Popular YouTube channel 'How to Make Everything' has published a new video showing the creation of a camera lens from scratch. The project didn't start with pre-made components, as many DIY projects do, but rather with the purely raw materials, including sand and rocks for the eventual lens glass and copper housing.
The new project follows one involving the creation of a pinhole camera from scratch that the channel published in September 2018. This time around, the channel's Andy George spends nearly half an hour walking viewers through the lens creation process, including many failed attempts.
Producing clear glass presented one of the project's most time-consuming challenges, though casting the copper lens housing introduced its own difficulties. After weeks of work, however, the end result was a decently clear, though sadly ill-fated, camera lens with zoom functionality.
I wonder if it would have been easier/better to make copper sheet metal and then shape it to a cylinder rather than casting it. It certainly would have been lighter.
Everyone knows that, the video does not suggest that you abandon manufacture-made lenses and go make your own ... it just shows you a processes of making one, why this is hard to understand?
@mnml98, this video teaches nothing because this guy knows nothing. In a fictional post apocalyptic scenario I would hope smarter people with real skills or at least the concepts of, for example, annealing glass would survive to restart the civilization. LOL
@photomedium So what? i said "showing a process" not "the only process" or correct process, i didn't say the video is educational or useful, and yes, they guy knows nothing, that's the whole point of his channel, as he said in the intro video, he is trying to learn ... while making everything.
I was SOOOO disappointed he just showes us how the image looks from a crappy self-made film camera. Put that thing in front of a mirrorless camera let us see the freaking image!!
What are you talking about? I did watch it long enough to draw my conclusions. There are excellent channels that are absolutely amazing and other clickbait channels. This one was the latter.
How is this click bait. Click bait articles don't deliver what their headline promise. That's why it's called click bait. The heading is making a camera lens from scratch...He literally did this. This included making glass from sand or remelting glass he previously made from sand. (He has a seperate episode on how to make glass in more detail). He ground down three lens elements himself. He smelting copper from copper ore to cast the body of the lens (the details of doing this is also in another episode). So where's the click bait.
Holy sh*t! Please God, not another boy-wonder with a god complex and a penchant for nuclear fission! Shove this guy through a stargate to the Orion galaxy or something.
It's a 50/50 at this point that we can even get past Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
I've never seen such a mix of modern v. "hand made" stuff. Do you know how many hours went into the design and manufacture of the propane torch used for thermal treatment of the glass, or even how many hours go into the production of the PROPANE to run it? Or the backup of the grid to power everything he used?
Why? Just.....why?
We stand in the shoulders of giants. AND, we cannot shrug them off!
Why not? one person in a youtube channel named "How to Make Everything", it's really simple, i'm baffled by comments like yours, people make stuff for fun and profit, sometimes to learn and have fun, there isn't anything more to it than that.
"If society goes haywire like The Walking Dead, will it take another 1.8 million years (or few hundred thousand, or six thousand years...depending on your perspective of how long man has been around) before we can get back to the moon?"
Another rise of civilization comparable to current times will NOT happen on this planet because all of the easily obtainable resources and mineral deposits have been used. Certainly not within anything less than a geological timeframe.
Look at what it takes to get oil out of the ground, large scale mining for minerals. Even making glass on an industrial scale.
This is it folks, we have one shot as a species to make it.
Well he has a shop and the glass lens looks good. But I wonder about his craftsmanship level after looking at the "woodworking" he did on that view camera. I put more refinement into birdhouses that I make out of scraps.
while i admire this fellows stick-to-it-ive-ness and determination , i have to say , after the Apocalypse i hope to see anyone but him trying to recover photography for surviving humanity
What the video doesn't go into is the source of the knowledge needed to construct the lens, or any other item of manufacture, for that matter. That's where the patent system comes in. If you want to learn how to make literally anything, search the patent database and you will find your answer. Of course, YouTube provides all the shortcuts....
If you even look at the patent registry, you are heavily responsible for breaking the IP rights if you are found guilty in court. But, if you can proof that you have no idea of at all about the patents, then you are not purposely trying to use others work and even if are found guilty then you are not purposely doing it and fines are smaller.
That is just the case that you can't go even look that are you using others IP.
I think he's referring to expired patents, of which there are over two hundred years worth. Besides, any process worth patenting in the last twenty years is probably far too complex and specialized for a DIY project anyway.
If those patents are anywhere near a existing and valid patents, then you are likely in trouble as you went to search for them.
If you can proof that you have not seen anything from anyone else, not by even by accident, then you are not purposely trying to use others patented work.
That is the reason why almost all patents are public (some are secret) so citizens can go and search the solution to your problem and license the solution from the person who solved it.
But it doesn't really go so easily. As people get greedy that they want silly licensing money or rights to your products etc. Why the patent systems are totally broken as they do not anymore serve what the idea was all about.
Of course you are correct that the patent system is broken. However, my point is that any patent that contains information that could be useful for making a homemade lens has probably expired a long, long time ago. Patents are only valid for 20 years, so any patent granted before 1999 is now expired. Besides, any lens patent that is still valid is probably useless to a home lens maker since the replicating it would require incredibly expensive industrial equipment.
The Panasonic Lumix DC-G100 (G110 in some regions) is a mirrorless camera designed for vlogging. Its 20MP Four Thirds sensor is paired with clever tracking audio technology, but we have our reservations.
The Olympus PEN E-PL10 is the latest in the company's entry-level mirrorless line-up. It's a beginner-friendly camera that does many things well, but ultimately doesn't stand out amongst its competition.
