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home made lenses for 4x5

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Daniel Buck

New member
Here's one of the projects I've been slowly working on, very large aperture lenses for 4x5 (and 8x10). This was one of my better results for the 4x5, I used my monorail 4x5 because it had a larger front standard to hold the larger diameter lens.

I plan on doing more of this, I've got a few fun project in mind for it once I nail a good combo :)

The combo:
lens_fun_05.jpg


The result:
lens_fun_06.jpg
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
Asher Kelman said:
Daniel,

I'm intrigued but can't figure out the structure of the lens? Am I too sober?

Asher
Click to expand...

structure? there's not much to it really, just a lens element taped to a piece of cardboard :D I believe this one actually had a 2nd lens taped to the other side of the cardboard.
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
Will Thompson said:
What f stop and what material?
Click to expand...

I believe I calculated this one to be roughly a 400mm f3 or there abouts. As for the material, do you mean the glass? I don't know, I didn't make the glass, I just found it. Sorry, I should have mentioned that I didn't grind the glass, it's not *that* home made :-D
 
R

Reginald Johnson

Member
Hi Daniel,
Nice adventure, this. The soft-focus kind of effect is really cool - should look nice on a glamour model! I think you can also adjust sharpnes/DOF by sticking a home-made apperture of black cardboard over/under the lens. Should take care of light-leaks though.

Actually I have done something like this in my younger days - taped a simple magnifier on a Yashika-J rangefinder to make it do macro work while photographing electronic circuits. Of course, I had to first make a re-calibration chart for the focus ring. Lot of work, lot of fun. Only B/W, since colour would have brought out chromatism I'm sure.


BTW, do you still get 8x10 plates?

regi
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
a little update on some of my lens fun/shenanigans, a triplet lens set that is roughly 200mm f1.2, I'll be mounting it on my 8x10 camera. Since the lens is actually larger across than the front of my camera, it'll end up probably being something more like f2.0 or 2.8, but it'll still be an interesting thing on 8x10 for sure!

I'm temporarily gluing the metal case of the lens to a wood lensboard (it's drying over-night in this photo here), and will use some bungie straps to help carry the load of the lens for a few test shots (since I doubt the glue will safely hold all 5+ pounds of the lens!). if the test shots turn out good, I'll work on making a more sturdy permanent mount for the lens, and probably a larger front standard and bellows so that I can use the lens at it's full f1.2 aperture.

biglens_drying.jpg
 
Will Thompson

Will Thompson

Well Known Member
Daniel, Just think how cool a series of photos would look as the lens melted?

If you made a set of master molds you could have several ready to switch out as soon as the one in use melted too much to use!
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
Will Thompson said:
Daniel, Just think how cool a series of photos would look as the lens melted?

If you made a set of master molds you could have several ready to switch out as soon as the one in use melted too much to use!
Click to expand...

hm... could be interesting, just keep a few of them in the freezer and bring them with me in an ice chest :-D I could make a mold out of a few lens elements I have that I already know are a good shape. Ice would refract a little different though. May have to try it some time :)
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
ok, the S.S. Minnow is mounted, and I've taken it's first test shot! I've dubbed this lens the "S.S. Minnow" because someone said it looked like a port-hole from a sea ship, haha! Will develop the test shot later today, can't wait to see it :-D

and one with a 1 pint can for size reference

biglens_01.jpg


biglens_02.jpg


biglens_03.jpg
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Funny thing, Daniel, that's why I thought it was a Phillips! Mine is a not blonde but a Chamonix too.

... and the green lens hoist?

Asher
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
I would have gone for the darker wood myself too, but this one came up used, and I'd took the camera right then instead of getting on a waiting list for a new one in the wood choice I wanted. The lighter wood doesn't bother me much at all. My 4x5 Chamonix is the darker wood, the only reason I would have wanted the 8x10 to be darker, is so that they both matched, for whatever that's worth. haha! :-D
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
This is a beautiful effect, Daniel!

