Canned Canon SD400

"Do you have your Canon SD400 (or variant thereof) in a can?" If this question brings up thoughts of prank calls, you're correct. If not, you need to live a little.

Just wanted to show off the mod I did tonight on an Altoids can, to hold my "new to me" Canon SD400. A friend of mine won a new digital point and shoot and he and his wife generously gave me their old one, as I don't have a digital camera; I've just been using my iPhone (and previously, my old Samsung). Since I sold the Samsung, I've not had the ability to shoot video. Now I can not only shoot better photos (hopefully), but video, too!

I cannot take credit for this mod; I found it online while searching Google Images for pics of the SD400. Intrigued by the novelty of it, and not one to shy away from a fun mod, I tried my hand at it tonight. And I didn't even have to consume Altoids to get the can (I don't really like them) as the friend who gave me his camera is also an Altoid addict, so he gave me the can, too (or, technically, tin, I suppose, but how uppity does that sound?).

While the blog I read described using a Dremel, etc., I ignored all that and used my pneumatic tools because 1) I have them, 2) they were already out, and 3) they're louder and more powerful and therefore more fun. I used a die grinder to do the initial work, followed by the bench grinder and wire brush to smooth things out. I also tried my hand at "kinda" metal bumping by using a larger Vice Grip clamping pliers with rounded jaws to pinch, conform, and curve the corners for increased clearance.



This wasn't hard, but it wasn't a quickie, either. It took a fair bit of finagling, and the tin doesn't take well to a lot of manhandling, so take it easy. You need to modify the four inside corners of the tin, and make clearance for the shutter release/zoom controls on top of the camera. When you're all done, though, it's a pretty fun way to carry the camera to protect it, its allegedly fragile screen, and make the camera nondescript when lying around.

Have fun!

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