Elizabeth Giorgi of Being Geek Chic made this step-by-step video tutorial teaching how to make a stylish DIY camera wristlet using some fabric and iron-on fusible.

DIY Weekend: Camera wristlet (via DIYP via Make)

If you have an old mount for attaching a GPS or cell phone to your windshield, you can upcycle it into a suction cup tripod for your camera (just make sure it’s not the flimsy kind that falls off on its own). What you’ll need to do is flatten the mount surface and then install a tripod screw. Nano_Burger has a step-by-step tutorial on how he did this conversion over on Instructables. The resulting tripod allows you to fix your camera in locations that aren’t accessible to tripods that don’t suck (hah, get it?).

Turn Your GPS Suction Cup Support Into A Camera Tripod (via Lifehacker)

Heavier tripods are generally more stable than lighter ones — wind doesn’t affect them as much — but hauling them around can be a pain. Instructables user Andrew Axley came up with the brilliant idea of making his simple tripod more stable by adding his own weight hook. The tripod is light when not in use and when you need extra stability you simply hang your camera bag onto the hook. All you need to do is figure out a way to attach a hook securely at the center — Axley chose to drill a hole through the side of the center column and attach an S-hook using a bolt and nut.

Tripod stabilizer weight hook (via Lifehacker)

Industrial design student Hunter Frerich came up with a simple and cheap DIY beauty dish that’s created using fabric, foil, velcro, and glue. To make your own, simply download and print out the template and follow the step-by-step instructions.

DIY Speedlight Diffuser [Hunter Frerich]

You can make yourself a quick and simple snoot by cutting off the upper portion of a soda bottle and covering it with gaffer tape. While it’s definitely not the most elegant solution, it’s a cheap way to isolate your subject when shooting with a flash unit.

How To Make A Snoot From A Coca-Cola Bottle [DIYPhotography]

Image credits: Photographs by Lior Kraisler

If you’re in the market for a new digital camera this year, buying it in January or February might get you the best deal. Lifehacker has published a comprehensive list of when to buy things based on when you’re most likely to see low prices:

January: After the big trade shows like CES come around in mid-January, you’ll see that older model cameras drop in price to prepare for the newly-announced ones.

February: Since the newest cameras will have just come out post-CES, you can grab last year’s models for less.

The Best Time to Buy Anything in 2012 [Lifehacker]

Image credit: February Already!?! by ohdarling

After damaging the pellicle mirror in his Sony A55 with cleaning fluid, a guy named Dario decided to look for a makeshift replacement while waiting for a real replacement mirror to arrive. He then discovered that food wrap (AKA Saran wrap) works nearly as well as a real pellicle mirror. The only downsides are occasionally degraded autofocus and a soft-focus effect when facing bright lights.

(via sonyalpharumors)

Image credits: Photographs by Dario/sonyalpharumors

Beauty dishes are pricey, and so are dedicated cases for carrying them around. If you want a cheap and simple way to protect your dish, LA-based photographer Mariusz Jeglinski suggests buying a Christmas wreath bag for less than $10. The shape works nicely for dishes, and you can add some extra padding to the case if you want added protection.

(via Strobist)

Image credits: Photographs by Mariusz Jeglinski/Strobist and M. Nguyen

Eve Johnson of Evalicious wanted to turn some old digital photographs into Instax-style prints for a travel journal, so she decided to make some fake ones. She arranged two photos on each template, saved them as 4×6 prints, had them made at a local print shop, and then cut them out in Instax dimensions. You can find the low down over on her blog.

faux instax: how to [shopEvalicious]

Wanting a cheap and compact way to carry, protect, and manage his SD cards, Instructables member FrankenPaper discovered that the plastic cases that come with Sunstar GUM Soft-Picks are the perfect size for holding 2 cards. To keep the cards from jostling around and to track whether they’re full or empty, he created an insert that you can print, cut, and fold yourself (download the PDF here).

SD card case [Instructables]