Manual macro on the cheap.

[Don Hoey]

Following on from Alex and his reversed 50mm and my experiment with direct reversed 28mm lens, I today had a go at using an enlarging lens. Strange you may think, but they are well corrected for close up work.

Sorry about the subject but most live bugs are now in hiding. Another very wet day.

Some stats.
55 Micro at 1:1 ..................... field of view 45mm
EL 50mm lens + 14mm ext field of view 50mm ( 1 extension tube )
EL 50mm lens + 41.5mm ext field of view 24mm ( 2 extension tubes )
EL 75mm lens + 41.5mm ext field of view 60mm ( 2 extension tubes ) With that result I did not even bother to try the 105mm.
Standard 50mm reversed field of view 27mm. Ok for occasional use as long as it is of the f2.8 variety. f1.2 / f1.4 do not perform well when used like this.

Although enlarging lenses do not have auto aperture, there is nowadays with the move to digital, the possibility of picking them up quite cheaply. The lens used here is currently listed in an MXV advert for £52 mint.

I used a rubber 'O' ring round the mounting thread to centralise it, and electrical tape to attach it to my lens reversing ring so nothing tricky. I should say that 50mm enlarging lenses have a Leica 39mm thread so a bit odd ball in that respect.

While magnification is not as great as using a reversed 28mm, less magnification = more DOF. A f2.8 enlarging lens with 2 tubes gives only a fractionally less bright viewfinder than the f2.8 macro lens but a big jump in magnification.

I have attatched a few images.
Image 1 is full frame with 41.5mm extension.
Image 2 is a crop from image 1.
Image 3 is full frame with closed up bellows attached + tubes giving an extension of 90mm and fov of 11mm.
Image 4 is camera with lens and 2 tubes to indicate the compactness. Lens + tubes are only a fraction longer than my 50mm lens.

Two flash guns on manual were used about 45 deg either side and about a foot away from the subject.

Don

[sassan]

Hats off Don.
Another well done job.

[Alex Paul]

Don: These have a grin and IQ factor of 10....Outstanding results... I tried hand holding rev 28 today and I must be going blind because even in sunlight I can't see to focus above f5.6 and it is tough even at that for me.... Got this little JS on my little finger today but most of my shots are just missing focus and I can't see to focus where the lens aperture needs to be.........Guess I need to try shooting it indoors with spot lighting on subject for focus.....Thanks for the inspiration, and demonstration of how fine this set up is when in the hands of someone that knows how to use it..... I am determined to get it yet....I'll keep at it.....Alex Sorry no thumbnails yet......
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...v28JS10141.jpg

[Don Hoey]

Superb pic Alex.

Focusing a problem - yes. When dof is seriously limited as it is at these magnifications then I use a tripod. No way is my eye sight and hand stability up to handholding. In normal circumstances I use at the minimum a monopod at all focal lengths greater than 50mm and quite often lower. Marksmans badge gained in my youth out the window now.

Your reverse 50 is the best option for mobility shots as you retain auto diaphragm so are always viewing/focussing at max aperture. Bugs on the move, and yours is the best set up even though I would struggle holding focus without support.

As I really have to nail the camera to a tripod I have limitations but then also gains. I am not kit limited even though I have nothing fancy, other than camera and flash, everything is older than 20 years. I can set camera/tripod and lights up and do exposure tests first. Then I use a small cardboard box lid with the front taken off. Add a few leaves or other suitable plant material and place subject within. You do need to keep any hot or bright lights well back to not stress the subject. Then it is a case of waiting for the moment. As I do not have a focusing rail I place the box on the milling table to give myself the micro control of back to front movement.

I you want to get really fancy you can link your camera to a laptop then preview images directly on a large screen. There is a thread on that subject in the ' General Photography Technique -
Camera Remote Control through a PC '.

Given the quality you are achieving here I would expect you to be able to have a lot of fun and create some cracking images if you give this a go.

Adding pics to your post is quite easy. There is info somewhere but in essence it must follow general guidelines as set out in Andys sticky in Members notice board. The image will be direct from your PC so sizing and previewing is easy.

Record where your image is on your PC. I just create a folder for each month and place it there. So much easier.

When you have composed your post scroll down and find the ' Manage attatchments ' button. Hit that and a fly out window will appear. You may have to sign in again. ( sometimes yes, sometmes no ). Hit the browse button and locate image on your PC. Click upload and WAIT. When image is uploaded the title and file size will be displayed. You can then repeat. Max 4 images per day so this will eat into you daily limit if gallery posting.

Try to remember those on dial up. If file size is too large people will not view. I tend for a max of 200mb, less is better, at 1024 x 760 to save scrolling.

3 images attached.

1) Crop from yesterdays EL 90mm - Extension
2) Shot of the set up. Others with laptop control are in the thread mentioned.
3) Screen grab with info on attaching images to a post

Hope this is helpful. Have fun.

