4 toy lenses under $30 you should take for a spin

Sure, it’s wonderful to own top of the line Nikkor and Canon glass. But incredible engineering and precise alignments of optical components aren’t always needed. Sometimes you just need to have fun. And for those moments, cheap toy camera lenses are a wonderful opportunity to explore the playful and unknown.

In his most recent video, photographer and man behind The Weird Lens Challenge, Mathieu Stern, gets his hands on four toy lenses that all cost less than $30 and quickly explains the unique characteristics of each.

At only two-minutes long, it’s a quick watch. But it provides a great overview and teaser for what you can expect form each of the lenses. Sure, you won’t get pixel-perfect sharpness with these lenses and will likely have chromatic aberration galore, but if you don’t mind that, the lenses provide a handful of unique aesthetic approaches that make for unique photographer.

To help you in your search, we’ve gathered below the four lenses Stern tries out and have linked them to the best retailer available. Keep in mind that there are many variations of each of these lenses, so these are simply our findings on the mounts most easily found:

• Fujinan 35mm f/1.7
• Pinhole Lens
• Holga 25mm f/2.8
• Holga Fisheye

For more weird lens videos, head on over to Stern’s YouTube Channel. It’s a treasure trove of unique and interesting look at almost any lens you can imagine.