On my last modeling contest/exhibition I got to try a macro flash with my camera. After that I have checked all photo stores I have seen, I have checked all web shops and auction sites I have found, but the prices and I have never agreed. So what to do? DIY light is the next obvious step for me. Scratching is fun, not only with plastic, but electricity also...

I visited a web page that got some Extreme Deals. There I bought some LED rings that is made for using as parking lights inside the headlight, like the one in BMW cars, angeleyes or something like that. The webpage had the rings is several sizes, so I ordered 3 different to check if any of those would fit my filter treads. When I got the led-thingies they (almost) fit inside each other, nothing a dremel tool could not fix.

A few minutes, solder and some CA-glue later I got myself a macrolight. I have not made any electronics to adjust the intensity yet, nor have I found a good way to mount the battery. I am going to use a Li-Po battery, so far I have just used the battery from my RC plane (11.1V 1300mAh) but I am going to get a separate battery for this appliction.

First some pictures of the lights, then some examples what to expect from this gadget.







A toy figure I found in my partsbox.


Then one of my favorites, a zombie with a headcrab

I f this is for autos, then it's 12v DC? Instead of a battery, the do make AC to DC converters, but you probably already know that.
Cheers, cool idea.

Can you post the link to the website you bought the lights from or is it a supplier in Norway?

The led lights is for autos, and its for 12V dc. I do have a transformer to make use of it when at my desktop, but when I go away from the desk, I need a battery. 11,1V li-po battery is perfect for the job when at the go.

The website that has these extreme deals is, www.dealextreme.com , do a search for sku25511, sku26001 and sku25521. these are the 3 different sizes I used, 70, 80 and 90mm. I have also bought a sku11656 P-Type Connector for SLR Camera (58mm) for easy mounting on my camera.

Thanks Kjell.

Questiona for Puny Viking:
I just got the three 70/80/90 rings from dealextreme. You're right, they just barely don't fit inside each other the way you have them setup.
Did you just use the dremel to make the inside diameters a little bigger for the two larger rings?
Any issues with destroying traces on the circuit board?
Also, how did you get that so even all the way around? That's perfect -- like you did it on a lathe.

That setup is fantastic. I'm setting up a macro light for my wife and I'll replicate as a light for my little milling machine that goes around where the drill bit comes out for perfect light with no shadows. Thanks for your great idea.

I just used the dremmel and rotated the ring as I was filing just a little bit at the time, no lathe in my house yet... The traces in the circuitboard is wide enough so if only you take away just a little bit at the time, the traces should not be broken.

Good luck with your project! Let us see some pictures of your setup when your finished!

I added a better way to mount the rings to the lens. I found this also on the dealextreme website, its called a P-connector(?)

The P connector is for a Cokin camera filter set up.. Photogs use it to slide a coloured filter in front of the lens.. Pretty inexpensive even at the camera store.. All you need is the specific ring for the lens you are shooting and the P-connector..

My other hobby...Almost as expensive as this one...LOL


Dave

I know that the P-connector is for the lee and cokin filtersystem, I used to live for my camera, could not go anywhere without at least bringing one camera. But after the digital revolution the fun of it has left the building for me. Dealextreme has a lot of fun for photography, I am almost thinking about getting a new SLR just for fun of shopping photogadgets!...

My other expensiveness (exept models, static and RC) is shooting handgun, and that is cheap also (NOT) if you want to get the right stuff that works in competitions...

I finished mine before reading the responses. I'm going to blather on a bit for people -- like me -- who like a little more detail even though you are all advanced model makers.

I did a mount closer to your first one and it worked great. If you buy the cheap Cokin filter holder kits from "DigitalGoja" at amazon, the adapter ring has a nice big flange so I toss the rest of the kit. I attached the rings with (my favorite) 3M "Body Trim Adhesive" foam tape -- available at any auto parts store. It's red and amazingly strong and expensive.

I dremeled in the same way and used a baby heat sink (tiny alligator clip) while soldering. Also, notice PunyViking picked up the hot connections on the "counterclockwise" side of the resistors. He's got a better pic of this on the dealextreme.com site in the listing for the "80mm angel eye" item. The original hot connection solder pads get covered up when you overlay the rings. Alignment on this is pretty important so mark before you glue. I glued with CA glue too, but there boards are so non-porous that a little help from a heat gun or hair dryer will help. I tinned 1" lengths of 20 ga (I think) wire to connect the rings. I pre-bent them and held them for soldering using "helping hands" and used the tiny gator clip between each one to keep the previous one from falling off.

Before soldering, unsolder all wires and use a solder wick/braid to remove all solder from the original "+" connection pads so the rings glue up nice.

The $3.99 12V 1A power supply on eBay (US Seller) worked great.

Here are a couple of pics: