Question about MACRO photography!!

[Derrel]

The Lens Reversal Technique

 

[Overread]

Nope - whilst many of the setups that John hallmen uses certainly are more studio friendly, most if not all the MPE users are shooting (often handheld but not always) out in the field.
The key is having a workable lighting and macro setup and the subject of macro lighting can get as technical as full studio work (if only with one or two light sources).

With diopters you get the same as you do with tube, that of the device reducing your minimum focusing distance and thus letting you get a closer, more magnified shot of the subject. Tubes work better (give more magnifiaction ) on shorter focal length lenes whilst diopters do the same, but give better performance on longer focal length lenses.
The power rating of a diopter essentailly marks its power- the stronger the diopter the higher its number.

The only way to get bigger without closer is to use teleconverters - a 1.4TC gives you 1.4:1 macro whilst a 2*TC gives you 2:1 macro (if mounted to a regular macro lens to start with). A teleconverter will however take away more light (one stop for a 1.4 and two stops for a 2*TC). I often use a 1.4TC for my regular work as it hardly affects the image quality of a macro lens, but does give you a little bit more magnifiaction that you will notice.

From there the only methods I know of are going to get you closer - even the MPE ends up being very close to your subject in order to take a shot.

Derrals suggestion of a reverse lens setup is also worth considering as it does let you are some higher magnifications without always having to spend out a lot of money. Even if you just have a 200mm capable lens and a 50mm prime you can get up to 4:1 out of that (200/50mm gives you 4:1)

 

[Derrel]

Something inexpensive would be a NIkon 200mm f/4 Ai lens, used for $75-$125, and then a used dead end 24mm lens with a manual aperture ring, like say a Canon FD or Minolta MD mount manual focus 24mm f/2.8 lens and a reverse mounting ring, costing $6-$15 from Fotodiox.com.

I suggest Nikon's 200mm f/4 because it is strongly-built, good optically, and has a 52mm front filter thread. You'd want a Nikon to Canon EF lens adapter, cost about $17 from eBay or Fotodiox. With a 24mm reverse-mounted on the front of a 200mm lens, you'd get up to 8x magnification. I suggest a dead-end 24mm f/2.8 like a Canon FD or Minolta MD mount because those lenses have no real useful camera bodies made for them any more, and thery have good optics, but cost much less than a lens with a current system AND because Canon FD and Minolta MD have aperture rings on the lenses.

Lack of autofocus is not a real factor either---the 1x to 8x territory is strictly manual focus and of focus rail or hope-and-pray focusing by moving the camera in and out until focus looks good, and then shooting exposures using electronic flash to provide depth of field and action-stopping power.

The reason I suggest Nikon's discontinued 200mm f/4 Ai or AI-S is again, cost,52mm filter size, and aperture control on the lens. If you want to go with a Canon EF autofocus main lens, of course, you could use a Canon 200mm f/2.8 or something like that, but reversing a lens on a Canon demands a very expensive electronic lens reversing ring like the one made by Novoflex--if you use a manual focusing 24mm or 20mm lens with an aperture ring on the lens in reversed position, you're looking at dozens and dozens of affordable lens options. So, the reversed lens on the front can be an old, manual-focusing lens with a manual diaphragm control ring.

The simplest, easiest solution is the older NIkon 200/4 Ai or AI-S lens with 52mm filter thread, and a 20 or 24mm prime lens which also has a 52mm filter tread, and a 52-to 52 filter thread adapter holding those two lenses together, and then a simple Nikon to Canon lens adapter, and a flash unit and an LED focusing assistance light.

This type of reversed wide-angle lens on telephoto prime application has been around for decades, and the quality is very good.

 

[Overread]

Derral - why would you need a novoflex controler if you are reversing one lens onto another? Surely if you have a 200mm lens mounted to you camera body you can then use its aperture blades and controls whilst letting the reversed 50mm lens just hang on the end and be left wide open the whole time.