Hello!
You're probably wondering why I used "Life after death" as the title of this post.
Well, you know how it goes, you drop it, it's broken so there is no use for it anymore.
I will say there IS a use for it! And today I am going to show you one thing you can salvage from a broken Canon 50mm 1.8.
*Note: If your lens is too damaged, this post is not for you! Your lenses glass must be intact. Pieces of plastic do not matter, just make sure the glass is alive.
So a couple weeks ago I had the worst day in my life it seemed like.
I had an idea that I wanted to try, where I would be on a hill looking through a telescope, then in PS turn it into a starry composite.
I set out carrying my camera bag over my shoulder with both lenses (50mm 1.8 & 85mm 1.4) and a remote inside. In my right arm I carried the tripod and in my left the telescope. My arms were full, it was very uncomfortable so I was hurrying.
I got to the bottom of the hill and unloaded all my gear, first I ran up the hill strategically placing the telescope in the perfect position, I then hooked my camera up to the tripod, attached my 50mm, set the settings and checked everything over. I went up a little less than halfway and placed my tripod on a flat part of the hill which was by a rock, but perfectly flat. The wind started blowing as I was getting higher up the hill. I grabbed my remote clicked the shutter and ran as fast as I could.. *CLICK* I didn't even make it to the telescope, I had to do a retake so I moved the tripod a little higher up the hill on another flat area, though it never occurred to me that the wind was stronger when I moved it up the hill. I pressed the shutter for the second shot got halfway then I heard...
*KLUNK*
I slowly turned around hoping that it wasn't what I thought it was... I turned and there my camera was, backwards on the rock, lens facing upwards.
I could not believe what I saw and just kept saying over and over to myself
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, no no no no no!"
When I reached it I found that the rubber frame around the viewfinder had saved my cameras life, the only damage is some scuff on the corner by the on/off switch. I was sooo relieved I thought I could fall down and faint!
Since everything looked fine I decided to go to the bottom of the hill, I ran back up and grabbed the telescope and placed it on the lower hill, I set my tripod OFF the hill completely onto perfectly flat ground. I was so happy and thankful nothing was hurt, so I was getting the light right and went to take a test shot, I am a manual user and set my lens to manual mode, the focal ring was unusually harder to turn, I then flipped it to auto focus and went to hit the button and it made the sound "bzzz...zz.z"
My face when from yay to noo way... I was horrified! I went to take it off my camera so I pressed the release button started turning it and then is stopped... it would NOT come off, I noticed to that the inner plastic piece (The piece I will discuss today) had one side bent in and the other side normal, I thought this was the problem so I went to put it back in place and *Ploop* out it flew! I was so scared and in shock I thought I'd have a heart attack right then....
I went back home with all my gear...
I was racing the internet and found that this was a common problem with Canon's 50mm 1.8s even though it did not hit the ground or anything the impact got it stuck and ruined it...
If you have one stuck here's the tutorial I used to remove it!
My camera is safe and the lens is gone... I got rid of another piece I should have kept, but then I hadn't yet discovered a use for it!
After you read my death story, here's the life! ;)
Below is a photo of the salvaged piece. The piece that first popped off.
I looked at it and wondered. So I put my thought to use and tried it!
This piece can be used to shoot macro!! Here are some examples and a list showing you how to use it correctly!
Surprisingly it works really well in low-light conditions! You just have to be extra still. :)
I hope this tutorial was helpful and was enjoyable to read! I still need some practice but if a macro lens isn't in your price range and you have a broken lens get these pieces and play around! You can more with it than just macro... but that's another story! ;)__ steps to get macro shots from the guts of a Canon 50mm 1.8 Step 1: After you have detached your lens from the camera body you should have these two pieces laying around, middle piece (Right) and center piece (Left)Step 2: Attach your spare lenses to your now freed camera body *Switch it on manual unless its a manual lens already* Step 3: Turn it's focal ring all the way to the left to where it's focused in as close as possible Step 4: Grab the small black piece and hold it up to your lens to where the round part is facing your lenses glass. Step 5: Slowly move closer to your subject until its in focus. Step 6: Snap away and have fun! :)
I would love to see your experiments with this piece! Post on my pages wall with your image HERE
Have a great rest of the week!
~Rose
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