The Nikon Coolpix P950 is a powerful superzoom compact camera, built around a 24-2000mm equivalent zoom lens. Successor to the popular P900, the P950 adds an improved EVF, Raw capture and 4K video. So is it worth $800?
The Fujifilm X-T4 brings image stabilization, faster shooting and a bigger battery to the X-T series. It's not without its shortcomings but we found it to be an excellent stills and video shooter.
With its unusual form factor can the Tourbox aid the editing process? Will its price and variety of tactile controls appeal to photo and video editors who would like to streamline their workflow?
What’s the best camera for under $2000? These capable cameras costing less than $2000 should be solid and well-built, have both speed and focus for capturing fast action and offer professional-level image quality. In this buying guide we’ve rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing under $2000 and recommended the best.
What’s the best camera costing over $2000? The best high-end camera costing more than $2000 should have plenty of resolution, exceptional build quality, good 4K video capture and top-notch autofocus for advanced and professional users. In this buying guide we’ve rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing over $2000 and recommended the best.
We've updated our 'best cameras over $2000' buying guide, and the Sony a7R IV is now our favorite mirrorless camera in the $2000-4000 price range. It sits alongside the Nikon D850, which is our choice for those who prefer DSLRs.
If you're looking for a high-quality camera, you don't need to spend a ton of cash, nor do you need to buy the latest and greatest new product on the market. In our latest buying guide we've selected some cameras that might be a bit older but still offer a lot of bang for the buck.
What's the best camera for shooting sports and action? Fast continuous shooting, reliable autofocus and great battery life are just three of the most important factors. In this buying guide we've rounded-up several great cameras for shooting sports and action, and recommended the best.
The EOS R5 has been in the works for some time, and Canon has published a handful of specifications, but there's still plenty we don't know. What are you hoping to see from Canon's forthcoming flagship camera?
Canon's CE-SAT-IB satellite camera was destroyed alongside six other satellites during Rocket Lab's ironically-named 'Pics or It Didn't Happen Mission.'
This sample gallery includes images from our recent review of the Tamron 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 Di III RXD zoom lens. Check out these photos to see how it performs, from wide-angle to telephoto and everything in between.
The Tamron 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 Di III RXD provides a wide zoom range in compact, weather-sealed design. Find out why it's Chris and Jordan's new favorite travel lens.
Kodak Portra 800 is a wonderful and versatile color film. And any rumors of it being discontinued, we're pleased to report, are simply untrue. That's a good thing, because it's capable of producing lovely results in all sorts of conditions.
Boering has left the World Press Photo without much of an explanation from either him or the organization, but he tells DPReview the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the WPP to change the way it makes money.
The Sony ZV-1 and Panasonic Lumix DC-G100 are the first cameras we've seen that are overtly designed with vlogging in mind – and the changes they represent could have implications for the future of all cameras.
Olympus is showing final images of its under-development 150-400mm F4.5, which it says will arrive this winter. An unspecified macro and 8-25mm F4 Pro have also been added to the lens roadmap, and the E-M1X's AF gains bird detection.
Fujifilm is one of just two producers of tape media (the other being Sony) and it is hard at work on a breakthrough that will allow single tape storage drives to offer 400TB capacities in the coming years.
The National Parks Service says it's investigating the incident, which took place just two days after the park opened following a shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professional full frame lenses are usually large and have fast apertures. In this episode of DPReview TV, Chris and Jordan argue that there's a need for slow professional lenses – inspired by some of their favorite Micro Four Thirds lenses.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) photographs the sun every 0.75 seconds. In its first decade in space, the SDO has captured more than 425 million images of the sun. NASA has compiled these images into an amazing time lapse, come check it out.
The lens is available for Leica M, Sony FE, Nikon Z and L-mount camera systems, and now holds the title as the world's widest rectilinear lens for full-frame camera systems.
Tamron's new 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 is a versatile zoom lens for Sony E-mount. Well-suited for travel photography, it's compact, lightweight, and fast/quiet to focus.
Fujifilm's latest lens is a sharp, reasonably compact and well-built wide-angle for the company's GFX medium-format cameras. We took it out and about in the warm Seattle summer with the company's 50 and 100 Megapixel camera bodies to see what it can do.
Although the channel is still growing, it currently has nine videos that offer concise overviews of just a few of the cameras Japan Camera Hunter founder Bellamy Hunt has sitting around his Japanese storefront.
ON1 has launched ON1 360, the latest version of ON1 Photo RAW 2020 with ON1's new Photo Mobile application for iOS, iPadOS and Android mobile devices. The new solution syncs raw processing between your mobile device and computer.
Switching screw-on filters between lenses of different thread sizes is much quicker with the Revoring adjustable step-up ring. It uses a sprung iris that expands to fit a range of filter thread sizes, so a single filter can be used on multiple lenses
Kodak's discontinued Aerochrome film gets a digital remake in the form of a new Lightroom preset pack from film emulation specialists Really Nice Images.
We've updated our Best cameras under $2000 buying guide, and the Fujifilm X-T4 is our top pick for those seeking a camera that excels and both stills and video shooting.
The Canon EF-M 11-22mm F4-5.6 is by no means a new lens, but it's one we've been shooting with over the years, and appreciate for its compact form, solid build and useful wide-angle range.
Mauritius is a remote island off the southeastern coast of the African continent that's never had Google Street View. So, an island resident, Reuben Pillay, decided to use his own DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone to create more than 220 high-resolution 360-degree images of the island.
Comments