Making a Macro Lens from a thrift store find!

My wish list includes an Olloclip, but until I get one, I wanted to find a way to get some macro shots with my iPhone.
After viewing a few tutorials for making one, I decided to give it a try with a cheap $1.99 camera I bought at a thrift store.
make your own iphone macro lens from cheap camera
I broke it open to remove the lens (with help from my husband).  A ring dropped out of the camera so I have no idea where it was located, but I knew it would come in handy.
parts for making an iphone macro lens
Next, I glued the lens to the ring with super glue.  Sorry the shot is fuzzy, but I didn’t have a macro lens yet!
macro lens iphone
I then had to figure out a way to adhere it to my camera without going to a lot of trouble – this is a temporary lens until I invest in the real thing!  I decided to use my kneaded rubber eraser to adhere it to my iPhone.  I took a tiny strip and pressed it around the lens ring and it worked!
gum eraser to attach macro lens
Ta-daa!  I’ve got a macro lens!
DIY macro lens for iPhone
Here are a few of my macro shots.
macro shot of eyeball with iphone
Below is an eraser without the macro lens
close up with iphone camera normal lens
and here is the shot with the macro lens
macro shot with homemade macro lens
I need a steady hand to get the really close shots so I’m looking into a tripod for my iPhone, but in the meantime if I enhance them a bit you can’t see the blur!
Here’s one enhanced with the Painteresque app.
flower with macro iphone lens
Happy snapping!

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