Leica Lens for 50 Euro - DIY, the Art of Bodge

in #steemstem6 years ago (edited)

Just to clarify: I haven't taken the advantage and scammed some old person - I got my Leica for the regular price.


However, that was not the camera lens.
It was the lens for an old projector.

Here's the full story.

And this is the reason why I like to explore, to experiment.

20180325_171849.jpg

Its size is reasonably unreasonable, about 20 cm. For the comparison, I included the Sony SEL55210, in fully extended form

Meyer Optik Gorlitz


The story behind the Meyer Optik is a typical story of the lens manufacturers from the East(ern) Germany.

They started the production before the WWII, with the know-how from the former Zeiss engineer.

After the war, the company continued to produce lenses based on "Trioplan" design, mainly for rangefinders.

During the 70's they became the part of Pentacon and bankrupted in the early 90's.

Years have passed and the people fell in love with the new, sharp, computer-optimized lenses.
It was so good to enjoy in a strange sport called pixel peeping.
It became possible to have an unprecedented sharpness and to be incompetent on so many megapixels.

But, those lenses didn't have "the special feeling", didn't have "the soul".

And someone remembered the Trioplan.

Trioplan


This ingenious design dates back to 1893 and the design known as the Cooke Triplet.

And it had a special property.
It created the "soap bubble" bokeh.

The company Meyer Gorlitz was re-established in 2014 and they started producing the Trioplans.

And the price is: between 1000 and 4000 Euro!
For 3 lenses, seriously?! How on Earth it can be that expensive?!
Are those made of diamonds?


As you can see, this design is so complex, that there is the free Matlab code to do the calculations

My crazy idea:


Without any desire to spend 1000 Euro for something like this, I started looking for the same design for the fraction of the money.

And it was easy to find - the lenses for projectors.
Those lenses are long (> 100 mm) and fast (f/2.8 or even some smaller number).

Of course, I was going for the very best:
Leica Elmaron 150 f/2.8

Realization in practice:


This was very simple actually.

The only thing you should worry about is the focusing.
And the focusing is achieved by simply moving the whole lens back and forward.
With the longer distance, you are able to focus closer, so check the infinity first.
If you have some MILC, it should be just fine.

Ingredients for the working prototype:

  • macro tube. if it's broken - even better
  • some tape and cardboard (to save the precious tape :) )
  • some plastic bottle

And that's it!

betca.jpg

Yes, it's simple and ugly... But does it work?

Photos:


Let's test some "Bokeh!" (background blur)


bokeh.jpg

As you can see, most modern lenses tend to make the perfect, circular, uniform circles.
In contrast, the old Trioplan makes those semi-transparent circles with the halo.

Some sample images


DSC02834.jpg

There is no vignetting (circular darkening when you compare the center with the edges).
And I haven't use the lens hood, because I wanted to make it a bit "washed".

DSC02848.jpg

It makes me a little dizzy, but it's springtime!!!

CV004.jpg

Bubbles everywhere!!! :)

CV007.jpg

But if the background is uniformly lighen up, it can be "creamy".

Pixel Peeping!!! We want Pixel Peeping!!!


300300.jpg

Ok, ok, stop the riots, here is the example of pixel peeping...
Handheld shot on some lichen, 300 x 300 px cut from the original 6000 x 4000 px photo.
And it's uniformly sharp from the edge to the edge (via the center) because it was constructed for the projectors

Practical aspects of use:


It's heavy! Seriously heavy. After 1h of photography, you can skip the gym.
Focusing is nice and easy, esspecially if your camera has focus peaking.
You will look "pro", with the largest lens in the town. Maybe some NatGeo guy will stay unimpressed.
Girls - they don't care, you're trying too hard. And you are struggling in some uncomfortable positions.
Consequently, your coefficient of attraction approaches sub-zero.

To regain it, you will need Leica IIIf or something similar.


I hope this post inspired some of you to play with weird lenses


Enjoy the community

Sort:  

Svaka cast ovo sam bookmark-o i proslijedio prijatelju koji trenutno nije u financijskoj situaciji da si priusti kakav od 500-1000 e... Hvala puno na projektu, svaka cast jos jednom.

Neka se zanima sa starim objektivima. Mogućnosti za kreativnost se povećavaju, a to što postoji bolji nov (bolji na testu) neka ga ne brine. Meni je logika da zacrtam neku gornju cenu koja je ispod realne i prosto kupim kad naiđe. Uvek mogu da prodam za isto ili više tako da je zanimacija besplatna :)

Opasna strategija :D Slikao sam mu zahvaljuje se, ali nije jos na steemitu. :)

Eto sta se moze za male pare uraditi, a dobiti kvalitet priblizno objektivu od 1000e, svaka cast.

Gledao sam neke primere fotografija snimljenim objektivima za projektore i svi izgledaju jako slično.

Neke manje izvikane marke - 10 e, Zeiss - 30, Leica - 50.

Uz neki neispravni pull-push stari zoom koji bi poslužio kao držač (0-5 e), dobija se potpuno funkcionalna stvar kao iz fabrike da je izašla. Još ako mu radi apertura - savršenstvo.

Sad si me naveo na razmisljanje, da pokusam da napravim ja nesto slicno tvome. :D Cak i fotografije su poprilicno ostre, uz dodatnu obradu moze jos bolje da ispadne fotografija.

Duvao vetar kao blesav, pa mi kvario posao :D
Oni lišajevi su iz ruke, tako da može oštrije. Muka je držati 150 mm na nestabilisanom APS-C telu (a7 III - bićeš moj iduće godine).

Blic, zalazak kroz grane i mislim da će ispasti neki sjajan portret.

Verovatno je najbolje uzeti neki objektiv od 100 mm jer su fizički puno manji i lakši.

Samo na licu mesta testiraj beskonačnost. Za ovaj moj je oko 6,5-7,0 cm od senzora tako da je sigurno ok čak i za Nikone.

nisam ukapirao, jel si uspeo namestiti fokus, ili jednostavno setas napred nazad dok ne potrefis :D
fotke izgledaju ekstra. svidja mi se izgled.

jesam :) Sam objektiv stoji u ovoj metalnoj stvari i ima navoj tako da radi kao i svaki.

Sad gledam kako da napravim relativno ne-odvtarnu verziju sa kojom bih pokrivao od nekoliko cm širine kadra za macro do beskonačnosti. Pravac francuska verzija "Uradi sam" i dve cevke...

bravo...ovo ide u favorite, siguran sam da će jednog dana zatrebati.

Hvala :D Ako vidiš neki stari projektor na pijaci sa cenom bliskom nuli... Znaš šta ti je činiti

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