Photographer Ronaldo Carvalho took an outdated and damaged fixed-lens Olympus movie digicam lens and tailored it to work on a brand new Canon EOS R6, respiration new life into retired gear.
Carvalho initially obtained the thought to repurpose his outdated gear when he seen that the 40mm f/2.8 on an outdated Olympus digicam he had been utilizing as a shelf show had loosened and began to fall. It obtained him desirous about how the glass would look when used on a contemporary digicam, particularly his Canon R6. The digicam, an Olympus Journey 35 fixed-lens movie digicam, was initially launched in 1967 earlier than it was lastly discontinued after a prolonged manufacturing run in 1984.
Adapting the Lens
Earlier than he might act on his curiosity, he first wanted to confirm that the outdated lens would work in tandem with the brand new mirrorless digicam and at what distance it must be mounted to accurately focus. To take action, he very rigorously hand-held the lens in entrance of the R6 sensor, making certain he doesn’t get too shut, to see at what distance the digicam would correctly work with the outdated lens. After some cautious makes an attempt, Carvalho was in a position to seize a blurry check shot the place he confirmed the approximate distance he wanted to mount the lens for it to work correctly with the R6. To take action, he must construct a customized mount by utilizing a Canon physique cap as the start line.
After ordering just a few R6 physique caps, Carvalho started working constructing a brand new mount for the outdated manual-focus lens, which he began by drilling a gap within the physique cap and widening it out to exactly accommodate the lens. From there, he slowly widened the outlet primarily based on a pencil tracing of the unique lens to make certain it will line up accurately.
The following step was to seat the lens so it didn’t transfer as soon as linked. For this, Carvalho used some small screws and sizzling glue to make sure the lens was snugly affixed. After some gradual and exact work, Carvalho had efficiently mounted the lens to a Canon EOS R6 physique cap and was in a position to securely place it in entrance of the mirrorless sensor.
A DIY Success
As soon as linked, Carvalho took his new DIY creation out for a check run. Utilizing the lever on the diaphram of the lens, Carvalho was in a position to manually modify the aperture from f/2.8 and f/22. The lens and digicam mixture captures what might be finest described as dreamy and vintage-looking last outcomes.
Whereas the lens has a really distinct look which may not attraction to everybody, Carvahlo believes the method of adapting it was nonetheless a enjoyable, pleasing, and reasonably priced method to breathe new life into outdated and in any other case damaged gear.
To see extra of Carvalho’s work, make certain to go to his web site, Instagram, and YouTube Channel.
Picture credit: Pictures by Ronaldo Carvalho.
