Fifty-Cent Macro Lens

User-Contributed Project

User-Contributed Project

This project guide is not managed by MAKE staff.

Modify a cheap digital video camera (like a Kodak Zx1) so it can take close-up shots for your video podcasting.

  • Author: Sean Lee
  • Time required: 40 to 60 seconds
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Add Note x
  • x 3

I wanted to contribute video in Make: Projects, but it turned out that none of the cameras I had in the house were of sufficient quality to do the job.

The camera I had hoped to use was a Kodak Zx1, which I picked up for $45. It shoots 720p HD, which is perfect for web demo videos.

The problem was that the minimum focal range of the camera was 100cm -- a full meter! Certainly not close enough to show the simple circuits I was trying to display.

So - I was shopping for a better camera when my wife said "Why don't you do this?" And here are the results.

Tools
Relevant parts
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Add Note Edit Step 1 — Fifty-Cent Macro Lens  ¶ 

  • Go to the dollar store and buy some reading glasses. I tried diopters of 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, and 2.0. The 2.0 worked best for my camera.

  • Pop a lens out of the glasses.

  • Tape it to the camera.

  • Enjoy making close-up video!

first image

Add Note Edit Step 2  ¶ 

  • Not really a step, but this is the video quality before modification (camera is 18 inches from subject).

first image

Add Note Edit Step 3  ¶ 

  • Here's the video quality after modification.

For more information, check out the Hacks and Mods category page.

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Guide Add Note

Excellent project and use of materials, Sean!

A couple notes on lenses and selection:

The power on reading glasses is in diopters, not magnification, as 2x might imply. Diopter strength is one meter divided by the lens's focal length (in meters), so 2.0 diopters means a focal length of 1/2 meter, or 18". Since the camera is set for fixed focus near infinity, adding a 2.0 diopter lens will magically make it focus to near 18".

Use that as a guide for selecting the power of eyeglass lens you want. If the subject will be around 18" / 50 cm / 0.5 meter, the lens should be 1/0.5 or 2.0 diopters. A +3 diopter lens will move the far focus to around 33 cm, or 13". a +1.50 diopter supplemental lens would give 67 cm or about 26 " focus, and so on.

Note that you can also double up lenses, since you have two. The diopter powers simply add, so two 2.0 diopter lenses would give you 4.0, and a 25 cm / 10" focus.

Dave

Dave Bell, · Reply

To get even closer range, I used a dollar store magnifier. They had a model with a large viewer and a coin sized magnifier. I removed the coin size magnifier and Scotch double sided tape on the camera's lens rim. This allows me to get even closer for electronic circuit imaging, on my blog. http://mayohardware.blogspot.com

EC Mayo, · Reply