depth of field attenuator 2007
this is an adapter for a digital camera. i built* this while i was waiting for a mamiya sa402 focusing screen to arrive in the mail. it's very simple. there are two convex lenses. they ride on a track to be pushed towards or away from the focusing screen. that's how the user can focus. this is a focusing screen that i bought for my 35mm adapter project. but i found it incompatible for that project. there is a video camera view finder i used to magnify the focusing screen for the digital camera. when it's all said and done, you can get pictures that look like this:
example of attenuated depth of field
these pictures show a focus at around half a meter, and then a focus at infinity. I did not cover the apparatus for these shot, hence the not-so-great black level. in truth, when it is light tight, it's not too much better. but it has a nice gentle dreamy quality to it.
i built this device mostly as a learning experience and for fun, as i love optical engineering.
* the frame/track i found as part of some projector to be used for projecting an image of a christmas tree. i took it out of its case before i bought it to reduce weight, because the store sold by the pound.