2.3 times life size. HOW TO...

[Dirt_Bike_Ryda]

So you want to take some Macro shots.. thats why you came into this thread isn't it..

Two options.. spend $2199 on a Nikkor 200mm MACRO lens.. or spend less then $50.

I went with the later and got these few.


*note: the ball point has been cropped about 25%*


As you can see.. extremely close. i want to know what reproduction ratio i was achieving with my setup (ill explain all that in a minute). So i took a photo of a ruler, and then i got my destruction manual out and looked up the size of the image sensor, which is 23.6x15.8mm. Seeing as i got only 10mm of the ruler in the photo. i got 2.3times life size.



Eager to know how i got this for Less Then $50 ?

I was at a swap meet, and amongst all the rusty crap, I was lucky enough to find a box fully of camera gear. There were several Film SLR cameras, a couple old flashes, filters, etc. The a lens popped out, and i was like hmmm... perfect... "i like, how much ?" dude told me $5. I thought sweet. The lens is a Sigma 28mm F/2.8, nothing special, nor does it fit my camera.. or it didn't..

*NOTE: you don't have to be lucky like me and find something like this, read on..*

From the moment I bought this lens, I was never going to mount it on my camera the conventional way, I was going to reverse it. Now some may think.. why the... would you want to do that. BECAUSE ! By reversing the lens you get massive magnification. So the next day when i got home (the meet wasn't in my town) i went into work, and rummaged through some boxes and found me a 52mm UV filter(you will need to get two), and a second BODY cap for my Nikon D90. When i got home i went to the shed and got the Makita Power drill out, a 5mm drill bit, half round bastard file, Stanley knife, super-glue(i used Loctite 406) ball peen hammer, pin punch, strong cutters(or small sharp chisel will work too) and the bin.

What you are aiming to make here is an adapter ring to allow you to mount the lens with the front facing the sensor, and then a protector cap for the rear (now the front) of the lens. Get the BODY cap you just bought (you can use the one that came with the camera if your real tight..) turn it upside down so the bit that grabs onto the cameras insides is facing you, get your drill and 5mm drill bit and start drilling a heap of hole around the inside of the circle made by the bits that hold the cap onto the camera. The holes need to be a few millimeters apart, and form as big a circle as you can make (so you have less filling to do). When you have filled all the holes, get your strong cutters, and cut the piece of plastic between each hole, and discard the disc you will remove from the middle. Now you need to get your half round bastard file and using the rounded side, smooth out the hole so it is nice and round, when you have a nice round hole as big as you can make it, get a Stanley knife and remove any burs. now you need to clean all the loose plastic off (i used an air compressor, but you just need to get all the crap off). Now get a 52mm UV filter(or any 52mm filter you no longer want), and remove the lens (however you choose.. i used a ball peen hammer and pin punch.. go figure). once all the glass is removed and discarded of safely, get your super-glue, align the filter ring(the thread that screws INTO the lens needs to be sticking outward, so you can screw it onto the lens), and the modified body cap up, run a bead of super-glue around the outside of the join, keeping fingers away.. i need not explain why.

Now you have yourself a 52mm filter thread size lens reverse adapter. This can be used on any lens, although only really lenses that have Aperture adjustment ring, and most people stick to Prime lens, although a zoom would work.. i think. I have heard that you can trick a Cannon lens that doesn't have an Aperture ring into staying closed at a desired Aperture, but im yet to try it, the trick doesn't seem to work on my Nikkor 18-105.

You can stop here if you wish, but i must warn you to be careful, you have to get really close and personal with your subject now, and you may one day get to close.. and yea, have scratch on the rear element of your Prime lens..If you wish to make a protector cap, read on.

This is where the 2nd 52mm UV filter comes in, you may also need to buy another rear Lens cap, although if you have more then one lens, you will more then likely already have 2 of these caps, and therefor you can use one of these, seeing as you will more then likely always have one lens on the camera, and not needing a lens cap, but one day you may need it, so i recommend just going and buying a second on. they are not expensive.

Get your power drill, file, knife and glue back out. drill a series of holes and remove the middle piece as per before, glue the filter onto the cap LEAVE THE GLASS IN THE FILTER THIS TIME ! the filter thread has to be glued on the opposite way to what you did before, so that the filter thread is the same as when you would screw it into a lens. when you have made this, you can clip it onto the lens when you are using it, and because you put the filter thread around the right way, you can even go buy a lens cap to fit, if you don't have one for that lens already.. i bet you do but.

Now. when you go to play with this, you will notice you have EXTREMELY shallow DOF, like millimeters of depth.. as always close the aperture down to increase this, and you may have already guessed it..but because you have such a shallow depth of field you need to be slow and careful when taking photos, as the slightest movement can be quite significant. All the focusing needs to be done by moving the camera closer and furtherer away from the subject, as (in my very limited experience, i made mine 2days ago) the lenses focusing system has little effect.
HAVE FUN !

[Dirt_Bike_Ryda]

just in case you need some pics to help you out.

Reverse mount

Protection cap

the set up, from L-R. lens cap(for when not in use) reverse mount adapter, lens, protector cap, lens cap.

[ollie]

just amazing... how did you figure this?

[Dirt_Bike_Ryda]

well ive seen people doing similar things before (and Canon actualy make a lens this way that fits onto your camera normal and focuses and what not), and i just thought about how i could make it fit, and it just happened. Its a V E R Y hard lens to use. sometimes it works perfect, other times its just total junk.

"ollie" does your nifty fifty have a aperture ring?

if so. give this a go

[WVCoalMiner]

I got one of these adapters off of Ebay made of metal for $7.00.
Lets you reverse one lens but I never really liked the outcome. I had better luck with the binocular lens macro I made LOL.

[MOmilkman]

Ive been doing this for a while and while it does work very nicely there are some drawbacks (at least for us Canon users).

You cant control the aperture. So the DOF is VERY narrow. But sometimes this makes for wonderful images.

You need lots of light. Without a strong source of light it is very hard to find the subject and focus on it clearly.

All that said, I am glad I done it. I haven't scraped up the funds yet to buy that 100mm Macro so until then I'll just keep going with this.

Here's a couple images I came up with:

[Dirt_Bike_Ryda]

you can controll the aperture. since the lens is mounted in reverse by a homemade kit, you can mount any lens you like. do what i did pick up a cheap manual aperature lens (even if you have to buy an old Film camera with it) and you set

[MOmilkman]

Ha ha Good idea.

My thought was that I had to buy a canon lens. Duh!
I'm not even attaching it to the camera, so ANY lens will work.
Thanks for the heads up. I may have to go scour some garage sales now for a Nikkon lens

[MSidPhoto]

Amazing macro photos !!!!

You see i dont have an SLR, but the images taken using my Sony DSC H10 with a additional 58mm Macro lens are also quite amazing.....

I uploaded few yesterday.....check this link.....but keep in mind that i didnt use its full macro capability

http://digital-photography-school.co...ly-garden.html

One of the macro photos i took recently is almost as good as your ball point one Dirt_Bike_Ryda
Thanks for the idea

[Dirt_Bike_Ryda]

oh yea not too bad.


yea no worries only too happy to share my creation