flytier
Well-Known Member
Ok, so I know by now that one of the favorite things cannabis growers like doing is taking pictures of their plants, but I'm not seeing a whole lot of really close-up shots here. I also know that this setup is by no means an original idea, but I figure it would be an interesting little evening project to post it just the same, just to show how effective this simple setup can be.
The only things needed are a cell phone with a camera, a hand lens and a roll of duct tape. Cell phones and duct tape are easy to find, but the hand lens may be a different matter unless you know where to get one. I bought mine at the university where I got my B.Sc. back in the 90s and I make sure it's one of the things I keep in my vest pocket at all times. It comes in handy for checking salmon eggs at the hatchery where I work.
If there's a university or college in your area, or a place where you can pick up some scientific equipment, they can be worth their money for checking your plants. I've even seen plastic "toy" ones in the gift shop at the zoo, for that matter. If you can even get your hands on one of those, who knows, it may do the job; I never tried it, so I can't say for sure. The one I have here is 10x magnification, but I had one in the past that was 5x, and my wife has one that is 15x. This first picture is slightly out of focus, and I apologize for that:
From here, it's simply a matter of taping the hand lens over the camera lens on the phone. Just as a sidenote, don't make the same mistake I did at first and tape it over the LED flashlight and wonder why it's not working right. You may need to tweak the position of the hand lens to get it centered over the camera lens, but that's just a minor detail. When you're done, this is what you will have:
Now that I look at this picture, I guess I should have wiped the lens down first, but anyway...
And now you're ready to see how well your new macro lens performs. I have a couple White Widows that have recently started to bud, and I wanted to get a good look at the the new flowers, so I figure that was as good a place as any to start. For comparison's sake I had to get a "before" shot without the setup first. Here is the bud taken with just the "stock" lens on my phone at about the closest point before before going out of focus:
And here is the "after" shot with the hand lens taped on:
One thing I found when I did this is that it partially took away the camera's ability to auto-focus; you have to find the range where it works best, but that's not a big deal.
When using one of these magnifiers the way is was made to be used, you have to hold it to your eye and move your specimen in and out to focus it. With something like a flowering cannabis plant, that could be a bit tricky, and you don't get to keep the image for posterity and beyond. This way, it's considerably easier to get a good look and you can then post the picture in the forum for others to ooh and aah over.
Well, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read my little write-up here and I hope I may have spurred some of you on to give it a whirl. If you do, please send me a message letting me know; I'd love to see how it comes out. For now, take care and happy growing.
Flytier.
The only things needed are a cell phone with a camera, a hand lens and a roll of duct tape. Cell phones and duct tape are easy to find, but the hand lens may be a different matter unless you know where to get one. I bought mine at the university where I got my B.Sc. back in the 90s and I make sure it's one of the things I keep in my vest pocket at all times. It comes in handy for checking salmon eggs at the hatchery where I work.
If there's a university or college in your area, or a place where you can pick up some scientific equipment, they can be worth their money for checking your plants. I've even seen plastic "toy" ones in the gift shop at the zoo, for that matter. If you can even get your hands on one of those, who knows, it may do the job; I never tried it, so I can't say for sure. The one I have here is 10x magnification, but I had one in the past that was 5x, and my wife has one that is 15x. This first picture is slightly out of focus, and I apologize for that:
From here, it's simply a matter of taping the hand lens over the camera lens on the phone. Just as a sidenote, don't make the same mistake I did at first and tape it over the LED flashlight and wonder why it's not working right. You may need to tweak the position of the hand lens to get it centered over the camera lens, but that's just a minor detail. When you're done, this is what you will have:
Now that I look at this picture, I guess I should have wiped the lens down first, but anyway...
And now you're ready to see how well your new macro lens performs. I have a couple White Widows that have recently started to bud, and I wanted to get a good look at the the new flowers, so I figure that was as good a place as any to start. For comparison's sake I had to get a "before" shot without the setup first. Here is the bud taken with just the "stock" lens on my phone at about the closest point before before going out of focus:
And here is the "after" shot with the hand lens taped on:
One thing I found when I did this is that it partially took away the camera's ability to auto-focus; you have to find the range where it works best, but that's not a big deal.
When using one of these magnifiers the way is was made to be used, you have to hold it to your eye and move your specimen in and out to focus it. With something like a flowering cannabis plant, that could be a bit tricky, and you don't get to keep the image for posterity and beyond. This way, it's considerably easier to get a good look and you can then post the picture in the forum for others to ooh and aah over.
Well, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read my little write-up here and I hope I may have spurred some of you on to give it a whirl. If you do, please send me a message letting me know; I'd love to see how it comes out. For now, take care and happy growing.
Flytier.