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Macro Tips

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Barry Carter

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In the manual focus 35 mm SLR days (I used and still have two Olympus OM-1's), a popular method of doing macro (extreme close-up) photography was to mount the lens reversed; using a suitable adapter (called a reversing ring). The Olympus manual focus Zuiko lenses (probably still available on Ebay), were very well corrected, very light weight, compact, and take 49 mm accessories.

Digging down in my 35mm stuff, I found I have a male-male T-Thread to 49 mm adapter. What I did was use the 43mm> 37mm tube (from bugeyedigital.com), and the 37mm

P.S. Olympus did come back with a manual focus 35 mm SLR (the camera of choice for science), called the OM 2000. Check the some of the NY camera list of used equipment. Other potential's are the slide copying tubes, and the bellows close-up/copying devices with a T-thread. T-thread can be found on a plethora of manual 35 mm SLR camera stuff. Not for auto-focus anything!!

Ciao...Barry
 
What a terrific idea! I did the same thing back in my newspaper days, but had forgotten all about it. Even used the oly OM-1 and 2 for a while.

Tom Carter
Barry Carter said:
In the manual focus 35 mm SLR days (I used and still have two Olympus
OM-1's), a popular method of doing macro (extreme close-up) photography
was to mount the lens reversed; using a suitable adapter (called a
reversing ring). The Olympus manual focus Zuiko lenses (probably still
available on Ebay), were very well corrected, very light weight, compact,
and take 49 mm accessories.

Digging down in my 35mm stuff, I found I have a male-male T-Thread to 49
mm adapter. What I did was use the 43mm> 37mm tube (from
bugeyedigital.com), and the 37mm
and the above mentioned adapter. I mounted the standard 50mm Zuiko SLR
lens reversed, and volia....I had a 1st class macro lens!! The
arrangement focuses as close a one inch, has the advantage of manual fine
tune focusing, has the aperature ring to control lighting, and a flat
field to boot! I could mount filters if I wanted as the lens thread is
49 mm. I was very excited when I discovered this! Since I also have a
135mm lens taking 49 mm accessories, I can do the same thing with this
arrangement....Beautiful! Where to get that M-M adapter, I have not a
clue! Try spiratone.com, porters.com, etc. I think the lens reversal
thing went with the manual focus SLR's (which is the last time I bought
one). As I have said before, the 41mm
All that 35mm stuff may have a use afterall!

P.S. Olympus did come back with a manual focus 35 mm SLR (the camera of
choice for science), called the OM 2000. Check the some of the NY camera
list of used equipment. Other potential's are the slide copying tubes,
and the bellows close-up/copying devices with a T-thread. T-thread can
be found on a plethora of manual 35 mm SLR camera stuff. Not for
auto-focus anything!!

Ciao...Barry
Click to expand...
 
Spiratone was a popular Photography comapny in the 60-80's. They had a lot of unique items that other outfits did not carry. They are still around , but not as visibile as yester-year. For those interested, Spiratone has the "stuff" that makes what I described below do'able. You will need the CLA-1 already, then order a 43

Ciao....Barry
Barry Carter said:
In the manual focus 35 mm SLR days (I used and still have two Olympus
OM-1's), a popular method of doing macro (extreme close-up) photography
was to mount the lens reversed; using a suitable adapter (called a
reversing ring). The Olympus manual focus Zuiko lenses (probably still
available on Ebay), were very well corrected, very light weight, compact,
and take 49 mm accessories.

Digging down in my 35mm stuff, I found I have a male-male T-Thread to 49
mm adapter. What I did was use the 43mm> 37mm tube (from
bugeyedigital.com), and the 37mm
and the above mentioned adapter. I mounted the standard 50mm Zuiko SLR
lens reversed, and volia....I had a 1st class macro lens!! The
arrangement focuses as close a one inch, has the advantage of manual fine
tune focusing, has the aperature ring to control lighting, and a flat
field to boot! I could mount filters if I wanted as the lens thread is
49 mm. I was very excited when I discovered this! Since I also have a
135mm lens taking 49 mm accessories, I can do the same thing with this
arrangement....Beautiful! Where to get that M-M adapter, I have not a
clue! Try spiratone.com, porters.com, etc. I think the lens reversal
thing went with the manual focus SLR's (which is the last time I bought
one). As I have said before, the 41mm
All that 35mm stuff may have a use afterall!

