reversed lenses

[NJP87]

Has anybody tried this?

I was going to pick up a reversing ring from jessops but wasn't sure i would get any good results.

If anybody has any pics taken with a reversed lens that would be great.

Nick

[NickCantle]

Excuse my ignorance, but may I ask what 'reversing a lens' does?

[Lancashire Lad]

Strange coincidence, but I spent some time yesterday browsing the web based upon a Google search for "Reversed Lens Macro".

There are several quite interesting websites devoted to the subject, including a few tutiorials.

Must say that I haven't actually tried it yet, but it would appear to be a great way of making constructive use of some of my old canon FD lenses.

A couple of tips that I did pick up are: -

1) - The wider the angle of the reversed lens, the greater the magnification (i.e a reversed 24mm lens will give much more magnification than a 50mm).

2) - You can make a very effective DIY reversing ring assembly by using 2 x Cokin filter adaptor rings glued/mounted back to back, with thread sizes suited to your on camera lens, and your reversed lens.

Regards
Mike.

[Meta menardi]

I have done this, some considerable time ago, and It was very effective, but I needed a lot of light. This was with film cameras.

Having said that it is effective, I can get similar results using my Nikon 4500, that little thing is a miracle. Could be one of those things you take as the house burns down, partly because it is always near to the front door, or being used for something else.

[pressld2]

Like Meta, I did it in days of yore with film cameras. I did dabble briefly since going digital and before buying a dedicated macro lens. The only two shots in my Gallery that were taken with a reversed 50mm standard lens are these...



It can be very effective and is certainly a cheap option - a reverse adapter should cost under a tenner.

The biggest drawback is that focusing is a nightmare. When the lens is on the right way round the camera keeps it wide open regardless of the aperture you have set and only stops it down to your selected aperture when you press the shutter button. This is to give either you or the AF system the maximum amount of light for focusing. When the lens is on back to front the mechanism for doing this is disengaged so if you set the lens to f16 it stops down to f16 straight away and the image in your viewfinder is VERY dark.

Dave P.

[NJP87]

Thanks for all the replys, and those pics are grea dave.

As for the aperture there is a little lever on the lens that lets you open it up.

Nick

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by NickCantle

Excuse my ignorance, but may I ask what 'reversing a lens' does?

basically its a cheap way of achieving macro shots - there are two ways of doing it

the cheaper (and arguably better) way is to use a reversing ring (which looks like two filter rings stuck together to reverse one lens on to the front of another using the filter threads- the fitting of the reversed lense doesnt matter so this a good way of using old high quality glass such as zeis f1.4s - the shorter the reversed lens the greater the mag but very wide lenses can cause distortion so 50mm or 35mm are ideal (and primes work better than zooms)

as the reversed lens is essentially acting as a very high quality close up filter you still retain you ttl focussing (though manual focus may be prefererable anyway and metering)

the other posibility to use a special adaptor to reverse a longer lens (like 200 or 300mm) straight onto the camera body - under normal circs doing this will lose all your ttl functions so you would need to meter externally and use full manual to set. your shutter speed , however you can buy more expensive adaptors from places like speed graphic which allow you to retain some ttl functions.

i'd highly reccomend "small things big" by paul harcourt davies for more info on this (see the reviews section for publisher, isbn etc)

[pressld2]

I forgot you can reverse one lens onto the end of another. That would definitely be the better option as it will keep the metering. My reverse adapter is for mounting the lens backwards straight onto the body.

Originally Posted by NJP87

As for the aperture there is a little lever on the lens that lets you open it up.

Yep, and you can use that with a static subject and the camera on a tripod. It's no use though when hand-holding or trying for subjects that are mobile as you have to let go of it before taking the shot. Between letting go of the lever and firing the shutter you'll lose focus.

Dave P.

[NJP87]

Originally Posted by eeyore

basically its a cheap way of achieving macro shots - there are two ways of doing it

the cheaper (and arguably better) way is to use a reversing ring (which looks like two filter rings stuck together to reverse one lens on to the front of another using the filter threads- the fitting of the reversed lense doesnt matter so this a good way of using old high quality glass such as zeis f1.4s - the shorter the reversed lens the greater the mag but very wide lenses can cause distortion so 50mm or 35mm are ideal (and primes work better than zooms)

as the reversed lens is essentially acting as a very high quality close up filter you still retain you ttl focussing (though manual focus may be prefererable anyway and metering)

the other posibility to use a special adaptor to reverse a longer lens (like 200 or 300mm) straight onto the camera body - under normal circs doing this will lose all your ttl functions so you would need to meter externally and use full manual to set. your shutter speed , however you can buy more expensive adaptors from places like speed graphic which allow you to retain some ttl functions.

i'd highly reccomend "small things big" by paul harcourt davies for more info on this (see the reviews section for publisher, isbn etc)

Excellent explanation, cheers eeyore.

Originally Posted by pressld2

I forgot you can reverse one lens onto the end of another. That would definitely be the better option as it will keep the metering. My reverse adapter is for mounting the lens backwards straight onto the body.

Yep, and you can use that with a static subject and the camera on a tripod. It's no use though when hand-holding or trying for subjects that are mobile as you have to let go of it before taking the shot. Between letting go of the lever and firing the shutter you'll lose focus.

Dave P.

The reversing ring in jessops is for reversing the lens to the body so i may have to look for a different one.

Nick