Reversed lens Macro

[Jason Green]

Very good photos. I can't see the CA being much of an issue in the milkbottle shot. Could that be to do with the lens being reversed?

Originally Posted by DivingDave1980

The others are as follows:
1) A Coleopteran larva?
2) Woodlouse
3) Homopteran nymphs?
4) Heteropteran
5) Homoptera copulating

1: No idea, 2: Yes - Common Rough Woodlouse Porcellio scaber most likely (A shot of the tenison/uropod would prove/rule-out other similar albeit less common species), 3: Barkfly nymphs (order Psocoptera), 4: Yes, a Flower/Pirate Bug, Anthocoris sp. maybe A. confusus? and Yes, Empoasca decipiens.

[squishy]

Those shots are impressive!

very nice sharpness

You might want to use a mono or tripod, even with the flash, because supporting the camera and holding the DoF in the exact place can be very hard.

[DivingDave1980]

Hi all,

Thank you for the very kind comments!!

The milk bottle does give quite a nice light. It almost looks like the pictures were taken in daylight even though there is virtually no natual light at all!

The exposure has nothing to do with me, the canon eTTL system in conjunction with the nissin flash obviously does an excellent job. I agree f14 looks pretty good, although at full size they are probably ever so slightly soft (but not much and hey, this is the kit lens!!). The focus on the woodhouse is more luck than judgement.

Thanks for the ids Jason.

I will use a tripod next time squishy, and think about stacking (with still subjects!)

sorry for any errors, I wrote this on the iPhone.

Dave

[Wizmatt]

I know this is an old thread but I wouldn't like to start a new one.

@DivingDave1980 - I'm looking into possibly using a similar setup. But I am curious as to how the aperture is controlled if the lens is mounted backwards, are there any contacts that make it possible?

[nightshade]

I use a reversed 35mm Takumar lense this has a manual aperture ring so no pins needed. It may be possible to obtain the double cable release that releases the shutter and depresses the iris pin. so you can composewide open then stop down

[squishy]

wizmatt:

The only way to do it with modern lenses without an aperture ring is with a trick of setting the desired aperture with the lens mounted normally, then dismounting the lens while holding the DoF preview button, so the lens is stopped down.

I found this video on youtube though:
YouTube - How to create SuperMacro lens (??? ??????? ?????????? ????????)

The guy in the video is modifying his 18-55mm by attaching a body cap with middle cut out to the front of the lens and moving the contacts from the lens mount onto the body cap, then wires up the electronics again so the contacts are still working. The result is fully functioning aperture, and a 18-55mm that can only ever be reversed.


I do the same as nightshade, I use an old lens with an aperture ring.

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by squishy

I found this video on youtube though:
YouTube - How to create SuperMacro lens (??? ??????? ?????????? ????????)

I don't know which I'm most impressed by, the lens mod or the video!

Dave P.

[Wizmatt]

Thanks very much all

[nightshade]

I have just bought a reversing ring and have been trying to find an M42 (Pentax Practika) Bellows, Double cable release, and Auto ring. The auto ring screws onto the reversed M42 lense and operates the stop down pin so you can compose at full aperture. Google it, lots of people still using these very good film cameras

[DivingDave1980]

Hi,

Looks like I'm a bit late to this thread.

As Squishy mentions, the way I stop the aperture down is using the depth of field preview trick, although canon doesn't recommend doing this. I have had a heart stopping moment when the lens stopped working (the aperture ring seemed to be stuck) for a short while, but it hasn't happened since - I don't know if this has anything to do with my abuse of the lens!

The best thing to do would probably be what people are doing here and buy an old fully manual lens with manual aperture control.. (or buy a Canon MPE-65!!)

I do intend to replace my kit lens (probably with the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8) at some point so if it breaks it doesn't bother me too much...

Squishy - amazing video! Once I do replace the 18-55 then I might have a go at that!!

Dave.