For the last article I wrote, a comparison of Canon 50mm lenses, I needed some way of photographing and displaying these lenses so they wouldn’t roll away. I decided to make some very simple lens stands out of scrap wood. Here’s how.
The raw materials – parts of a photo frame and probably a piece of cheap furniture. The thin strips are slightly wider than the main piece is tall.
I glued the two side strips onto the main piece, and clamped overnight to set
I used a mitre saw to cut the glued piece into 4cm sections. Adjust the size depending on your lenses!
This is my trick to make varnishing easy – tap a small pin into the underside of each piece that you can use to hold the piece and paint all sides, and then stick in some Play-Doh to dry!
The finished lens stands! I had planned to line the inside of the lens stand with black felt but after testing I didn’t think it was necessary.
Jonathan Gazeley 