An adaptive liquid lens actuated by liquid crystal (LC) pistons is demonstrated. It adopts fluid pressure introduced by the reciprocating movement of LC droplets to regulate the liquid-air interface which, in turn, changes the optical power of the resultant liquid lens. The competitive features are compact size, simple fabrication, good optical performance, reasonably fast response time and low power consumption. Since the actuation power can be enhanced by increasing the number of LC pistons rather than the operating voltages, it is possible to significantly actuate a large-aperture lens or lens array at a relatively low operating voltage.