For an “artsy look” shoot with a plastic lens

Digital Cameras and the technology they use are wonderfully designed for precision, tack-sharp images. Sometimes though you might want to have your images look more primitive in nature if you’re going for a more artistic look.

One way of doing this is to use plastic lenses. When Kodak first made the camera a popular consumer product in the early 20th century, lenses were often manufactured as single element, meniscus lenses made from plastic to keep production high and costs low. These lenses often vary in quality and all of the blemishes the modern, expensive lenses aim to correct are present.

Sometimes the focus is off, sometimes there is lots of color fringes, sometimes there is even optical distortions in weird places.

The easiest way of shooting with a plastic lens is to shoot film and get an older, cheap camera on eBay.

There are also companies like Holgamods that sell plastic lenses mounted to body caps for use on your DSLR and for your iPhone.