Reversed Lens Macro of Gypsophila Flower Petal Edges

[iolair]

Gypsophila Macro by Neil Gratton, on Flickr

One of my first macro attempts with anything other than a simple macro lens ... using a Chinon 28mm 2.8 reversed onto a Jupiter 11A 135mm 3.5, on a Pentax Q10.

I'm looking forward to trying this with some bugs (as long as they're immobile ones - it takes a while to get the focus right! Dead woodlice turn up in my house periodically, so one of them can pose for me!)

 

[ceeboy14]

I've heard of this lens reversing technique and I have several Nikkor 35mm and 50mm 1.8 lenses hanging about. Can you shoot the setup so I can see how it is done?

 

[Rhoads238]

I've been wanting to try this technique too. You have buy a reversing ring. It attaches to the filter thread of the front of the lens and the lens mount on the camera body. I dont believe you can change the aperature when the lens is reversed so you would have to set it and then turn the lens around. Unless the lens has a manual aperture ring. You can also get a coupling ring and put two lenses together filter to filter. Just set the front reversed lens to its minimum aperture and then you would be able to control the aperture through the camera body.

 

[iolair]

I used a 52mm male - 52mm male filter ring; fortunately the 28mm lens I reversed onto the front is an old one with an aperture ring, which helped with the DOF. If you pick up an old lens to try this with, it doesn't matter of course what the lens mount is, only the filter diameter.

You reverse a shorter prime lens onto a longer lens - the bigger the ratio between the lenses, the bigger the optical magnification. (e.g. 50mm lens reversed onto a 100mm lens mounted on the camera gives 100/50 = 2:1 optical magnification - a 10mm object would create a 20mm wide image on the sensor).

The viewfinder goes EXTREMELY dark with this technique - you need plenty of light to the subject and preferably live view. I'm going to buy one of those multi-LED panels to help with this kind of shot.

 

[Mully]

With a manual lens you can change the aperture

 

[lassa8]

At least with Canon, you can select the aperture on a reversed lens, even if it's not manual. Just select the aperture you want, push the DOF button, then remove the lens while you're still holding the DOF. That's how I shoot my 35mm at f/16 on a bellows. I have also found that a strong flashlight is a great help for focusing in live view, although when you get past 5x or 6x even that gets tricky.

 

[lassa8]

And with a reversed lens, the magnification factors stated above aren't quite right. You basically have to measure the width of your FOV with the reversed set up (photographing a metric ruler is the easiest way I know of) and then do some math. The reversed lens actually increases the magnification quite a bit. For instance, my 35mm reversed on a 140mm bellows gives me ~9.5x mag, while the same lens non-reversed on the bellows gives me ~4x mag. This website might be helpful for the math: www.peterforsell.com

 

[carlos58]

very nice shot !

 

[KrisztinaK]

I just read about this a couple of weeks ago and tried it myself last weekend. I agree, it is SO, SO hard to get the focus right. The depth of field is literally 1-2 mm. It is a really fun technique to use though. Just hard.

 

[jowensphoto]

I just read about this a couple of weeks ago and tried it myself last weekend. I agree, it is SO, SO hard to get the focus right. The depth of field is literally 1-2 mm. It is a really fun technique to use though. Just hard.

Shoot in burst mode! It's hard to stay perfectly still to get the precise DoF, shooting in burst gives you a greater chance of getting it just right.

 

[jowensphoto]

OP, I love this photo. The different tones of purple and it looks so sparkly!

As I suggested to PP, you can shoot in burst mode to capture moving creatures too. I have one of a very small bee that came out shockingly well. Give it a go, you'd be surprised

 

[jowensphoto]

Dug two up. The first is my favorite.

 

[KrisztinaK]

Thanks for the tip. I will have to try that.

 

[KrisztinaK]

Were these shot with a macro lens or reverse macro?