We're adding a new show to the DPReview TV lineup, and you may have seen the work of our new host before. Don Komarechka is a landscape and nature photographer, and he's a master of using macro photography and simple science experiments to turn otherwise unseen worlds into stunning images.
In this series he'll share some of these projects so you can recreate them at home if you're feeling ambitious – or you can just sit back and enjoy watching a mad scientist at work. In this first episode he demonstrates the ins and outs of photographing frozen soap bubbles. Check it out – and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.
Actually, I re-use the heck out of those bottles. They're mostly around the house to water plants with. We also cut some in half and fill with soil to start are plant seedlings each year, re-usable year after year. Other people have far more inventive ideas for them, though I wouldn't go as far as making a boat out of them: https://www.foshbottle.com/blog/60-ways-to-reuse-plastic-bottles
Excellent result produced by a great imagination and a good skill set.
I'm down in Canberra, Australia, extremely hot! ... I might cut a glass panel to fit the freezer opening and make a clear plastic mini studio with 5000k LED ?? As we are in Corona-19 lockdown now, ... I guess we have a bit of time up our sleeve? 47C this summer, ... Mmm back to minus 7-10C soon?
Perhaps a fish tank with dry ice?
I guess the ambient temperature of a "Freezer" presents a lot of opportunities?
Thank you for sharing your very interesting subject mater. .....Big Thumbs Up.
Looks like great fun. shame i cant try it i live in Queensland . could this be done in a freezer ? just by opening the door and placing a bubble on top of a frozen chook :-)
I'm down in Canberra, ... I might cut a glass panel to fit the freezer opening and make a clear plastic mini studio with 5000k LED ?? As we are in V-19 lockdown now, ... I guess we have a bit of time up our sleeve? 47C this summer, ... Mmm back to minus 7-10C soon?
that sounds like a great idea I have some clear acrylic then you can watch it do its magic. we are going into lock down borders closed on Wednesday night.
I suspect that what will happen is that as the clear panel cools down moisture will condense on it and obscure the view. I don't know if the freezer would continue to function well enough as a freezer with a single panel - it might for long enough to freeze a soap bubble, but a pair of spaced panes (as is done for insulating windows) might be better.
Thanks for the input Bart, .. Yes condensation certainly will be an issue, however, I plan to have all aspects ready for a rapid setup. My clip on clear panel will be de-fogged by a hair dryer . If I can't clear it this way, ..... i'll simply assemble a double glaze panel?
The freezer already has clear plastic drawers that when defrosted and then polished with microfiber cloths, stay clear for days? So my thinking being: .. Defrost and completely clean the interior, silicone polish, ... bring down to temperature with viewing panel in place and door closed setup and ready to just add bubble? When ready, ..move the panel just enough hatch the bubble onto the pre made ice surface??? Well Donald, ... we are in lock-down now in the ACT, .... Plenty of time to play. PS: avoid the COVID critters that are wearing fur coats in the freezer! :) And stay safe mate. ... Baz
I've always enjoyed him and it's great to see more of him. What a fun video! Albeit rather late for almost all of the northern hemisphere, but still, I'll book mark this as a project for next winter.
This was a deWijs 3D lens manufactured in the 1990's, though they had newer models produced as late as 2007. Sadly, they are all out of production now and rarely show up on second-hand markets. I've picked up four of them on eBay over the past few years with different magnifications.
The Lumix 12.5mm 3D lens indeed is limited. Fixed aperture, fixed focus, and the pupil distance didn't provide a dramatic effect. The lens could be modified, however, to shoot macro work. If you removed the screws that hold the lens mount to the lens body and insert some thin washers around the screws, you can effectively add an "extension tube" of sorts that shifts the lens into a macro range.
This isn't perfect - you lose a lot of overlap so when aligning the images to a proper stereo window you will throw away a lot of pixels, but it works. It's just not ideal.
