Wide-Angle Lens Adapter
Wide-Angle Lens Adapter
This lens adapter was invented by Steve Hines for covert photography through a small opening. The device can be improvised using a plastic tube, then discarded drawing little attention if found. The tube can be used with any camera.
The wide-angle adapter can be any cylindrical tube with a reflective inner surface. A cast acrylic (Plexiglas) tube is a simple choice. The camera photographs the view directly through the hole, and the multiple reflections of the interior of the tube. Alternate circular images, starting with the open-hole, are erect and right reading. Alternate odd-numbered reflections (first, third, fifth, etc.) appear rotated 180°.
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A wide-angle lens really benefits from the optical properties of the tube.. A clear Plexiglas tube, painted black outside or wrapped with black tape, is almost completely reflective inside.. Image quality greatly depends on the internal surface quality, and centering of the tube. |
If a scene is viewed through a hole in a wall, the field of view is restricted to the hole size. When the scene is photographed through a polished tube, wider parts of the scene are seen in the reflections. Alternate bands of reflections are upside down, and reversed left to right. These reflected rings are rotated 180° using Photoshop, or similar image-editing software.
The tube may appears to be transparent in the 3rd band, however it is simply an upside-down reflection of an upside-down reflection in the 2nd band.
Coverage using the Hines’ Wide-Angle Adapter
| image Order | image-Diameter increase (Field of View) | image Area increrase = (image dia.)² |
| “0”, zero order (open hole) | 1X (reference) | 1X (reference) |
| 1st reflection* (must be rotated) | 3X | 9X |
| 2nd reflection | 5X | 25X |
| 3rd reflection* (must be rotated) | 7X | 49X |
| 4th reflection | 9X | 81X |
| Nth reflection (image quality falls off with each reflection) | – – – | – – – |
*Note, all odd-numbered reflections must be rotated. Even numbered reflections do not require rotation.
This adapter is intended for legal surveillance work and intelligence gathering only.
Hines’ notebook entries for this invention:
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| p. 132 | p. 133 |
HinesLab is actively seeking licensees to commercialize this technology. Please contact Steve Hines at: