How To Turn A Camera Lenss Into A Scope

 Sign In  Sign upward
 Forums
-  All Recent Discussions
-  General Photography
-  Images
-  Exercise & Technique
-  Equipment
-  Site & Forum Help
 Acquire
-  How-To
-  Inspiration
-  Gear
-  Business
-  News
 Explore
-  Browse by Categories
-  Trending
-  Editors' Picks
-  Seeking Critique
-  Photo Of The Twenty-four hour period
-  Photo Of The Week
-  Photo Contests
-  Store

This post is long overdue. I typed upwards notes after I completed the project half-dozen months ago, but never got around to taking the pictures. But this week I bought a 2nd speedlight and some umbrellas, so I decided to make information technology a lesson in product photography. (Look ma, no shadows!)
This is a follow upwardly to an old thread I started when I was beginning researching this projection:
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DvVD

If you don't know what a Lens Telescopic Converter is, and why it's useful, read this:
http://world wide web.kenrockwell.com/nikon/lsc.htm

(Surprisingly, my initial post is now google ranked to a higher place that. The Ken Rockwell's article used to exist #1.)

Nikon's version is no longer made, and I became very frustrated trying to purchase one last yr. Ebay prices went up to $500. I just checked the site now, and see that one lucky buyer did become one for $86 2 weeks ago, but several others sold for over $300. That's too much.

The one I built cost me about $35, and is actually amend than Nikon's original, because it supports G lenses that don't have an aperture ring. (Though information technology would probably be like shooting fish in a barrel to modify Nikon's version for Grand'due south... keep reading.)

Here'southward what mine looks like:
Here'south it fastened to an 18-200mm lens. This becomes a 1.8x - 20x magnification scope. The magnification is equal to the focal length of the lens, divided past the focal length of the eyepiece, 10mm is this case. With my 80-400mm zoom, I've got a 40x scope, which I utilise oft to gaze at the moon.
What yous need:
Basically, this is pretty elementary. Have a telescope eyepiece, and braze it to a rear lens cap. Notwithstanding, if you use a normal telescope eyepiece, you'll wind up with an inverted image. To get an erect image, you need to utilise an inverting eyepiece. Surprisingly, there seems to be but i such animal on the market! It's made by Skywatcher Telescope. Their info page is here:
http://www.skywatchertelescope.internet/Erecting.html

Unfortunately for many of us, they don't seem to take any dealers in the Usa. Several Canadian dealers have it though. I got mine here:
http://www.camera-traders.com/sky-watcher/sky_watcher_eyepiece.htm

(After a debacle. I initially ordered one from world wide web.mckittricks.ca, but they sent me something else. Apparantly they never even stocked information technology, and had mistakenly pasted it's description on their catalog page for another part.)

European customers accept many choices: option one, choice 2, pick 3, option 4

It comes in a kit with a plastic extension tube, which you could cutting downwardly and glue directly to a rear lens cap you've cutting a large hole in.
I wanted to save my extension tube though, (for potential utilize in phase 2 of this projection - meet my adjacent thread), so I fabricated my own attachment using a piece of a plumbing plumbing equipment I bought at Home Depot for $1. A piping ring clamp locks information technology in place. Here's a view of it disassembled. Notice in the pictures above, I put some black electrical tape effectually the ring clamp, mainly for aesthetics.
If you don't care about G lens compatibility, utilise whatever erstwhile rear lens cap. If you lot exercise care virtually One thousand lens compatibility, I recommend y'all use one that came with a Sigma brand lens.
When I started buying Sigma lenses, their rear caps really bellyaching me. I was ever fumbling to become them on. Whereas Nikon caps tin slip on in whatsoever of 3 orientations, the Sigma just goes on i way, and the alignment dot is hard to see. For this reason, I had replaced all my Sigma caps with Nikon caps before I began this project, and had a few lying around. (Individually, Nikon caps are expensive, but I found a inexpensive 5 pack on Ebay.) Simply going on one manner is important, then the little doohickey you're going to attach will always be aligned with the aperture lever.

With a G lens, yous don't take an aperture ring to open up, so in order to permit in the light, something has to be pushing open the aperture level that connects to the camera. Fortunately, it needs to be pushed in the same direction you twist the cap, so a simple 'cease' inside the cap volition do the trick. It takes a flake of intendance to measure and place it in but the right spot. Since I knew I couldn't marshal it perfectly, and didn't desire to run a risk bending the aperture lever by twisting the cap likewise far, I chose to make the little doohickey out of some high density foam I had lying around, instead of rigid plastic. The cream will give earlier the aperture lever does. This stuff had a self agglutinative back, and was easy to cutting, so it was convenient to use besides. (I retrieve it came from an electronics shop, but I'k not sure. An old roommate left me with a few blocks of it.) If you can't notice something like that, maybe cutting off a bit of a kitchen sponge, and glue it in place. (Cocky agglutinative weatherstripping cream may be a bit to pliable to actually push the lever, it has to exist high density foam.)
To become it focused, I first mounted my longest lens (the one with a collar) on a tripod, and autofocused on a distant discipline. Then I removed the photographic camera, and put my converter on the back of the lens, with the band clench still loose. I adjusted the position of the eyepiece back and forth until information technology was focused, and tightened the band clamp.
Viola!

