"Macro" shots

[ziggo]

I've made some "macro" shots with a 50mm-lens in reverse position. Everything is handheld, so focussing was quite hard.

1.

Lamp by b8i, on Flickr

2.

Negative by b8i, on Flickr

3.

Sharp by b8i, on Flickr

4.

Waterdrop by b8i, on Flickr

5.

Words by b8i, on Flickr

Thanks for any comments in advance!

 

[rateeg]

is it grainy?

 

[ziggo]

Is it?

 

[703Methane]

1. I would focus more on the 'Ikea' part
2.is completely out of focus
3. is really grainy
4. Seems like you moved while taking it, or your focus is just wrong.

And are you focusing manually or auto ?

Could you provide your EXIF of each shot ?

 

[Ashleigh80]

Not really digging it....pics are blurry and the other ones don't do much for me either.

 

[ziggo]

I saw that I had a wrong link for no. 3, replaced it now.
The problem with these shots is that I took them in manual focus on film. So I can't provide EXIF info. Because I was holding my lens against my camera body I couldn't focus properly. I heard there are rings that fit the SLR body and the lensfilter thread, but I couldn't find them in my area (yet).
As for the graininess, all these pictures are taken on 200 ISO film, so I guess that I can't do much about it.

 

[PhysPhoto]

Interesting ideas, but none are in focus. If you don't have a tripod available, make sure to hold your breath and lean against something while taking a picture. For the shots you showed here, you could have leaned against the table.

Oh, I see now that you were using film. Why did you have to hold your lens to your camera body? Two different makes?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Actually holding your breath is bad. You want to shoot at the bottom of your exhale.

 

[703Methane]

Actually holding your breath is bad. You want to shoot at the bottom of your exhale.

QFT !


Heres video that might help you on your breathing technique.

 

[enzodm]

I've made some "macro" shots with a 50mm-lens in reverse position. Everything is handheld, so focussing was quite hard.

two days ago I did the same experiment, and I found that DoF is very very small, so that is difficult to focus, in particular handheld, and only very slightly modified by aperture.
I also found more enlargement using a shorter focal length (28mm).

I agree that your pictures are mostly out of focus or blurry (the last), while grain can be due to scanning.

 

[ziggo]

Why did you have to hold your lens to your camera body? Two different makes?

I had to hold it against the camera body because I was using the lens backwards. Hence I could not screw it in.

I also found more enlargement using a shorter focal length (28mm).

I tried that too, but then it was even harder to focus on something. I don't really know why.

 

[enzodm]

I had to hold it against the camera body because I was using the lens backwards. Hence I could not screw it in.

oh, that's why. I bought a cheap reverse ring on Ebay, and life is much easier. Here an example (not really nice, just trying) done with 28/2.5 reversed, builtin flash diffused with paper, handheld at about 4.5cm from the subject (a moth, if I found the right word), and cropped:




EDIT: I found the link the the ring I bought (by the way, it was even better than described: 49mm including a 49 to 52mm adapter): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250479144614

 

[PhysPhoto]

Actually holding your breath is bad. You want to shoot at the bottom of your exhale.

Interesting! Thanks for the tip!