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Macro Shot - FA43 + Vivitar 2x Macro TC

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hermanlee

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About a month ago, Ron showed me how this combo works.

And finally I got the Vivitar 2x Macro TC from a lady who don't have a need of this lens anymore and sell it to me for a very very good price :)...I'm so blessed this year...as I'm waiting for my A50 f/1.4 (another very good deal...that's why I'm so blessed :)...and finally, I'll have a macro set that I've dreamed of.

Here is the post from Ron:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&thread=25912887

And now I want to share how wonderful this combo is:
Nothing amazing from tech POV but I just want to show how sharp this combo is.
Straight from camera w/ a little bit cropping.

K100D, FA43 & Vivitar 2x Macro TC (green lettering):



And here M50 f2 & Vivitar 2x Macro TC:



--
'I will treasure every moment in my life!'
Herman
 
hermanlee said:
About a month ago, Ron showed me how this combo works.
And finally I got the Vivitar 2x Macro TC from a lady who don't have
a need of this lens anymore and sell it to me for a very very good
price :)...I'm so blessed this year...as I'm waiting for my A50 f/1.4
(another very good deal...that's why I'm so blessed :)...and finally,
I'll have a macro set that I've dreamed of.

Here is the post from Ron:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&thread=25912887
Click to expand...
Hi Herman,

I am happy for you finding the V2XMFTC and the Pentax-A 50/1.4. You shall have a lot of fun using them.

Cheers.

--
Ron - 'We don't have time to go take pics this afternoon Carl.'
Carl - 'What do you mean? It will only take 1/1000s.'

'Keep your eyes looking forward. However, glance back now and then to see where you've come from. It will put a smile on your face.' ~ brandrx

Ron ~ Retired.

 
I am already having fun right now, Ron. Thanks for your help.

Right now I need to practice with my technique before I can post good pictures like you guys.
brandrx said:
Hi Herman,

I am happy for you finding the V2XMFTC and the Pentax-A 50/1.4. You
shall have a lot of fun using them.
Click to expand...
--
'I will treasure every moment in my life!'
Herman
 
HermanLee.. Great pictues and a very useful post and I think I will order both the 43 and 2x right away..

How far away from the ring were you when you took the pictures? What was your lighting set-up? Shutter Speed? etc.

Thomas
 
Thanks, Thomas.
Thomasdahl said:
HermanLee.. Great pictues and a very useful post and I think I will
order both the 43 and 2x right away..
Click to expand...
Well, I think you should hurry up before the rebates expired. You will love this combo. I just put it on my table and can't stop looking at my K100D with this combo. It's just amazing. Just make sure the V2xMTC has the contacts so you can use the Av setting for your 43Ltd.
Thomasdahl said:
How far away from the ring were you when you took the pictures? What
was your lighting set-up? Shutter Speed? etc.
Click to expand...
I don't recall exactly how far but probably around 4-5 inches away from the lens front. No fancy lighting, just my desk light on my right and room light (tungsten) from above. It's very hard to get good picture at night with that kind of light though. That's why you see the ring is not that shiny.
I set the camera at Av mode with f/22. And for the V2xMTC is on 1:1.
Since the lens is not 50mm so I guess it must be less than 1:1.
Hope this helps and have fun :)
Just let me know if you have any more question.
Thomasdahl said:
Thomas
Click to expand...
--
'I will treasure every moment in my life!'
Herman
 
hermanlee said:
I set the camera at Av mode with f/22. And for the V2xMTC is on 1:1.
Since the lens is not 50mm so I guess it must be less than 1:1.
Click to expand...
Actually it is just a tad greater than 1:1, meaning just a tad greater than lifesize. With the V2XMFTC and using a 100mm lens you should get about a 1:2 (50/100 or 0.5X magnification or 1/0.5 or 1:2), with a 50mm lens you should get a 1:1 (50/50 or 1X magnification or 1/1 or 1:1), so I am thnking that with the 43mm you should get a 1:0.86 (50/43 or 1.16X magnification or 1/1.16 or 1:0.86).

Also, I believe that the f# doubles due to the fact of the 2X TC, so f22 is in fact f44. I think I would try some shots with the aperture at around f11 if I were you.

