How to use a condom as a camera lens, and other such silliness

Having previously used the humble balloon as a soft light diffuser for a camera’s popup flash, the Koldunov Brothers received a question if you could switch out the balloon for a condom to achieve similar results.

While they quickly determined that a condom didn’t work quite as well as the balloon as a softbox, the pair also experimented to see what other photography tricks could be pulled off with their little latex friends.

The video is in Russian, however English subtitles are available.

Liquid lenses have recently become something of a hot topic over the last few years, offer amazing potential, although they’re still in the early stages of their development.

Using a water filled condom take this principle about as a low tech as it can get.  As a lens, it seems to have worked better than I had expected, and they actually managed to sort of get an image out of it, although I think I’ll hold onto my Nikons a little while longer.

Left your tripod at home?  No problem, just pull out your wallet and set your little friend free.  Fill it up with some seeds (everybody carries those around with them, right?) and you’ve got yourself a beanbag onto which you can rest your camera for some much needed stability.

As for their final test, I know the debate over using UV filters with DSLRs is can get quite heated at times, but I’m not sure this is quite what people mean by “lens protection”.

I hadn’t previously contemplated the usefulness of condoms in photography, but I don’t think I’ll be adding a pack of three to my kit any time soon.

What silly ideas have you guys had to repurpose other items for photography use?  Did it work?  Let us know in the comments.