Reversed lens.

[ferny]

I'm curious about the vignetting. I just used my coupler for the first time today and was horribly dissapointed to see the only a circle instead of the whole frame. Is this common? I thought my set-up just stunk.

I noticed in the guessing game thread that there isn't any w/ the vignet, are they cropping them?

Also, very importantly, is there anything particular you do to reduce shake on your macro's? Course, I was shooting something on the ground, so my posture wasn't ideal, but my photo's suck... attached.

If you're mounting a lens on a lens the amount of vignetting you get depends on the focal length of the camera lens and the aperture value of the reversed lens. With a big focal length on the camera you can "zoom" through the vignetting. If the lens is short you're going to pick up lots.
If the aperture of the reversed lens is small (the hole is nice and big) then vignetting is going to be less of a problem.
Vignetting is normal (just look at the examples I posted to see what you get) and without question most photos for the macro game are cropped. Not only does that get rid of the black edges but it allows the object to be bigger on the screen. You bin the pointless stuff around the object which leaves more room for the object itself.

Shake with macros is a problem. I can't shoot them handheld and I expect most can't. Everything gets magnified in macro photography. That includes the object and camera shake. The other problem is that because you're so close to the object it will normally be in your shadow. You'll be blocking lots of light. So the shutter speed has to be longer. Use a tripod and the self timer. 10 seconds is better than 2 as well, if your camera can change the timer length. The tripod will wobble after you press the shutter button and the 10 seconds gives it lots of time to settle down. Also, stand still after you've pressed the button. Walking around moves the tripod to, possible the surface that the object is on as well. Unless the floor that everything is on is very solid, concrete for example.

 

[Jess]

Thank you for all the great info Ferny.

The tripod idea had occured the me after I posted, the above photos are hand held. So I just spend about half a roll using my shutter release cable, but I noticed I was still getting some wobble. My camer doesn't have mirror lock up, nor can I change the timer length, but it does HAVE a timer, so maybe I'll expend the rest of the roll with that option and see what I get.

I'm using a 50mm mounted w/ a 24mm reversed. I had tried mounting my 200 w/ the 24 reversed but didn't get as close up. I'll have to check it out again and see if it's worth trying.

Unfortunately, because I have FD, the button clasps close the aperature half way when you remove the lense, which ruins them for the reverse mount I'm assuming, I can barely see through the viewfinder, I'm guessing the shot would be crap. Luckily, my 24 mm is a twist clasp instead so the aperature stays where I put it before disconnect, EG it's my only option for the reverse mount.

Man am I having a blast though! I can hardly wait to get a look at these. I'm sure I'm excited for nothing and they'll be shakey, but I can hope! I'm going to give my full size tripod a go also, been using a table top scissor tripod that really isn't meant to handle that kind of lense weight.

Thanx for your help, I'm sure I'll have more questions as I continue to play with this.

 

[ferny]

I'm using a 50mm mounted w/ a 24mm reversed. I had tried mounting my 200 w/ the 24 reversed but didn't get as close up. I'll have to check it out again and see if it's worth trying.

A 50mm will give you LOTS of vignetting. I can't understand why you couldn't get as close with the 200mm. The 24mm when reversed will focus around an inch or so away from an object. That's regardless of what it is mounted on. It is designed to focus on the film, so the distance between the film and the back of the lens in normal situations is how far it will focus from an object when reversed.
The difference the 200mm will make is to the magnification. With the 50/24 set-up you've got a magnification value of +2. With the 200/24 you got just over 8. What may be your problem is that the dof has become so narrow that you're not noticing when it is in focus. That's just something you'll have to try by moving the camera and tripod backwards and forwards slowly. You can increase the dof a bit by playing with the aperture of the camera lens as you would normally. Just leave the aperture on the reversed one open.


Good luck. I hope they come out well. I've only tried once or twice with film and they weren't good at all.