Tunnel Vision Lens

The tunnel vision lens is my favorite accessory. It is always attached to my LC-A+. And it will not only broaden your photographic horizon, but also add a soulful blur to your images.

My Tunnel Vision Lens is always attached to my LC-A+. It is a small, robust piece of titanium that looks like a natural part of the camera, and originally designed as a wide-angle lens accessory for digital cameras, you would think that this baby would just decrease the focal length of the camera. But hold it up in front of your eye, and you’ll see that only the center of your view is in focus and the edges have a distinct blur – a blur that the already wide-angle Minitar-1 lens of the LC-A will capture giving your pictures an easily distinguishable “tunnel vision” look.

Tips for the Tunnel Vision Lens

• With the Tunnel Vision Lens attached the camera will focus differently. Use the 3 m focus for anything between 1.5 m (5 ft) to ∞. And the 1.5 m focus for anything closer.
• Since only the center will be in focus, remember to put your subject in the center of the shot.
• It takes time getting to know your tunnel vision lens. The more you use it, the more possibilities you’ll discover.
• The Tunnel Vision Lens isn’t just for the LC-A. You can use it with any camera – it doesn’t matter if the lens size does not match, just hold it up in front of it. Remember that each lens will give a different effect.

But wait, there is more: The Tunnel Vision Lens is actually two lenses. If you screw off the outer lens barrel the inner small lens (“macro ring”) will work as a macro filter for your camera. And if you thought that the tunnel vision effect gave crazy distorted pictures, just wait till you try this. The macro ring will bend the colors to a crazy level yielding the wildly saturated macro pictures of your hottest dreams.

Tips for the macro ring

• You should be somewhere around 2-3 cm (approx. 1") from your subject, and the focus set between 0.8-1.5 m.
• Try it in front of an SLR before trying it out on a camera where you cannot se through the lens. This way you will lern a lot about how close you should be and how to focus, and you won’t waste a roll of film on indistinguishable blurry images.
• Remember to use fast film or shoot in bright sunshine.

written by larslau on 2010-01-13 #gear #review #wide-angle #lc-a #instax #blur #lens #tunnel-vision #accessory #holga #lc-a