How to Make a Broken Lens Into a Flowerpot
What do you do when your camera dies? Go for the literal version of “pushing up daisies” and grow a plant in the broken remains of your lens!Just slap on an old lens hood, fill it up with dirt and nestle a small plant into it. That’s all it takes to make all your camera geek pals green with envy!
Where to Find Old Cameras and Lenses
Keep an eye out at thrift stores, estate auctions, flea markets or eBay for broken camera parts.Broken lenses and camera bodies are often labeled “for repair” or “for parts.” Since they don’t work, you can get them dirt cheap.
Keep an eye out for auctions of large lots — pick up a bunch at one time and make a set of planters.
The Water Issue
Here’s the thing though: cameras and lenses, though highly sophisticated examples of engineering prowess, are NOT designed to hold water. Bummer.While not entirely avoidable, water leaks can be reduced by putting a plastic saucer into the lens or lens hood before filling it with dirt.
Water the plant sparingly, and keep a paper towel handy to sort out any stray dribbles.
Camera-Friendly Plants
One solution to annoying water drippage is to use plants that don’t need much water.Cacti and succulents are good because there are lots of small varieties and most don’t need water more than twice a month.
Best of all are tillandsia, a.k.a airplants. They’re perfect for this because:
- they’re relatively small
- they don’t need to be planted in soil (neat, right?) and
- you water them by running them under a faucet.
Just take the plant out when it needs water, wet it down, wait for it to dry a bit, and drop it back in. No drips, no dirt, no drama.
The Camera Body Version
If the body of the camera is completely irreparable, don’t write it off as a total loss.Just take off the lens and put a plant inside the camera body!
Sure it’ll never work again, but at least it’s out of the junk drawer and looking good.
The Twin Lens Version
If you find yourself with a great-looking but utterly dysfunctional twin lens reflex camera, what do you do with that?You can’t use the lens, and filling the body would just look strange.
Use the waist-level viewfinder instead! It won’t hold water well, but a pot will work nicely.
Get a tiny plant in a 2-inch pot and drop that into the finder. If you don’t like the look of the bare pot sitting there, pack some dried moss around it to cover up the rim.
Food Photography?
Once you get the taste for collecting broken cameras, you’ll want more, more, MORE!Line a bunch of cameras up on the kitchen windowsill and plant different herbs in them.
It gives new meaning to the phrase “food photography!” (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.)