If you make ane, drib me a line!

And if you desire to help with "phase Ii", calculation a battery and circuit lath to burn up the Vibration Reduction, delight reply to my next thread...
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00HfRe

Darren
Thank you Darren, I very much appreciate your effort and might attempt myself your project. Marco
Cheers for the post. I've wanted a lens scope converter for some time.
Best,

Dave Hartman.
An excellent DIY idea. Thanks for sharing.
Darren, How about the Pronea S? Check if information technology is compatible with VR stuff.
What a neat thought Darren!
Interesting tidbit on the Nikon lens Scope converter in 1988:

Wholesale for 1-2 $36.25

Wholesale for 3-5 $35.16

Wholesale half-dozen or more than $34.44

MSRP $72.50

I posted these nikon 1988 dealer prices as (for~me) it shows how cheap this item was to manufacture. Y'all solution is brilliant and tin constructed for all 35mm lens mounts.

Thanks for sharing!

Lindy
I paid $160 for one last twelvemonth from KEH. Information technology was worth information technology!
Hi, I've been looking for this info, I take tested a 40mm eyepiece of a crystalvue monocular and it works well with my Catechism 100-400 lens but the image is mirrored. I am going to order the erecting eyepiece.
Well-nigh the paradigm stabilization, i could simply attach the pins on the photographic camera trunk to the pins on the lens with a cable.
You lot seem to be a handy person, how would you make a cable for that?
Regards,
Joaquim.
Portugal.
I have tried to make one for a Canon EF 100-400 , with a erecting diagonal 45� and an eyepiece 10mm. It only works for close upwardly (macro range till about 5m - focusing allways to nearly 10m to Inf.) and the DOF is very narrow. I even tried different extension tube lengths. I also tried with a crystalvue eyepiece and the results are pretty the same. I wonder what is wrong ? I guess either the lens when switched off becomes a closeup lens or the eyepice (mm) is too small (too big maginification for this associates to work) ...
With other Catechism lens (50mm 1.eight and 17-85) the same happens: short working distances... Agaian, I wonder if whatsoever setup would work to turn canon lens into a scope ?
Joaquim,
Any brand of lens should work, doesn't matter. The problem is the 45 degree erecting diagonal, and/or the extension tubes you're trying to use. There isn't enough room in the lite path for those. Read Joseph Wisniewski's response to my first thread on this subject area (follow link given in first post in a higher place); he explains the registration distance problem. Also have a look at the beginning picture I posted above, and notice how shut the back of the eyepiece is to the ring where the lens is mounted. There's just a few millimeters between the back of the lens and the front of the eyepiece.
If you get rid of the diagonal, and agree the eyepiece right up to the back of the lens, so shut that they are near touching, so you should be able to focus on anything. Just, your image will exist inverted, unless you lot become that special eyepiece I described that has the erecting feature built in. That'southward why that eyepiece was such a find, and warranted me putting up this commodity in the get-go place. Information technology seems to be the only one that will work to give you an upright prototype with a photographic camera lens.

Good luck.

Darren
Thank you Darren, it works with the eyepiece alone, at all working distances and on every lens I accept. I see I need an eyepiece that erects the image..
(with the diagonal information technology does non piece of work because information technology adds likewise much extension to it)
Darren, I was able to order that erecting eyepiece from a site on the U.k. , It works very well on the canon EF 100-400 and even on the 50mm F1.viii.
EF lens practice not have a closed diafragm (equally nikons do) - it's fifty-fifty easier to brand an adapter for EF's. The DOF at 400mm is narrow only usable.
Give thanks you.
The last post was a while ago merely the tread is withal useful today! Thanks for that.
I built myself i of those last week and used it last night with an old 300mm f/2.viii AI-S lens for an astronomy nighttime. I heard many "wows" when people looked through it. They even mentioned that they preferred the view from my prepare and then from the gigantic telescopes some people had effectually. Check it out:
<a href="http://world wide web.gd-photos.com/Events/Parties/Star-Party-Oak-Centre-Schoolhouse/19866876_kBP4pG#1562874884_TH8SRbh-A-LB" championship=""><img src="http://world wide web.gd-photos.com/Events/Parties/Star-Political party-Oak-Middle-School/i-TH8SRbh/0/L/Stars-Party-Oak-Middle-School-L.jpg" title="" alt=""></a>
Guillaume
www.gd-photos.com
Thanks for posting Guillaume, I'thousand delighted people are still finding this.
No problem, I've been wanting to make one of those for a while and I finally got discouraged by the very loftier price of the Nikon genuine one. It was a fun little project with my uncle who insisted on making the whole thing in his lathe of grade... So the fit is super precise and I just used some Gorilla Glue to bound the tube and the cap together. I figured that if it breaks, I'll just apply the really good stuff. Then far it'southward solid, as well creating some white residue everywhere, the Gorilla Glue seems to be working bang-up.
Did you ever get effectually to making the VR compatible version?
Pitiful for the annoying links, I was trying to embed a pic of the set-upward simply it didn't turn out so well. The link still works though:
Guillaume
www.gd-photos.com
"Did you ever get effectually to making the VR compatible version?"
No, sorry, other interests have taken priority. Know any EE students looking for a project?