Homemade macro lens - DPChallenge Forums

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

07/24/2005 09:25:56 AM · #1

I try to squize all out of my old (already) Canon A70.
After reading some threads on a Romanian photo site I came out with this output

Basically is a lens from a dismantled old Chinese rangefinder (Phenix 250) that I have mounted on a piece of cartboard in order to be able to attach it to my lens adapter for my A70. Before I got to this I tried hard to handheld the little thing in front of my camera. It didn't work.
...
Well things turned out pretty well for a low budget (I spent around 12USD for the rangefinder)
Well this is the first test I took:

I said to myself that it has to work.
Then I spotted a spider in my room and followed it till I got this:

I noticed the spider was crippled and I really hope it's not my fault.
This is a 100% crop straight from the camera:

After being pretty happy with the results I started to experiment and I came out with these:

I set the camera at max lens zoom manual focus at infinity and I use AV mode or Manual. The tricky part is that you have to focus by moving the camera to get the thing. Pretty hard but it works after you get used. There is a certain amount of barrel distorsion but...

Hope you enjoy.

Tibi

Edit: spelling and sorry for the long post

Message edited by author 2005-07-24 13:30:48.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70 f2.8 L IS

07/24/2005 09:49:26 AM · #2

Wow! I'd say your $12 experiment was a complete success! Outstanding results.
Now just how are we going to list that in the lens database, LOL.

Bear_Music

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

07/24/2005 10:37:01 AM · #3

This is extraorinary. My hat's off to you! There are some aspects of how that lens "sees" that make it really shine from an artistic perspective; there's a certain soft glow to it that I find very appealing.

Robt.

doctornick

Apple iPhone 13 Pro

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

07/24/2005 10:44:12 AM · #4

One word: WoW!

Amazing results that rival lenses worth hundreds of dollars. You demonstrated that with some perseverance, ingenuity and some lateral thinking you can solve any problem!

Canadian_eh

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

07/24/2005 10:52:16 AM · #5

Honestly, the only word that suffices is wow, or mabe amazing!

great results, i hope you put the spider out of its missery, lol

speedylix

Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Minolta

07/24/2005 10:58:01 AM · #6

Way to go, Tiberius; great macros...
Did the same thing with my Canon A75, found a cheap 50mm used lens and made some kind of diy adapter with cap of the shaving cream can... It's not a pretty thing to look at, but results are amazing :-)
This lens you have looks very small - do you have problems with vignetting (on my adapter which has bigger lens there is no vignetting only with maximum zoom)?

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

07/24/2005 12:38:13 PM · #7

that is SO COOL! keep on playing with that stuff, man, it is GREAT!

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

07/24/2005 12:48:53 PM · #8

Oh wow! Same sort of camera I have! Sweet!

07/24/2005 05:15:04 PM · #9

Thanks for your commnets.
I hope is inspiring for other low budget fellows.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

07/24/2005 07:40:08 PM · #10

Originally posted by speedylix:

This lens you have looks very small - do you have problems with vignetting (on my adapter which has bigger lens there is no only with maximum zoom)?

There is a strong vignetting wich can be annoying but that's it.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

07/24/2005 09:30:39 PM · #11

Wow. I bet you can't wait until the next Macro challenge.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

07/24/2005 11:52:32 PM · #12

Originally posted by faidoi:

Wow. I bet you can't wait until the next Macro challenge.

Yes I do. I actually did all of this for the macro challenge but it wasn't enough time...

skylen

Nikon D200

07/25/2005 12:07:13 AM · #13

Wow! But...

Darn!!!! And I just spent $700 on a Nikon macro lens!

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

07/25/2005 10:53:39 PM · #14

Originally posted by skylen:

Darn!!!! And I just spent $700 on a Nikon macro lens!

That will almost buy me a DSLR (...I'm still saving) :)

asitv

Canon EOS-80D

07/26/2005 01:02:07 AM · #15

Originally posted by kirbic:

Now just how are we going to list that in the lens database, LOL.

Just call it TD's Macro... All credit to you Tiberius. Great job !!