Building a Next-Level Camera

[@Mrwhosetheboss]

You are something else Matt - this is PHENOMENAL 🙌

[@DIYPerks]

Thanks Arun!

[@PerfectMalcolm]

Imagine filming your videos with this!

[@sidrikelsd]

Yow Mr whose the boss

[@hermanrobak1285]

@@PerfectMalcolm And colour grading in sepia, with the tonality and modulation transfer of a mid 19th century wet plate. Start the scene like a still life, and it would look just like a very old photograph. No cross-fade, no dissolve, the old photograph just begins *move!*

[@christianpinili3357]

Mrwhosethe boss will rate the camera

[@istvankovasznai]

This is slowly transitioning from a DIY channel into an engineering / automation / robotics channel with a thin veneer of DIY, as Matt gains more and more experience with power tools and 3D printing. Every build is more complex and professional looking than the previous one. I love it. At this rate, in a few years he will be building Mars rovers and fusion power plants in his back yard.

[@_adheeb.]

XD

[@Waitwhat469]

the wild thing is that it's still doable at home. Like cutting some metal and simple 3d printer maybe able the price range of some, but it's not absurd to have access to those kind of tools at a maker space or at home

[@bFOURdwZEROlf]

Basically this is why he's called DIY Perks the perks of diy is you can continue to create more and more amazing stuff

[@xqr2911]

@@bFOURdwZEROlf Unlikely. His name is Matthew Perks. I suspect this is the channel name etymology ;)

[@xqr2911]

If you can do it yourself the field doesn't really matter. Skills required to replicate this are not very unique, specialised or sophisticated for that matter.. Anyone can do this provided some cash and access to 3D printer. The hardest part is to source similar lens as those are very old and uncommon nowadays.

[@SeagramPearce]

As a photographer, this is absolutely incredible. If I can ever find an old lens to use like this, I'm building one!

[@Swamp_Donkey_]

You could just get a ULF camera. It would probably be harder to get film than a lense but there are annual group buys out there.

[@Tbonyandsteak]

Projection lenses in different forms. The fewer glass the lens have in it the greater the image circle. Meaning one glass have a huge image circle. allthougth not sharp to the edges

[@tjleclair1994]

I'm building one and stuck in the Fresnel lens part. Finding them in the right size doesn't seem possible to me

[@Swamp_Donkey_]

@@tjleclair1994 old rear projection TVs have fresnel lenses on the inside of the screen

[@tjleclair1994]

@@Swamp_Donkey_ good call!

[@BurnsRubber]

Optical engineer here. I design cameras, telescopes, and lasers. First, excellent job with this project. Want to mention the light rolloff you mentioned is not vignetting but scattered light falling off with the cosine of the angle to the lenses. Vingetting refers to the light ray bundle being clipped. Your Fresnel lenses are cosine correction lenses. Your explanation of the physical effect was correct and you expertly found the solution. The images you captured are incredible. I want to design an f/5 lens that makes a 50cm diameter image circle this weekend. I also love old optics. Especially admire what could be designed prior to CAD. Same with old famous bridges like the Golden Gate or Tower Bridge.

[@zhiwen740]

this is the most nerdy comment i have ever seen in my 23,000 years of working on earth

[@jjwkk2183]

Please tell me, what books can I pick up to learn this.

[@xynces.L]

@@zhiwen740 which is a good thing

[@lqr824]

Hey man, software engineer and long-time photo nut here. Lensmakers seem to have no problem making lenses with 72mm or so apertures: Canon's 85/1.2, 135/2, 200/2.8, 300/4, 400/5.6. I think Sigma has a 100/1.4 too? This project is impressive with an 88mm aperture, but not an utter difference, and of course there are far wider camera optics as well, at least at longer focal lengths (400/2.8=143mm, 1200/5.6=214mm). The fact that the lenses I mention are all telephoto suggests that it's hard to make a lens with this aperture for wide-angle lenses, but I also know lens design is a question of tradeoffs: rather than a yes/no question of "can we make it" instead it's a question of how willing we are to sacrifice image quality in terms of resolution, contrast, coma, aberrations, distortion, vignetting, shape of out-of-focus highlights (SOOFH), and lens flare, plus non-image factors like price, size, weight, durability, and even environmental safety (lead and radioactive elements have been used in lenses in the past). Focus speed, near-focus distance (or indeed, ability to focus) and apochromaticity (ability to take full-color or even extended-wavelength IR photos) seem to sit in between the image quality and non-image factors, in that they affect the range of possible images you can take. So: of COURSE this guy's project is mindblowing. The physical construction itself is crazy, never mind that it works! Without taking anything away from that, though, 1) what is the ultimate image quality? And 2) can we not make a plain old 35mm f/0.4 with that level of image quality or better that is also far more compact? I suspect that this beautifully created contraption may have a very low score on some of these image quality factors (resolution and contrast, for a start?) If we can accept a very low score for some of these factors, would that not allow a 35/0.4 to be produced that is far more compact in comparison and even relatively economical?

[@BurnsRubber]

@@lqr824 Hello lqr824: One thing to keep in mind about the interesting aspect of this project is the large physical image. A “full frame” camera image is 36 x 24 mm^2 so the lens image needs to cover the diagonal of the sensor/film, or sqrt(24^2+36^2) = 43mm. The lens in this project produces a 500mm diameter image, about ten times full frame diameter. Doing so allows a 10x longer focal length for an equivalent field of view, so 350mm focal length compared to a 35mm focal length full frame lens. This has the effect of dramatically changing the image perspective and rendering of the photo for portraits. Think about it this way, this lens has identical rendering characteristics in terms of depth of focus and perspective as a 350mm focal telephoto full frame lens at f/5.6 but with 10x greater the field of view. The important thing to keep in mind is the optical specifications are always the same regardless of the camera or sensor. This notion of “full frame equivalent” causes a lot of confusion. What it intends to communicate is for the same field of view, a full frame camera would require X focal length with f/Y focal ratio (f-number). To increase the field view on a full frame, the focal length would need to decrease by 10x and the f-number would decrease by the sqrt(10) f-stops because depth of focus decreases with f-number squared. That’s how “full frame equivalent” should be interpreted in this context. A “perfect image” is easily defined scientifically. An ideal lens produces a diffraction limited point spread function across the field of view with rectilinear mapping proportional to the object spectral radiance distribution on a surface. I say surface because it could render to a spherical surface as opposed to a plane. An ideal lens is very challenging to design in the real world due to construction, materials, and other physics limitations. Aberrations theory describes a significant part of these limitations. There’s also space, size, and cost constraints on camera lenses that drive a lot of these comprises. A good lens designer must balance all of these factors, not just design for best performance.