Don

[Alex Paul]

Hi Don: THis is excellent information..... Thanks for showing and for explaining... I will try the indoor set up... I love how crisp the shots are when hit right.... The lack of all the additional elements of glass clearly makes a difference. I will see how it goes today with your new info.... A milling machine table for a focusing rail?? Got to love it.... I will use tripod and make the stage portable.. I could see that the lens had good DOF when stopped down enough but it was so dark mostly all I saw was the detail of my eye and lashes in the viewfinder..... Thanks pal..... I appreciate it...
Oh.... I will also work on the thumbnail bit today....... Take care.....Alex

[Don Hoey]

Christine,

I have just put my extension tubes, which I know you have, on my 80-200zoom.

Field of view at 200mm 72mm dropping to 46mm at 80mm. That is similar to a 55mm macro but obviously the macro will give far better sharpness across the frame as it is properly corrected for close up work.

28-105 zoom giving slightly surprising results. At 105mm fov is 36mm dropping to 27mm by the time 50mm is reached. I cannot go much lower as lens to subject drops alarmingly. Same comment as above re sharpness across the frame relative to a macro lens.

It does show that you can give close up a go with tubes and a zoom before embarking on a Macro lens spend. I have not done test shots with a zoom attached yet to see how good the combo is in real life.

I have been looking for adaptors to reverse a lens, and e-bay is probably the cheapest option by significant margin for Canon mount. I do not know why, as this price disparity is not so evident for Nikon mount. As you have a mount from your bellows it may be possible to do an electrical tape job to that. Perhaps you could post a pic of your adaptor.

Don

[Saphire]

Thanks Don, I have done loads with my 75-300 and all ext tubes connected and the closest I can get is 100mm. The magnification is nothing like the photos that have been shown here. I am still looking around the house to attach a reversed 50mm to the end and see what I get. I have hand held it in front and it looks good but the photos are too shaky.

[Don Hoey]

Things are getting spooky round here.

Firstly I viewed Duncans Poppy image bang on the sounding of the 2 minute silence a week ago. Yesterday I viewed Chris's Grandfather clock as the first image in that gallery viewing, see his comment on it. Now today having posted on the use of extension tubes and zooms but with no sample images, I step out to disconnect battery charger from the car and ......... a wasp landed next to my hand. A quick rush inside to get extension tubes and zoom lens on the camera, pick up a flash, reflector and monopod and I managed two sample pics before it flew away. Just got to be more to this than luck.

Lens in use was Nikon 80-200 ED f2.8 and 2 tubes giving an extension of 41.5mm. The lens was initially set at 80mm but as the zoom ring was used to achieve fine focus these are probably at 100mm. Well that is what the lens was at after the wasp flew off. This gave a working distance of 9 inches. Aperture here was f11. Exif if you read it, will show f18 and that is because camera has calculated the light loss from the tubes.

Afraid I have no true idea of the natural light levels as I just set 160sec f11 and manual flash at full bore 18 inches away, with a reflector ( held by Stevie at 45 degrees ). My guess using the sunny f16 rule would put it at about 1 1/2 stops less. Flash was primarily used to allow me to use f11 to give some idea of dof at a sensible point.

It would only be fair for me to point out that the lens in use is although a few years old, a pro quality one. Any true Macro lens would well exceed the image quality here. I would expect edge softness particularly, to be greater with a kit quality zoom. It would be interesting to see any pics from other lenses to see if this is truely a viable cheap way into close ups. Extension tubes costing a lot less than a dedicated Macro lens for those occasional close ups.

Off the top of my head I do not know what lens Christine ( Saphire ) uses, but I have been impressed by the results in her gallery. Hint for a pic here Christine.

Pics here are full frame and crops.

Don

[Don Hoey]

Originally Posted by Saphire

Thanks Don, I have done loads with my 75-300 and all ext tubes connected and the closest I can get is 100mm. The magnification is nothing like the photos that have been shown here. I am still looking around the house to attach a reversed 50mm to the end and see what I get. I have hand held it in front and it looks good but the photos are too shaky.

Christine,

I have not actually tried this with my zoom as a bit of a connection issue so probably would not work as well as Alex's set up. My 50mm is 52mm thread and the zoom 77mm thread. Kind of large front element leading to centering probs.

You will find focusing a bit of an issue as dof is very limited but you can overcome the shake issue in images by using full flash. The flash burst will be fast enough to eliminate the effects of shake. I do not know which 50mm you are using so suggest trying to keep subject the centre of the frame. A really boring but effective test shot you can try is anything with printed text, as you will be able to see if there is fall off of sharpness towards the edge of the frame.

Hope you like the wasps.

Don

[Alex Paul]

Outstanding work Don.... I will be posting shortly... I am downsizing images to fit the requirements for uploads.... Great shots and excellent detailed info... I'd say that Nikkor Lens is a sharpy ....