Free-lensing!

joxang

joxang

Messages
216
Name
Joe Z
Edit My Images
Yes
Free-lensing is a technique where you take photos with the lens unmounted, but held in place at a slight tilt to your camera body. This has the effect of a macro lens with a uber-small depth of field. Thought I'd share a few shots I took whilst experimenting with this :):









Panny-leica D 25mm on an e620. The lens is electronic so aperture was locked at 1.4.
 
Another gimic / flash in the pan.

Buy a lensbaby
 
BpmJames said:
how far in front of the body do you hold the lens?
Click to expand...
I held it as close as possible, so it was pretty much sitting in the mount but tilted a little bit. If you hold it further you'll let loads of light in and the picture will be washed out.

Just Dave said:
Sounds like youll need to clean the sensor quite often if your shooting with the lens off, dust will just be sucked into it
Click to expand...
I guess that's a risk if you make a habit of it :)! It's a fun thing to try for a bit though especially if you have a lens that makes lovely creamy bokeh.

JSER said:
snip
Click to expand...
Lol ok...(y)
 
Im viewing on small screen but they look interesting.

I'm not sure what JSER is saying???

I don't have fund to just go out and buy a lensbaby so this method would suffice for me.

Cheers.
 
JSER said:
Another gimic / flash in the pan.

Buy a lensbaby
Click to expand...

I'd love to see you front up to Ryan Brenizer and say that (y)

OP - your attempts are better than anything I've managed so far but I do think the technique is partly lost on flora as we're so used to seeing petals and leaves with tiny DoF. Would love to see you try this on some people or an unusual subject.
 
Last edited:
JSER said:
AndWhyNot said:
I'd love to see you front up to Ryan Brenizer and say that (y)
Click to expand...

Front up, what are you talking about, you do know what a lensbaby is don't you

http://store.lensbaby.com/categories/Lens-Bodies/SLR-Lens-Bodies/?gclid=CLXQwN-VoKwCFQEd4Qodkj9F_w

I wouldn't want to keep taking the lens off my camera then complaining about crap on the CMOS
Click to expand...

LOL of course he does!!

do you know who Ryan Brenizer is http://www.ryanbrenizer.com/2011/02/love-and-skylines/
 
JSER said:
snip
Click to expand...

And for those of us who just want to experiment occasionally and really don't have that much cash, I'd rather try free-lensing carefully for an hour than spend £50 on something I'd use only once....don't really understand your objection ;).

@slwx: Wow that looks great. I tried shooting some insects and a close-up of someone's eye but couldn't get it right at all. I think it might be easier with a lens where you can adjust the aperture manually.
 
joxang said:
@slwx: Wow that looks great. I tried shooting some insects and a close-up of someone's eye but couldn't get it right at all. I think it might be easier with a lens where you can adjust the aperture manually.
Click to expand...

:thinking: whos @slwx: where did that quote come from

EDIT

I get it you want us to say "Wow that looks great"
 
Last edited:
Just Dave said:
JSER said:
AndWhyNot said:
I'd love to see you front up to Ryan Brenizer and say that (y)

Front up, what are you talking about, you do know what a lensbaby is don't you

http://store.lensbaby.com/categories/Lens-Bodies/SLR-Lens-Bodies/?gclid=CLXQwN-VoKwCFQEd4Qodkj9F_w

From £45 on Ebay
Click to expand...

LOL of course he does!!

do you know who Ryan Brenizer is http://www.ryanbrenizer.com/2011/02/love-and-skylines/
Click to expand...

Brilliant, if I hadn't just spent ages trying to rewrite my sig below the six-line rule I'd be quoting this forever :)


JSER said:
I wouldn't want to keep taking the lens off my camera then complaining about crap on the CMOS
Click to expand...

you do know what a rocket blower is don't you?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
how are you metering doing this ? - i'm presuming its a trial and error/sunny 16 type situation as most camera won't meter with the lens off

incidentally have you ever tried making a really long ext tube - theres an instructable arround somewhere for making one out of a postage tube/pringles tube - you attach it to the camera / lens using lens/body caps with the centres cut out,

obviously theres no mettering and you have to focus manually , but the mag is huge , and its good for a craic

I also wonder if one could make a mega lensbaby alike using the same priciple and flexible tubing
 
Last edited:
Just Dave said:
:thinking: whos @slwx: where did that quote come from

EDIT

I get it you want us to say "Wow that looks great"
Click to expand...

Huh? You never seen someone go "@username" on a forum before? 'slwx' is the guy who posted the picture above my post. @slwx means the phrase is addressed to him...I said 'Wow that looks great' because his photo looks great.

bigsoftmoose said:
snip
Click to expand...

Yeh trial and error, dunno if there's any other way of doing it. Used to have a cheap eBay extension tube for my 4/3 kit which worked very well, but the free-lensing was just a bit of fun :).
 
Last edited:
big soft moose said:
...I also wonder if one could make a mega lensbaby alike using the same priciple and flexible tubing
Click to expand...

Yes you can - I made one for a laugh using a old body cap to provide the mounting kit, fastened it to a rubber car UJ boot, and fastened the 45mm lens from my Bronica onto it. Effectively became a big, floppy unweildy tilt/shift lens. No worthwhile pictures from it, but it was enough for me to decide not to bother and to save my pennies for a proper T/S lens instead.
 
Intresting - ive got a bunch of 2.5 inch dust extractor tubing kicking about :thinking: might be less floppy and more posable

I also once tried to butcher a flatbed scanner and a gear stick cover to make a feild camera sized thing - no usuable pics but it was interesting.

still i dont want to hijack so i'll save any butchery/bodgery for a new thread
 
I think it's and interesting idea (y) but I'm not sure that it's something that I wouldn't want to try as I would be a little concerned about the risks of stuff getting on the sensor :shrug: but (y) for trying it

As has been said we are used to shallow DoF on the subjects that you've shown so the effect is a little lost on this subject :shrug:

Matt
MWHCVT
 
This article explains it quite well. It's not just about shallow depth of field, but changing the focal plane so it doesn't lie perpendicular to the direction of the camera. I think he gets some pretty cool results considering he's using no additional equipment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top