[@romaindancre]

As a photographer, I'm incredibly impressed by the level of engineering, knowledge and problem-solving here Awesome work Matt!

[@MatMabee]

@miko foin *laughs in 8 and 35mm*

[@AltoCalibreOP7]

I actually think that he "gets" problems to solve them and get the video more entertaining and larger

[@KahruSuomiPerkele]

it's because you're an artist, if you studied engineering you would find that trivial.

[@romaindancre]

@@KahruSuomiPerkele Oh yeah, I don't doubt it, but I always find it interesting when engineering is used creatively !

[@Touchmylantern]

@miko foin I think the slow one he used is better because its more precise

[@somdusazerate]

This is next-level. As a photographer and former camera salesperson, I really think some people would buy this. If you take it to a studio or portable studio the size isn't that bad, but the results.. Just wow.

[@patrickl9930]

I built one of these in 2013 with a Kodak Aero Ektar, which has a 5 inch imaging circle -- The whole setup was about the size of 2 loaves of bread. Large format lenses are easily found online!

[@ashkananisi5181]

I think he can sell it for 3000$ !

[@davesradiorepairs6344]

Yes, Photo studios and small-budget film makers could really benefit from this design...

[@davesradiorepairs6344]

@@ashkananisi5181 Although not a mass-produced product, I could see where some would want this, and your production would be maybe 10-20 a year...

[@RJMPictures]

As a large format photographer myself, I'd buy this in a heartbeat

[@raveenwijayasinghe7700]

This is absolutely incredible Matt! As a photographer this is one of the most fascinating projects I’ve ever seen. Would love to build one of these one day! Fantastic!

[@slartibartfast2649]

The wide aperture has a really gorgeous effect. I am also a big fan of swirly bokeh , and this lens has a good dose of that too. It is quite similar to the effect of the Helios 40 85mm f/1.5, Zeiss Biotar 58mm f/2 and the Soviet Zeiss copy, the Helios 44.

[@raveenwijayasinghe7700]

@@slartibartfast2649 the costs associated with this build vs. the output you get is remarkable. Compared to what a pro lens would cost, the value this brings is incomparable .

[@slartibartfast2649]

@@raveenwijayasinghe7700 Adapting old projector lenses is another viable way which has the added bonus of being on a camera, rather than a massive box.

[@Vibe4ant]

Exactly what you said ^

[@raveenwijayasinghe7700]

@@slartibartfast2649 good point 😊

[@richardgammons3255]

As an ex film/tv/documentary cameraman & film maker with a deep interest in physics, I can say this is absolutely amazing!!!. I once owned a WWII aircraft camera lens which had a very long focal length (30" or so?) and a diameter of about 6 inches. I got rid of it years ago because there was no technology to make use of it again. but it may have had a higher spec than the lens you used Matt. Keep going you and your projects are priceless (yes that word has other uses)

[@WRGQWRED]

Do you know if it would work if the diffusive film wasnt there?

[@AXL-jb8iu]

​@@WRGQWREDit wouldn't because light should print image at something to be seen. I'm about to try matte lamination film. I'm experimenting with lenses for a long time so i want to try it too

[@PosyMusic]

I have always fantasized about extreme focal blur like this, and you pulled it off! Indeed absolutely phenomenal!

[@NoxiousPluK]

Oooh, I like your stuff!

[@ngocbannguyen]

@@NoxiousPluK me too!

[@dh2032]

focal blur in real time, more than just still image objects, if movie film lens, I would imagine any sort of camera would work as long it uses light at the media of use the more wilder types infra red, ultraviolet, I do like toy town look the this sort of lens gives 🙂

[@pseudoplankton7044]

Ayy! Did'nt expect u here!

[@graysnail9232]

@@pseudoplankton7044 true! and seeing some of the only few trully original content creators watch each other is a rare sight xD

[@marsgizmo]

This is such a fantastic project! 😌 35mm f0.4 it’s not even in the wildest filmmakers dreams… 🤩

[@FlockofSmeagles]

Now it is.

[@tedf1471]

Stanley Kubricks use of NASA's Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7?

[@likizsna]

@@tedf1471 Just in one movie...

[@mcb9644]

It would be coool to see this Lens in low light conditions

[@marsgizmo]

@@mcb9644 indeed!

[@MathieuStern]

This is the absolute dream for weird lens lovers ! I want to test my weird giant lenses on this project so bad

[@techo___o]

Hope for a collab on this project🔥

[@joelsmith3473]

Immediately thought this would be right up your alley, Mathieu!

[@themolehole]

Your channel is the one that introduced me to how much fun vintage and weird lenses are. Hope you guys get to do a colab one day!

[@500features]

I was thinking @Mathieu Stern is going to love this, and here he is!

[@austinlam1148]

I thought of your channel when I saw this project! Would love to see a collaboration!

[@TheEngineeringMonkey]

13:00 looks like a render!! Amazing!!

[@terriplays1726]

The most surprising thing about this is the quality you get from those Fresnel lenses. I thought they would degradate the image quality a lot, but at least in the video it seems fine.

[@makipri]

He said about wedding photography. I’m still not sure how good would the still images look in detail, especially for prints.

[@RunicRasol]

@@makipri Looking at the video in 4k, the image on the subject seems to be pretty clear, while the background has a decent blurring effect to it. I imagine the hard part is making sure the subject is in JUST the right spot, and doesn't move out of the intended range to really get the full benefit

[@mariopiacenza1295]

In theory, the bigger the projector glass the sharper it is when converted to a Full-frame or smaller. Instead of magnifying, it demagnifies. Quality is a factor, but even cheap glass can get reasonable sharpness

[@DarrellAyer]

@@makipri The nice thing for wedding work is that it will really eliminate any issues with the venue for the formal shots. This would be wholly unique.

[@timarivobatis1182]

@@makipri because people pay to see the pores on their faces, not for the atmosphere the image captures.

[@joshrichens8900]

Downright astounding. I think a big part of the culture that goes with DIY is "nothing goes to waste" and this project sits at the epitome of that belief. This isn't just repurposing for the sake of saving something old (which is still a noble cause) but instead it's seeing the beauty in something that's old and forgotten and using that beauty to inspire something incredible. Art in it's highest form.