Cheers and have fun.

--
Ron - 'We don't have time to go take pics this afternoon Carl.'
Carl - 'What do you mean? It will only take 1/1000s.'

'Keep your eyes looking forward. However, glance back now and then to see where you've come from. It will put a smile on your face.' ~ brandrx

Ron ~ Retired.

 
brandrx said:
Also, I believe that the f# doubles due to the fact of the 2X TC, so
f22 is in fact f44. I think I would try some shots with the aperture
at around f11 if I were you.
Click to expand...
Hmm...I didn't think of this one. So everything comes down twice. I just check the exif data and it shows that I stopped down -0.3 so it might be why there is not enough light.
Thanks, Ron for the advice. I'll try it again next time.

--
'I will treasure every moment in my life!'
Herman
 
Hi HermanLee..

I am obviously a total newby..

Some questions if you would indulge me..

1. What do you mean by: "Just make sure the V2xMTC has the contacts so you can use the Av setting for your 43Ltd."

2. Where did you get the V2xMTC? I cannot find it for sale anywhere? Is it out of production?

3. Does the autofocus work with this combination?

Many thanks
Thomas
 
Thomasdahl said:
Hi HermanLee..

I am obviously a total newby..

Some questions if you would indulge me..

1. What do you mean by: "Just make sure the V2xMTC has the contacts
so you can use the Av setting for your 43Ltd."
Click to expand...
There are 2 versions of this V2xMTC if I'm not mistaken. One has electronic contacts to transfer the lens info to the camera and the other one doesn't have them. If you see on your current kit lens, there are several round balls in line (on the back side of the lens that sticks to body mount). Those are the contacts that I meant.

If your V2xMTC has that contacts, it can connect the contacts from the lens to camera contacts. Otherwise, you'll have to do everything manually. You won't be able to use the A setting of your lens (if your lens has A setting for the aperture).

If you have old lenses that are M type for instance, you don't need this contacts.

You can search more about this in this forum. I believe Ron discussed deeper about this before.
Thomasdahl said:
2. Where did you get the V2xMTC? I cannot find it for sale
anywhere? Is it out of production?
Click to expand...
As I mentioned in my post. I got this V2xMTC from a lady who doesn't have any need of it anymore. I guess I'm very lucky since I couldn't find it new either and I got it at an unbelievable low price. I saw sometimes they had it in ebay but very rare. For the one with contacts goes around US$160 and with no contacts around US$60. I think I saw someone is selling one without contact at pentaxforums.net. You can check them out if you don't mind going without those contacts. I don't know if Vivitar is still producing it or not. But yes, it will be very hard to find it new.
Thomasdahl said:
3. Does the autofocus work with this combination?
Click to expand...
No. Since the V2xMTC only transfer the info, not the motor drive. there is nothing to connect the screw for motor drive from the lens to the camera body. You have to do Manual Focus. But actually it's a good thing since I found it easier if you focus manually for macro. The Depth of Field is too small for AF. It will be hard to get the focus you want with AF. I never used a macro lens with AF so actually it's just my assumption.

There are a lot of experts in this forum that might be able to give a better explanation about how to use this V2xMTC.
I hope you'll find these are helpful, IMHO.

Actually, I just took some macro pics this morning with this combo again.
I'll post it as soon as I have time to process it.

--
'I will treasure every moment in my life!'
Herman
 
Hi Herman. I have to say that the use of flash with the FA50 and Vivitar Macro TC simply does wonders (drastically improves your ability to get higher f-stop / sharpness, better DOF, and higher shutter speed)! (I picked up a ring flash just for this purpose, but other flashes should work fine as long as you can position then appropriately.)

