These Are Your Favorite EF Lenses

[AJ]

Those images made my eyes open WIDE!
But I'm not buying a bandsaw.

No need for a fancy bandsaw. A simple hacksaw will do.

 

[Del Paso]

Those images made my eyes open WIDE!
But I'm not buying a bandsaw.

No need to buy one, a fine metal file is all you need. But, since I own a bandsaw...

 

[becceric]

No need to buy one, a fine metal file is all you need. But, since I own a bandsaw...

AJ and Del Paso,

Thank for the bandsaw substitute suggestions.
A metal file sounds about my speed.

 

[AJ]

I was gonna suggest an angle grinder

 

[Del Paso]

I was gonna suggest an angle grinder

But a very big one with a 230mm disk, filter mounts are extremely hard. And they can be dangerous if they are only wounded!

 

[becceric]

Maybe I'll pierce the center of a body cap, transforming a 5D IV into a pinhole camera, thus skipping a UV filter!

 

[Del Paso]

Maybe I'll pierce the center of a body cap, transforming a 5D IV into a pinhole camera, thus skipping a UV filter!

For piercing, I strongly recommend an oxygen lance!

 

[becceric]

For piercing, I strongly recommend an oxygen lance!

Wow! You're a wikipedia of Danger!

 

[Michael Clark]

I also suspect IBIS helps out but have no way to prove it. I shoot everything handheld. I'm pretty good at it. Extensive experience with target shooting no doubt helps. With DSLRs, I often practiced by taking a long, heavy lens, turn IS off and using a single focus point, try holding it steady. It's tough. Also, I see a lot of photographers move the entire camera (usually down and/or away) when pushing the shutter. Concentrating on keeping the camera steady is worthwhile. I could shoot the 135 at 1/30 and get a decent hit rate. It helps that it is short, light and well balanced.

Back in my younger days I used to get mostly good results shooting at 1/15 with an EF 50mm f/1.8 II and 400 speed film when I had to.

These days I'll sometime push it to 1/100 at f/2.2 and ISO 3200-6400 when needed with the 135mm. Obviously those use cases would have been impossible without a flash with color film.

 

[Michael Clark]

No need for a fancy bandsaw. A simple hacksaw will do.

No need to buy one, a fine metal file is all you need. But, since I own a bandsaw...

Yeah, but that doesn't make for as dramatic video on YouTube.

 

[Michael Clark]

I was gonna suggest an angle grinder

But a very big one with a 230mm disk, filter mounts are extremely hard. And they can be dangerous if they are only wounded!

The primary issue with an angle grinder is holding both the lens and the angle grinder in precise positions. Torque makes the angle grinder want to move around. Holding it in only one hand while holding the lens in the other hand can be a recipe for disaster.

 

[Michael Clark]

In order to prevent filters from getting stuck, I often use a dry lubricant, like teflon, applied with a very fine paintbrush. And buy high quality filters, like B&W, whose threads are well machined and deburred.

The filter in Savage's video is a B+W with the glass completely shattered by a drop and removed.

 

[AJ]

The primary issue with an angle grinder is holding both the lens and the angle grinder in precise positions. Torque makes the angle grinder want to move around. Holding it in only one hand while holding the lens in the other hand can be a recipe for disaster.

You put the lens in a vise.

Just joking around....

 

[Del Paso]

You put the lens in a vise.

Just joking around....

We should have suggested a tunnel digger!
Not joking around...

 

[CharlesB]

You put the lens in a vise.

Just joking around....

And...crank it as hard/tight as possible?!