Build Your iPhone ‘Lensbaby’ With An Old CCTV Lens

By

cult_logo_featured_image_missing_default1920x1080

Have you switched over to an iPhone full-time for your photography, and yet you desperately miss your Lensbaby or other tilt-shift lens setup? Then take a look at this great DIY project from Maciej Pietuszynski that turns an old CCTV lens into a grungifying lens for any smartphone.

The photo form Maciej’s Instagram shows the mod well enough:

Step 1: rip the lens out of an old CCTV camera.
Step 2: Add an (optional) zip-tie to form a handle
Step 3: Profit!

You can use the zip-tie handle to hold the lens in front of your camera’s own lens, or you can use a rubber band to make a more practical and semi-permanent fixing. The lens used for these shots is the a Goyo 4.5mm ƒ1.4, but anything will do. The point here is to get a lens that’ll add some sweet distortion to your images before you get anywhere near the processing software.

So, next time you’re at the flea market, forget about those cute magazine racks or the cake stand that you’ll never use, and instead head over to the creepy guy selling the salvaged electronic gear and wearing the military-surplus fatigues, becasue he might just have your next iPhone accessory buried somewhere inside his gadgets.

Source: Instagram
Via: DIY Photography

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.