This is just way too cool. From Mathieu Stern on YouTube:
Now the facts :
– First of all the life-span of a lens made of ice is very short, so you can’t move very far from where you create the lens.
– Focusing is extremely hard because of the water melting on the lens itslef.
– Shaping one ” lens” takes 45 min because of the ambiant cold.
– If your lens breaks in the mold, you have to start all over again
– I hacked a Japanese cocktail ice ball maker to create half spheres.
– The housing of the lens was made using a home made 3D print model.
– All photos where shot during the 1 minute of the last ice lens.
– The video at the beginning of the video was shot in the last usable seconds of the last ice lens.
– No I didn’t ruined my camera with water damages, even if it was pretty dangerous, I managed to keep the inside dry.
Now if people asks me “Are you happy with the result ? it’s a bunch of blurry photos !?”, my response would be : “this project is a scientific, artistic and poetic project, I never imagined the result would look like the photos that comes from an ultra modern lens, but I was amazed by the strange beauty of the images I made with the first ever 10 000 year old lens.”
This is not a project for everyday photography, it was an adventure and a bet that when you have a crazy hypothesis, you should do everything to experiment it in the field.
We #celebratephotography here at Adafruit every Saturday. From photographers of all levels to projects you have made or those that inspire you to make, we’re on it! Got a tip? Well, send it in!
If you’re interested in making your own project and need some gear, we’ve got you covered. Be sure to check out our Raspberry Pi accessories and our DIY cameras.