[@clonkex]

I would never have expected such nice image quality from such a system. And you almost just glossed over making those super clean paper concertina bellows! Fantastic work!

[@AlainPilon]

it is mostly because we are watching this at a very low resolution. My guess is that it isnt that good in the realm of 50MP cameras, but for video, even 4K, it is most likely enough.

[@clonkex]

​@@AlainPilon I watched at 4k on a 1080p 24" screen. The quality was still vastly better than I expected.

[@AlainPilon]

@@clonkex that was exactly my point. These resolution are very low compared to what a medium/large format camera can resolve. So while the current setup degrades the image quality, the original image is so big that most of the flaws are invisible in video. But if I placed a Hasselblad in there to shoot a 100MP image, we would see the paper texture for sure. But as I said above, for video it is brilliant!

[@clonkex]

@@AlainPilon Ah, I think I see what you mean now, though I'm not really sure what "paper texture" you're referring to. So to clarify, you said "watching this at very low resolution". As primarily a gamer and video consumer, I don't consider 4k to be "very low resolution". In fact I would call 4k "very high resolution". Perhaps you're a photographer and your comment made sense, but in combination with the fact that you don't typically "watch" photographs, it just sounded like you were either A) assuming I was watching at low resolution on my phone or whatever, or B) calling 4k video "very low resolution", neither or which makes any sense.

[@GrimYak]

@@AlainPilon my guess is you are into print media? But yeah, 99.99% of people dont even watch on anything above 4k and majority of them watch on their phones. So this really works there.

[@receitasdojoni-bn3iy]

Wonderfull! Being fotographer since 1976 and a cameraman since 1984 this is absolutely amazing. Thanks A LOT!

[@Boogieeeeeeee]

Man... what is there not to love about this channel? - Great video production - Really creative ideas - Skillful and inventive execution that actually works - Really friendly presentation I seldom leave a comment but wanted to say thank you for the amazing content!!

[@jotham97]

He's quite possibly one of the highest-quality content creators on this platform.le

[@simpskywalker7216]

@@jotham97 i think he also greatly benefits from the fact that he isn’t churning out a new video every week just to keep the algorithm happy. he puts in some serious thought into every build which is always appreciated

[@ragvrai]

I think you forgot about his perfect voice which never stutters and should be used for every podcast ever. It’s LITERALLY CALMING to hear.

[@AwkwardFistbump]

- Gives you the files to do it yourself.

[@mehtabullahanan8672]

Matt in 2069: Today we're going to build a diy portable blackhole for everyday use.

[@aurelianoimperatore3180]

AHAHAHAHAH correct!!!!!!

[@amusik7]

As you can see the space time is already curved nicely but you would have to be extremely close to observe the event horizon . Thanks to vignetting we need to add another fresnel lens and it will allow us to take a picture of the Hawking radiation.

[@impossivel2006]

mostly using 4D printed parts with an interdimensional printer

[@jaypaint4855]

Fun fact: Even nuclear fusion is extremely inefficient. All other methods of energy production are dwarfed by the energy capable of being produced by black holes. The tidal effects that cause matter to heat up to extreme temps release tons of energy, making a black hole “dyson sphere” of sorts about 60% efficient, compared to nuclear fusion’s ~1% efficiency. Don’t believe me? E=mc^2

[@mustafahalukyilmaz102]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@SCtester]

This, to me, is probably your most impressive project so far - and that's saying a lot. I never knew such a lens was physically possible to be used with a digital camera, let alone as a DIY project. I was expecting the image to be washed out and with extreme chromatic aberration, like most ultra wide aperture lenses (especially since the light must go through a film), yet it looks perfectly clear and free of aberrations. Incredible. Why has nobody done this before? Sure, the size is somewhat impractical, but surely there are some niche use cases in filmmaking where it would be extremely desirable. And to think something so innovative was done not by a company, but by a DIY KZbinr!

[@Ezio470]

it's a very niche usage ...very rarely used and when someone wants that specific effect, they usually rely on post-processing/green screen to achieve it

[@STDavis-em1df]

@@Ezio470 It’s not that niche. You have to think in terms of scale, use ability, and price point. Camera manufacturers still have to sell it and when the Red One and original Ursa was succh a beast on set to handle, this wouldn’t work in large scale productions. The Alexa LF is the closest digital equivalent I believe. But there are a number of film ways to get close to this specially large format going straight to negative. But if you’ve shot even stills large format, you know how much time it takes to actually setup the shot to take it. Not a quick process

[@_CRiT_hits_]

@@STDavis-em1df the Alexa LF's sensor is the same size as a full frame sensor... 36.7mm x 25.54mm for Alexa LF vs 36mm x 24mm of standard "full-frame" mirror less cameras... So it's not really going to be anything special for this application. In fact the "medium format" GFX 100 would make significantly more use of this lens with its 43.8mm xx 32.9mm sensor, or better yet a Hasselblad H6DC with a 53.4mm x 40mm

[@tehmoriz]

honestly it's not even particularly impractical - movie production rigs can handle something like this quite easily. in fact, this might be incredibly useful for film production.

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 🔥

[@nyxionn]

I think people without an understanding of photography will truly gradp why this is so amazing. I couldn't stop staring at the paused photographs, they looked very ephemeral and strange but natural too, it's hard to verbalize.

[@romancotton8536]

Because we have seen this done before even in the late 1400s

[@bastiaan1150]

@@romancotton8536🤓

[@SirWrender]

Man I LOVE this build SO MUCH!!! What an awesome idea and I’m so impressed by the results. I’d love to make something like this.

[@silicagelenjoyers]

Hi wren

[@goatpepperherbaltea7895]

Do it dawg

[@the_ant_guy]

do it!

[@palashsoni6442]

let's see if i have the luck to get reply from Wren or not?

[@Nicknyamka]

I betcha you guys can utilize this for an interesting corridor video. It'd be so cool see

[@Ro99]

Makes everything look like a diorama or tilt-shifted. Absolutely insane and beautiful

[@wallyhulea219]

Everything looks tiny when your eyeball is the size of a beach ball.

[@feedbackzaloop]

Thanks to Fresnel lenses this is kind of double tilt-shifted indeed

[@edawg704]

@_____ flirting in a diy perks comment section??? Aw hell naw

[@edawg704]

@_____ so true

[@themelancholyofgay3543]

Capturing images from a high rise would definitely be a sight to behold,

[@sagewaterdragon]

That reveal was literally breathtaking. This was your best project to date and I'd seriously recommend looking into making a commercial version of this. Releasing a how-to guide is great, but those kinds of results are contingent on good materials and really tight tolerances in a way that'd make a commercial version really valuable. This feels like it'd be a staple on music video sets.

