Tipster of the Week: Nip, Cut and Pop
written by scapegoat on July 26th, 2009 , 17 comments (10 votes)

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Pop 9 Mega Merging Mask Mod by gvelasco

By removing the optical barriers inside the Pop 9 and creating a mask that allows you to select which lenses will be exposed, you can create a variety of new effects to breath new life into that old Pop 9 you may not be using anymore.

Background

This mod is similar to, but different from another tip I submitted. The results and technique are different enough that I think it should be a different tip.

The Lomography Pop 9 is a multi-lens camera that will normally put nine nearly identical images on one frame to create a polyptych (or nonaptych if you want to be technical about it). Each of the Pop 9 lenses has a focal length of 24mm which is normally considered extremely wide. However, because the standard 35mm frame is divided by three in each direction it actually ends up being a narrow angle camera – similar to maybe a 72mm lens.

By surgically removing the optical dividers in the camera and using a couple of easy to manufacture masks, we can convert this narrow-angle polyptych machine into a wide angle camera with it’s own distinct trick shots.

The Mod

Warning! This will permanently modify your Pop 9.

You will need a pair of “nippy cutters”. This tool looks like a pair of diagonal cutters, but it’s thinner.

Open your Pop 9. This is what the inside normally looks like:

Carefully use the nippy cutters to cut out all of the dividers. You might want to use a hobby knife to trim away any excess plastic.

When you’re done the inside of the camera should look like this:

The Mask

Make a mask out of thin sheet foam available from a hobby store. I pressed the lens cap into the foam to mark mine. Carefully use a hole punch to punch nine holes in it that correspond to the nine lenses. Save the punched foam. It should look like this:

This mask will allow you to select any combination of lenses to expose – including a single lens which is important.

Using the Mod

Covering all the lenses except the middle one will give you a result like this:

Which you can crop to this:

Exposing the lenses in a pattern like this:

Will give you a result like this:

Notice how the images merge into each other.

Removing the mask to expose all of the lenses will give you a result that looks like this:

You can try different patterns of lenses for different effects. You can also try exposing the same roll of film with different patterns to get some crazy multiple exposures!

Have fun!