creative re-use of your photo related trash...

[angrykitty]

What is everybody doing with their old film canisters and totaled lenses/gear? It's starting to pile up and I can't seem to think of anything useful to do with it, but for some reason I'm still sentimentally attached...

I was thinking some lens-part jewelry might be cute...

I'd love to see what people have come up with!

 

[tkamiya]

I have quite a bit of stash of empty film canisters (the plastic containers 135 films come in) and empty 120 spools in a box. I also started keeping paper backing of 120 films. I have no use for these items, but I just can't throw them away! I had a thread going somewhere about canisters and spools, and apparently, I am not the only one doing this.

I have a damaged Mamiya M645Super for future source of spare parts. I haven't trashed a lens, yet.....

 

[benjiboy]

I put them in re-cycle bin for plastic trash that is collected by the refuse depot every Wednesday.and let them worry about it.

 

[hoffy]

You could always make jewellery out of it:

Dead Link Removed

 

[angrykitty]

ha! I figured someone had done that already...200 bux for the armband?! its called a screwdriver, a little saw and a file... and getting to see whats inside that old broken lens ;-p

 

[moki]

Hey, that jewelry is nice
I don't see, why I should pay 200$ for some part of a broken lens, but I like the idea. I'll have to get some metalworking tools.

Canon made some nice coffee cups in the shape of some L-lenses (yep, the expensive ones, of course). I guess, one could do something similar out of a real lens with some effort and the left over glass could be used either for decoration or optical experiments. I love recombining assorted old lenses into a new "objective" without even the slightest idea, why it works that way.

 

[ozphoto]

Hmmm, never realised such a small Tamron component would be quite so much . . . . . .

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[Edward_S]

Old 35mm film canisters make a great way to carry loose change around in a bicycle pannier or your pocket. In fact I'm convinced that someone at the Royal Mint must have done this because when they brought out the new 50p coin it fitted exactly, whereas the old ones always had to go in at an angle.

If you have a telescope, 35mm film cannisters also make a good bung for the ubiquitous 1-1/4 inch eyepiece fitting if you want to stop dust getting in.

 

[perkeleellinen]

I also use the 35mm canisters to carry coins, especially when going on trips. They're also perfectly sized for fitting over wine bottles should you want to save the contents overnight.

 

[LyleB]

Just an amusing anecdote:

A few editions back, Colin Fletcher, in his book "The Complete Walker" (often considered the "Backpackers Bible") listed possible uses for the screw-top film canisters while backpacking, such as to carry: salt tablets, salmon eggs for bait, oil for lube jobs on hair and beard and even boots, not to mention for cooking. Also for carrying odds and ends such as spare flashlight bulbs, sewing kit, water-purifying and vitamin C tablets. The list goes on.

In subsequent editions, Fletcher added a footnote in which he related a story about a court case. Apparently, a young college man was stopped for a traffic violation and the officer spotted a 35mm film canister on the seat. He then proceeded to search the car, based on the fact that these film canisters were commonly used as a "stash" for marijuana, thus he had probable cause to search. The defense attorney cited Mr. Fletcher's book as evidence that 35mm film canisters had MANY uses other than as a drug stash, and won his case.

 

[Whatadame]

A less common use for canisters

The plastic ones make terrific 'depth charge' grenades with the addition of a little black powder and a piece of fuse stuck through the lid (I used to do pirate re-enacting on a tall ship, blew up a lot of film canisters).

 

[bblhed]

35mm canisters make nice paint jars if you have a little one at home, or even if you paint yourself. Also I just donated some 120 spools to a woman that just obtained a 120 camera with no spool in it.

 

[M.A.Longmore]

I created a really nice groundglass magnifer, by recycling an enlarger lens.
I used a PVC male adapter fitting, and secured the lens with a wee bit o'
silicone sealant. I paid $2.00 for lens, and $ .99 for the PVC adapter.
Then I drilled the adapter, and installed a lanyard. Grabbed the nasal aspirator from the
medicine cabinet, that's my new dust blower thingy !


Ron

From The Long Island Of New York

 

[angrykitty]

The plastic ones make terrific 'depth charge' grenades with the addition of a little black powder and a piece of fuse stuck through the lid (I used to do pirate re-enacting on a tall ship, blew up a lot of film canisters).

hey... perfect for 4th of july!

 

[swittmann]

I used empty film boxes to fill them with some rice/wheat corn - it made nice percussion instruments for my son when he was a baby.