P.S. Olympus did come back with a manual focus 35 mm SLR (the camera of
choice for science), called the OM 2000. Check the some of the NY camera
list of used equipment. Other potential's are the slide copying tubes,
and the bellows close-up/copying devices with a T-thread. T-thread can
be found on a plethora of manual 35 mm SLR camera stuff. Not for
auto-focus anything!!

Ciao...Barry
Click to expand...
 
Macro photography of live insects is not for everyone. It is an exercise that tries your patience totally. the depth of field is very shallow, the subject may move, and you need a camera support, and you need to take a lot of pictures; maybe 20% will come out OK. The following montage was created with Paint Shop Pro, with the reversed lens described. Not really good examples, but note the detail in the leave cells, and lack of chromatic aberration (back-lit by Sun) on edges....Barry


Barry Carter said:
Ciao....Barry
Barry Carter said:
In the manual focus 35 mm SLR days (I used and still have two Olympus
OM-1's), a popular method of doing macro (extreme close-up) photography
was to mount the lens reversed; using a suitable adapter (called a
reversing ring). The Olympus manual focus Zuiko lenses (probably still
available on Ebay), were very well corrected, very light weight, compact,
and take 49 mm accessories.

Digging down in my 35mm stuff, I found I have a male-male T-Thread to 49
mm adapter. What I did was use the 43mm> 37mm tube (from
bugeyedigital.com), and the 37mm
and the above mentioned adapter. I mounted the standard 50mm Zuiko SLR
lens reversed, and volia....I had a 1st class macro lens!! The
arrangement focuses as close a one inch, has the advantage of manual fine
tune focusing, has the aperature ring to control lighting, and a flat
field to boot! I could mount filters if I wanted as the lens thread is
49 mm. I was very excited when I discovered this! Since I also have a
135mm lens taking 49 mm accessories, I can do the same thing with this
arrangement....Beautiful! Where to get that M-M adapter, I have not a
clue! Try spiratone.com, porters.com, etc. I think the lens reversal
thing went with the manual focus SLR's (which is the last time I bought
one). As I have said before, the 41mm
All that 35mm stuff may have a use afterall!

P.S. Olympus did come back with a manual focus 35 mm SLR (the camera of
choice for science), called the OM 2000. Check the some of the NY camera
list of used equipment. Other potential's are the slide copying tubes,
and the bellows close-up/copying devices with a T-thread. T-thread can
be found on a plethora of manual 35 mm SLR camera stuff. Not for
auto-focus anything!!

Ciao...Barry
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Barry Carter said:
Spiratone was a popular Photography comapny in the 60-80's. They had a
lot of unique items that other outfits did not carry. They are still
around , but not as visibile as yester-year. For those interested,
Spiratone has the "stuff" that makes what I described below do'able. You
will need the CLA-1 already, then order a 43
49/49mm Macrocoupling ring (which is a male-male thread). If you have a
35mm SLR lens with 49mm accessory thread, you have what it takes: Site:
http://www.spiratone.com/filters/box.htm

Ciao....Barry
Click to expand...
Hi Barry

That you say is the Marco Coupling Rings is use for to put the close up lens together right ?
Joey
Member said:
Barry Carter said:
In the manual focus 35 mm SLR days (I used and still have two Olympus
OM-1's), a popular method of doing macro (extreme close-up) photography
was to mount the lens reversed; using a suitable adapter (called a
reversing ring). The Olympus manual focus Zuiko lenses (probably still
available on Ebay), were very well corrected, very light weight, compact,
and take 49 mm accessories.

