Hey, it’s not high-def, but a pinhole lens lets you capture high depth of field, as in the shot on the left. Meanwhile, a DIY macro lens offers a close-up peek at teeny-tiny things, such as the mustard seeds in the pic on the right, for less than 20 bucks.
WHAT YOU NEED
> Empty Pringles can
> SLR body caps to fit your camera ($5, www.calumetphoto.com)
> Dremel or small-bit standard drill
> Tin snips
> Utility knife
> Rough sandpaper or metal file
> Hot glue or contact cement
> Black marker or paint
> Black construction paper or felt
> Black sock (optional)
> Used SLR lens (fixed distance works well)
> Needle
> Foil tape (optional)
Other photogs will snicker at you when you whip out your Pringles can macro lens - but think of all the money you’ve saved!
If you’re a practitioner of the photographic arts, eventually you’re going to want the freedom of having a number of different lenses at your disposal. But single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, standard issue among amateurs and pros alike, offer a wide variety of sometimes shockingly pricey lenses - specifically in the macro (up-close) photo arena, where capturing the tiny can cost thousands of dollars.
Which is why we’re going to show you how to cheaply build a camera extension tube to capture macro details down to the millimeter, and ditch the glass lens for an altogether different effect with a high depth-of-field (equally focusing near and distant subjects) pinhole setup. Note: Both DIY lenses require a tripod since the tiniest movement will blur your shots, and a shutter-release remote (or the camera’s timer) is recommended, as well.
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BUILD A MACRO LENS
1. Have Some Chips, Grab a Drill
Your Pringles can should be empty, so start eating (or just put the chips in another container). Wash the empty can with soap and water to clean out all the grease. Let it dry thoroughly.
Use a Dremel Tool or standard drill to carve a hole in the can bottom, completing the cut with the tin snips. Make the hole about 1.5 inches in diameter so there’s still ample room to connect the body cap. You don’t have to hit the perfect center, but cut a good approximation.
It’s not your father’s shop class.
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2. Carve Out the Body Cap’s Center
Grab the body cap you purchased or scrounged up - and remember when you buy the cap that the connections vary slightly by camera brand. With your utility knife, gently carve the center out of the cap, stopping just before the locking mechanism that connects to the camera body. Roughly file or sand the inside of the cut - this will ensure that light scatters when hitting it. Clean out any stray bits of plastic.
The obligatory do-as-we-say-and-not-as-we-do recommendation: Cut away from you.
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3. Glue Cap to Can
Glue the bottom of the can to the top of the body cap ring, exposing the interface to the camera side. Be sure the joint is strong; this connection needs to support the weight of a glass lens at the end of the tube. When dry, blacken any glue with paint or a marker to block light from leaking inside. Cut to fit and insert black construction paper or felt into the Pringles can to absorb any light that passes through. Glue it into place.
If it takes longer than five minutes to apply the glue, you’re probably not really here for the lens making.
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4. Insert the Lens
Take your used camera lens and invert it so the camera body’s interface points out. Insert the lens into the end of the Pringles can. If the fit is loose, use felt or a section of a black sock to make things snug. Any lens - even the one that came with the camera - should work fine; we like the simplicity and low cost of an old, fixed-distance lens (check eBay or thrift shops). Focus photos by slowly moving the camera-and-tripod, or the subject. The narrow focal point will be a few inches away from the lens. Screw the unit to the SLR of your choice and begin snapping away.
We probably don’t need to say this, but keep your fingers (and fingerprints) off the lens.
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BONUS TIP: From Macro to Your Mac
After you shoot your macro and pinhole photos, import them into Apple’s Aperture ($299) for basic edits. iPhoto works too, but we prefer Aperture’s ability to compare before-and-after images. Be sure Aperture is assigned to import files by first launching Image Capture in the /Applications folder. Choose Image Capture > Preferences, click the General tab, and select Aperture as the default program. Click OK, and quit Image Capture. Connect a digital camera to automatically open Aperture, and click Import All to add the pictures to your library. Or follow the same process with a USB 2.0 card reader (try Belkin’s Hi-Speed USB 2.0 15-in-1 Media Reader & Writer, $39.99), which transfers your photos much faster than the standard USB cable that came with your camera.
Set the drop-down menu in Image Capture’s preferences to launch Aperture when you connect a camera or flash disk.
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BUILD A PINHOLE LENS
1. Mark the Center of Body Cap & Drill Away
As with the macro lens, you’ll need a body cap that matches your camera. After you’ve ferreted one out, draw lines inside across its diameter - draw several lines to be sure they intersect at the exact center. Use a Dremel drill (or a number 6 center drill) to start drilling a hole into the center of the cap. Work slowly so that you almost reach the other side, without breaking through.
Lightly draw in the guidelines for your center point.
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2. Finish the Hole
Gently push a needle into the center to finish the hole. As an alternative method - especially if you accidentally drilled all the way through the cap - affix a piece of foil tape to the outside of the cap, and pierce that sheet with a needle. Some cameras, like Canon DSLRs, can be used in aperture-priority mode to adjust the needed exposure length automatically. Even if you use this mode, verify the proper exposure by checking an image’s histogram while shooting. Make sure the curves are evenly distributed. If they’re squished to the left or right, the image will be under- or overexposed, respectively. Screw on the cap and voilà, the Pinhole 3000.
Baffle your friends, bamboozle your foes.