[@AndreiPascu]

My old church used to have something like that to project song lyrics onto a big wall so that we could read them and sing along. There was a person there, near the "projector" that was switching the sheet with the lyrics every 30 seconds. It sounds so archaic to think about it nowadays. They removed it like a decado ago, and have installed a big, modern projector. I don't go to that church anymore, but this brought back some memories! Thank you, great video

[@GadgetAddict]

It's incredible how you make such complex things seem so easy. The results are amazing. It's really like some kind of miniature scene. The focus seems a bit off at times, but still really amazing results.

[@mattia51296]

Genius. I hope a museum dedicated to Matt's inventions IS IN PROGRESS SOMEWHERE

[@jjpaq]

The channel is a good start. Video museum of sorts. 😄

[@padddy48]

da vinchi

[@Charlotte-ef9th]

This one is not even an INVENTION. what are you all speaking about? he just use a big lens and some diy stuff//////////

[@Beano__]

@@Charlotte-ef9th "Erm ackshually, solar panels aren't an invention since they use light from the sun"

[@aakarshgupta7791]

It already is and it is called Matt's Home

[@fawaz908]

This lense has a stop -motion movie effect to it and its fully natural as if our ordinary world have become miniature enough for it to be captured on a 24-85 mm lense, absolutely stunning

[@stowgood]

I think you mean tilt shift

[@fawaz908]

@@stowgood yes tilt shift effect in a more poetic and understandable definition, yet this lense did it without a tilt & shift cabablity also sh*t i never thought someone would read my comment rather than having this much likes

[@CorwinParks]

This astounding! I was having a conversation with a friend about the future of cameras and he was saying they will get smaller over time, to which I said that would be fairly impossible - especially when you take into account the desirable bokeh that everyone is seeking. This goes to show that the smartphone will never compare to a real camera with a big sensor. Amazing work!

[@Padajaha]

Matt, you've gotta do a telescope project at some point. You've got some of the coolest diy optics projects out there, and I'd love to see what you could do with a telescope.

[@jasonrubik]

Zane Landers enters the chat

[@TeaganTurner]

Yes! Telescope lens next!

[@lachychops2]

Local british man puts James webb telescope to shame

[@eng-khalil]

@@lachychops2 "and don't get me started on the cost difference between the two"

[@Koda716]

The most impressive thing he did was definitely folding that accordion it looked so crisp lol

[@chrisrnz]

"Where there's a will, there's a way." Translation: "When Matt Perks is involved, we get a kickass result."

[@Kanyewestbiggestfan123]

What the f*ck

[@mariyastoyanova31]

@@Kanyewestbiggestfan123 ???

[@devanshgarg31]

Kick ass production level products

[@CunningBard]

Nah the translation should be "When there's a hole, there's a way"

[@mikakoivisto6504]

If I wasn't so stressed all the time, maby i would love life.

[@TC-rv6sz]

Wow this is actually such a good idea - us photographers obsess over sensor size because of the assumption that direct-to-sensor imaging is the only way to go. But builds like this demonstrate otherwise! The image quality is fantastic!

[@OwlishGeorge]

The miniaturization effect really stood out to me in the samples. Lenses already confuse me, but this just broke my brain. Thanks for sharing :)

[@niepowiemjaksienazywam1972]

Yeah! The boat for example really looked like a miniature model, I love it a lot

[@bunnybro5977]

Reminds me of tilt shift photography

[@iftruethenbig]

Bro really built the blender camera irl. On a serious note, this build is amazing and the subject seperation quality of the lense is amazing, if you were able to make this into a product I think a lot of videographers would love to purchase it.

[@NirmalveerSingh]

very underrated comment

[@idutvuk]

thinking the exact same thing

[@BuckeyeBackwoods]

@@NirmalveerSingh kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2XYq6yel6l5l9U

[@benmiller537]

Tell me you don't know anything about the photography world without telling me.... ULF is a thing people have been doing for over a century. Capturing ULF images digitally is something people have been doing for over a decade.

[@mrgreatauk]

@@benmiller537 curious how they do that? Is it all post-processing object detection wizardry or are there physical ULF video cameras with massive sensors / sensors stitched together for those prepared to pay? Or just more refined versions of the sort of rig from this video?

[@prymestudio]

As a photographer and videographer I can only say… “Damn, this is surreal”

[@PanoptesDreams]

Like he said, it feels like a dream. I was just speechless taking in some of the shots. I just wish we could see the uncompressed images

[@hashtag-shaneiacs]

Didn't expect much (on the images I mean, your builds are always amazing) throughout the building portion of the video. Then the video it captured just blew me away. Very ethereal, strange, and weird. Mostly because I've never seen this quality in a video before. Very very spectacular

[@kamel3d]

This is Amazing and it looks like you are shooting miniatures infact I knew that to get that effect the camera should be very big and thats what you just did here, I won't be surprised if you get approached by some production company to use this camera in music videos or something like that

[@pedrovitor5125]

Waiting, 😀

[@abdelrahmanabdolaid]

sahib lberwita vol 2 as a music video maybe ? 🤔 😂😂😂

[@k3nl4w]

Exactly what I thought. The tilt shift lens is just a trick in my opinion, not a true miniature effect.

[@rmmuyani25]

Was thinking about this

[@tomppeli.]

The incredibly large lens makes everything look like they're miniaturised I love the look, throws my mind for a loop, thinking if the things shot are tiny or life-sized :D

[@igbatious]

It's called tilt shift

[@joelsmith3473]

@@igbatious It produces the same sort of effect as a tilt lens, but by different means. The miniturization effect is caused by the depth of field to be much smaller than that of our eyes at similar distances. Our brains interpret far-away subjects having similar focus to the background as "large" and subjects with different focus as the background as "small" as these normally happen when things are far away from us and close to us. Far away things are bigger than they appear and our brain compensates in our perception, likewise really close things just look big because they are so close and the brain compensates. When something that is actually far away appears to have a different focus than the background our brains interpret it instead as something viewed close up, and so our perception is changed to think the subject "must be" really tiny to be so close and yet so small in the frame. Tilt lenses achieve this by laterally rotating the plane of focus to manipulate this look. The lens created here *actually* has the shallow depth of field.

