Web cams are optimized for things like video conferencing, not close focus. If you're trying to use your web cam to record things close up—awesome stop-motion Lego combat, electronics tutorials, etc.—you can hack the focus with cheap reading glasses.


Vik Ollver was happy with his webcam—it even worked in Linux!—but he wasn't happy with the lack of close focus. He didn't care if it could focus across the room, he wanted it to focus sharply on the contents of his work bench. His solution is simple and cheap:

The focus was a problem for closeups, so I cut a pair of dollar-store +3 reading glasses in half and wrapped the earpiece around the back of the webcam. With a little encouragement it clips the lens over the flat part of the webcam's orb where the lens peeks out. Perfect.


Our favorite thing about this clever hack is that other than snapping the glasses in half at the nose piece and bending the temple and earpiece to hold the lens on, it requires no effort or even tools.

Have a clever hack of your own to share? Let's hear about it in the comments.

Webcam Monocle [Artifex via Hack A Day]