Congrats and enjoy the new toy! :-)
hermanlee said:
About a month ago, Ron showed me how this combo works.
And finally I got the Vivitar 2x Macro TC from a lady who don't have
a need of this lens anymore and sell it to me for a very very good
price :)...I'm so blessed this year...as I'm waiting for my A50 f/1.4
(another very good deal...that's why I'm so blessed :)...and finally,
I'll have a macro set that I've dreamed of.
Click to expand...
--
Rich Little (aka Getmoresoon)
 
Hi Don, according to photozone the highest resolutions for these lenses are...
lens...........centre.......edge
DA40/2.8...f5.6-2274...f5.6-2218
FA43/1.9...f4-2422...f4-2244
FA50/1.4...f4-2320...f5.6-2048

http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Pentax%20Lens%20Tests/48-pentax/125-pentax-smc-fa-43mm-f19-limited-review--test-report
Don Allison said:
shane gerrish said:
the 43 is supposed to be sharper than the 50 so its a good one to
work with :)
Click to expand...
Shane: News to me. Photodo certainly doesn't rate the resolution as
good as the 50mm FA version.
Don Allison said:
--
Shane,Gold Coast Aussie. Lens list in profile.
http://www.bigred4x4.com/pic-a-day-2007
Click to expand...
--

Click to expand...
--

Shane,Gold Coast Aussie. Lens list in profile. http://www.bigred4x4.com/pic-a-day-2007

 
I just bought a set of extension tubes off of eBay, so I'm looking forward to trying my 43 with them. Has anybody tried to use extension tubes with a 43?

Since you got such good results with the teleconverter, I may see if I can find one for myself. I have thought about getting one, anyhow.

If my macro pics turn out pretty decently, then perhaps I will hold off on getting a dedicated macro, at least for a while. :)

Heather
--
http://www.pbase.com/heatherb/
Never mind the diamonds...LENSES are a girl's best friend! :)

 
Hi Rich,

Thanks for the info. Actually, I just started to use the on board flash to shoot flower 2 days ago. It's pretty good to freeze the moving flower. I'm still practicing with it.
I'd prefer natural light.

Hi Heather,
How is the reversing adapter ring that I recommended last time?

This current macro kit that I have right now is good enough for me. I think I'll need to grow with it first before buying a dedicated macro lens.

Here are some other example V2xMTC & FA 43 Ltd duo:



1st pic - cropped







It's good as telephoto too:





--
'I will treasure every moment in my life!'
Herman
 
Don Allison said:
shane gerrish said:
the 43 is supposed to be sharper than the 50 so its a good one to
work with :)
Click to expand...
Shane: News to me. Photodo certainly doesn't rate the resolution as
good as the 50mm FA version.
Click to expand...
Amateur Photographer said that it was the best standard lens that you could buy ( about 10 years ago I think), don't dought the glass.

Anyone want to give me a 43mm they don't want ?
Don Allison said:
Don Allison said:
--
Shane,Gold Coast Aussie. Lens list in profile.
http://www.bigred4x4.com/pic-a-day-2007

Click to expand...
--

Click to expand...
 
I use a Kax 2x macro tc which is 7 element. It has electrical contacts and i got it a year and hald ago from a shop for 20 quid in mint condition. I am pretty sure it is identical to the Vivitar you have. This was taken with a cheap Sears 135mm 2.8 i had at the time and the 2x tc attached. Tiny frozen water drops on a cobweb



--
Tony

 
Herman, I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me. I did not realise that there were two versions of the Vivitar Macro Adapter. I will not start looking for the "contacts" version.

I like your pictures that you posted.. I am all inspired to go and get on with it.

Thanks!

Thomas
 
I've gotten pretty good results with the reversing ring & the 50. Here's an example:



I'm in need of some money to pay off a credit card, so I've got the A50/2 up for sale on the other forum. I've got a cheap Vivitar 28 that I want to try with it, though. I could use my 43 with the reversing ring, but I'm afraid of scratching the glass. When my extension tubes arrive, I'm going to try it with the 43, though.

I just put my screwmount 135 on with the reversing ring, so I'm going to play with it a little bit and see what I can do.

If the reversing ring and extension tubes work OK, then I may hold off on getting a dedicated macro for a while and start saving for a 21 once the CC is paid off.

Heather
--
http://www.pbase.com/heatherb/
Never mind the diamonds...LENSES are a girl's best friend! :)

 
Nice shot, Heather. I like the color and the focusing on the petal's tip.

Don't forget to post how the 43 works w/ ext tube, ok.

--
'I will treasure every moment in my life!'
Herman
 
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