Category Archives: Learning

I saw this iPhone macro lens hack a long time ago and finally got around to it this weekend.  So much fun.  Here is my inspiration Pappmaskin. Much thanks Morten Skogly.

It requires the following :

• Laser Lens from CD/DVD Player
• Tape
• Card-Stock
• Palm Pre

I had been searching for an old CD or DVD player that was defunct so I could grab the laser lens from it. I didn’t want to spend any money on this project. Just my luck, I rolled up to my friend’s house, Mr. C, and found an old Sony disc player tossed to the curb. Perfect!  It looked like this one:

This weekend I tore it apart.

I found the laser lens and pulled it out of the unit. It was easily removed from the plastic holder as it was held in place with only a few spots of glue. It’s very tiny and easy to drop.  My picture is blurry but you get the idea.  I handled it carefully as I didn’t want to scratch it up.  Once the lens is out, its time to make the temporary paper holder. I cut out a 1/2″ square piece of card-stock and made a small hole in the center for the lens. I pushed the lens into the circle and taped it to the Palm Pre.

The crazy thing is that you need to be rock steady to get a good image. Some of mine are a bit hazy because I was moving or the object was moving. At times, I was almost laying the Pre on the object before I could see the details. So here are the resulting images…

Wire mesh on a small ear bud

Threads from my blue jeans

African Violet flower petal

Ink on paper

Small rubber groves on a tire

Needles on a fern plant

My next step is to make a more permanent holder like this one on Instructables.com by RVogal and make a tripod like mount for the Pre. Any ideas?