"Jugaad" Camera for Close up shots

singh · May 19, 2020, 3:51pm

With a newfound interest in entomology and photography thanks to the lockdown, I was rather disappointed at not being able to get up close and personal with some subjects.

I searched the obvious and the most abundant source of information – Internet. I found that a mobile camera can be modified/enhanced to take close picture. Obviously I didn’t expect miracles but what I achieved left me amazed!

So, I thought of sharing it with all the COOOL people.

Important Instruction:

[center]“DON’T TRY IT WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION AND PERMISSION”[/center]

Apparatus: An out of use (in my case working) DVD/CD player, a Philips screwdriver, a pair of tweezers and bobby pins.

Other equipment

Procedure:

Rather simple, open the DVD/CD player, locate the lens (that’s what we are after) which is generally attached to a mechanism. It’s fairly simple to extract.

This is the spot where you will find the lens

This is the lens.

Now carefully place the lens between the two arms of a bobby pin.

63000×4000 2.55 MB
Place it carefully just above the camera of the phone (in my case an old iPhone 5s selected so because of the rather plain surface for ease of placement of the lens. I don’t endorse the brand in any way, you can use any mobile of your choice. You may have to modify things a bit to place the lens on some phones.)

74000×3000 2.3 MB
The modified camera is ready.

How to use:

It’s simple, place the camera very close to the object.
Ensure proper lighting.
Move back and forward till the desired object is in focus. The auto focus of the camera will not work.

My apologies for not taking a better video. Please also excuse the annoying reflection of the tube light on the screen.

Click the picture. That’s it!

Important notes:

Be careful, as always, while handling tools.
Make sure the DVD player is not connected to the power supply before opening it.

[center]“DON’T TRY IT WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION AND PERMISSION”[/center]

Some sample shots

A ball point pen tip

Peacock feathers

singh · May 19, 2020, 4:02pm

Some more random shots:

Hind part of an insect (It was a dead insect. Be careful while handling insects. Even a dead wasp can sting!)

Same insect’s leg

Screen of a mobile phone

Blade type screwdriver

Human finger

drishtantmkawale · May 19, 2020, 8:41pm

This is just wow!
Never thought that I will be seeing such a use of a DVD Player!

This is how we make the best use of our home-labs!
Easy, accessible, made at home and does wonders!
Especially, such jugaads or home-made methods are useful for us CUBists for taking the pictures of our Model-organisms!

Great!

singh · May 20, 2020, 1:24am

Thanks for the motivation.

That must be in the title as well.

singh · May 22, 2020, 3:15pm

Some more shots

Wasp Head:

Wasp Sting

Video of Wasp Head (it was a tricky shot!)

Siddharth7950 · October 6, 2021, 3:44am

That’s fabulous!!
I loved to see such a use of a DVD player
These shots are amazing!
I like to see the experiments in which things are explained very well like this one…

NAVTEJ7939 · October 7, 2021, 9:04am

it’s So Amazing . It’s Like watching a whole new world around us

singh · October 7, 2021, 9:26am

@Siddharth7950 @NAVTEJ7939 you can give it a try and make a close up camera of your own. There are other posts related to it also. Hope you can better the design with your innovation.

NAVTEJ7939 · October 7, 2021, 11:06am

Sure , i will try . i have Some Lenses Maybe These Can Help

Siddharth7950 · October 8, 2021, 3:00am

Sure, sir…I will try.

Abhinav7996 · October 8, 2021, 4:07am

I’ll also give it a try!

Siddharth7950 · October 9, 2021, 1:15pm

Hello, everyone!!
I also tried this and explored the world which I had never seen before…

I want to share my experiences with you too!

I personally like the Spider & the Housefly pics…
I think that’s because I faced most of the difficulties in these because they were just moving all the time!

Algae and the Ant ones are also nice…
So, take a look at these pictures!

Net Cloth Fabric

Steel Scrubber

Cemented Surface

An ant trapped In a spider web!

Skeleton of a leaf (Occured naturally)

Skeleton of a leaf

Two ants fighting for food

An anthill sediments

Spider

Spider [You can see all its 8 legs]

Spider [Its claws and body structure is clearly visible]

Spider

Rusted surface

Guduchi (Giloy) leaf

Guduchi leaf

Algae!

Dried leaf

Housefly [my favorite capture!]

Closeup of a flower

Leaf of a tree

Blue Iris Flower

Blue Iris

Wood

Leaf

Edge of a leaf

Backside of a leaf

Earbud Dust

Fingerboard Wheel

Dampness on a wall surface

Chalk Powder

Paint brush

Peacock feather’s green part

Three ants on a sugar crystal

An ant’s closeup

An ant

Peacock feather

Peacock Feather

Soil Sample

Algae Closeup

So these are the pictures I took using the lens…by the way the lens were from this old toy watch!

I hope you liked these pictures…

singh · October 9, 2021, 2:17pm

Exceptional clicks @Siddharth7950

Kindly also describe how you modified the camera and few details of the process.

Ankit · October 11, 2021, 6:07am

Hello Everyone,
I too tried this Jugaad and got amazing results!!
Here are some of the shots I took

A human finger.

Peacock’s feather.

Nib of a Whitener.

Budgie’s hair.

Bedsheet.

Green coloured page.

A leaf.

Nib of a Gel Pen.

Piece of a cloth.

THANK YOU!!

SINGHATAMBIR · October 11, 2021, 9:23am

I have done one amazing activity. In which I can see the that I have never seen. For that we need one lens you can get that from an old DVD or CD player .you have to fit lens in your mobile camera and done. Here are some pictures

Peacock feather

Towel threads IMG_20211011_141318|375x500
Cemented wall

Hair

Ashes

Guagain leaf

Ant
Salt crystals

Threads of lower
I hope you like it these pictures.

RyanAggawal8020SSK · October 13, 2021, 6:33am

I seen somethings in this activity which I have never seen before. I have used a magnifying glass for putting in front of my mobiles camera.

Some Pictures

Cushion Cover

Carboard

Piece of Foam