My post referenced a "play-on-words"/joke on the word 3D. "play-on-words" is an English language technique where a word or phrase can have a double o triple meaning. In this case, the second meaning is physical 3 dimensional as opposed to 2 dimensional I assume your post referred to the 3D affect that some photographers claim to be able to see with certain lenses. Don't believe the marketing language or double-speak that some camera companies use to sell products. The 3D affect evidence is always subjective and has never been proven in a double-blind test. The other 3D affect is more accurately called stereoscopic. This is 2 or more lenses in a single camera which give a virtual 3D affect. I don't know if this is what your initial post was about. I was not being pedantic or ignorant and I am not autistic. I believe in the scientific method. Sorry if I confused you.
@MyReality - The "scientific method" involves investigation and observation. In this context that would involve watching the video. If you had watched the video then you'd have known that the "3D Lens" was in fact a stereoscopic lens.
I still thought your first comment in this thread was funny.
@Barty L - I did watch the video and he is using a Lumix camera with what looks like a zoom lens. He is focusing manually. He is using DOF to simulate a 3D affect. The word "stereoscopic" is not mentioned in the video. There is no such thing as a stereoscopic lens. There is a stereoscopic affect. It uses two or more lenses to make two images which are then combined to form a visual 3D affect. That is the technique used in virtual reality headsets or 3D movies. It is a simulation and not seeing in 3D like when you use your eyes. I am glad that you thought my play-on-words was funny.
@Karroly - It is not far because it is very thin, but still 3D. A picture on a piece of paper my be considered 2D unless we want to argue about the thickness of the ink or film emulsion, then we have three 3D, Paper is always 3D, because it's thickness can be measured. 2D has x, y axis. 3D has x,y,z axis.
Well, there's always the exception to the rule. Take a look at the Samsung NX 45mm f/1.8 2D/3D lens which created a stereoscopic effect using a single set of optics. I believe the rather complex design involved placing mirrors inside the optical path to function as a beamsplitter of sorts when the lens was switched into its 3D mode. The effect wasn't dramatic, but it was stereoscopic.
External beamsplitters like the Kula Deeper can be used to create a similar effect with normal focal range lenses, and similar products had some level of popularity in the 1950's and 60's. Normal lens, stereoscopic effect with mirrors.
That said, the term "lens" can be generalized to mean "any set of optics attached to the front of a camera" to encapsulate the twinned pair of optics in the same barrel that can be considered a 3D lens or a stereoscopic lens. I try not to get too caught up in these things though, so long as we all know what we're referring to. :)
MyReality, " It is not far because it is very thin, but still 3D" I never said the opposite... And I know the difference between 2D and 3D, thanks... ;-)
This is a great idea to explore and do at home, specially in this time of the COVD-19. Almost everyone in every corner of the planet is in quarantine. Bring or create an special section for photographers under the tag ‘projects i. Times of quarantine. Thank you so much, keep healthy.
Yup; this is a nice little creative exercise very suitable to our socially-distanced time. Not cold enough to do this where I am now, but still a cool idea. ;-)
@DPR staff... Thank you for the new photography/science project addition to DPR TV. It was informative and entertaining! In this day & age, you can't go wrong with this type of subject material. Again, thanks!
Amazing and beautiful. I love madness (and we *need* madness) when the purpose is to create beauty and make us feel like little kids staring at stange phenomenons with their eyes wide open.
Great video! It hasn't been cold enough in Philadelphia to try this, but I'll be ready for next year. I suspect a lot of DPRTV viewers will be exploring macro photography in the coming months...keep these videos coming!
Hey, great timing to start a new DPR feature like this! Don, I thoroughly enjoyed the video. I think this series will be just the ticket to help jumpstart my creativity, and I'll be looking forward to more shows : )
We're heading into Autumn where I live but it's still quite warm. I wonder if this will work with and ice/salt mix (which is anywhere between -5 to -20 degC).
Too warm here for that project but I've got to say I really do appreciate the video and the recent influx of software reviews on Dpreview... don't know how much it is a byproduct of the self quarantines but I like what I see.
I'd say this comes a bit late in the year to find the right freezing conditions, but tbh we haven't had those at all this winter in W-Europe... Add to that the house arrest many of us are living through, and it's clear there is only one solution: turn the freezer into a macro-photography studio :-)
Cool effect and, well, just really cool -freezing. I just now need to nip over to Canada to get those conditions. Oh, Dammit those Canadians closed all the doors! Oh well, I look forward to the series.
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