For photographers who are using Canon’s EP-EX15 eyepiece extender, I had recommended, in a previous post, that they remove the two plastic lenses inside the EP-EX15 so that they can still benefit from having an extended eyepiece without having the view of their viewfinder reduced by 30 percent.

So, if you’d done exactly that, you’ll have two plastic lenses lying around that can now be put to very good use with the camera in your cellphone.

While mucking about my room today, I chanced upon the two plastic lenses sitting in their box, long neglected. Out of curiosity, I took the lens that is convex and held it up to the lens of the camera in my cellphone.

Whaddaya know? Instant macro!

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Four inches is about as near as I can get the camera on my Sony Ericsson W760i to focus on a subject; unlike the K750i I was using previously, the W760i does not have a macro mode.

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With the convex lens from the Canon EP-EX15, I can get a macro shot when the W760i is one inch away from the subject. Of course, at such a near distance, you’ll have to watch out for the shadow of your cellphone getting into the shot. The other downside is that you have no way of knowing for sure if the focus is sharp, as the W760i lacks AF confirmation.

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And if you’re wondering how to carry this delicate piece of plastic lens around wherever you go, worry not: the lens fits snugly into the plastic holder that comes with a CompactFlash card, of which you probably have heaps of lying around.

Now all I have to do is to make a holder of some sort that I can quickly snap onto my cellphone…