Check out this ceramic Canon 24-105mm shot glass, crafted by DERELIQ and for sale over at Photojojo. They come in a set of three for $18.

The Shot Glass Lens Set [Photojojo]

The lens mug craze seems to be cooling down, but now there’s another product on the market that can help you stay cool (literally): the Canon lens cooling fan. They’re powered by two AAA batteries and somewhat resemble the same Canon 70-200mm lens that the original mugs were based on. You can buy one for $5.60 with free shipping from DealExtreme.

Unique SLR Zoom Lens Shaped Handheld Cooling Fan (via Crave)

Jeremy Salvador assembled this strange contraption in an attempt to combine an SLR lens with the iPhone. Salvador created a prototype with an Owle Bubo iPhone camera mount, a 37mm filter with glass removed, a 37-58mm step-up ring, a Canon EF mount adapter ring, and a 35mm Canon lens.  Though he’s managed to fit all the pieces together, he’s been unable to actually take a useable photograph.

Salvador is first to admit that the “iPhone DSLR” is pretty impractical:

I realize that some people will be shocked and appalled that I would even attempt to Frankenstein together a DSL[R] lens on a crumby pocket phone camera. And I realize that this contraption will have no practical value. But for me it’s more of a piece of art than anything else. And I’m hoping to have some fun and learn something in the process.

Obviously, the design is pretty cumbersome, and you’d be sacrificing the standard DSLR’s 10 megapixel camera and sensor for 5 megapixels or less, on a tiny cell phone sensor. On the other hand, the idea of being able to snap a DSLR-quality image and be able to upload it instantly online or use Photoshop in-camera is nice, but you probably can’t get all that from the iPhone.  But enough talk about what the iPhone can’t do — after all, you can make some amazing fashion photos with it.

(via SlashGear)

Here’s an interesting behind the scenes video that shows the creation of a Canon 500mm f/4.0L IS lens. It’s a neat look at the guts of glass, and an opportunity to see how exactly the various components of a lens are created and put together.

You get to see the entire process, starting with raw materials and ending with the finished, $6,000 lens.

Seeing how fine-tuned many of the steps in the process have to be, it’s no wonder these lenses can end up costing as much as a car.

(via Nerd Vibe)