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Simple Macro Lens Hacks Every Videographer Must Know

At Beverly Boy Productions we’ve got worldwide studios and film sets with all the essential gear and equipment, so we rarely think about the random home videography hacks that some people are inclined to come up with in an effort to produce professional appearing footage when they don’t have all the necessary gear and equipment. But today, we set out to test some macro lens hacks that we found just so that we could let our audience know what we think about each of the hacks. We’ve covered a lot of techniques and tricks before, but these simple macro lens hacks are certainly a first for us.

Each of these super simple macro lens hacks provide fun, inexpensive, and super interesting macro effects without a big investment. You really can’t go wrong in trying one (or all) of these tricks. Check them out, and let us know what you think!

      1. Paper Towel Roll Macro Lens

Want to transform your standard camera lens into a powerfully targeted macro lens? All you really need is a cardboard paper towel roll. (you could use a TP roll but the effects would be slightly different) You want at least 10 centimeters or so of the tube. You could get slightly more. Cut the tube and then use black paper to line the inside of the tube so that the “lens” port is dark.

Now take a lens body cap and cut a small hole in the center. Place the cap on the end of your paper towel roll and affix with some tape. You will then attach your “macro lens” so that the lens is against the camera and the body cap is positioned at the opposite end. The front element of the camera lens should be mounted into the tube. The longer your tube, the larger everything in the viewport will become.

You may have to set the aperture of the camera by placing some sticky tack mounting putty on the aperture lever at the back of the lens. Simply move the lever so that the aperture is closed and then place the blu-tack so that the lever remains in place. Test your shots, and if you need to adjust the sticky tack, you can do so. Macro lens hacks like this work really well!

      2. DIY Macro Lens for Smartphone

Want to make a macro lens for your smartphone? All you need is an old camera (not a digital camera, an actual old working camera) and a case for your mobile phone as well as some super glue.

First, take your camera apart so that you can access the lens. Once you’ve disassembled the camera flip it over to the backside and remove the base lens. You should end up with the adjustable lens that you can now use for your macro lens hack. Now you can hold this lens in front of your phone camera to begin to see the macro lens effects.

Using the super glue, take the lens you removed from your old camera and attach it to your smartphone case – before you glue it, make sure that you have placed your phone in the case and that you have the correct placement of the lens to produce your macro shots. Mark the area where the lens is best suited before gluing.

      3. Durable DIY Macro Lens Hacks

For this macro lens hack you’re going to create your own extension tube out of PVC for a fraction of the typical macro lens cost. All you need is a piece of black PVC pipe that is  2” in diameter and several inches long. You also need glue, lens caps, and some basic hand tools such as a 1.5” diameter hole saw drill bit, a drill, and a hacksaw.

First, cut the PVC pipe to the desired length. Keep in mind that if it’s too short you will not get the desired magnification effects, but it it’s too long you will see the tube in the image. Make sure that you cut the PVC evenly so that you can mount the lens and associated caps to the tube without them being angled.

To limit reflection inside the tube, consider applying gaffer’s tape to the inside of the tube. Use your drill to cut a 1.5” hole in the center of the body cap. Then use a hand file or sand paper to gently rub away any burrs that are left behind from the drill.

Using your super glue, apply the body cap to the PVC pipe that you prepared with gaffer’s tape. This is going to allow you to mount the tube to the camera later on.

Next, cut a 1.5” hole in the center of the lens cap base and use sandpaper or a file to remove any burrs from the plastic before gluing the cap to the other end of the PVC pipe. Note the top of the lens cap and the top of the body cap so that they are aligned when mounted to the camera.

Now it’s time to set your camera up for the first shots. You’ll need to set the mode to “manual exposure” and you’ll need to adjust your shutter speed manually. It’s also important to set your aperture manually and use manual focus.

Macro lens hacks like this are so inexpensive you may consider making multiple macro lenses for your later use. Remember, the longer the extension tube the more magnification you’ll get.

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