If you are in the position where you can not afford to buy a camera which will shoot macro images or a lens for your existing camera that will them maybe this is an option for you.

This lens is made with a toilet paper roll and a cheap lens out of a magnifying glass that is just larger than the barrel of the camera.

I cut the paper roll in half then cut each half open so I could over lap them.

I then put a couple of beads of silicone caulk on the inside to keep the lens from sliding.

After the silicone had dried I fitted the two halves of the paper roll around the barrel of the lens on the Kodak EasyShare P850I I was using at the time.

I then taped the two halves together so they fit snugly but not tightly around the lens.

I then put the lens on the camera and tested it.

It didn’t focus correctly at first so I kept cutting the toilet paper tube off until I got the focal length that seemed best.

The lens is glued to the tube with silicone caulk.

I didn’t take any pains to do a neat job since I have a Fuji Finepix S5800 with great macro features and do not really need this one. This is not an idea that is unique to me, I found web sites on the internet that explains how to do this. Just search for Home Made Macro lens!

I did this project so I would be able to show a friend here on RB how to create a home made lens as they wanted to try macro photography and could not afford to buy a camera that had the macro feature.

I hope this is of use for someone. If you don’t need a home made macro lens yourself then pass the information on to any one who might.

Here is an image taken using the home made lens.

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