Menu
Stephen Walton
If you’ve never heard of freelensing photography before, it’s going to give you a heart attack or make your eyes light up. Either way, freelensing is only for the brave, or the incredibly rich. It’s a completely innovative way of taking a photograph because your lens isn’t even attached to your camera!
It’s not freelancing as some get confused with. Freelensing is a very unusual photography trick that not many people try out – and for good reason.
But considering at iPhotography we love a challenge it gives us the green light to try out a little bit of abstract photography.
Firstly, use a pretty basic camera to avoid damaging your expensive kit. The final result of freelensing is to, hopefully, capture some really dream-like, ethereal shots and discover along the way if it is as dangerous as everyone says it is.
First off, all you’re going to need is a camera and a lens that detaches. It doesn’t have to a DSLR either; mirrorless cameras will work just fine and you can even try this out with an old 35mm film camera.
If you don’t want to risk your expensive Canon 5D then see if you can pick up an old analogue camera from a yard sale or car boot market.
The only thing to look out for when using a digital camera is that it has the option of being able to operate the shutter when a lens isn’t attached. This isn’t always a default function so you may need to navigate through your menu system to turn this feature on.
Now, what is the best type of subject to photograph for freelensing? Well in honesty you can use absolutely anything or anyone.
Freelensing is all about the effect so it doesn’t really matter what or who you put in front of your lens. You can see in our YouTube video we had a go at portraits and macro shots just to see if there were any differences and difficulties.
All that’s left to discuss is how to do. There are two ways to freelense; the sensible way and the dangerous way. Let’s look at both…
Firstly, before you detach your lens, set it to manual focus. This will allow you to tweak the sharpness as you take your shots as you can’t rely on autofocus from here on in. Secondly, set your camera up on a tripod and detach your lens.
Make sure that your camera is set up to allow the shutter release without the lens attached. Keep the lens a few millimetres away. Look through your viewfinder to gauge the best distance. You may find that some LCD screens don’t operate when the lens is taken off.
Now is time to try the ‘dangerous’ approach to freelensing. The only difference this is that you don’t use your tripod. May seem more efficient but in practise, it’s actually more prone to problems.
It’s not easy, but it’s a quick experiment if you don’t want to use a long lens! You’re best using a lightweight camera and a cheap kit lens. Holding the two parts can get a bit strenuous after a while.
The danger increases when you are intensely focusing on the position of the lens and the focus points but you’ve got to try and remember your spatial awareness as you don’t want to get knocked by passers-by’s and drop something.
As you look through the viewfinder, you’ll see your subject shift in and out of focus. That’s simply because your hands are always moving. Therefore, you’ll need to play with the focus ring at the front to get it sharp. Obviously, this is a very ‘handsy’ operation; one hand is holding the lens and the other is trimming the focus ring as well as hovering over the shutter.
The effect you’ll get is heavily blurred around the edges making your shot look distorted with a small area of sharpness. It may be overexposed too because of all the extra light that’s creeping into the sensor behind the lens.
Depending upon your camera you may also experience some light leaks of different colours, especially if your camera doesn’t have an AA filter (anti-aliasing).
You need to remember to clean your sensor when you’ve finished. You never know what bits of dust may have gotten into your camera whilst the lens is off.
There we go, freelensing explained! If this guide and video have inspired you to give freelensing a try yourself then I would LOVE to see your results.
Upload them to the iPhotography gallery or tag us in your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram posts. If you’ve found any other tips or pitfalls to warn others about when freelensing then again let us know.
Learn all about Live View mode on iPhones and how to use it for capturing precise, real-time shots. Improve your mobile photography skills!
Discover expert tips on how to photograph rain, capturing stunning rain scenes with the right camera settings, composition, and techniques.
Packed with the best camera settings to capture stunning photographs of mist and fog to create serene and beautiful landscape images.
Learn the basics of photography – fast – with our FREE 60-Second Photographer online course.
Each class is short and sharp with simple, actionable steps that give you immediate results.
x 30 lessons
© iPhotography™
Become a confident and competent photographer in less than 30 minutes!
Join our Wildlife Photography course and get our brand new Safari Photography course included!