Reverse Macro? Can somebody explain the basics?

[keith204]

A lot of people are talking about reverse macro.... how does it work? I see a reverse macro adapter that will fit my 50mm 1.8....and it cost only about 10 bucks shipped.

Obviously this won't be as good quality as a true macro lens, but what are some opinions? I'd like to get into some macro-ish photography, is this a decent starting place? (without having to pay 300-600 bucks)?

 

[kundalini]

If you buy one, it's an adapter that on one side fits into the camera body and the other side screws onto you lens such as a filter. It gives you super close-ups.

Examples:
My finger for scale:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa199/kundalini2737/Rev-Marco---Finger.jpg

Cropped a bit:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa199/kundalini2737/Reverse-Macro---Ant-1a.jpg

These were taken with a 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor.

 

[Big Mike]

Or you can get a double reverse ring which allows you to reversely mount one lens onto the front of another. I have one that allows me to reverse my 50mm (52mm threads) onto another lens with 58mm threads.

Here is an example

 

[keith204]

WOWWWW Would this work with my 52mm(filter) 50mm lens, and my 58mm(filter) 18-55 stock lens?

 

[keith204]

and do you have links to a place that sells them?

 

[kundalini]

I wasn't aware of the doubler, but got mine at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/. No doubt there any many more. Amazon, Adorama, eBay.....

 

[Big Mike]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Macro-Reverse-R...ODIOX-NEW_W0QQitemZ320143029051QQcmdZViewItem

 

[kundalini]

[FONT='Univers (W1)']Cool beans Big Mike. With that adapter, can you use lenses as usual? Say I mount the 18-55mm on the body and adapt the 50mm as a second, will focus, aperture, flash (iTTL) and zoom on the body lens function normally? [/FONT]

 

[keith204]

Alright, I bought the coupler and the little adapter. Paid about 15 bucks for both of them. I haven't received them yet...but I did hold the lenses in the positions to make sure this whole thing isn't a "Snipe-hunting"-like trick.

:thumbup: Here's what I came up with:

 

[keith204]

also... I used my 50mm 1.8 attached to my camera, with the stock 18-55 backwards at the end of it.

Overall I am very impressed. Sharp, sharp pictures.

 

[neea]

WOWZERS!

I had absolutley no idea this was possible.
I had to try it!!! And it actually works.
An elastic band isn't a very interesting subject but regardless..

But why is it that I'm getting a black ring?
I put my 70-300mm on the camera and the 28-80 on the other end.
What if I switched them? Would it make a difference?

 

[neea]

I just had to pick a flower.
I've just spent the last hour and a half taking pictures of one silly little flower.
Err... I will blame you guys in the future.
You all just started my new addiction!

 

[jstuedle]

Sorry I didn't get into this thread a little sooner, I see big mike has everything in order. Been out of the loop for the past couple of days with my "honey-do" list. Keith, obviously there is no reason a reversed or doubled-reversed lens can't be as sharp or sharper than a standard macro lens. For best sharpness, use 2 prime lenses when using the double lens technique. All zooms give up at least a little to primes, especially in macro applications. Remember DOF goes down as magnification goes up. For max. sharpness try to keep your subject parallel to the film/sensor plane. This might seen like a quick way to a boring pic, but in the macro world, as much of the frame in focus makes for more interesting images.

 

[DSLR noob]

I've noticed wider lenses get you close when backwards.

Here was what I got out of playing around:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79506

 

[jstuedle]

I think the sharpest reversed-combo I ever shot was a Nikkor 50mm 1.4 with a another Nikkor 50 f/2.0 reversed. That was a great combo. Very sharp and great contrast.