Could i put an SLR lens on my canon S2 IS?

[BowerR64]

If i take it apart and remove all the lenses and stuff that i dont need and remove the appature.

I know that most SLR lenses are mounted directly to the CCD so there are a few lenses in the begining that my S2 already uses but the outer lenses would be similar to a telephoto right?

Say i rip all the lenses out sept the last one at the end would it work?

There are some lenses on e-bay people are more or less throwing away if they dont sell. Im talking a buck it would be fun to try for $5.

I know they wont fit on the camera but some have threads like a converter that i could screw into a 52mm or a 58mm adapter but im not sure wich one or how to look for that type.

I seriously want to try this.

[cdifoto]

I don't really see the point. You'd be better off duct taping some magnifying glasses to your S2.

What is it you're trying to achieve exactly?

[Stoller]

No duct tape, that's old school. Velcro so it's easy to change magnifying glasses...

[Rhys]

Before ripping a perfectly good camera apart, I'd suggest that you tried it with a cheap webcam first. I managed to put a Tamron 300mm lens with a T2 mount onto a webcam after removing the webcam lens. It worked. It wasn't very portable though.

[cdifoto]

Before ripping a perfectly good camera apart, I'd suggest that you tried it with a cheap webcam first. I managed to put a Tamron 300mm lens with a T2 mount onto a webcam after removing the webcam lens. It worked. It wasn't very portable though.

My understanding is he wants to gut the lens, not the S2. I hope I'm not wrong, because it'd be extremely assanine to destroy a good camera.

[avi777]

If the idea works, I'd love to know how to go about it. ;) Just kidding. Like someone already said, why not experiment with a cheaper camera first, unless the price doesn't bother you - All in the name of innovation. Might turn out great though. But dont take my word for it.

[EdBoy]

I don't really see the point. You'd be better off duct taping some magnifying glasses to your S2.


No duct tape, that's old school. Velcro so it's easy to change magnifying glasses...


Better still……. a pair of Nike Air will do the trick he could run to-and-fro along the focal range with a fixed focal length lens ..... turning it into a zoom !

[BowerR64]

I dont want to tear apart the camera. Maybe im wrong about how an SLR camera works?

I thought the lenses has several stages of lenses the first few stages on an SLR are the lenses that are near the sensor and as you get further to the front they are more like a telephoto lens?

I thought maybe i could remove the first few lenses that my S2 already have and then use those at the end that are more telephoto?

There are cheap older vintage lenses on e-bay that they are pretty much giving away. The glass is still good so i thougth i could try and salvage the glass by ditching the prestage lenses?

Did that make sence?

Say this picture is the SLR lens, i dont need the part in the red. But the parts in blue shoul dstill be good right?

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/BowerR64/Camera/SLRlens.jpg

[Rhys]

If you want an SLR then buy an SLR. The Canon S1/S2/S3 are all compact cameras. The lens is a single module built into the camera. It cannot be disassembled without breaking it.

[DonSchap]

I happened to be in the camera shop, the other day, when this poor bloke stumbled in with his camera in his hands. Upon a closer look, the lens had been broken apart by him either dropping it or whacking it into something when he turned.

The point is... the wiring runs inside the shell of the lens looked like a super highway of mylar conduit. In your case, ripping apart an automatic lens, that was "permanently" attached to the camera body, has to involve some level of unexpected damage to the electronic workings inside. Unless you KNOW what you are getting into (no schematic or parts breakdown?)... it seems dangerously uncertain (for the camera's health) and promising dubious results.

Perhaps a call to Canon or a close-by camera shop, might yield better information concerning the internals of your S2. Perhaps not.

My advice is to get an old 35mm SLR and a bellows lens. Then you can play with something time proven and yield a more predictable result. The lens is NOT dependent on the body at all!

Experimenting on and ruining a perfectly good camera seems (IMO)... wasteful. :(

[BowerR64]

Damn am i speaking english? i dont get it.

SLR cameras are 2 parts. One is the body, one is the lens (THE GLASS)

ok so the older 35mm cameras people are not using anymore right? THE GLASS IS STILL GOOD!

I want to try and salvage THE GLASS! im not interested in anything else in the lens or the camera. on teh older SLR 35mm FILM type cameras.

Im not going to destroy anything on my S2 i just want to try and fit the GLASS from the old lenses on my digital camera. Some of the old GLASS used in those older 35mm cameras are still really good.

It just seems like a waste of good glass to let them go into the rubish bin.

[cdifoto]

Damn am i speaking english? i dont get it.

SLR cameras are 2 parts. One is the body, one is the lens (THE GLASS)

ok so the older 35mm cameras people are not using anymore right? THE GLASS IS STILL GOOD!

I want to try and salvage THE GLASS! im not interested in anything else in the lens or the camera. on teh older SLR 35mm FILM type cameras.

