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What is Punking?
Punking is the practice of either using an item for something that it was not designed for, or, adapting an item to something that it wasn't designed for.
In this case I am going to "Punk" an old projector lens to use on a camera just to see if its doable.
From left to right: EOS-MFT Adapter. EOS Extension Tube Set. LEICA Hektor-P2 f2.8/85mm
I went through several old projector lenses that we have in the store: KODAK and LEICA; and came to the conclusion that due to barrel size the LEICA HEKTOR-P2 f2.8 85mm projector lens had a small enough lens barrel to work with.
I found the KODAK projector lenses were to thick and would not sit in any adapter I had available, and in fact, the LEICA would only fit into a set of CANON macro extension tubes and no other company would fit.
So using the above extension tubes as the body of the lens, I added an EOS-MFT adapter (as most newer MFT cameras have image stabilization built onto the sensor) in this case I used the Olympus OM-D E-M5 mk II.
I place the LEICA HEKTOR-P2 f2.8 85mm projector lens inside of the CANON macro extension tubes and added the EOS-MFT adapter and voila I have a punked out - slide-to-focus 85mm LEICA lens.
Here's what it looks like,
The new punked 85mm Leica lens
After many attempts to manually set the focal distance correctly to the focal plane I eventually managed to set up a minimum focal distance of about 90cm from subject. At this distance, the depth of field is super narrow - about 3-6mm only.
Even with the IBIS (in body image stabilization) I found it really hard to keep a steady focal point and had to kind of rock back and forth slightly to attain the actual focal point I wanted.
At this point I am running at a 1250 ISO and shutter speed is at 250/1 just to maintain the available indoor light.
I fired a few times but the results were mediocre to lame, and I have a reputation to keep as a photographer so I kept going until I got something very workable.
Not a bad result - with time and patience I think I could do better.
Eventually I got the image I wanted.
I found the "Bokah" was very washy, but I kind of liked that, somehow it adds to the overall feel of the image. Also that super fine depth of field had its use here too, in highlighting the name of the product, in this case the Olympus OM-D EM10 mk III.
So is it worth punking a lens together?
Yes very much so but don't expect anything for Vogue Magazine or National Geographic, but do expect to have a lot more artistic end results to your photos and a lot of fun changing the way we see everyday things.
All items mentioned above are available at our stores if you want to try out a bit of PUNK.
Stuart Perry
1402 11th Avenue SW Location
https://sanealcamera.com/
