Flesh eating fish and macro advise needed!

[Hooker771]

Im still trying to learn Macro with my reversed 50mm and ext tubes. But the advise ive gotten from you all doesnt make much sense to this point to me. Please explain further to a low "C" student. You have said that I could try changing my f/stops. I am shooting with a Canon XS with a 50mm in reverse. When I reverse the lens the F defaults to 00. I can not change the f when it is reversed at all. Obviously when I add a tube on it it make the area of focus that much smaller. I have tried changing the f stop prior to reversing the lens from 1.8 to 22 and when reversed the image is still the same. So, two questions.

1. Is is possible to change my f when this particular lens is reversed (Canon 50mm prime 1.8)?
2. What lens would you recommend for a very raw noob to begin to capture some good Macro.

 

[Overread21]

You are way too close to sharp pointy things!!!
As for changing the aperture there is a trick you can do with the lens to let you adjust the aperture. First understand that before you press the shutter button the lens has aperture blades which control the amount of light getting into the lens, and at that point the blades are fully open. In other words all the light is getting through *the f number is as small as possible*. However when you press the shutter button to take a shot the blades close for the exposure, limiting the light to the fstop you have selected - and of course once done the blades open again.

The trick with the lens is to close the blades for a fixed duration of time, thus letting you take a shot with them closed whislt the lens is reversed - however it also means that they are closed whilst you focus -so your viewfinder image will be far darker.
To do the trick mount the lens as normal to the camera (not reversed) then select the aperture you want to shoot at - then hold down the depth of field preview button (check manual its that little button on the front of the camera) - whilst still holding the button keep the camera turned on and remove the lens. The button closes the aperture blades and when you remove the lens the blades never get the order to open and so remain closed. This won't damage your camera or lens and to open the blades again simply reattach the lens to the camera and turn it back on.


As for recomending a good macro lens it highly depends on what sort of budget you have and your subject matter. For insects (and possibly fishies too) you want a good working distance so that means a macro lens of at least 90mm or longer. Give an idea of your budget.

 

[Derrel]

I am shooting with a Canon XS with a 50mm in reverse. When I reverse the lens the F defaults to 00. I can not change the f when it is reversed at all. Obviously when I add a tube on it it make the area of focus that much smaller. I have tried changing the f stop prior to reversing the lens from 1.8 to 22 and when reversed the image is still the same. So, two questions.

1. Is is possible to change my f when this particular lens is reversed (Canon 50mm prime 1.8)?
2. What lens would you recommend for a very raw noob to begin to capture some good Macro.

Unfortunately, NO, it is not possible to change the f/stop with a Canon EF lens mounted in reverse--that is one of the areas where the Nikon F mount has an advantage: 43 million Nikon lenses with aperture rings, and perhaps 7 million AF-S G lenses with no aperture rings, out of the 50 million Nikkor lenses on the market.

If you want to use a Canon EF lens reverse-mounted, you need a costly, $539 Novoflex-made electronic aperture control adapter. EOSRETRO Novoflex Eos Reversing Lens Mount - To Reverse Mount Eos Lenses On An Eos Body

A much,much less costly idea is to buy what Nikon users buy to do the same thing, and spend $39 for the Nikon BR2a lens reverse ring and $17 for a Nikon F to Canon EF lens mount adapter. 2657 Nikon BR-2A 52mm Lens Reversing Ring

and then buy almost ANY brand of 50mm f/2 to f/1.4 lens that has an on-lens aperture control ring, like a $60 Nikon 50mm 1.8 AF lens. All the lens needs is a 52mm front filter thread to work.

If you want to get an affordable macro lens, the Tokina 100mm f/2.8 ATX macro in Canon EF mount is a good, low-cost macro lens. "Budget macro" gear can be surprisingly good; reverse mounting even a fairly low-cost lens can produce some surprisingly good results. But the idea of paying $539 just to be able to get diaphragm control on something as simple as a reversed lens on Canon bodies is one of the "gotcha" areas the EF mount has had since its inception in 1987. So, it makes sense to look at non-EF mount lenses for use in reverse-mounting scenarios--Pentax K or M42, Nikon Ai,AiS or AF-D, or Olympus OM series lenses have some good options for reverse mounting.

One of the handiest solutions would be the Nikon 36-72mm f/3.5 Series E Zoom lens for reverse mounting with a BR2a and Nikon-to-Canon lens adapter.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I'll say again that the Canon 100mm 2.8 is awesome. $500

 

[Hooker771]

Thank you all. THis thread is going into my favorites for future reference when I get some cash.

 

[Hardrock]

I'll say again that the Canon 100mm 2.8 is awesome. $500

+1 Great lens!! Oh and you will need some sort of flash for macro, even on a bright day.

 

[Hooker771]

I guess you mean an external flash correct? The one on the camera is not sufficient?

 

[Hardrock]

I guess you mean an external flash correct? The one on the camera is not sufficient?

Yes an external flash, at 1:1 you will need a lot of light to get a decent depth of field at f8 to f13.

 

[Overread21]

Whislt I fully agree that the way forward is an external flash setup - I personally recomend a speedlite type flash if hte person has no other flash at that point in time (barring the popup) since it will work very well for macro and also in many of areas of photography - whilst some of the more macro specialist flash setups, whist very good, are more limited in their scope of use.

But all that aside the popup flash can actualy give a good amount of lighting:
Juza Nature Photography Forum • View topic - Macro techniques, tips and problem solving
scroll down a little bit to get to a custom made device - rig something up similar and you can get some good light from the popup - its all about directing it where you want it.

 

[Hardrock]

Whislt I fully agree that the way forward is an external flash setup - I personally recomend a speedlite type flash if hte person has no other flash at that point in time (barring the popup) since it will work very well for macro and also in many of areas of photography - whilst some of the more macro specialist flash setups, whist very good, are more limited in their scope of use.

But all that aside the popup flash can actualy give a good amount of lighting:
Juza Nature Photography Forum • View topic - Macro techniques, tips and problem solving
scroll down a little bit to get to a custom made device - rig something up similar and you can get some good light from the popup - its all about directing it where you want it.

Great info! I use a 430ex II with a lumiquest softbox. But I already had a external flash when I got my macro lens.