Im not going to destroy anything on my S2 i just want to try and fit the GLASS from the old lenses on my digital camera. Some of the old GLASS used in those older 35mm cameras are still really good.

It just seems like a waste of good glass to let them go into the rubish bin.


Everyone responded the same way. Hmmm let me think who's miscommunicating here...

Like I said before - hold a magnifying glass up to your S2. Same effect as ripping apart a good lens. There's absolutely no benefit to just gutting an SLR lens and holding it up to your S2 that could not be gained from doing the same with a magnifying glass. Unless you want to try to mount it all up together to make it actually DO something (ie tear apart both lens and camera)...which is what everyone was telling you NOT to do because it would only serve to destroy a perfectly good camera.

There. Did I speak English clear enough for you to understand this time?

[BowerR64]

Wow, i guess im not.

Ofcorse i wouldnt do this to an SLR, and i dont plan to ruin the camera i never sugested to take the camera apart. Just the lens from an SLR.

Some one sugest i buy and SLR i was going to but they all use CF memory and battery packs wich is going backwards.

I do want to mount it to the S2 wich i have a 52mm adapter and a 58mm adapter. Since the S2 already has the prestage lenses all i wanted to use was the outside lens the last one or 2.

[Rhys]

Wow, i guess im not.

Ofcorse i wouldnt do this to an SLR, and i dont plan to ruin the camera i never sugested to take the camera apart. Just the lens from an SLR.

Some one sugest i buy and SLR i was going to but they all use CF memory and battery packs wich is going backwards.

I do want to mount it to the S2 wich i have a 52mm adapter and a 58mm adapter. Since the S2 already has the prestage lenses all i wanted to use was the outside lens the last one or 2.

The Pentax *istDL takes AA batteries and Secure Digital memory. Not all SLRs use CF and funky battery packs.

[coldrain]

You can strap it to a car, you can strap it to any camera you want to, you can cook it in soup. But getting anything worthwile from it? No.

Now what SLR does the lens come from?

[Ray Schnoor]

Wow, i guess im not.

Ofcorse i wouldnt do this to an SLR, and i dont plan to ruin the camera i never sugested to take the camera apart. Just the lens from an SLR.

Some one sugest i buy and SLR i was going to but they all use CF memory and battery packs wich is going backwards.

I do want to mount it to the S2 wich i have a 52mm adapter and a 58mm adapter. Since the S2 already has the prestage lenses all i wanted to use was the outside lens the last one or 2.
It doesn't seem that there is any miscommunication here. You want to take apart an old SLR lens and put the glass in front of your S2 lens. Everyone here sees that as a bad idea. If you want to do it, do it. I don't think that you will change anyone's opinion on whether or not this is a good idea.

Let's see, you want to take the glass out and machine a holder which will hold the lens and attach it to the S2 which will position the glass perfectly in line with the S2 lens so that you don't get distortion in your image. At best, it will be a hack job which will not give you results half as good as you would get from an add-on lens you can purchase for the S2. Just like everyone else, I see no reason to try it.

Ray.

[Ray Schnoor]

ok so the older 35mm cameras people are not using anymore right? THE GLASS IS STILL GOOD!

You are correct, the glass is still good. That is the reason some/most/all people who had film SLRs and upgraded to dSLRs are still using, at the very least, some of the same glass.

edit: Additionally, the older lenses which I assume you are referrring to, do not have any of the coatings on the lenses which reduce/eliminate chromatic abberations which are sometimes pronounced with the older lenses when used with dSLRs.

Ray.

[erichlund]

If i take it apart and remove all the lenses and stuff that i dont need and remove the appature.

I know that most SLR lenses are mounted directly to the CCD so there are a few lenses in the begining that my S2 already uses but the outer lenses would be similar to a telephoto right?

Say i rip all the lenses out sept the last one at the end would it work?

There are some lenses on e-bay people are more or less throwing away if they dont sell. Im talking a buck it would be fun to try for $5.

I know they wont fit on the camera but some have threads like a converter that i could screw into a 52mm or a 58mm adapter but im not sure wich one or how to look for that type.

I seriously want to try this.

Your S2 is designed to focus on a plane and deliver that focused plane to the sensor. If you put another lens in front of the S2 lens, I don't see how it could possibly focus the light from that lens. Even using the S2's lens as a replacement for the inner lenses of the add-on, determining focus would be, at best, interesting. I suspect that what you are trying to do would result in something like the magnifying lenses already available for the S2 (an assumption), and those would be specifically designed for the task of bringing the correct coherent light to the correct point so that it could be picked up by the S2 lens. In order to properly engineer your solution, it would probably require more math than I suspect I'm capable of. Otherwise, your just as likely to get a mass of incoherent light and vignetting.

