Ink | Pen | Paper

This is a short project to salvage a junked wide-angle lens from an old camcorder, an old Coffeemate (nondairy coffee creamer!) container, some electrical tape. Works for my Canon S3IS prosumer camera!

I seem to have a knack for turning junk into something useful (inherited this trait from my dad). I recently found this abandoned wide-angle (almost fisheye) lens that was originally for an old camcorder. I wondered if I could use it for my Canon S3IS prosumer cam. My prosumer didn't have much options for accessories, considering it had a fixed lens and the ones that are indeed available are very expensive. So, I said, this just might work. Here is a short photoessay of how I did it.

Granted, the resulting shots aren't "pro" quality, but hey, this is a wide-angle lens at practically ZERO cost/expenses!

Here we have the lens itself, pretty battered metal holder, with lots of dents. I believe its for an old JVC camcorder.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ts/STORY01.jpg

I first tried it by just holding it up against my S3IS's lens...the initial results weren't very appealing, but after a few tweaks with the camera (found out it works best with the S3IS in "supermacro" mode), it began to show some promise (in this shot, I was still holding the lens against my camera's lens)...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ts/STORY03.jpg

...but first, I needed a bit of research (and who said Wikipedia was worthless?)...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ts/STORY04.jpg

That plastic Coffeemate container is the key component (aside from the lens, of course)


...cutting up the Coffeemate container...there was some trial and error involved, but constant measurement checks ensured I wasn't trimming away too much or too little...


...and finally, after an hour's worth of fitting, glueing, fine trimming and sanding...voila!


Fits like a dream! I didn't even need to create a baffle to hold it perpendicular to the barrel's axis--the fit was really snug! I lined the mate surface with electrical tape--the DIY lens will be held in place on the S3IS' barrel solely by friction--there is no ICKY-STICKY tape or any form of adhesive holding it in place...very clean and precise.


Time to test it out! First shot...


Crop of first shot...


Our askal Bitoy...


Bromeliads...


You might notice increasing distortion and chromatic aberration towards the edges but...hey...not bad for a ZERO cost project, and a lazy Sunday hour's worth of time eh?

So what are you waiting for? Go rumming in your garage or your backyard--you just might find something worthwhile to recycle and DIY.

Because life is basically one BIG Do-It-Yourself project--sometimes you mess up, but if you just keep trying out stuff, adapting the stuff that works, and discarding the stuff that don't, then you eventually produce something that actually works.

-RODION