Digging down in my 35mm stuff, I found I have a male-male T-Thread to 49
mm adapter. What I did was use the 43mm> 37mm tube (from
bugeyedigital.com), and the 37mm
and the above mentioned adapter. I mounted the standard 50mm Zuiko SLR
lens reversed, and volia....I had a 1st class macro lens!! The
arrangement focuses as close a one inch, has the advantage of manual fine
tune focusing, has the aperature ring to control lighting, and a flat
field to boot! I could mount filters if I wanted as the lens thread is
49 mm. I was very excited when I discovered this! Since I also have a
135mm lens taking 49 mm accessories, I can do the same thing with this
arrangement....Beautiful! Where to get that M-M adapter, I have not a
clue! Try spiratone.com, porters.com, etc. I think the lens reversal
thing went with the manual focus SLR's (which is the last time I bought
one). As I have said before, the 41mm
All that 35mm stuff may have a use afterall!

P.S. Olympus did come back with a manual focus 35 mm SLR (the camera of
choice for science), called the OM 2000. Check the some of the NY camera
list of used equipment. Other potential's are the slide copying tubes,
and the bellows close-up/copying devices with a T-thread. T-thread can
be found on a plethora of manual 35 mm SLR camera stuff. Not for
auto-focus anything!!

Ciao...Barry
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Wrong! The macro cloupling rings are used to mount a lens from a manual focus SLR camera backwards. The objective end will be facing you and your camera. Hope I clarified it for you...Barry
Joey said:
Barry Carter said:
Spiratone was a popular Photography comapny in the 60-80's. They had a
lot of unique items that other outfits did not carry. They are still
around , but not as visibile as yester-year. For those interested,
Spiratone has the "stuff" that makes what I described below do'able. You
will need the CLA-1 already, then order a 43
49/49mm Macrocoupling ring (which is a male-male thread). If you have a
35mm SLR lens with 49mm accessory thread, you have what it takes: Site:
http://www.spiratone.com/filters/box.htm

Ciao....Barry
Click to expand...
Hi Barry
That you say is the Marco Coupling Rings is use for to put the close up
lens together right ?
Joey
Member said:
Barry Carter said:
In the manual focus 35 mm SLR days (I used and still have two Olympus
OM-1's), a popular method of doing macro (extreme close-up) photography
was to mount the lens reversed; using a suitable adapter (called a
reversing ring). The Olympus manual focus Zuiko lenses (probably still
available on Ebay), were very well corrected, very light weight, compact,
and take 49 mm accessories.

Digging down in my 35mm stuff, I found I have a male-male T-Thread to 49
mm adapter. What I did was use the 43mm> 37mm tube (from
bugeyedigital.com), and the 37mm
and the above mentioned adapter. I mounted the standard 50mm Zuiko SLR
lens reversed, and volia....I had a 1st class macro lens!! The
arrangement focuses as close a one inch, has the advantage of manual fine
tune focusing, has the aperature ring to control lighting, and a flat
field to boot! I could mount filters if I wanted as the lens thread is
49 mm. I was very excited when I discovered this! Since I also have a
135mm lens taking 49 mm accessories, I can do the same thing with this
arrangement....Beautiful! Where to get that M-M adapter, I have not a
clue! Try spiratone.com, porters.com, etc. I think the lens reversal
thing went with the manual focus SLR's (which is the last time I bought
one). As I have said before, the 41mm
All that 35mm stuff may have a use afterall!

P.S. Olympus did come back with a manual focus 35 mm SLR (the camera of
choice for science), called the OM 2000. Check the some of the NY camera
list of used equipment. Other potential's are the slide copying tubes,
and the bellows close-up/copying devices with a T-thread. T-thread can
be found on a plethora of manual 35 mm SLR camera stuff. Not for
auto-focus anything!!

