Tried Reversing my lens today, see results

jadin · Dec 15, 2005

alexecho said:
I'm confused. You take the lens of and physically hold it in front of the camera? That can't work, can it? Tell me I've mis-read what you're all talking about.

Basically you're using two lenses, one that's attached to the camera that actually takes the photos, and one that is attached or held in front of the other lens. You still need the 'normal' lens to close the shutter, the second, held backwards, only changes the magnification.

PlasticSpanner · Dec 16, 2005

jadin said:
You still need the 'normal' lens to close the shutter, the second, held backwards, only changes the magnification.

Is that on an all singing camera?

On mine I just use one lens reversed.

jadin · Dec 16, 2005

PlasticSpanner said:
Is that on an all singing camera?

On mine I just use one lens reversed.

I guess you don't need it, I just assumed the shutter wouldn't trip without a lens attached. Quick testing proves that assumption wrong.

Do you get better magnification with just one lens, or with two, one reversed?

ferny · Dec 16, 2005

I made this post a while ago, all the pictures are gone though.

I've looked on my computer and I can't find them. I'll do some more at some point.

Anyway... hopefully the text will be able to help you.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15916&highlight=

NYY · Dec 17, 2005

jadin said:
I guess you don't need it, I just assumed the shutter wouldn't trip without a lens attached. Quick testing proves that assumption wrong.

actually you are right because i know that a few people on another forum tried this with nikons (d70 i believe) and the camera refused to trip the shutter without a lens

jadin · Dec 18, 2005

Must be a camera-by-camera setting. My D1X will take the photos without a lens attached. The aperture area is blank but I can still adjust the speed, trip the shutter, and have an image show up on my display...

will turner · Dec 18, 2005

so i just gave this a go, and it turns out fisheyes are amazing for this

fuzzybud · Dec 18, 2005

They do sell adaptors which allow you to mount a lens reversed onto a slr camera. It's known as the poor mans macro lens.

PlasticSpanner · Dec 18, 2005

will turner said:
so i just gave this a go, and it turns out fisheyes are amazing for this

Yeah. The shorter focal legnth you go the higher the magnification but also the shorter DOF!

will turner · Dec 19, 2005

PlasticSpanner said:
Yeah. The shorter focal legnth you go the higher the magnification but also the shorter DOF!

haha yes, as you can see compared to the 50mm

Don Simon · Dec 28, 2005

hobbes28 said:
You're stuck with the 10mm. It takes a while to get used to but after you shoot a few, you learn tricks to get around it.

I'm a little confused; even with a lens reversed shouldn't you be able to change DOF by manually changing aperture? Or are you using lenses without an aperture ring?

hobbes28 · Dec 29, 2005

Since you're shooting through the lens the wrong way, you're not really using it the way it was intended. Typically, the aperture opening is one of the last things light passes through so you can control the amount of light. Flip it around and it instead blocks the image you're producing.

Polygon · Dec 29, 2005

Just for the record:
This will work on a D50, it takes images without a lens attached in manual mode. Can it really be true that it won't work on a D70 then? Can't really believe it.

Don Simon · Dec 29, 2005

hobbes28 said:
Since you're shooting through the lens the wrong way, you're not really using it the way it was intended. Typically, the aperture opening is one of the last things light passes through so you can control the amount of light. Flip it around and it instead blocks the image you're producing.

Ah, so basically with the lens reversed it should always be wide open?

hobbes28 · Dec 29, 2005

ZaphodB said:
Ah, so basically with the lens reversed it should always be wide open?

From all that I know, yes. That's the way I've always done it. You can get around that shallow DOF by shooting more directly at the subject so your focal plane isn't as obvious. e.g. instead of shooting a quarter at a 45 degree angle, shoot from an 85 degree angle.