Experimental modifying of lenses?

[Eriksen]

Have anybody here tried to remove elements in old lenses in order to create spectactular images? Are there anything on the web regarding this topic.

[IAZA]

I did, well actually, it's easy to do. because front group is replacable.
http://forum.mflenses.com/rodenstock-heligon-50-2-bokeh-show-t46548,highlight,%2Bheligon.html

[DConvert]

I've seen something on the web about removing the rear group from a 50mm prime to make a soft focus lens.
Simple enough to do (& reversible) so I tried it with one of my spares. The modified lens has a focal length about twice the originals so has to be mounted via bellows or similar to get focus, but with that results were quite acceptable. A lovely glow wide open which reduces fairly rapidly as the lens is stopped down.
I suspect stopped down half a stop would be good for portraits, but in 4 years have never got round to trying them.

Here's an example of the lens used half a stop down:
soft focus mod half stop down by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

[ZoneV]

I do it most times the other way round, and add some lenses. Sometimes I use modified speedboosters, but somtimes I use other normal lenses or lens-parts (for example achromats) as speedbooster.

Homemade Speedbooster

Here with an old episcope lens and some normal lens as speedbooster, is someting like 150mm f/1.2
Deer-Portrait by Markus, auf Flickr

I think the same lens setup here:
Contax Rangefinder Colordial by Markus, auf Flickr

[kds315*]

Excellent Markus!

[Sigurd Ruschkowski]

Awesome!!!

[D. P.]

My friend made for me a two-part lens. Part #1: LOMO RF-4 360mm f/10 large format lens (from Russian FKD 5x7" wooden field camera); part #2: front group (3 elements) from Meteor-8M 9-38mm f/1.8 (standart zoom lens for 8mm USSR cameras Quartz-1 and Quartz-2):



The result is something like this:

[Eriksen]

Here are some pictures I took with a modified Olympus 28mm. I removed a glass inside and turned a rear glass the other way. The pictures are not very sharp, but from the center and to the edges they get a very diffuse and strange effect.
It works best on close up photos.


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[SkedAddled]

VERY interesting image. I like this one a lot.

[e6filmuser]