[dr_know]

Great shot TG, how long was the exposure?

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by Torqueguru

Ocean beach, CA.

I see some stars in the sky or usual pixel problem?

[deky]

I tried my hand at the "poor man's macro" on my sony alpha

HOW I DID IT

I used 2 lenses. The one going in camera being the 18-70MM kit lens in its original position and the 2nd 75-300MM Minolta lens going inverted in the 18-70MM kit lens.



I used those sun flare things (do not know what is the term) to fit in the two lenses. The smaller one going inside the larger one.



Used a small piece of paper to open the aperture full in the 75-300MM and in the 18-70MM used camera settings to open the aperture to max.

Used Manual focus to do the foccusing and clicked the subject in bright light.


RESULT



CROP OF THE RESULT



Apart from the hand shake, which I know is one of the mistakes, I have a few more questions.

1. Did I follow the correct procedure?

2. There is a gap between the 2 lenses of about half inch, is that ok?

3. As seen in the original the subject only comes in a small circle in between, rest is dark. Is there a way to have the subject in a full frame? I was like millimeters away from the subject and could not be any closer.

4. Can this kind of a Macro be done only in bright lights as the camera flash doesnt seem to be sufficient as I was very very close to the subject?

5. Is it better to only use a single inverted lens?

[clevermax]

@TG: Nice picutre. I like the colors very much.
@dkey: It is called a lens hood. BTW, what is the subject of your macro? It looks like an eye, or is it?



I went to a beach resort in Poovar today. Here are a couple of pictures from the lot.

[genesis]

First spin with new camera

[Torqueguru]

@genesis
Good composition! A lower angle showing their face better would have been awesome.

@dr_know
it was 30 seconds.

@ashishpallod
You are seeing a couple of stars..haha..what usual pixel problems were you talking about?

@clevermax
Thats a pretty beach!


Regards,
TG.

[guyonblackybx]

Insane macros, but I would say that once you get over the super macro fascination...try experimenting with composition. Macros need some serious composition(infact any picture, but macros all the more) to leave a lasting impression. Let the image tell us a story. All the best!

PS: YOur macro shots are urging me to look out for a macro lens now

@TG Yeah I am not completely comfortable with revers lens yet. Agree proper composition is required. But it kinda gets hard to think of composition while shooting with reverse lens most of time you are trying get the subject into focus

Glad that my photos are good enough to make you urge to shoot macro

Ocean beach, CA.
Attachment 179106
Regards,
TG.

Lovely shot

@guyonblackybx: Thanks for the tip.. I need to get another body cap and a filter ring before I do that. I have a body cap, a Hoya UV filter and a 55-62mm coverter ring, but those are good quality stuff (made in Japan!) and I don't feel like tampering them. Need to buy a cheap filter for this.

I think laptop screen will be one of the first things anyone would shoot with the new marco setup, as I also had the same shot like you have posted here... The letters 'ick' from the "Quick launch" toolbar's caption, as it appears in the laptop screen, from the macro world:

@ Clevermax yeah I have used very cheap UV filters to create the adaptors.

ICK shot is pretty neat, on spot.

guyonblackybx,

Awesome shots there and you are welcome. . Third shot is my favorite, just wish the drop was in focus and it would have been a killer.

Somehow I am not very comfortable with the idea of reverse lens technique. So, I am planning to invest in extension tubes before I can get my hands on a 100mm macro lens.

@Hellwrath extension tubes hmm, I havn't tried them which 100mm f/2.8 or f/2

Here is another shot of the water drop but this one was shot with lens at 18mm. Just check out the detail of the petal texture. @18mm DOF is the lowest. I clicked this shot with out adaptor and handheld.

Originally Posted by deky

I tried my hand at the "poor man's macro" on my sony alpha

HOW I DID IT

I used 2 lenses. The one going in camera being the 18-70MM kit lens in its original position and the 2nd 75-300MM Minolta lens going inverted in the 18-70MM kit lens.

Attachment 179207

I used those sun flare things (do not know what is the term) to fit in the two lenses. The smaller one going inside the larger one.

Attachment 179208

Used a small piece of paper to open the aperture full in the 75-300MM and in the 18-70MM used camera settings to open the aperture to max.

Used Manual focus to do the foccusing and clicked the subject in bright light.


RESULT

Attachment 179209

CROP OF THE RESULT

Attachment 179206

Apart from the hand shake, which I know is one of the mistakes, I have a few more questions.

1. Did I follow the correct procedure?

2. There is a gap between the 2 lenses of about half inch, is that ok?

3. As seen in the original the subject only comes in a small circle in between, rest is dark. Is there a way to have the subject in a full frame? I was like millimeters away from the subject and could not be any closer.

4. Can this kind of a Macro be done only in bright lights as the camera flash doesnt seem to be sufficient as I was very very close to the subject?

5. Is it better to only use a single inverted lens?

Answers to your Qs

1. Nothing wrong with the procedure.

2. Gap is fine but u have to make sure that light doesnt enter from this joint. I feel this gap is one reason why you have that darker area.

3. Another reason for the darker area can be due to usage of larger lens over the smaller one. Have you tried mounting 75-300 onto camera and revesring 18-70?

4. It can be done in low light provided that you manage to keep the lenses together and mount the camera on to tripod so that you can use long exposure.

