Macro Assistance

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Ian
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My wife has started a jewelry business, and I'm wanting to get some good shots of her stuff for her website.

I thought I had read that you can reverse the elements in a lens to get a good macro lens, and that people generally use either a 50mm or a 28mm to do this. I have a spare 28mm laying around and would like to attempt this, but can't find a tutorial.

1. Is this even possible?
2. Have a good tutorial if so?

Thanks in advance guys. :)
 
Using a reversed lens to get up close can be challenging, definitely uncomfortable if at least one of the lens doesn't have a manual aperture ring, in which case you'd have nearly no DoF to speak of or what she'll see will be very dark. It depends on whether aperture of the lens if fully open or closed when it's off a camera.
There are rings that can be used to mount one lens on the other one, but I haven't used those. I do have a Nikon adapter which allows me to mount a reversed lens directly on a body, but with only the kit lens usable with it, it's difficult to use - no aperture ring and even at 55 mm I have to be too close to the subject, so if I'm not careful, I can create a shade.
I don't know how big the jewels are, but if they are smaller than about 2 cm, I'd suggest using a lens (such as my Sigma 70-300) with a manual aperture ring at 70 mm with extension tubes - cheap ones can be found on ebay and they tend to work OK. I got mine from dealextreme (not an ebay seller) and even though they are nothing special mechanically, they do the job well and they are easier to use than a reversed 18-55.

If the 28mm does have a manual aperture ring, you could try a reverse lens mount adapter and see if it works well for you or your wife.

Tutorials probably won't tell you more than mount it and swing towards and away from the subject until you nail the focus.
 
Hi mate!

I have a little on my blog:
http://www.tomaswhitehouse.com/2009/09/05/reverse-lens-macro/

You need a Nikon BR-2A reverse ring.
Only thing is with 24mm, 28mm, 35mm and even 50mm, with reverse macro the magnification is most likely going to be far too great for any kind of jewellery work.
Canon has the MPE-65 but us Nikon shooters have no alternative, so reverse lens is our only chance at anything greater than 1:1 magnification.

The technique is tricky, you have to shoot at apertures like f/11, f/16, f/18 to get any kind of usable depth of field.
As the lens is backwards, it's dark as hell through the viewfinder at these apertures. You have to raise the aperture lever near the rear element to allow more light in to achieve focus.
Then when you have focus, you release the aperture lever and take your shot.

It's a little like Skywalker bombing the Death Star in Ep. VI.

I have an old Vivitar 24mm and that thing can fill the frame with a 5mm bug.
A 50mm may have more room to breath but it's still very fixed, focus is achieved by moving yourself and the camera either forwards or backwards.

Your probably going to be better off with a dedicated macro lens like the Nikon 60 or a Sigma equivalent.

Or maybe even a 35mm f/2, that has a very short focus distance allowing you to get real close.

These can be picked up cheaply on ebay.

T.
 
If its for a bussiness you would be probably better getting a dedicated lens as you would get the use out f it. Some cheaper models are the 50mm Sigma F2.8 (50mm means closer working distance but you are hardly going to scare the jewellry away, good image quality) which can to 1:1 or the Cosina 100mm f3.8 (really old and noisy and very plasticy, but delivers really good image qulity).

As whithouse says using a reverse lens is getting into micro photography and well beyond a 1:1 ratio.
 
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