Are You an Inspector Gadget Photographer?

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Man! The photography gadgets keep coming and coming! I've been shooting cameras for a long time, longer than I like to admit because it makes me so freakin' old and never, I mean never, have I seen so many photography gadgets on the photography gear market as there are these days. It's as if gadgetizing one's photographer-self is going to make anyone a better shooter.

Just today I saw a new gadget and it's dumb. I mean really dumb. Which means they will probably sell a ton of them to new-ish photographers; new-ish photographers being new-ish photographers and all.

What sort of dumb gadget is it, you ask?  Well, it's a small, transparent, plastic cube that mounts to your hot-shoe and, inside of it, there are multiple, lime-green, mini-levels which will allow you to know -- when you're looking at it rather than what you're photographing -- if your camera is level or plumb. I suppose it reveals this information to you in all axis whether your camera is oriented for landscape or portrait framing. I say, "I suppose," because I didn't read the bullshit text that tells marks potential buyers why their photography pursuits can't wait another moment for one of these. I just took one look, shook my head, and said, "Oh please." It costs $15, by the way.

Now, $15 doesn't sound like much and it's not. Course, it's probably manufactured in China for a cost of about 50¢ per unit but that's okay. I'm not an anti-capitalist. Leastwise, not one like those Commies are.

The (Little) Level Camera Cube

Usually, with oh-so-clever gadgets like these -- could you hear the sarcasm in my voice when I said, oh-so-clever? -- they come up with some oh-so-clever names for them. Not so for this little clear-and-lime-green guy.  It seems it's not quite clever enough for a clever gadget name. Instead, they call this little camera leveling cube "The Level Camera Cube."  Personally, I would have went with "Little Level Camera Cube" because that sounds cuter. You know, cute like "The Little Engine That Could" cute.

I suppose if they had invested some serious brainstorming time coming up with a clever gadget name for this completely unnecessary gadget, they'd probably have to charge $19.95 instead of fifteen bucks. After all, someone has to pay for that extra R&D time, right?

So, if you're an Inspector Gadget type of shooter this little camera leveling cube is (probably) not only right for you, but I figure you saved just shy of five bucks because it doesn't have a cute, catchy, little gadget name. See? There are silver linings to everything. Even things that aren't anything, Much like this ridiculous little gadget isn't much of anything, photography wise, yet only costs $15 since it's sans a cool, cute, albeit ridiculous little gadget name.

The pretty girl at the top is Crazy Cindi.  I call her Crazy Cindi -- actually more than a few others call her Crazy Cindi -- because, well, because she's crazy. She might be the craziest model I've ever shot! Sometimes scary crazy! But hey! Who am I to judge? Crazy is as crazy does and I can assure you that, in my shooting experiences with Cindi, and I've shot her a number of times, I've seen her at her craziest best.... although probably not her craziest worst. I'm sure her craziest worst is reserved for people more special to her than, thankfully,  myself.