Of course, if it's an older, mechanical lens, you probably don't have to remove the aperture, just tape the lever that holds it open, setting the lens max aperture.

I suspect you are in for a disappointing experience, and I have no idea how you are going to connect the camera to the lens, but have at it. Prove me wrong.

[BowerR64]

How many lenses are in the SLR lens?

The problem is im not sure wich model lens to get. I dont know enough about the old models to know wich use threaded attacments and wich use the bayonet or what ever its called. Some look like they turn 1/4 turn and lock into place. I would want one that has threads to mount it.

I do have some of the converters for the S2 and they work fine but i was just wondering what the difference is?

The problem with the converters is not all of them work and they arnt adjustable. The SLR lenses have some adjustability would might be cool to have. It would zoom but could adjust at different parts of the zoom. But i havnt had one apart so im not sure how they work.

I took apart one of the 2.0 teleconverters i have and there is 2 lenses in them. How many do the SLRs have?

[BowerR64]

Of course, if it's an older, mechanical lens, you probably don't have to remove the aperture, just tape the lever that holds it open, setting the lens max aperture.

Can you give me an example of wich ones are the old ones? The lenses for those are kinda like converters right? they have the appature and stuff inside the camera and when you change out the lense your just changing the zoom or somthign right?

[David Metsky]

I took apart one of the 2.0 teleconverters i have and there is 2 lenses in them. How many do the SLRs have?
I assume you are asking how many individual pieces of glass are used to make up a single SLR lens? The number varies greatly, depending on the lens design and purpose.

But you still haven't solved the problem that a random lens, mounted in front of you S2, won't focus where you want, won't interact with the camera's electronics or sensors, and won't produce what you want. It'll be like trying to watch your TV through a fishbowl.

-dave-

[Ray Schnoor]

How many lenses are in the SLR lens?

The problem is im not sure wich model lens to get. I dont know enough about the old models to know wich use threaded attacments and wich use the bayonet or what ever its called. Some look like they turn 1/4 turn and lock into place. I would want one that has threads to mount it.

I do have some of the converters for the S2 and they work fine but i was just wondering what the difference is?

The problem with the converters is not all of them work and they arnt adjustable. The SLR lenses have some adjustability would might be cool to have. It would zoom but could adjust at different parts of the zoom. But i havnt had one apart so im not sure how they work.

I took apart one of the 2.0 teleconverters i have and there is 2 lenses in them. How many do the SLRs have?
Different lenses are constructed in different ways. You are going to have to figure out for yourself how many "elements" are in the lenses you are interested in. For example, the 85mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor has 9 elements, while the 85mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor has 6 elements.

Ray.

[cdifoto]

And a zoom will have even more elements than a prime.

[erichlund]

Can you give me an example of wich ones are the old ones? The lenses for those are kinda like converters right? they have the appature and stuff inside the camera and when you change out the lense your just changing the zoom or somthign right?
You would be better off asking in a camera store. I've never owned an old screw mount camera, so I don't know much about them. With my Nikon lenses, if you slide the bayonet in it's slot, the aperture opens to the setting on the lens. I haven't tried to see what would happen with a G lens. I assume it would open to max aperture.

Lenses have different numbers of elements depending on the design. If you go to one of the manufacturer pages, or to Sigma's page, they will tell you how many elements and how many groupings. They may even have a picture of the lens profile. One of the problems with what you are trying to do is that they are designed to work together. If you remove some of the elements, they probably won't focus for beans. Also, if you do remove the aperture hardware, then the lens is always wide open, which is not necessarily where it works best.

Really, I don't know that much about this subject, but I do know that unless you know a lot more than I do, and are able to apply that knowledge, and have a machine shop available (because you are going to need some custom stuff), I cannot see you having much success. The people who design the elements and how they interact in a lens have very advanced degrees in things like physics and math. What you are trying to do is not normally done because it is very hard. Probably the place to find out how hard would be a university physics lab specializing in optics.

[DonSchap]

I still believe, as do many others who will remain nameless, that a bellows attachment is really the way you should be leaning in this EXPERIMENT.

The bellows provides a flexible dark enclosure between the front of the S2 lens and the lens plate. This way you can change the angle the light hits the camera lens providing a way to correct for vanishing points and perspective. There are 2 common kinds of bellows: Bag bellows, which are for when the focal length is lower than an accordion bellows', and accordion bellows which can extend farther than bag bellows.

Check out this link... its quite the thing!

http://www.mkaz.com/photo/tools/lens_bellows.html

It comes from the "Homemade Lens Page", which is precisely inline, online, with this issue!

The bellows design will give you a smooth transition for ADJUSTING and maintaining consistent settings as you play with your S2 on the other end to...

GET THE SHOT! :D

Good luck and good night.