Ciao...Barry
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
When Olympus did the C3030Z, they went South on the Zoom range! Not really a good idea IMO, as I hear a lot more users asking for greater magnification compared to wider angle. The result of this design snafu, is that the C3030 is not as well suited for teleconverters compared to the C2000/2020Z. Thus when comparing results, expect slightly more vignetting with the C3030 compared to the other two digicam's. IMO, the best thing going for the C3030 is the Black Body and USB. And somehow I cannot justify $400 for that!!

Ciao...Barry
 
Another tip for beginners. Kodak has a plethora of information on close-up photography. Long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...The 35mm rangefinder camera was king (e.g. Leica, Kodak Retina, Voigtlander). Thsi was before computerized camera's, when you had to know what was what!Recommend getting a Kodak Pocket Master Photo Guide as you little bible.

And visit the kodak we site from time to time: http://www.kodak.com/cluster/global/en/consumer/pictureTaking/closeUps/closUps2.shtml

Ciao....Barry
 
Using a reversed 35mm SLR lens, this shot shows the very narrow depth of field. And since I could not get a good head-on shot, the outcome is even more challenging. Note the edges of the legs and spider web. I do not see any color fringing, courtesy of C2000Z and Olympus Zuiko 50mm, f/1.8 lens!


Member said:
Member said:
Barry Carter said:
Digging down in my 35mm stuff, I found I have a male-male T-Thread to 49
mm adapter. What I did was use the 43mm> 37mm tube (from
bugeyedigital.com), and the 37mm
and the above mentioned adapter. I mounted the standard 50mm Zuiko SLR
lens reversed, and volia....I had a 1st class macro lens!! The
arrangement focuses as close a one inch, has the advantage of manual fine
tune focusing, has the aperature ring to control lighting, and a flat
field to boot! I could mount filters if I wanted as the lens thread is
49 mm. I was very excited when I discovered this! Since I also have a
135mm lens taking 49 mm accessories, I can do the same thing with this
arrangement....Beautiful! Where to get that M-M adapter, I have not a
clue! Try spiratone.com, porters.com, etc. I think the lens reversal
thing went with the manual focus SLR's (which is the last time I bought
one). As I have said before, the 41mm
All that 35mm stuff may have a use afterall!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Barry,

Thanks for sharing this great macro tip but since I have an Oly C-2500L (43mm thread), I was just wondering if that would be possible with it too! Any ideas?
 
Barry Carter said:
Using a reversed 35mm SLR lens, this shot shows the very narrow depth of
field. And since I could not get a good head-on shot, the outcome is
even more challenging. Note the edges of the legs and spider web. I do
not see any color fringing, courtesy of C2000Z and Olympus Zuiko 50mm,
f/1.8 lens!
Click to expand...
Barry, would you be able to stop down your 2000 and have greater DOF or is the DOF limitied by the reversed Zuiko (in this case)?

Johnny
 
I could have stopped down either way, but the resolution is determined by the first optic, in this case the 50 mm Zuiko. There is vignetting, which was cropped out. This is because a 35 mm lens has an angle of view designed for a 24 x 36mm film frame (compared to the CCD size of 4.8 x 6.4 mm). The trade-off is depth of field and film speed. As I got closer, the spider got nervous and the wind was blowing, moving the web around; so a lot of movement was taking place. This were the photographer must make the proper decisions, and I opted for speed. Hope that explains it. I used a monopod for support....Barry
Johnny said:
Barry Carter said:
Using a reversed 35mm SLR lens, this shot shows the very narrow depth of
field. And since I could not get a good head-on shot, the outcome is
even more challenging. Note the edges of the legs and spider web. I do
not see any color fringing, courtesy of C2000Z and Olympus Zuiko 50mm,
f/1.8 lens!
Click to expand...
Barry, would you be able to stop down your 2000 and have greater DOF or
is the DOF limitied by the reversed Zuiko (in this case)?

Johnny
Click to expand...
 
