DIY Builder Holiday Buying Guide – Gift Tips

A few Holiday suggestions that I’ve been enjoying this year, for the science geek/builder/pizza fanatic in your life.

Tools

Flexible shaft precision screwdriver: Don’t tell Apple but I’ve taken my Macbook apart plenty of times, made easy with this mini-screwdriver. It has 6 double-ended bits: standard, philips and torx. The shaft can be extended out of the body to snake it around those tricky corners, great to remove that one metal strip that the RAM modules hide behind. I got mine at OSH.

Cameras/Video

Canon 7D: I don’t have this but I want it. Bad. Like, I might sell my Nikon gear because of this camera. Its the next step in the game-changing video enabled DSLR realm. And at $1699 for the body, you get access to film like effects that were only available on cameras costing over $100,000 a few years ago. Check out the sharpness and rich color.

Kodak Zx1: The Zx1 is Kodak’s response to the Flip. 720p HD video, and shoots 30 or 60fps. The video is sharp and clean, but like the Flip, the lack of image stabilization and optical zoom made me want something more. I got mine for about $100, but it needs an SD card so factor that in to the price.
I used it to film this clip of a catapult launching a bowling ball. Here’s another good example of its quality.

Panasonic FX37: I bought this directly from that desire for image stabilization and optical zoom. I dig this camera because it’s got a wide-angle lens that is fairly fast – more useful for low light conditions than the Powershots that I always buy, although not as impressive as the amazing Panasonic LX3. This FX37 is being phased out, so you can get some good deals on it. I got mine for $169 at Sixth Avenue Electronics.

A side-by-side comparison of these two cameras is on its way.

Pizza Supplies

Mario Batali Pizza Slicer: As mentioned in my post on building a temporary pizza oven, the Batali pizza slicer is amazing. $15 and worth every penny.

Bike Gear

Blackburn Mars 3.0 rear bike light: I wrote about this in Wired a few years ago. Still the best rear bike light I’ve found. $16. While at it, build your own mega-bright LED front light.