After having a conversation with a friend about planning weekend shoots and filming short stories I came up with an idea. I wanted to start using the things I build to make a series of short "MAKER" videos. Most of what will be used in the making of the videos will be hand made. Which brings me to the latest tutorial on how to build a 35mm lens adapter for your digital camera. Here's a short list of things you'll most likely need if you are to attempt this yourself.
SQUARE BOX 5''X5''X4''
35mm BACK LENS CAP / 35mm SLR CAMERA
35mm CAMERA LENSCD PLAYER / DC MOTOR
BATTERY & SWITCH
In short, the adapter works similarly to a pin hole camera. Light comes in through the 35mm lens and is projected insides the box onto the GG(Ground Glass). Your digital camera is place in back and is focused on the GG. This is what the projected image looks like. Notice how the image is upside down on the GG.
SQUARE BOX 5''X5''X4''
35mm BACK LENS CAP / 35mm SLR CAMERA
35mm CAMERA LENSCD PLAYER / DC MOTOR
BATTERY & SWITCH
In short, the adapter works similarly to a pin hole camera. Light comes in through the 35mm lens and is projected insides the box onto the GG(Ground Glass). Your digital camera is place in back and is focused on the GG. This is what the projected image looks like. Notice how the image is upside down on the GG.
For the GG(Ground Glass) I used a clear CD and sand it to give it a diffuse surface. In order to get a clean image without scratches I mount the GG to a spinning motor. You can use a DC motor if you like but I found this to be much to loud. Instead, I highly recommend salvaging the motor from an old CD player. For the outside case I used a tin box that came with my old wallet. Luckily I didn't throw that away!
Now to get the 35mm lenses to fit the box. I took the front end off of an old Pentax camera and attached it to the top of the box like so.
Next, I drilled a matching hole on the other side of the box and put the whole thing together. You need to measure the distance from the lens to the GG in order for the light to focus correctly. I was able to eyeball it by moving the GG around until I got a focused projection. Then I used plastic spacers to place the GG at the correct distance. I hooked up all of the electronics, mounted the on/off switch to the side of the box and locked everything else down. For the last step I used the cans from all of the diet coke I drank while building the adapter to seal the box.
Although I haven't found the right camera setup for the "MAKER" video series this would give me a good push into the general direction. Here's some footage from my first test.
I'm currently working on adding a remote focus pull. Here you can see the front of the box with the servo inserted next to the lens. I need a set of gears to make it work but that'll have to wait until next time.
Sources:
Comments
Post a Comment