Gizmodo: macro lens

Make a Cellphone Macro Lens From An Old DVD Player

Jason Chen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:39:27 EDT

Here's a potentially cheap, but ugly, way to make a macro lens for your cellphone camera. Step 1: take your DVD player apart.

You'll want to use the lens in there, along with some kind of cardboard holder, and mount it onto your cellphone camera. It won't be pretty, but the shots that come out will (provided everything you're shooting from now on is within an inch of your camera). [Flickr via DIY Photography via MAKE]

DIY Macro Lens From Old Binoculars

Jason Chen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:20:00 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Tired of peeping at your neighbors? Combine the lenses from your old pair of binoculars with a bit of electrical tape and you've got yourself a cheap DIY macro lens.

Is this as good as a real macro lens? Of course not. But this costs a few bucks for the tape whereas the real lens costs hundreds to thousands of dollars. Check the video to see how to do it. [Lifehacker]