Griffin purchased a 40-year-old lens on eBay, the popular Helios 44-2, known for its “swirly bokeh.” As Nick describes the effect, “Very strange. I almost don’t like it!”

The vintage lens known for its “swirly bokeh”

&quot;Hey Indie Filmmakers&quot; is a podcast about DIY filmmaking, cameras and technology, hosted by documentary filmmaker Griffin Hammond and tech expert Nick Bodmer. Watch video versions of these episodes on YouTube.

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Griffin keeps a full gear list at griffinhammond.com/gear – but 2022 brought some workflow changes, so it’s time to review and update his inventory. Plus, Nick decides to buy a new electric vehicle, and picks it up the very same day!

Time to update griffinhammond.com/gear for 2023!

Griffin didn’t buy the Insta360 Link 4K Webcam because it has a gimbal. But it turns out, auto-tracking movement is its most useful feature. Even better, the image quality outperforms the similarly priced 4K Opal C1 ($300), which is marketed as “The first professional webcam.”

Plus, Nick lets Lensa AI reference his selfies to generate “Magic Avatars.”

Didn’t realize I needed a gimbal webcam!

Nick has been writing prompts for AI images on Midjourney v4. Griffin’s been playing with DiffusionBee on Mac. Our faces may render horrifically in AI, but for many other use cases, the results are uncanny, with plenty of rapidly arriving ethical and copyright implications for artists.

We look horrific as AI-generated art

Griffin shares his crazy experience filming Election Night in America—how much travel, expense and work hours go into building maybe 5 minutes of a television show. He earned a “Director of Photography” credit on Showtime, and safely navigated around a known COVID-positive team member on set.

The craziness of filming U.S. Election Night drama

The U.S. State Department has invited Griffin to teach DIY documentary filmmaking in Zimbabwe—should he do it? Nick says yes.

We apologize for the delayed uploads. It’s been a rough month—Griffin’s mom Carol died mid-October, and he wrote this tribute to the positive impact she’s had: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj5WoXqOG2m/

The vintage lens known for its “swirly bokeh”

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