Depth of Field Adapter on Steroids

fferreres wrote:

ProfHankD wrote:

Although I'm not really thrilled about camera obscura-based adapters (I've built more than a few before), I can see there is some interest in an extreme bokeh adapter, so I just ordered parts for making one that should be a very easy build. The tentative name for it is Faboky (pronounced fah-bow-key).

If this works, the total build cost should be less than $150 using only commodity components, including an (optional) integrated 20MP Canon PowerShot programmed using CHDK. No exotic old lens nor other hard-to-source components are needed. As a whole, the camera would provide a zoom setup with DoF equiv. to less than f/0.5 and virtually perfect bokeh because the "a" stands for apodized. It also should be relatively portable and lightweight (note: I didn't say small), although you'll probably need to use it on a tripod. We'll just have to see if this works as well as I think it will; right now, I'd give it about 75% chance of having sufficient image quality.

This is a bit of a distraction to the too-many-other-things I'm already doing, so it might be a while before I have something detailed up on Faboky...

Sounds very promising and fun, especially if designs so that any mortal could build one.

Yeah, the "any mortal can build it" constraint is always the hardest part of these sorts of projects, because most naturally require a "well-trained and well-equipped mortal." 

This one doesn't have any electronics, and there might even be workarounds for the 3D printing involved. It's definitely going to have significant assembly required.