Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Watch Me Work - 1:6 scale miniature Raw Prawn Nigiri - Youtube Video Part 3


(hrmmm no preview pic :( what happened!! grrrrrr)

Watch Me Work - 1:6 scale miniature Raw Prawn Nigiri - Youtube Video Part 3


Final part of Watch Me Work - 1:6 scale miniature Raw Prawn Nigiri, now with music!

I want this post not just to be an update, but also a review of an app that I absolutely ADORE. My brain must have swollen up quite a bit the past week as I made myself sit down and concentrate on honing my photography skills. It just seems a waste to have, what I've been told many times over, a good DSLR, and not let it reach its full potential. Or at least, enough to do what I would like for it to do....



TECHNICAL WORDY POST AND REVIEW OF DSLRDASHBOARD APP HERE!

The main thing I've learnt (which I had always suspected) was that I needed to stabilize it. The depression of the shutter button was sufficient to result in a blurry photo, especially since I hadn't yet educated myself in the technical stuff like shutter speed, ISO and apertures etc. Which I have, now, sort of. Those terms meant nothing to me even though people have mentioned, and I have read in articles and manuals, countless times, as there was no practical application and experience for me to make it meaningful in my mind. 

After 2 backbreaking days of acquainting myself with the whistles and bells of my Canon EOS 600D, I decided to finally purchase a tripod and remote shutter thingamabob. The tripod was a quick and dirty purchase, in the sense that true camera enthusiasts and professionals will balk at the plastic 'starter' tripod I got, but heck, like I've previously mentioned, I am financially barely scraping by and even SGD$17 is a big deal to me. The remotes available were upwards of SGD$30, and although I did set aside $50 for the accessories, it didn't seem justifiable as I could get one off greedbay for SGD$5, free shipping! But again, that meant I had to wait at least 3-4 weeks for it to arrive. Momentum being what it is, I didn't want to break my stride, and today I went to purchase an SGD$12 micro USB adapter/host, also known as an OTG cable for my Samsung devices.

(Valore is the house brand that Challenger carries. There are many more affordable options but I didn't want to spend hours travelling to and from Sim Lim just to save a few dollars)

This decision was made after stumbling across a number of apps that offered remote capabilities for various brands of DSLRs. Although not stated to support the Canon 600D, DSLRDashboard was the first free app which informed me that the only hardware required (which had multiple uses, when compared to a stupid shutter release button) was a cable/adapter! SOLD! I took my chances, figuring I could use it with my other storage devices if it didn't work.....

GREAT THING IT DID! SO So sooooo pleased ^_^


It was extremely EXTREMELY easy to use DSLRDashboard. The black USB cable is the cable I use to connect my DSLR to the laptop....so instead of doing that, just connect it to your handheld device. Just remember though:

"Not all phones/tablets are compatible. You need at least 4.x Android or higher with USB host support."

(yeah, it didn't work with my Samsung Galaxy Core Prime :( )

The interface indicated Nikon many times over, and in re-reading the specifications, it seems the app wasn't meant for Canon, but worked anyway, so I'm not complaining :P Especially since it's FREE and so easy to use!!!! I can't stress that enough!


Here's a screenshot from my Samsung Note 2. This is the Live View mode, just click on the "LV" button (top row, 4th button) to view what your DSLR is set up for. I haven't yet fully explored the functions, but the ones I have tried are the EV Mode and ISO settings at the bottom bar (highlighted in green)


See what I mean by "Nikon indicated" hehehe. Anyhoo, the app auto-detected my camera as soon as it was connected and turned on. My favourite to use with macro shots was the 5x and 10x live view settings at the bottom row.

Clicking on "5x" brought up this live preview .....of course, I had my camera set to Manual focus, with the EFS18-55mm lens. Maybe if I could afford a 2K macro lens I wouldn't have had to figure all this out, ah well, #firstworldproblems :X
There you have it.
OH oh, nearly forgot about the sample photo ey....

oops dusty :P Fired off a quick shot as I was so excited to do this post :)





You can click on the above 3 pics for a closer look. These were also taken with the help of the DSLRDashboard app :) I think my fave fave fave thing about doing this is I don't have to contort my body and squint at the teeny camera monitor anymore!

Hope you've enjoyed reading this post, or at least watching the videos :) You may also click on the following link to watch all 3 videos in a playlist.


Remember to Subscribe, Like, Comment and Share if you wish to show your support for all the hard work I've put into these videos...if my health permits I would love to make more videos for you to enjoy ^_^

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