Theta Neutral Density Case Shells (v1)

thingiverse

This is a prototype concept for Ricoh Theta 360 HDR shooters that want to expand their HDR capabilities to get clean final outdoor shots by expanding the image dynamic range through the use of a basic ND filter. ND filters will drop the light emission into the lens by a specific amount of stops depending on the filter. It allows the shooter to set up bracketing on their camera and drop the light amount much further (usually up to 10 stops), making it possible to reduce the intensity of the sun and its reflections to small visilbe spots. When merged with the rest of the bracketed images for HDR, you will have a lot more brightness data to work with. #Building The Product As I'm sure you are aware, that these shells are only half of the final product. You will have to purchase Neutral Density film for photography (usually $10 on Amazon) and cut it to fit loosely inside the openings of the shell front and back. Your choice of film is up to you, but usually 0.9 (3 stops) layered a couple of times will give you a good drop in sunlight. Once cut to fit and layered, just superglue it to the inner edges of the shell, leaving enough excess for the lenses to sit behind the material. The other important thing you will need is a small bit of black foam to glue inside the bottom of both shells. This serves 2 purposes. One being extra support for the shell to prevent wobbling around, and second but most important, it will block any excess light from leaking in from the bottom and preventing a ghost effect in your darker shots. 1/4" neoprene foam with adhesive backing should work just fine (also available on amazon). #The Design I looked at what others had done for solutions to this common need, saw the potential shooting flaws and built around that. There is no excess material showing up in the shot, no more light leaks, and no blocking out 50% of your dark brackets and losing important data. This shell (once fully constructed) just slides right over the camera and can be accessed by the phone app. #Size This is a basic shell design that fits most Ricoh Theta 360 camera bodies. It was designed to fit the S/SC/V models but should fit the M15/SC2 models as well as they appear to be the same body style. I have not test fit these shells on the Z1 body, but would assume that it is not going to fit. I will come up with a solution for that later. #Printing Note In this version, the 2 halves are to be glued together for the final product. Future versions will be able to pull apart. The key nubs in this version are just a little bit too thin and do not all print properly. This is not an issue and you can break the off the keys down to little nubs if you need, as they are only used for test fitting and alignment purposes.