description: |
If grey spots / blobs are starting to appear in the same position in all your photographs, especially ones of clear blue skies with small aperture settings (eg f10 / f11), chances are you've got dust on the CCD. You could airbrush them out of all your photographs - yawn, or you could get them removed. If it's under warranty, Fuji may remove it free of charge, otherwise there may be quite a large charge for this service? If not, you can either bear with it, bear with it until the warranty expires and / or just plain open up the camera and clean it yourself. Note: This project will invalidate any warranty your camera may have!
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Advanced)
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| Component Cost: |
Free - Approx £1.50 |
| Popularity: |
7223 visits |
| Description: |
Ever found you've got black specs / dust in your viewfinder? Annoying isn't it? Maybe if it's under warranty, Fuji may remove it free of charge? If not, you can either bear with it, bear with it until the warranty expires and / or just plain open up the camera and clean it yourself. Note: This project will invalidate any warranty your camera may have!
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Some Tricky Bits)
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| Component Cost: |
Free - Approx £1.50 |
| Popularity: |
4440 visits |
| Description: |
Ever found you've got dust between the clear plastic casing and the main LCD monitor? Annoying isn't it? Maybe if it's under warranty, Fuji may remove it free of charge? If not, you can either bear with it, bear with it until the warranty expires and / or just plain open up the camera and clean it yourself. Note: This project will invalidate any warranty your camera may have!
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £1.50 |
| Popularity: |
16356 visits |
| Description: |
Using your camera in rainy / water spray environments can be risky. A simple project such as this will give your camera some extra protection against the rain / water spray and is very inexpensive and easy to make.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Very Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £27 |
| Popularity: |
19498 visits |
| Description: |
Using a simple Hoya R72 infrared filter, you can see a whole new world your eyes aren't designed for. See a world where foliage appears white, rivers and skies appear black. Enter the world of near infrared (nir) photography.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £7 |
| Popularity: |
12857 visits |
| Description: |
This simple project guides you through adding a screw thread to the front of your Fuji WL-FX9 wide-angle and / or Fuji TL-FX9 telephoto lens. You can also use this project to attach a lens hood to the front of these lenses
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Some Tricky Bits)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £1 - £4 |
| Popularity: |
28236 visits |
| Description: |
Sometimes you need to avoid shaking the camera when taking photographs at all costs. If we had 2s / 10s spare, we'd use the self timer, but often we want to control when the image is taken more accurately. The lack of a shutter release cable adaptor on the 4900Z / 6900z / s602 means we aren't able to attach a shutter release cable to get this control. Until now...
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Very Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Free - £1 |
| Popularity: |
8185 visits |
| Description: |
Over time the contacts for your SmartMedia card inside your camera will get dirty. Here's a quick and simple way of cleaning them without taking the camera apart.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Free - £6 |
| Popularity: |
12548 visits |
| Description: |
Fuji's recommended lenses - WL-FX9 (wide angle) and TL-FX9 (telephoto) unfortunately don't allow you to use normal 55mm filters in addition to these. This project uses an old 55mm filter with a bit of hacking around to come up with a solution to this obstacle.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Very Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £7 - £30 |
| Popularity: |
9192 visits |
| Description: |
Not so much a project as a good idea. Using Fuji's AR-FX9 Filter Adaptor and a simple 55mm UV filter, you can help guard your "expensive to fix" lens barrel from knocks and bumps during transit and use.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Advanced)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £7 |
| Popularity: |
19363 visits |
| Description: |
Continuing with our External Battery Pack project from last time, we look at building a battery monitor circuit.
The battery pack monitor allows a quick visual check on how much "power" is left in your power pack. When calibrated correctly, you should easily avoid those problems that occur with a very low battery because you'll know in advance that it's time for either a "top-up" or a replacement battery.
Again, because of the modularity of this project, you can use this part on its own as a battery checker for your NP-80 battery (4900Z & 6900Z owners) or your 4xAA Ni-MH battery set for your s602Z.
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| Difficulty Rating: |
(Easy)
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| Component Cost: |
Approx £12 - £20 |
| Popularity: |
21848 visits |
| Description: |
If like me you demand more life than your camera's batteries will give you, the only solution is to go for an external battery pack. Connecting to the power socket of your camera, this simple to make battery pack will provide you with up to 4000mAh of power with a simple readout of the battery pack's remaining charge.
Part 1 of this project describes the power source for your supply and can be used on its own without the battery monitor circuitry.
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