Barry Carter said:
I could have stopped down either way, but the resolution is determined by
the first optic, in this case the 50 mm Zuiko. There is vignetting,
which was cropped out. This is because a 35 mm lens has an angle of view
designed for a 24 x 36mm film frame (compared to the CCD size of 4.8 x
6.4 mm). The trade-off is depth of field and film speed. As I got
closer, the spider got nervous and the wind was blowing, moving the web
around; so a lot of movement was taking place. This were the
photographer must make the proper decisions, and I opted for speed. Hope
that explains it. I used a monopod for support....Barry
Click to expand...
Yes, that explains it. Thanks!

Johnny
 
Next day, same spider went back to the center of the web. This time I used C2000z, +8 diopter Aroma Macro lens (part of a close-up kit from porters.com). Also, tried to get a frontal composition....Barry


Barry Carter said:
Using a reversed 35mm SLR lens, this shot shows the very narrow depth of
field. And since I could not get a good head-on shot, the outcome is
even more challenging. Note the edges of the legs and spider web. I do
not see any color fringing, courtesy of C2000Z and Olympus Zuiko 50mm,
f/1.8 lens!
Click to expand...
 
pixelsworld said:
Barry,

Thanks for sharing this great macro tip but since I have an Oly C-2500L
(43mm thread), I was just wondering if that would be possible with it
too! Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Depends on the thread size of the lens you're going to use. You'll need the Male-to-Male adapter and, possibly, a size adapter. Just look at the sizes, and plug in the parts needed.

What did we do before there were places to ask these questions?

Oh, yeah, we experimented. That's probably what the first guy to reverse a lens was doing. "I wonder what would happen if I reversed this lens ....."

We shot through bottles, nylon stockings, dirty glass (try smearing vaseline on a piece of glass and shooting through it), and anything else that came to hand or mind..

Anyone remember the spiratone "corner lens"?
 
Spiratone still exists, and is online. http://www.spiratone.com/filters/box.htm

check out the lens reversing rings, macro couplers, etc. It will give you something to do with all that 35 mm SLR stuff. I know, I digitized mine :-)

Ciao...Barry
Al Klein said:
pixelsworld said:
Barry,

Thanks for sharing this great macro tip but since I have an Oly C-2500L
(43mm thread), I was just wondering if that would be possible with it
too! Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Depends on the thread size of the lens you're going to use. You'll need
the Male-to-Male adapter and, possibly, a size adapter. Just look at the
sizes, and plug in the parts needed.

What did we do before there were places to ask these questions?

Oh, yeah, we experimented. That's probably what the first guy to reverse
a lens was doing. "I wonder what would happen if I reversed this lens
....."

We shot through bottles, nylon stockings, dirty glass (try smearing
vaseline on a piece of glass and shooting through it), and anything else
that came to hand or mind..

Anyone remember the spiratone "corner lens"?
Click to expand...
 
What type of mount does your 300 mm have? Prehaps I can give you a few leads...Barry
Al Klein said:
Barry Carter said:
Spiratone still exists, and is online.
http://www.spiratone.com/filters/box.htm
Click to expand...
I know. Unfortunately it's no longer a short drive for me - they moved. :(

Now, how does one adapt a large lens to use as a telephoto add-on to a
digicam? My 300 mm would make a nice telescope (and stable mount) for my
D460.

Hmmm ... time to get some adapters and do some experimenting.
Click to expand...
 
Using a combination of a +2 and +4 close-up lens, C2000Z, Monopod, and remote control shutter (one hand holds the monopod, other holds the remote), the following red-headed bug becomes the target.....Barry

 
First you need to hook up an eyepiece (25 mm or longer FL). a 25mm eyepiece would yield about 12x; making it 36x at full zoom with the D460. Use an adapter like that described at: http://www.scopetronix.com/
in the astrophotography > digital camera area.....
Member said:
Now, how does one adapt a large lens to use as a telephoto add-on to a
digicam? My 300 mm would make a nice telescope (and stable mount) for my
D460.
Click to expand...
 
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