I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

I was challenged to make a lens for a friend without buying any new optical elements. I have a pile of glass that I've salvaged from old camera lenses that I've modified. I wanted to make a cooke triplet but didn't have any negative elements on hand where I precisely knew their characteristics. I then realized that my eye glasses are relatively well characterized negative lenses, so I had an optometrist cut them into a disc shape and I built the lens around that. It performed very well in my simulations, but not so well in real life. But it was a fun project and my friend ended up with a unique lens for her camera.

i remember making my own camera in the mid 1970s. the lens was one of those crappy macro things you could screw onto a proper slr lens, and the film was actually photographic printing paper. the body was cardboard and tape, and the shutter a bit of cloth.<p>after you had taken a pic, you had to rush into the darkroom, develop the paper and then reverse print it (cannot remember how, or even if i did).<p>all a bit weird, but it kept me amused back then. i haven&#x27;t been involved in photography for nearly 40 years.

If you want to get this effect quickly without spending any money at all, and you have a pro-type camera with a removable lens, you can get it by just holding the lens against the opening, and rocking it side to side a little.<p>It&#x27;s a pretty common trick photographers and videographers use to get a sort of dream-sequence effect.

What&#x27;s the name of the song?<p>Edit: CARIBOU - Hello Hammerheads <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=2N_VvfPX1Bc" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=2N_VvfPX1Bc</a>

From the YouTube video description :-)<p>...<p>With mere hours of experience in the art and science of optical design, the team at SUPERCHROMAT remain novices in the field. As such, this prime lens, with 6 elements over 4 groups, provides inferior optical performance at a price affordable to few.<p>Regardless of whether it’s a matter of selective focus in the close-up range, high-contrast available light applications or landscape shots with immense depth of field, this lens fails to deliver persuasive arguments in nearly all situations unless stopped down to f&#x2F;22.<p>2X 200mm biconvex lenses BK7. Uncoated.<p>-700 &#x2F; 075 X 3 used eyeglass lens 1.67 &#x2F; Vd 42. Fingerprint coated<p>+30mm aspheric achromatic triplet LAK14&#x2F;SF57&#x2F;Aspheric polymer. VIS 0º coated

I totally love this from a DIY creative perspective. You could probably sell this to Zack Snyder for $5m.<p>Because that&#x27;s basically what happened in his last 2 abominable movies. He found some really unsuitable thrift lenses and thought it was a master stroke of genius to use them in a professional movie. That&#x27;s why virtually every single frame is horribly blurred except at the exact center.

At 02:29:50 you can see the shape of a skull form in the plants in the upper portion of the screen.

This is wild, I photograph with a Leica M7. If he sold these lenses, I&#x27;d buy one.

Don&#x27;t forget to make it radioactive!

&quot;...If you&#x27;re a fan of vintage photography, with all its charming imperfections, the SUPERCHROMAT lens might be your jam. Embrace the softness, the chromatic aberration, the unpredictable vignetting. This lens isn&#x27;t about precision; it&#x27;s about character. And at a price only the absurdly wealthy could afford, it&#x27;ll definitely make a statement. &quot;<p>The so bad it&#x27;s actually good :) Lovely song, too