Homemade lenses for my G1

[petronius]

Minotar 35mm/2,8 from a broken Minox 35EL, glued into a m4/3 body cap:

Examples; ooc jpgs, AWB, Auto ISO, dynamic film mode, minor corrections in PS:

f8,0:

f2,8:

f5,6:

 

[paulfish4570]

wow. aren't you a wiz ... 🙂

 

[gshybrid]

interesting... does it focus at the distances marked on the lens?

 

[petronius]

Yes, it does!

 

[RichardP]

Great idea, I've got a broken Minox -- how did you calculate where to fix the lens? How is the leather grip attached and how far round does it go?

 

[petronius]

I used the trial and error method. The lens comes out of the Minox in two parts, the glass with shutter, aperture and distance scale and a straight tube. There are many wires to cut and you will have to remove the shutter magnets and some other gizmos on the back of the lens.
(The tiny lever that opens the shutter blades has to be glued carefully.)
I carved a hole in the body cap in which the tube sits firmly. Then I set the lens to infinity, put it into the tube and moved the whole unit carefully until I had a sharp image on the lcd. Then I removed the lens and glued the tube into the body cap without moving it. After one night I put the lens unit back into the tube and fixed it from inside with gaffer tape to keep the lens removable if necessary (I´m a friend of gaffer tape).
The leather on the camera body is fixed with rubber cement (Pattex). It end at the hinge of the SD card door.

 

[petronius]

26mm/2,0 lens removed from a Canon 110ED and transplanted into a Industar-61 helicoid:

I wrapped gaffer tape around the lens to fit the different diameters of the lens and the helicoid.

The Canon´s aperture was placed in front of the lens, so I can shoot only at 2,0; the lens focuses from 25cm to infinity.

 

[RichardP]

I used the trial and error method. The lens comes out of the Minox in two parts, the glass with shutter, aperture and distance scale and a straight tube. There are many wires to cut and you will have to remove the shutter magnets and some other gizmos on the back of the lens.
....
.

Thanks, that's very helpful!

 

[kzphoto]

That canon 110 ED lens is cracking! Amazing bokeh. It wouldn't cover an APS-C frame would it? That would be a really great focal length to employ on an NEX or Ricoh GXR....

 

[petronius]

It was designed for 13x17mm negatives; I presume some vignetting on a Nex.

 

[paulfish4570]

fun thread, zeno ...

 

[petronius]

Thank you, Paul!

Here is another one. In 2010 I bought a Penti I with a brick of Orwo SL films. I took it on a walk some weeks ago and after the first frame the shutter stuck and something rattled inside the camera. Ever tried to open a Penti? Forget it! (Maybe I´m too dumb, but I read about similar problems with the Pentina)
At the end I used some force, and removed the lens. Looking around in my McGyver box I found the seldom used Holga lens for M4/3, which I had modified several times. I removed the "lens" and replaced it by the Penti glass. The new lens can be stopped down, but I have to do it from the backside with a toothpick or a pen.

Examples:

 

[robertofollia]

Minotar 35mm/2,8 from a broken Minox 35EL, glued into a m4/3 body cap:

Examples; ooc jpgs, AWB, Auto ISO, dynamic film mode, minor corrections in PS:

f8,0:

f2,8:

f5,6:

I love the way pics shooted with Minox lenses (after all it's a Tessar, isn't it) look. There's no comparison for the Zeiss glass. A fabulous idea to keep that great magnificent tiny lens working again!
Another possiblity is mating the minox lens to a M mount, to deliver the same great results...

BTW what happened to the remains of the donor minox?

 

[johannielscom]

I'm betting the remains of the Minox got thrown out somewhere in the past 2.5 years... 😀

 

[Range-rover]

Great job with those lenses, the micro 4/3rds is a fun camera to work with.

 

[jesse1dog]

This is the real fun part of photography - going where nobody has been before, and achieving great results - brilliant! Quite made my day to see this thread!

 

[Shirley Creazzo]

I can understand the excitement here. I so love the mechanics of stuff like this and I am envious of guys like you who understand it all, and in awe of those of you who actaully know how to do these things. The intricacies of the work and the enthusiasm of all is nice.

P.S. the resulting photos are not too shabby either!!!

 

[petronius]

Update:
The lens of the Lomo LC-A and the lens of a Canon Dial halfframe camera (both FUBAR!)
The lenses were glued into body caps and fitted with tiny magnets in the back that can hold waterhouse stops.
Not as clean as the actual Minitar from Lomography, but a bit cheaper!

Examples will follow (these are older conversions, ca. 2012/13, so I have to find the pictures first!)

 

[petronius]

Thank you Helen!

Pictures from the Minitar:

The waterhouse stops make shooting into the light a sometimes surprising experience!
I got similar effects with homemade pinhole cameras.

 

[raid]

I wish I could manage such conversions. You are talented.