[@hermanrobak1285]

@@joelsmith3473 The tilting *used to be* employed to *counter* the shallow depth of focus, by tilting the focus plane to intersect with the most of the faces in a group photo, or make it parallel with the ground, a table, a wall, or whatever. These days, people know of the tilt lens as a novelty, used for the opposite purpose, to call attention to the effect itself.

[@AppleGameification]

@@igbatious it's not called tilt shift

[@Brian-jv8iy]

I don’t really see anything to be “miniaturized”

[@SohNatan]

WOW! As a photographer I gotta say I started watching this video very skeptically thinking you would get some horrible quality gimmicky result, but getting a 35mm f0.4 equivalent is actually pretty insane!!! You sir, amazing job!

[@eliesaad674]

Matt, Wow. I am amazed at what your construction has achieved. In addition, to the astounding depth of field, the ability to capture this level of image quality (precision) through any digital format is a plus. An amazing upcycle!

[@TonyAndChelsea]

Amazing work!!!

[@DIYPerks]

Thank you!!! I was thinking this would like this level of bokeh 😄

[@CommentFrom]

​@@MStrong95 no

[@felipedeornelas8054]

@@MStrong95 Practically and demand. Also there's not a lot of surplus camera sensors a out there because the sensor is the hardest part to manufacture, it's extremely sensitive to malfunctions and that is the reason why crop sensor cameras are much cheaper and therefore more popular, area of sensor means more material, which means higher chances of defective pixels.

[@arunashamal]

lol.. no wonder Toneh showed up here

[@martin_the_artist_]

@@arunashamal 😂

[@theena]

My god, Matt. Those images are stunning. I've said this a million times but I hope that at some point you put up some of your creations for sale. I can think of quite a few photographers would absolutely buy this.

[@DarkyMoto]

This DIY lens is incredible. That blur makes me wanna cry due to it’s beauty.

[@freescape08]

3:16 Thats rather specific... It was originally used for any kind of structural design for factory use, as it allows customization, modularity, and linear movement within a structure. Great for plc assembly lines, safety structures around robot arms, etc. more accurate to say that they're "regularly used in budget 3d printers."

[@ubesaaa]

wow... everything looks like a macro image. This is truly impressive, I was utterly underwhelmed at first but the final results speak for themselves. It's borderline magical looking.

[@uhuhno6441]

Yup. Huge lens & image circle = everything looks tiny. It's what the world would look like to a giant. Pretty straight forward

[@noelbarnes3158]

I don't know what kind of formal training you might have, if any at all, but as a last year engineering student at one of the best engineering colleges in the world, I am absolutely floored. It is awe inspiring how you make such well developed builds. Their variety and detail, amazing. The insight and problem solving, amazing. The editing and scripting, amazing. I would much rather have spent a semester learning from you than some old guy with a million useless accolades. How you develop It is DIY, I guess, but you seem to have the brainpower of an entire division of engineers.

[@looppp]

As someone with an engineering degree, college barely prepares you ready to do practical stuff. What he is doing is years of curiosity and practical experience, and a major desire to learn + be okay with failing.

[@hankhill8973]

@@looppp based

[@exynth1a215]

@@looppp based

[@skydarkbomber1728]

@@looppp based

[@definitelynotagoodperson5456]

​@@looppp based

[@DylanODonnell]

Mind is blown. This would be an amazing cinematic lens for movies. The shallow depth of field is a strength and a weakness but it is a very unique result that would work artistically for lots of things.

[@JohnsontheFly]

Don't lie, you're wondering how it would perform as an Astrophotography lens, aren't you?

[@DylanODonnell]

@@JohnsontheFly oh god .. he knows too much 😂

[@atimholt]

I’m imagining some big budget movie maker seeing this vid and actually using the idea for a movie within a few years. Similar things have happened before...

[@vasimania1]

It looks like you built a camera but scaled up. So everything that is in human scale looks like macro through this giant camera! Amazing!!!

[@mrfrillows]

The quality and uniqueness of the images is amazing. Honestly, the images have almost a tilt-shift type feel to them making the subject of the photo stand out in such a unique way. I love what you made!

[@eloreneloreneloreneloreneloren]

You made a good-sounding microphone, now a lens with incredible picture quality. I'm shocked. Imagine a company that makes such high quality products.

[@realtimestatic]

He didn’t make the Lense itself

[@myriadtechrepair1191]

He mad a lens lens.

[@RAndrewNeal]

@@realtimestatic Nor did he make the microphone itself. He used complementary parts around the base components to achieve the final results.

[@samueltufts]

This is incredible, if you’ve ever seen a portrait made on large format film then you know the kind of subject separation that is characteristic of that kind of photo and is basically unattainable in smaller formats. As far as I can tell the image produced by this and captured by a digital camera has even more separation than any 8x10 negative I’ve ever seen. He mentioned that this setup is equivalent to 432mm at f/5 which is an amazingly low aperture for that size of image circle and focal length of lens. I think this thing could really prove to be useful as a serious photography tool. 10/10

[@Sami_8625]

This is awesome. As a photographer I was so impressed by the image that the lense produced. Amazing job. I'd love to see some videos in the future with this lense.

[@csokaserik89]

Absolute masterclass. As a photographer for a few years I would be suprised if you wouldnt get some calls from hollywood studios to deliver a few such lenses.

[@achannelhasnoname5182]

To be fair, Matt obviously isn't the first person who tried out something like this. I fear that a setup like this just isn't practical for commercial use. Especially when it comes to fast movement or low light scenes.

[@NickTheSickDick]

@@achannelhasnoname5182 Your realize they use different lenses for different scenes, right? Something like this could absolutely be used for certain kinds of sequences.

[@ntvans]

@@achannelhasnoname5182 Do you grasp the fact that the man did this on a rediculously low budget and in a amazingly short time period?

[@wycliffe_ndiba]

This is crazy good. Miniature scenes are making a comeback, especially with low-budget films, this could be revolutionary in getting those shots. Those results looked like props on a set. There would be no need of having two plates of characters and the background for such scenes saving a ton of time. This is very good. Also, I perked up a bit when I saw you're video on my feed, always gets my adrenaline flowing.

[@jokepp]

What do you mean when you write that he is "video on my feed"? I'm really confused by that sentence...

[@theninjamaster67]

@@jokepp In their suggested videos. Probably more specifically their subscription box where it shows all the channels you're subbed to.

[@promethbastard]

You could say it was a .. DIY Perk.

[@Project-Air]

Absolutely crazy camera making skills! Now I want to build one!

