4 ms·

Really? This camera lens is essentially a POS. I find tons of real world use cases of my 3D printer and this isn't even the ballpark.

2muchcoffeeman 4y ago
It's all relative. If you have a 3D printer and are just a hobby photographer, this is great. Super cheap. Mixes your hobbies. But I agree that the real world uses of 3D printers are endless. Although often you need to know how to use CAD.
- spoonjim 4y ago
  Owning a 3D printer without knowing basic CAD seems pointless beyond description.
  - LASR 4y ago
    Hard disagree. You’re forgetting the long tail of consumer-only usecases. That’s like saying owning a computer without basic programming knowledge seems pointless. Obviously 3D printers are useful even if you never create or modify 3D models.
    - MezzoDelCammin 4y ago
      Well, someone has to create the models. If You're lucky and there's plenty of good modellers in Your use case / hobby, good for You. Have fun printing. What the OP however refers to is the "rapid prototyping" that 3D printers unlocked for masses. If You learn even some basic modelling (e.g. few primitives in OpenSCAD for programmers), it's trivial to do test fits and whatever gigs You need. I haven't realized it myself until some months ago I needed a small funnel for a bottle. After some thinking I realized it's much easier/faster to throw together a difference of two cones and two cylinders in OpenSCAD in about 10min and print it in maybe another 20 than spend the time looking around stores to find some close compromise.
    - jjk166 4y ago
      I think it's more like owning a computer without being able to use a text editor or a spreadsheet program. You can open files you get from other people but you can't make changes or generate anything original. Programming in this analogy would be modifying your printer itself. Obviously there have been some successful computers where users don't modify their files, like mp3 players, but those are much cheaper and more user friendly than general purpose computers.
  - johnandrews911 4y ago
    You can still download and print designs, so its certainly not pointless
    - spoonjim 4y ago
      I suppose, I just don't use it that way. Have never printed something that I downloaded except for testing purposes. I use the printer to make stuff that I need around the house, like a bracket to hold my electric toothbrush charger to the towel bar, etc...
      - OJFord 4y ago
        I check for well-designed looking ones first though, if it's not extremely custom (like the razor holder I designed to fit my specific razor over the side of my specific mug-like bathroom holder thing). I found a nice looking bracket shaped specifically for my Bamix stick blender that someone else had designed, saved me some trial and error and time and filament. I found someone else's design for a Makita LXT battery fitting that I used as the base to prototype the inverse: I wanted a dummy battery shape that I could mount to the wall in order to hang my vacuum cleaner from it. I'm glad I can do some basic CAD / am willing to learn, but I've definitely got some use out of it with only a slicer. And then there are the people who only want trinkets anyway.
      - dekhn 4y ago
        Everybody should print digital sundial (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1068443 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1068443) and watch escapement (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3364860 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3364860) and finish the escapement assembly. Those two projects made me realize that 3d printing can be a full time fun hobby for exploring all those things it would be too hard to machine in a garage.
  - bilsbie 4y ago
    90% of your ideas will already be on thingiverse. So still pretty useful.
- AYBABTME 4y ago
  I've been enjoying using OpenSCAD whenever I can (instead of Fusion 360). The language is a bit janky but it's great for hacking something up in a purely procedural manner, and using Git.
  - fho 4y ago
    I would so love to use a free CAD software ... OpenSCAD is fine for what it does and I do use it a lot for very simple stuff. ImplicitCAD is another interesting project in that space that has fillet unions. FreeCAD would be great if the Interface wouldn't be so janky. I give it a try every now and then, but never really get over the re-learning aspect. So, I am still stuck with Fusion360 running in a VM on my otherwise FLOSS-only system :-/
    - VBprogrammer 4y ago
      It will be interesting to see how constraint based modelling in Blender comes along. Seems like the most promising route at the moment.
andybak 4y ago
Isn't this intended to be a creative lens? "POS" is a bit harsh - I can imagine some gorgeous uses of this thing.

2muchcoffeeman 4y ago

It's all relative. If you have a 3D printer and are just a hobby photographer, this is great. Super cheap. Mixes your hobbies. But I agree that the real world uses of 3D printers are endless. Although often you need to know how to use CAD.

spoonjim 4y ago
Owning a 3D printer without knowing basic CAD seems pointless beyond description.
- LASR 4y ago
  Hard disagree. You’re forgetting the long tail of consumer-only usecases. That’s like saying owning a computer without basic programming knowledge seems pointless. Obviously 3D printers are useful even if you never create or modify 3D models.
  - MezzoDelCammin 4y ago
    Well, someone has to create the models. If You're lucky and there's plenty of good modellers in Your use case / hobby, good for You. Have fun printing. What the OP however refers to is the "rapid prototyping" that 3D printers unlocked for masses. If You learn even some basic modelling (e.g. few primitives in OpenSCAD for programmers), it's trivial to do test fits and whatever gigs You need. I haven't realized it myself until some months ago I needed a small funnel for a bottle. After some thinking I realized it's much easier/faster to throw together a difference of two cones and two cylinders in OpenSCAD in about 10min and print it in maybe another 20 than spend the time looking around stores to find some close compromise.
  - jjk166 4y ago
    I think it's more like owning a computer without being able to use a text editor or a spreadsheet program. You can open files you get from other people but you can't make changes or generate anything original. Programming in this analogy would be modifying your printer itself. Obviously there have been some successful computers where users don't modify their files, like mp3 players, but those are much cheaper and more user friendly than general purpose computers.
- johnandrews911 4y ago
  You can still download and print designs, so its certainly not pointless
  - spoonjim 4y ago
    I suppose, I just don't use it that way. Have never printed something that I downloaded except for testing purposes. I use the printer to make stuff that I need around the house, like a bracket to hold my electric toothbrush charger to the towel bar, etc...
    - OJFord 4y ago
      I check for well-designed looking ones first though, if it's not extremely custom (like the razor holder I designed to fit my specific razor over the side of my specific mug-like bathroom holder thing). I found a nice looking bracket shaped specifically for my Bamix stick blender that someone else had designed, saved me some trial and error and time and filament. I found someone else's design for a Makita LXT battery fitting that I used as the base to prototype the inverse: I wanted a dummy battery shape that I could mount to the wall in order to hang my vacuum cleaner from it. I'm glad I can do some basic CAD / am willing to learn, but I've definitely got some use out of it with only a slicer. And then there are the people who only want trinkets anyway.
    - dekhn 4y ago
      Everybody should print digital sundial (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1068443 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1068443) and watch escapement (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3364860 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3364860) and finish the escapement assembly. Those two projects made me realize that 3d printing can be a full time fun hobby for exploring all those things it would be too hard to machine in a garage.
- bilsbie 4y ago
  90% of your ideas will already be on thingiverse. So still pretty useful.
AYBABTME 4y ago
I've been enjoying using OpenSCAD whenever I can (instead of Fusion 360). The language is a bit janky but it's great for hacking something up in a purely procedural manner, and using Git.
- fho 4y ago
  I would so love to use a free CAD software ... OpenSCAD is fine for what it does and I do use it a lot for very simple stuff. ImplicitCAD is another interesting project in that space that has fillet unions. FreeCAD would be great if the Interface wouldn't be so janky. I give it a try every now and then, but never really get over the re-learning aspect. So, I am still stuck with Fusion360 running in a VM on my otherwise FLOSS-only system :-/
  - VBprogrammer 4y ago
    It will be interesting to see how constraint based modelling in Blender comes along. Seems like the most promising route at the moment.

andybak 4y ago

Isn't this intended to be a creative lens? "POS" is a bit harsh - I can imagine some gorgeous uses of this thing.