It’s yours if you want it.

[orionid]

So there I was, standing on top of a nuclear reactor, disconnecting the thermocouple cables and vessel head accelerometers when a thought dawned on me. A lot of you have done some incredibly nice/awesome things for me. Some of you have even sent me some awesome things for my project shelf (I’ll get to them soon, I pinky swear). So I want to return the favor.

Anybody who wants a soda/beer can lens will get one for their birthday. Just let me know what brand of can you want, what camera mount to make for it, and your birth-month. When it’s ready to send, I’ll PM you asking for your address.

Or, alternatively, if you have a camera that you’d like hacked/modded in some way, if it’s a similar amount of work to the soda can (roughly two hours, give/take plus airing/drying time for epoxies), you can send that to me and I’ll gladly perform the controlled demolition.

Happy Birthday.

[Yugoboy]

I’m in!

Diet Mountain Dew can with Nikon mount.

Oh yeah… my birthday’s in under 2 weeks 😉
I haz me an Earth Day Birthday!
(True fact, but please please please don’t rush it. It’s a freebie, so take your time. You’re being very gracious here, and I certainly don’t want to abuse that.)

(Let me know what I can do for you… I’m first in line, and yet I know I haven’t done something nearly as nice for you… You definitely get some free beverage if you ever get up my way, or I get down there.)

[CauseISaidSo]

OK, but under one condition: you’ve gotta name something equivalent I can do or get for you. A souvenir from Oklahoma (not sure what that’d be, but keep in mind I can’t ship you an Indian casino :))? Help with a website or app? Think about it and let me know.

I’ll take any Coke product, in preference order of Classic, Zero, or Diet, with a Canon mount.

My birthday is this Friday, but as Yugoboy stated, please don’t feel the need to rush. And thanks for the kind gesture!

[staplermofo]

Can you do this in under 2 hours?

[ennuipoet]

I would take you up on it, but I’ve come to realize I barely use my film gear much less any specialty lenses. I’ve become painfully pedestrian, almost business like in my shooting. Not that I am not still enjoying it, but if it takes extra work I am just not going to bother with it. Hit and git is my motto these days.

[fluffybunny]

I think this is a noble and generous gesture, but much like CISS I don’t want to just take and return nothing. So come up with something I can fab in the machine shop for ~equal time (mill, lathe, TIG, MIG and so on) and we have a deal. The equipment is old, but I can do +/- 0.001″ if I’m careful, +/-0.010″ is easy.

Canon EOS mount
As for the can, surprise me. The older and more bizarre the better (not limited to beer/soda) . Bday=9/16

[orionid]

Okay, so far I’ve got:

Diet Moutain Dew on Nikon
Classic coke on Canon
Aluminum heat sink on tin can with 1.25″ prime focus astro-mount (Will a cookie Monster tin work, Mofo?
1960 Pirates World Champions Commemorative Iron City Beer* on Canon

As far as bartering, we can work something out. If I don’t think of something before you see something at goodwill or a flea market that makes you say “orionid might like that” and is less than $10, then your choice is obvious.

Any other takers?

*Or similar awesome and inexpensive classic can.

[Yugoboy]

If I don’t think of something before you see something at goodwill or a flea market that makes you say “orionid might like that” and is less than $10, then your choice is obvious.

So… anything old and camera-related?
Anything else I should be keeping my eye out for?
(We garage sale/flea market/rummage sale pretty regularly, so we always have a list for more than a few people of things to keep an eye out for.)

[Elsinore]

Whoa, cool. I’d love to have one, though like some others, would prefer to exchange something in kind (and I have no idea what). Also not sure what kind of can I’d want, so I’ll have to think about that. Of course, my birthday isn’t until right before your birthday, so there’s time.

[orionid]

Too bad Elsinore Beer isn’t real.

[orionid]

If I don’t think of something before you see something at goodwill or a flea market that makes you say “orionid might like that” and is less than $10, then your choice is obvious.

So… anything old and camera-related?
Anything else I should be keeping my eye out for?
(We garage sale/flea market/rummage sale pretty regularly, so we always have a list for more than a few people of things to keep an eye out for.)

Oh, geeze. Asking me what I want from a rummage sale is like asking a kid what he wants from the candy store.

[staplermofo]

Aluminum heat sink on tin can with 1.25″ prime focus astro-mount (Will a cookie Monster tin work, Mofo?

I was joking because that seemed like a 50 hour project the guy on the linked site was asking hundreds of dollars for.

[orionid]

Aluminum heat sink on tin can with 1.25″ prime focus astro-mount (Will a cookie Monster tin work, Mofo?

I was joking because that seemed like a 50 hour project the guy on the linked site was asking hundreds of dollars for.

So was I, but if you’d have pressed, you’d have gotten the best quality cracker-jack equivalent I could muster.

[orionid]

Okay, so there’s another option to throw in the mix. Focal length. I was planning on using the same 99-cent magnifying glass lens that I used in mine to make these, but then I thought “Why just make them look custom, when they can be custom?” Working with a soda-can’s diameter, I can get you anywhere from 55-ish mm to 185-ish mm through my regular parts channels. Mine’s roughly 105mm and strikes a good balance between functionality and style (visible can). 55 might be tough on the nikkons, and anything less than 70 may have limited focal range, but I’ll do what I can. Basically, take focal length minus 50mm and that’s how much can will be visible. So…. let me know your desires between:

Standard/Long/really long.

and

Coated Y/N/Don’t care

[Yugoboy]

Either – probably more inclined to a telephoto experience, but I’m good either way.

Whatever produces the best/most interesting pictures. While the fragility of an empty modern aluminum can means I probably won’t keep it in my packed camera bag, When I pull it out, I want to be happy with the results, not just with having the most unique lens around.

Not sure the difference between “coated/not coated” but whatever’s going to produce the best pictures.

---

As for reciprocal gift, what mount(s) can you/do you use? I’ve currently got a Canon manual kit lens sitting here with an iris that doesn’t change, but no other visible problems. More details if you want ’em. Otherwise, I’ll keep my eyes out for some old Kodak stuff (in this area, that won’t be hard to find within a couple weeks of garage sale season really heating up).

[Author]

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