Adapted Simplex Ampro Ltd 2 1/2 inch f1.8 Projection lens on Sony a7r - Curious Photography
Look at that stunning example of precision engineering 🤣
Who would have thought that a little bit of cardboard and gaffer tape and an appropriately large amount of imagination would create such a monstrosity as my adapted Simplex Ampro Ltd 2 1/2 inch f1.8 Projection lens … and … that an unwieldy looking beast that was able to produce such delicate beauty …
Fern head
Carrying on from my previous article about using the Adapted Cosmicar 75mm C-Mount TV Lens on my Sony a7r I rummaged around in my box of old projector and enlarger lenses and stumbled across the Simplex Ampro Ltd 2 1/2 inch f1.8 Projection lens. A beautifully crafted piece of steel and glass.
Simplex Ampro Ltd was a British manufacturer of film projection equipment, based in London and likely a subsidiary of the American Ampro Corporation.
This is a projector lens that would have been originally used in a 16mm film projector.
Weirdly, when I was pondering about how to approach writing yet another piece about a projector lens (and trying to avoid making it sound tired and repetitive) I was absentmindedly watching TikTok when a video of snippets of the speech John Cleese gave in 1991 popped into my FYP. "It is an ability to play, where true play involves experimentation and openness to anything that may happen" says Cleese in his Lecture on Creativity and Originality. It resonated with me as it’s only a hop skip and a jump away from my idea of Curious Photography. Forget how daft the adapted lens looks, forget that it’s a massive faff to get it in focus and definitely remember that you’re creating stuff for yourself, if others want to come along, great, if not … who cares!
We’ll not spend too much time on the contemporary Mr Cleese, probably just better to remind people that ideas don't become wrong just because the person who made them might have become a little tiresome.
I will, however, be writing an article based on some of the points in the lecture!
Extremely Shallow Depth of Field
Without a helicoid, focussing this beauty is rather difficult. Sliding the lens in and out of the cardboard tubing only gives you so much control and fine tuning is achieved by the old fashioned method of moving the camera back and forth until you get you subject nice and clear (at least with digital cameras. there’s the “zoom” function to help with focus!)
I’ve still a whole box of these interesting lenses to try out. I took several of them out for a test drive a few years ago and, now and again, I pop one in my bag and carry it along on a trip with me. If you’d like to see some of the results, take a look at my Experiments Page or if you like the idea of trying different things as a way to develop your photography skills, I suggest you have a look at my philosophy of Curious Photography it’s not as adroit or fully formed as Mr Cleese’s
It’s not even close to a perfect shot, but it’s way more interesting for that.
If you enjoyed this article, you might like my experiments with a Adapted Cosmicar 75mm C-Mount TV Lens