What I'm Up To

Lens Mods

I've been playing around again with lens modifications to fit onto my canon T1i. Last year I made a lens out of old projector lenses and used a canon body cap with a pin hole in it to attach the lenses. Now I decided to take one of the lenses from my vintage cameras and modify it to fit the T1i. I love using my film camera but I don't really like paying to have the picture developed. What gives the pictures from these cameras is typically the lens so I figured why not just git the lens to my digital camera. I took off the lens from my Argus C3 which is a 50mm f/3.5 which was made around 1940. I used another canon body cap and cut out a hole for the lens to slip inside. I then used some aluminum spacers from another dismantled lens to get the right distance between the lens and the sensor. The argus lens sits about 1/4 inch below the body cap. I have it set to where the focal range is 3 feet to infinity. Using the lens is much like using it on the Argus camera body. You adjust the focal range and aperture on the lens then control the iso and shutter speed with the camera. It's a fun little lens to shoot with, and it's actually surprising how great the pictures are with it.

Here is a slide show of picture I have taken with the lens as well as pictures of the lens itself. 

Also here are pictures of the homemade lens.

These are actually really cheap if you want to try and make one yourself. I picked up the Argus C3 with lens for around $5 and the body cap was around $3. The homemade lens was entirely made from parts I found in the trash.