04-04-12 – Pinholes, Lomos & Holgas, Oh My!

Ok I figured out how to basically cut the lens off a really cheap 35mm camera that I had already busted by dropping it on concrete and I got it stuck to the front of my Rebel xs instead of a regular lens. But it has a very narrow focus area unless I can figure out a slide mechanism for focus. I have not had time to figure out how narrow but I am thinking maybe 6 inches front to back at around 3 feet from the camera. lol tonight I tested it a bit and focusing consisted of moving closer or farther from the subject. I wanna play with it during daylight first before I go any further in modding it.

Did we decide in the original thread whether my Seagull is “lomo” enough for this theme?

Yar. (That’s Pirate for “yes”)

LOL!

Ok I figured out how to basically cut the lens off a really cheap 35mm camera that I had already busted by dropping it on concrete and I got it stuck to the front of my Rebel xs instead of a regular lens. But it has a very narrow focus area unless I can figure out a slide mechanism for focus. I have not had time to figure out how narrow but I am thinking maybe 6 inches front to back at around 3 feet from the camera. lol tonight I tested it a bit and focusing consisted of moving closer or farther from the subject. I wanna play with it during daylight first before I go any further in modding it.

Awesome! Two pieces of plastic pipe, one inside the other, work great. Add friction with a piece of felt.

Yeah it feels good to cobble something together that works from things that would be trash to others. It definitely has a sharper center and a rather fuzzy outer area. This should be great for this theme and playing around afterwards too.

Damn I wish I could find a damn job so I could buy stuff like that.

Psh, sugar is cheap, I’ll just make my own damn lens.
There are tons of lens grinding guides out there too, and since sugar is softer than glass, CAKEWALK!

Oh. My. God. Great idea. I ground/polished/silvered my own telescope mirror back in undergrad days, and it was great fun. Now I wanna make a telescope you can eat!

I smelled gingerbread and heard ads for optics. Now I’m in a deep hole. I am so very thirsty. Someone please help me.

This: http://corbis.readymech.com/en

This: http://www.pinholeday.org/support/

This: http://www.pinhole.cz/en/pinholecameras/dirkon_01.html

And, for any of the pinholes requiring photo paper instead of film, you might give this a try: http://www.dickblick.com/products/nature-print-paper I haven’t used any yet, but A friend and I have been debating ordering some just to see if it’ll work. My guess is that you should see a high-contrast blue and white image. And it develops with nothing more than water from your kitchen sink.

So, I’ve got a set of +1, +2, and +4 diopter lenses in 58mm diameter (poor man’s macro), and there’s a machine shop around the corner from my house. Are you with me so far, Orionid? Now I just need to see what it would cost for a 58mm thread to PVC adapter set. Anyone up for a 1000mm f/17.2 lens? Too long? Too slow? The +4 diopter should yield 250mm f/4.3 by itself.

Yes, I know that vinyl electrical tape is highly affordable, however, if I’m going to hang a rather spendy dSLR body off of the back end of this contraption, I’d rather do it right the first time. By my calculations, I’m looking at up to of 5′ of PVC between the lens and body. Also, it would be nice if things lined-up from the start without needing to walk back and forth from one end to the other. If I was going to do it cheap-and-easy, I’d be looking at cardboard paper-towel rolls.