Make a Macro Lens for Your Phonecam from an Old Camera

Computers & Mobile Technology
Make a Macro Lens for Your Phonecam from an Old Camera

In this video, Chris Notap shows you how quick and easy it is to create a very effective macro lens for your phone camera using little more than the camera lens from an old digital camera (who doesn’t have one of these laying around in a drawer?), a Popsicle stick, and a rubber band.

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Chris was able to get a number of old digital cameras for $2 each at Value Village. With an old camera in hand, it’s simply a mater of taking it apart to get to the lens, removing the lens, and mounting it on a piece of Popsicle stick with a dab of hot glue.

To use, you can either hold the stick against the back of the camera with the lens over the phone’s existing lens or use a rubber band to hold it in place for hands-free operation. You can see from the shots he includes in the video, you can get some pretty spectacular images with this simple little hack.

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

View more articles by Gareth Branwyn

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