5. I would go for single lens. I wont suggest using 2 lenses as you did because am not sure how much stress a lens can take up on its filter side.
BTW did you try reversing you 18-70mm t different focal lengths?

Check out the images one clicked with lens at 55mm and 3rd one at 18mm difference in magnification is huge.

I used 2 lenses only once that too to capture the pixels on laptop screen and CRT monitor. I havent come across any other subject of that size Did you try


What I have observed is I cannot get anything on reversing lense beyond 100mm everything gets out of focus infact you get any shape. Its just my observation. Gurus correct me if am wrong.

[HellwratH]

Guyonblackybx,

This picture looks much better. Extension tubes would be kenko and I am saving up for a Canon 100mm f2.8, but the price is difference is pretty high (between canon and sigma). So I might consider Sigma 105 or Tamron 90mm as well. And, as far as the reviews go, some people say Sigma/Tamron are soft etc. But a wise man (Ram aka Image aka macro guru ) once said, most people will limit the lens and not the other way around.

[Samurai]

Composition is extremely important in macro photography. And it is also the most difficult thing to do in macro photography. By the time you get the technical side straighten out, there is no energy left for composition. I have shot 100 frames in a session and then deleted all of them, many times.

The wise man (Ram aka Image aka macro guru) puts incredible amount of effort into his shots, which most of us are not willing to do.

[abhijitaparadh]

I use reverse macro quite regularly these days. I feel 50mm f/1.8 lens is best for that purpose.
1. because its cheap, you wouldnt be bothered that much if dust goes inside when you are using it reversed.
2. because its light weight
3. because it small in size so you can use on board flash.

Usually I stop down the lens to f/8 or f/10 then remove it using DOF preview button set. And attach it reversed.
Always use the flash on its least powerful setting (because you dont need flash to over expose your subject.) to illuminate subject properly, as when you stop the lens down, it lets in very little light, so without flash its almost impossible to hold your setup (assuming no tripod is used) and subject (insects etc) steady for a long time.
I prefer to use full manual mode (M), to setup the shutter speed., as metering gets screwed up especially when you use flash for macro.

Some example shots attached. All are 50mm f/1.8 reversed hand held.
Everything is very close to 1:1, I havent measured using a ruler test.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by abhijitaparadh

I use reverse macro quite regularly these days. I feel 50mm f/1.8 lens is best for that purpose.
1. because its cheap, you wouldnt be bothered that much if dust goes inside when you are using it reversed.

What is cheap? I think we are worried about dust on the sensor, and dSLR bodies are not cheap.

But then most of us end up with images of heavily magnified objects with hardly any composition. That is why photomacrography is so painful, so much effort and nothing to show for it.

[harmon_bro]

A close up shot of my friend.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by abhijitaparadh

Usually I stop down the lens to f/8 or f/10 then remove it using DOF preview button set. And attach it reversed.

Nice macros there, the DOF is very adequate.

I have a question here, related to the DOF preview and preserving the aperture setting while removing the lens. But I do not have the DOF preview option in my cam.

How do you guys manage to set the aperture with the DOF preview button and then preserve that aperture while removing the lens from the normal mount position? In Alpha mounts, the aperture dial has a spring action and the moment it is detached from the camera body, the dial goes back to its resting position and thus the aperture almost closes down. To open it up, we need to slide it to the proper position and put some kind of a 'stopper' there so that it doesn't shuttle back and close the aperture again - because of the spring action. Two of my lenses (Sony & Minolta) will have a closed aperture as soon as they are detached.

[HellwratH]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Composition is extremely important in macro photography. And it is also the most difficult thing to do in macro photography. By the time you get the technical side straighten out, there is no energy left for composition. I have shot 100 frames in a session and then deleted all of them, many times.

The wise man (Ram aka Image aka macro guru) puts incredible amount of effort into his shots, which most of us are not willing to do.

I agree completely with you. And, have been following Image's work pretty closely and aware that it takes a lot of effort time and moov to get decent macros. . One more thing many of us forget, which I have learnt from Ram's work and his words are that he gives up magnification for composition. That's where most of us go wrong. We fall for the magnification that we tend to forget composition.


Clevermax,

Whenever we look through the viewfinder and shoot, the camera always shows you the view as though the lens was wide open (but changes the aperture before exposing the light to sensor). When DOF preview button is pressed, the camera shows us the image as it would actually be with the set aperture. This happens by actually changing the aperture, hence with the change in aperture if we take the lens off the body , we would get the required aperture set.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by HellwratH

Clevermax,
Whenever we look through the viewfinder and shoot, the camera always shows you the view as though the lens was wide open (but changes the aperture before exposing the light to sensor). When DOF preview button is pressed, the camera shows us the image as it would actually be with the set aperture. This happens by actually changing the aperture, hence with the change in aperture if we take the lens off the body , we would get the required aperture set.

I think you did not completely understand what I said... In my camera, I don't have a DOF preview button.

But if I had one, it would work exactly as you explained. The point I made was, the moment I take the lens off the body, the aperture dial will swing back to its resting position thereby closing down the aperture blades. Seems like the the Canikon lenses doesn't have this nature, may be the aperture will stay at wherever it is set.

Here's a picture to explain that