Anyone tried attaching a laser pointer to your camera?

Like on guns it points where the bullet will hit, the same thing you could do on your camera
For improved hip-shooting, not-using-viewfinder shooting?

Is there any real equipment for this purpose or would I have to homebrew something myself?
I would love to try this on my brothers Nikon D80

Except you would have a bright dot in the center of every picture?

And, if taking pictures of people, you run the risk of temporarily blinding them.

Well its either easibly removed in photoshop or not noticebly at all..
And it could be prevented by unholding the button on the laser for a quick second.

The chances of hitting an eye are minimal

Btw, would it be able to draw stuff using the laserpointer freely in your other hand while taking a long-exposure(?) picture with your camera?

I suppose, if you were willing to do a bit of work, you could set it up so the laser is turned off when pressing enough to take the picture. Removing with Photoshop is a bad idea.

And, yes, if you have a long exposure, you can draw with the laser. I recommend a green one, like from ThinkGeek.com

And the downside is...?

and scaring the crap out of them that they're gunna get shot!

I'm a little curious as to why you would need this though. I mean, I understand the concept, but then I thought "you have a screen to see where you're shooting, so what's the point?"

Mine has a built in light, not a laser, when the conditions are dark it points to a target area you wish to take pictures of.

Maybe you should check your camera for such a setting.

Mine is 'Kodak EasyShare Z740'

I think pretty much all cameras have that. It's called the autofocus assist beam, I think.

Its an older DSLR - Nikon D80 - it has no live screen..
I can see what pictures Ive taken through that screen

I had an old wannabe DSLR(normal digital camera in disguise )
- it had a live screen that you could tilt and flip and whatnot, it was great for taking pictures where your head cant reach the viewfinder..


If I havent mentioned already its a Nikon D80 - it has a white light which turns on for a slight moment - but isnt that just for the autofocus?
Either way, it wont reach long enough in my opionion

PeepingTom Alert !

haha
I meant more like when lying down on the floor and in corners - or when takings pictures of a huge crowd from above
Or taking pictures of yourself for that matter

Yeah, that's what I thought you meant

Not entirely the worst idea I've heard, but quite possibly one of the more insane. I'd personally prefer to have three lasers in a triangle (predator style), to a give a better judgement of where and how its pointed at something. Bit of perception. Also, not sure how, but if you wired it into the flash shoe, you could probably have the flash signal shut the laser off.

Sorry to be a little off-topic, so the D80 doesn't have a live screen at the rear, it only shows what you have taken

wait, while taking a picture of yourself, you will notice where the red dot is on your forehead????? AMAZING! jk

you could do that, but it really isnt going to be worth it i would think.

Well, it doesnt let you see a preview of the viewfinder sees live
http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/live-view-digital-slr.html

Shouldve used "live view" instead I guess

Oh, and and I like the 3 dots predator style that would be so awesome

I get the feeling someone is trying to use the excuse that their camera has a laser beam to shine in the eyes of a footballer like what happened to Ronaldo, during Manchester Uniteds champions league game in France.

When they are caught, they will explain their camera has it built in and they forgot or some other lame excuse.

^wtf
Not everyone is football you know

My idea might be strange but your ideas of what I might do with it, are even more strange ^^

^ +1 - ha ha, that has nothing to do with the topic in hand!

leesmithg - what the frigg?