Can you share what type of glass this is and what it was made for originall;y?

Asher
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
Asher Kelman said:
This is a beautiful effect, Daniel!

Can you share what type of glass this is and what it was made for originall;y?

Asher
Click to expand...

According the the website where I purchased the lens, not alot is known about the lens itself. It's an air-spaced triplet design, multi-coated, and at least some of the lens elements are Lanthanum and Barium glass.

Here's the link to the description of the lens element: http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l13001.html I periodically get things from surpluss-shead, this was by far my most expensive venture (over $200), but I thought it would be worth it for such a large triplet lens as this. I'm glad I went for it :) In the passed I've just gone for the real cheap ($10 or so) single element lenses.

Apparently there is a 2nd lens set that was originally intended to go with this, to make it a much longer focal length. But I was not interested in that, as I wanted to keep the aperture wide, and the focal length relatively short. (and also, not have to worry about mounting yet a 2nd heavy piece of lens to the camera at the same time, haha!)
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
second test shot. You can kind of see how curved the plane of focus is in this shot The lettering on the glass is in focus, and the edge of the table (about 6-8 inches in front of the glass) is also in focus, but the base of the glass is out of focus. This is really apparent when focusing the lens, but not as apparent in the final image.

Another Irish Stout:

biglens_testshot_02.jpg


Daniel Buck: Guiness!​
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Daniel Buck said:
second test shot. You can kind of see how curved the plane of focus is in this shot The lettering on the glass is in focus, and the edge of the table (about 6-8 inches in front of the glass) is also in focus, but the base of the glass is out of focus. This is really apparent when focusing the lens, but not as apparent in the final image.

Another Irish Stout:

biglens_testshot_02.jpg


Daniel Buck: Guiness!​
Click to expand...


What a soft bokeh and delightful grading of focus near the beer. I love this! 6-8" in front of the glass is very convenient! You still have enough room for lighting. Can you get the whole room or out the window too?

I'm amazed that the Chamonix front standard holds this so well. How much do you think the lens weighs? I guess the thing to note is that it's not in a long barrel that would cause leverage.

Asher
 
J

Jim Galli

Member
Pretty pretty pretty! Some poor street car down at the museum has lost it's headlight. Great stuff.

Happy 2010 everybody!
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
Asher Kelman said:
What a soft bokeh and delightful grading of focus near the beer. I love this! 6-8" in front of the glass is very convenient! You still have enough room for lighting. Can you get the whole room or out the window too?

I'm amazed that the Chamonix front standard holds this so well. How much do you think the lens weighs? I guess the thing to note is that it's not in a long barrel that would cause leverage.

Asher
Click to expand...

Yes, I'll be taking some more photos of different subjects. I don't really intend to use it for my usual subjects (trees and landscapes) but I may give them a shot, once I figure out how to best shoot this wide aperture in brighter lighting conditions with no shutter!

The lens weighs between 5 and 6 pounds. And you are right, if it were sticking out much farther it would cause a problem I think! I've already got bungee straps to help with the load (more so, to keep the lense from coming un-glued from my lens board!) I'm finding that the lens sometimes wants to creep the front tilt torwards a little bit if I don't bungee it well, so the bungee helps that too.
 
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Daniel Buck

New member
So, I've had this old Aviator's night vision case laying around from a military surplus store (I love shopping at the surplus stores!), finally putting it to some good use! I was wondering how in the heck I'm going to carry this lens around, and I don't want to just set it anywhere, being as large and as heavy as it is, since it pretty much requires both hands to carry around. This case makes it nice and easy with one hand, and I don't have to worry about where I set it down, or anything, I can just set it down on the ground any ol where. Finally putting this awesome case to a good use :-D Soda can for size comparison. Will put other necessary things in there to fill up the remaining space. Can't fit an 8x10 camera in there, but can fit a 4x5 no problem :)

big_lens_case_01.jpg


big_lens_case_02.jpg
 
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