French photographer Mathieu Stern films with a WWI-era Kodak Vest Pocket lens
Mathieu Stern, a French photographer and filmmaker born in 1983, has a passion for vintage lenses and photographic experiments. He runs The Weird Lens Museum on his website, showcasing rare and antique lenses. In a recent experiment, Stern recovered a Kodak Vest Pocket lens from World War I, mounted it on a modern camera, and traveled to Vienna to shoot a video. The resulting footage, a montage of scenes captured with the century-old lens, reveals surprisingly good definition and image quality, though with low contrast and slight color shifts due to its age. The lens had not been used for over a hundred years. Stern expressed being "decisamente colpito" (decidedly impressed) by the screen image quality. The video is available on Artribune, which also offers a WhatsApp channel and a daily newsletter.
Key facts
- Mathieu Stern is a French photographer and filmmaker born in 1983.
- He runs The Weird Lens Museum on his website, collecting rare vintage lenses.
- Stern used a Kodak Vest Pocket lens from World War I for a video experiment.
- The lens was mounted on a modern camera and used for a trip to Vienna.
- The footage shows good definition but low contrast and slight color shifts.
- The lens had not been used for over a hundred years.
- Stern was impressed by the image quality on screen.
- The video is featured on Artribune.
Entities
Artists
- Mathieu Stern
Institutions
- Artribune
- The Weird Lens Museum
Locations
- Vienna
- Austria