Usually, getting some beautiful swirly bokeh on the cheap means looking to used Russian lenses like the Helios 44-2. But if you’re determined to get more creative, weird lens hunter Mathieu Stern has an idea for you: try a military grade night vision lens. Stern got his hands on just such a lens, a C-Mount […]
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Using a massive Fresnel element and relying upon the physics of light, photographer Christopher Getschmann built a "hypercentric camera" that makes objects that are further away from the camera appear larger than what's closer. [Read More]
Photographer, YouTuber, and weird lens connoisseur Mathieu Stern recently made one of his coolest finds yet. It’s the Carl Zeiss 105mm f/1.9 Kipronar T, a cinema projector lens he describes as “one of the most amazing swirly bokeh lenses I ever tested”… and yet it only cost him $25. Projector lenses like this are not […]
Weird lens aficionado Mathieu Stern has created the rarest of camera lenses with the most precious of materials (in the ongoing pandemic): a roll of toilet paper. Stern found an optical lens that fit perfectly inside the cardboard tube and then added another tube (with an aperture and rear mount attached to it) to serve […]
While in Finland visiting The Camera Rescue Project, YouTuber and vintage lens enthusiast Mathieu Stern got to try out a rare Canon “dream lens”: the Canon 50mm f/0. 95. And like any good camera nerd, Stern immediately set it to f/0.
The folks at Fotodiox found one of the weirdest, most threatening lenses you’ll ever see at an antique store recently. Totally homemade—the thing doesn’t even include an aperture—this rifle stock lens is one we do NOT suggest you travel with… unless you really want to freak out the TSA. Bohus bought the lens, and he […]
Want to make your portraits look like they were taken in some weird Minecraft universe full of squares? Weird lens expert Mathieu Stern can help. He found a cheap, strange little lens that produces square bokeh that immediately makes photos and videos stand out.