[@DIYPerks]

Cheers James! Imagine how your Mini would look through it... it would look very miniature indeed 😀

[@Project-Air]

@@DIYPerks 😂

[@axlakaisuzu]

Hey Matt! that's incredible! you forgot to post the link for the download of the files, that's a rig I'm actually really willing to try!

[@KK4CNM]

Ditto to this

[@philipbloom]

I am absolutely blown away Matt. This is incredible, I need to use this! ❤️ Looking for an episcope lens right now on ebay!

[@marcusdekker]

you think he made those bellows himself; they looked pretty pro for a western doing origami 😄

[@philipbloom]

@@marcusdekker have you seen anything else he makes? He’s amazing

[@ZakiQutteineh]

Thought of you as I was watching this video ... and here you are, Philip. P.S. Yesterday was watching your Fran 8K review :)

[@mohsinbhatti5237]

@@philipbloom We need a documentary made with this lens.

[@marcusdekker]

@@philipbloom I havent seen much of him, but i am impressed to say the least. Like your channel too, a lot!!!

[@sven4129]

Great Lens. Here is an idea to continue this project in a new direction: put in some edge detection by CV (or focus peaking to simulate), focus through the range and record all the edges, now you have a unique 3d scanner.

[@bushyman477]

The result looks like tilt-shift photography, looks awesome

[@ge2719]

wren just called you out on not getting around to releasing the build plans for this, now you gotta do a collab video where you help corridor crew build their own one and film something cool with it :D

[@stlflyboy86]

Please please give me the build plan for this

[@latfab]

I made a Build Log post about making the camera in DIY Perks forum. Hope you find it somewhat useful.

[@GauravSharma-dy8xv]

Which video

[@ge2719]

@@GauravSharma-dy8xv cant rememeber, i think it was one of there saturday react videos since theyre the only ones i ocasionally watch any more. KZbins says i posted this a month ago, so could be anywhere from 4 to 7 saturdays ago. So one of those 4 videos.

[@magicturtle2203]

@@GauravSharma-dy8xv It's VFX Artists React to Bad & Great CGi 121 during the Battleground segment

[@Cono_Gaming]

the image is so comfortably strange.. it truly is like nothing i´ve seen before trought a screen. its honestly feels like if i was there at the moment the images were taken. Amazing work, thank you for sharing it online (Sorry for my possible bad english, its a second language for me)

[@KhoaSV]

Your DIY projects have always been inspiring, but this one is just on another level!

[@JohnnyBravoGn]

This is what I call the quality content. So many efforts and skills from your side. So much learning from our side. Fantastic job 👍🏼

[@TheTechAdmin]

13:03 The lens you made makes this scene look miniature! AMAZING!

[@raulandrus]

This is amazing! I'm a trained photographer and during my school time I learned that early digital photography used a type of flatbed scanner to scan the screen of a large format camera. This only worked for still images of course since the scanning process was really slow. But the resolution of such a build should be insane with a modern scanner. I'd love to see this as one of your future projects.

[@Crispy_Bee]

The resolution wouldn't be as high, I've dabbled in this stuff for a while. Yes, you could make a high-res scanner but this is an f5.0 lens which is why it has such a shallow DoF on this image circle. If you were to use it wide open, it would be very soft both in the center and especially on the edge of the frame. You could stop down a bit to improve on that (and get rid or reduce Chromatic Aberration, Coma etc), but that would reduce the amount of light and increase the DoF. In short: the image would not look as "dreamy" any more and it would need a high ISO - meaning lots of grain. You can't have both a sharp high resolution image and a soft, dreamy "bokeh" with a shallow depth of field.

[@raulandrus]

@@Crispy_Bee thanks for your reply! I was talking about a normal view camera (like a sinar). This video only reminded me of something I always wondered during my time in photography school. I hope I use the right vocabulary since English isn't my first language. Wouldn't it be possible to "replace" the film plate with a flatbed scanner? If that scanner comes with a resolution of 4800dpi used on the 4x5" plate of a sinar p - wouldn't this result in a picture of 19200x24000? 460MP sure sounds like a lot. But please correct me if I miss something!

[@Crispy_Bee]

@@raulandrus Of course, this has been done a few times already. The limitations I mentioned still apply though and those lenses are also limited in their resolution, especially wide open but also when closing down the aperture. A flatbed scanner also opens a whole new can of worms like vibration during scanning, flickering light sources (LED) or changing light (outside), subject movement (blinking eyelids, ocean waves, leaves in the wind,...) and so on. Also those scanners have a very, very limited low light capability, you can't really do long exposures. And to make matters worse - the sensor in flatbed scanners does not work well with light coming from shallow angles... so yeah, lots of things that get in the way. And even if you manage to get around all that, you'd have to be super precise in order to take any advantage of the resolution of the scanner. I'd be surprised if you'd get anywhere beyond 10-15mpx. You'd be better of just taking a photo on LF film and then scanning the negative on a flatbed scanner TBH. A company called "Betterlight" used to produce and sell special scan backs for large format cameras but due to high res medium format backs these things have fallen out of favour - and I think they've closed down years ago. Then there was "Rencay" though I don't know whether they're still in business either. For DIY projects, you can still find some of them online - just google "large format flatbed scan back" or something similar. Most projects have been abandoned due to all those issues.

[@raulandrus]

@@Crispy_Bee thank you! Many things I haven't considered.

[@Crispy_Bee]

@@raulandrus You're welcome! :) I know it's a very interesting project but the technology of flatbed scanners has sort of bottomed out decades ago. The sensors aren't getting noticeably better and you can't adjust basic things like exposure. And even if you want to decrease the time it takes to 'scan' the image, you'll also reduce the resolution of the image...

[@EthanDoezYT]

this is literally beautiful. I don't even know how to describe it except that this lens and the film you've taken with it, is literal beauty.

[@ardouisur]

Wet plate photographer here. This is very similar to how my 120 year old camera works, the plate size is 12 inches square. Using film, wet plate or modern large format film as the “sensor” would lead to a spectacular image using this lens. You could then scan it after development.

[@EstelonAgarwaen]

Instead of a screen you could pretty much just add a film holder at the back. Or mount the rear end to a large format camera.

[@dominikdoom]

Yeah, I was immediately reminded of the 1920s Century No.4A Folmer Graflex Studio Camera my father uses for wet plate and cyanotype photography. With a photosensitive layer you could even spare the fresnel lenses, since those are only needed for reprojection into the normal camera lens. This should also lead to an even clearer image, fresnel has noticeable distortion.

[@artemikurski939]

My thoughts exactly. The only innovation here (and that's not sarcasm, I've actually not seen anybody in the analog community do this before) is the frensel setup to project the image onto a full frame sensor. I think this may actually be quite a successfull accessory for large format cameras like Intrepid 4x5 (since it appears to be the most popular large format camera right now).

[@AndrewBeals]

I tapped in to say that Matt had reinvented the view camera but you guys have covered it, basically.

[@PrebleStreetRecords]

Using Ilford direct positive paper would work well too- albeit with a very long exposure time.

[@sangamum9192]

11:58 what a beautiful shot. ✨

[@AlmightyUniden]

12 years ago I built a rig to record the back of the fresnel viewing lens on my 4x5 Graflex. It was made of wood and used cheap cloth bellows. I was always thinking I would one day push the idea and make it better but lacked the engineering skills to do so. What you've created is so much better in so many ways, I'm simply blown away (and a little bit mad at myself I didn't beat you to the punch). Absolute amazing job. I might blatantly steal some of your ideas hahaha

[@kevinbuiied]

I say do it! I think DIYPerks would love to see it on your socials if you do make it!

[@gabem7618]

That first complete image reveal shook me 😳 Amazingly unique look, I had to tell myself that the background was real and not a screen bc it reminded me of some early 2000s kids morning shows. I would love to see this used in some surrealist shorts

[@Doying912]

When I saw the reveal of what your camera did, my jaw dropped haha It looked so good it looked fake!

[@timobensch3904]

once the "miniature look" was mentioned i couldn't unsee it again. it really all did look like someone filmed their miniature models and then just edited in real video footage to liven it up. looks phenomenal

[@matthasaname]

Oh. My. God. This is, hands down, the most impressive milky bokeh on youtube. I would love to see some low light shots to see how glowing street lights look throughout the focal range. All the way from sharp to totally blurred. This would easily make some down right odd looking shots on the street at night. Well done, again.

[@savedbybravado4382]

This feels like a real step forward in camera science. I’ve never seen such an image in my decades using cameras. At all. Feels like I am completely mind blown for the first time in a real way in a very, very long time.

[@Sinaeb]

google "old camera" that's the same thing. except it acts as an adapter for a modern camera and an old lense And now you,re going to get yourself a new hobby :^)

[@Vfulncchl]

Not a step forward lmao, this is well known, just now used because of the crazy size. Shallow depth of field requires a big sensor, that is one of the most basic photography facts.

[@TanukiDigital]

What's old is eventually new again. This seems quite similar to a turn of the (last) century plate camera.

[@mushin111]

Camera science, lol

[@AlanKlughammer]

this is just a large format camera using a modern camera to take a picture of the ground glass. I was doing this 20 years ago. Nice build though.

[@jamesdavis2359]

This is pretty impressive. Probably my favorite project you've done. Very very informative on a subject I don't know nothing about and the way you describe the process and the details of how things work made perfect sense for, myself, not knowing any of it before hand. Great work as always. Keep it up.

[@simonvh7092]

That very first shot showcasing the results is stunning!!! It immediately reminded me of Wes Anderson's 'the Swan' for some reason, I feel like he would use this type of lense

[@JeffGeerling]

Upcoming video: "How to build a 500mm image sensor for direct to sensor imaging"

[@abdulmuhaimin5274]

Good idea 👍

[@taunggoy]

Yeah, basically, just add a mount for your camera brand, and voila! (Some engineering stuff needs to happen first, but you get it)

[@SMGJohn]

LS911 Large Format Digital sensor says hello

[@gk5947]

You might want to hit up SeanHodgins for this

[@AntonioNoack]

With long time exposure, you could move the camera sensor over the whole area. Would have to be really static tho.

[@greencolouredpeas8235]

This video is so educational and concise, no annoying music or editing like most mainstream channels. Doesn't feel like it was 15 minutes at all!! Keep up the awesome work man!

[@NeverlandSystemAngel]

This is absolutely insanely over-engineered for what these parts are, and I LOVE it. So incedible.

[@HaasGrotesk]

This is absolutely not overengineerd. This is in fact as simple as it gets. This camera only has parts it needs and nothing else.

[@PigeonHoot]

Should get a T ring to install the camera with the exposed sensor so you get as much light as possible on it without loosing light from the 2nd lense. You made beautiful work and an interesting film to watch

[@japhyriddle]

Really great execution. A friend and I used to do things like this years ago, but not nearly as cleanly. We have a 911mm f8 lens (it's absolutely massive) which makes an imaging circle around the size you're getting with your lens. One thing worth noting is while shooting through diffusion is great for geometry and light transmission, you do lose a little bit of the potential shallowness. It's always a trade off: the more diffusing the diffusion is, the less light transmission, but the shallower the depth of field. The less diffusing the diffusion is, the more light, but the deeper the depth of field. One thing I've always wanted to try is to film the lens projection bouncing off of a white surface with a camera fitted with a tilt-shift lens to compensate for the off-axis geometry. That would give the full shallow DOF of the lens. Or just place some large format film there.

[@andyjdhurley]

I wonder if, with the 2 fresnell lenses you actually still need the diffuser? Not sure as I am not an optics expert but it seems to me from a pure physics POV that it should work as all the light beams should converge. You might need to bypass the camera lenses though and just pop the sensor in the right place. Perhaps taking the lens off an SLR type body would do the trick.

[@Zappygunshot]

Rather than using a white surface, use a mirror. "White" actually still diffuses a ton of light, while a mirrored surface will return the image in all its glory. Or do what Andy suggested: simply refract the entire image into the camera. That's more or less what you're doing anyways; the diffuse layer is really only a tool to determine the size and distance your lenses should be from the episcope. You don't even really need to use two big lenses, just replace them with one that focuses the light from the episcope lens into the sensor. To be honest, the more I think about this, the more I realise this isn't nearly as 'revolutionary' as Matt makes it seem and it's really something that's been resolved decades ago. You see, the one thing that Matt doesn't touch on is the fact that the $200,000 lens is much, _much_ smaller and lighter than his enormous and unwieldy contraption. The reason we use it, and not some weird mega light box that looks like it came from the late 19th Century, is probably because those who use cameras a ton value the ability to operate their cameras in a multitude of different environments and conditions much higher than cranking out that _tiny_ bit of extra focal depth that makes everything you're filming or photographing look like it was done in front of a greenscreen anyway.

[@mattsealjr92]

Have you seen the video of the guy who did exactly this with an old rail camera and a shoulder mount? It's super cool.

[@melanienolley]

@@mattsealjr92 No, I haven't and would love to see it! Thanks for mentioning it.

[@boostedmedia]

This is awesome! Looks similar to the effect achieved with tilt shift in some of the shots but on steroids. Love it!

[@SamFBM]

this is crazy man , idk how you come up with these ideas but they're always great. if i was you i'd start putting these into production hahaha

[@Broken_robot1986]

Assembly required.

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 🔥

[@tagrtw]

@@VeganSemihCyprus33 gay

[@phototechchannel229]

AMAZING. I've been tried to do this with an 8X10 camera and ground glass but I was no where near as successful as you have been. I'm a big fan of your engineering projects. I love the LED light work and have my own collection of DIY photographic lights. Now that 98CRI LED strips and COBs are available the options for studio lighting are endless. I'm retrofitting old Tungsten and Strobe lighting to use LEDs. A LED that strobes at 1/4000 and 4 to 10X higher voltage is my next goal. Getting it to sync is my biggest issue.

[@ajdecaprio]

This would be incredible for making a film in which the main character gets stuck inside a diorama! It's got such a unique look I wouldn't be surprised if it was replicated at one point and used on an actual production. Great job as always Matt!

[@michaelmarshall4614]

Or you could use a tilt shift lens and get an even more drastic miniature effect

[@segments2156]

i had the same idea watching the video... well a similar idea, i thought about a film where the characters are action figures

[@vektor_z7208]

@@segments2156 there is an episode of the twilight zone about that.

[@thefilmdaddy]

This was absolutely incredible Matt! I’m a film photographer, and as far as I can tell this would be beyond unbelievable if the image was projected onto a sheet of film. You’d have to incorporate a shutter, but my goodness this was such a treat to watch!

[@iamkubrick]

Now you and ARRI make the best cinema cameras. Honestly truly remarkable image … I’d love to see more from it. Well done.

[@mahirabrar413]

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING. That unbelievable amount of depth of field !!!!! Has to be one of the best channels I accidentally stumbled upon while procrastinating at 3 am.

[@nipunbhalla]

This is insane! I haven't had my mind blown like this in quite a while. Your knowledge on multiple subjects amazes me. Take a bow!

[@MrDevintcoleman]

I watch a lot of maker stuff on KZbin but this channel is way, way up there for me. Every video is always amazing, and never clickbait. Really incredible ingenuity and engineering.

[@noberd]

i love how it made the focused subject so tiny while the background seems like a whole different bigger world

[@AlvinFlang69420]

Can you imagine if this were modified with a steadycam for action scenes in a project? It would be insane!

[@mythyc9604]

Big rig steadi for sure. Also linear glides and automated travel would produce soMe spectacular shots

[@MangoAlexando]

Trying to keep fast moving objects in focus must be quite the pain though

[@Error-404-user-unknown]

Focus pullers nightmare 🥴

[@MajesticSam]

Id imagine that the action scenes would look like miniature sets given that the DIY lens makes things look miniature which can be quite awesome looking

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 🔥

[@piscesmarketing6354]

Hey Matt, I couldn't find the measurements in the description , This is amazing, I would love to build one too!

[@TikeLeSpike]

The shot at 11:58 blew my mind! So cool, really looks like an extremely detailed miniature

[@Undy1]

Holy damn I knew there was gonna be a lot of bokeh but this exceeded my wildest expectations. Also I almost cannot believe that despite having two fresnel lenses in there, there's zero visible chromatic aberration - do they cancel each other out that well? Initially I thought you were going to use some ridiculous large format image sensor - like from an observatory telescope or disassembled x-ray sensor panel like the one featured in one of Applied Science's videos - although in both cases the image would've been black and white as sensors in these use-cases don't feature a bayer filter. But this intermediate method with a diffusion film is genius and works way better than I thought it would! I hope this will inspire some filmmakers to make their own and do some cool stuff with it. Here's one idea how to take it to the next level - make it a tilt-shift lens as well - you already have the bellow which can allow some movement, just have to change the mechanism to add translation and rotation to the lens.

[@stepansteps24]

I wonder too, also the glass seems uncoated, maybe because of the whole picture being scaled down at the end point

[@float32]

Maybe it’s the relatively shallow angle through the fresnel lens?

[@slartibartfast2649]

I notice chromatic aberration, but maybe I am imagining things. I saw red aberration in the first shot at the edge of Matt's hair and green aberration on the face of the cow. It is also not a very sharp lens. Typical of the era it comes from, before computer designed lenses ironed out the swirly bokeh and softness, and coatings fixed the low contrast and aberrations.

[@azureprophet]

Chromatic aberration is going to be relatively well controlled at the low resolution of 4k vs a full frame 20 megapixel image.

[@Undy1]

@@azureprophet my point is that fresnel lenses by default have huge amounts of chromatic aberration, I thought it was gonna be a total disaster but it's pretty much not visible at all!

[@shadzscape]

13:43 - WOW! Love the "White, Green, yellow and Red" reflected colours on the lens and as a photographer F-0.4 HOLLLYYYY!! .... Respect the creative process and hard work Matt 👏😊🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@ALLCOLOURSOFLIFE]

Total brilliant idea and implementation, bravo !!! Some advice for the end - think about lens hood, it can add some more contrast and will prevent side light artifacts ))). Anyway - gorgeous project !!!

[@NWPHawaii]

Beyond impressed. Can’t imagine lugging it to a wedding but would love it for some unique portrait sessions. Very cool.

[@georgev.georgeson5300]

I can just say WOW! Have you considered trying it with a sheet film instead of a digital camera/phone for still images? That way you would get a "image sensor" that is several inches wide, directly capturing your image, instead of another camera.

[@stowgood]

then he'd have to make a shutter.

[@AbdelBaligh]

I've always wanted to see how something like an f0.4 lens would look like! You did say the low light performance wouldn't be the same because of the projection difference, but it would've still been great to see this lens do it's magic at night time, perhaps with some delicious looking lights in the bokeh! I really want to see how that would look like :) Thanks for the video, cheers!

[@dtibor5903]

You can gather 3-4x more light if you install the 2 prism films from any LCD TV screen. It will gather and redirect light perpendicular to it's surface. Downside is some loss off sharpness.

[@verebellus]

if im not mistaken, you could use a fresnel lens (or similar) directly after the lens to straighten the light, then focus it back down to your camera sensor for a way more compact solution