My 1st attempt of reversing lens

hoftwi

hoftwi

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As suggested by @Tintin124 and got the advise from @G.K.Jnr. I had my 1st attempt of reversing lens. Got an old Sigma Mini-Wide ii 28mm so ordered the reversing adapter. Tried it out this evening,and found out some problems. 1) It is very dark in the viewfinder, even I tried to put my ring flash on which acted as a torch,still very dark. 2) I have used the full tubes and only the 36mm, had to get very close to the bugs in order to focus which scared the bugs off. 3) For some reason, the images are very dark, tried to use a C-bracket, moved the flash slightly closer to the lens etc, still very bad lighting.

The following are some examples I have done tonight, all have to increase the exposure in LR,otherwise they are all dark. Besides those problems, I definitely got very good result with the tiny bugs which filled the frames a lot more. Any advises,suggestions,comments are welcomed :)

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Tintin124 said:
Woahhhh.... detail and focus nailed though Icy. Great start and way better than the 105mm for the finer details.

Can you post a picture of how you lit these.

sure you have seen my setup so here goes.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/115362543@N04/14668384028/in/album-72157644036934524/
Click to expand...

Thanks Byrn:) I definitely agree with you that the detail is a lot better than the cropped one with 105mm, I will keep trying different set-up for the lighting.

Here is the set-up I used for the images above:



I took off the C-bracket after a few shots as it didn't help much,except increased the weight of the gear which was killing me. I will try again tomorrow with your set-up and hope there will be some improvement.

GardenersHelper said:
Like Bryn said, the focus placement is perfect. Given the difficulty you were having with the (lack of) light that's pretty impressive.

The light looks nicely spread out too.

First attempt. Wow. That is very promising.
Click to expand...

Thanks Nick:) All the images above had to increase the exposure quite a bit in LR, at least to 0.8+ but the result is a lot better than I expected. Will give it a go tomorrow again to see whether I can sort out the lighting.
 
Take the RF off and put a torch on then the c bracket wont feel so heavy. What is happening with the current setup is the light is over shooting the subject. Hence the subject is still dark. Maybe drop the smaller tubes and only use the 36mm. :D
 
That's pretty impressive images Icy for your first attempt with this setup.(y)

When I'm shooting with a lens reversed my normal working go-to aperture would be F11 with 200-ISO. I do most of my Macro work with a CSC camera which amplifies the image brightness in the viewfinder so a dark viewfinder is not too much of a problem.

When I work with my DSLR units I of coarse have the same problem as yourself with viewfinder brightness but I do find the two lights on my ring flash help enormously. I also use from time to time a small LED torch that I purchased from one of the DIY stores for a couple of bucks and attach this to whatever flash I'm using with some elastic bands. It's only a tiny thing and very light in weight and takes a couple of CR2032 batteries (8 in a pack from Poundland) and last ages.

You could also try using the live view mode on your camera (something I have not tried) as I believe this can make things a little brighter to see & focus. As others have said by looking at your setup it would help if you get your light source more over the subject as it does look as if at that angle a lot of the light is missing the subject.

Your not far off getting it right and I'm sure with a bit more experimenting etc you'll soon have mastered this part of your Macro photography.

Please let me know If I can help you any more.,

George.
 
Fantastic results! Well done.
 
Thanks all for the kind replies:) It's been a busy day (mother-in-law's birthday and I made her surf and turf :naughty: ) and sorry for not replying sooner.

@Tintin124 and @G.K.Jnr. thanks for the advises and suggestions. I tried to use a 36mm tube only and played around with my lighting, it worked:D unfortunately, after the set-up: torch / ring flash + tube/s + C-bracket + flash cord + flash = too heavy to me:confused: My hands shake too much with the weight on the gears, which I couldn't get focus at all. With the C-bracket, that reminded me why I didn't use it anymore as I used it for while last year, that the flash kept getting in the way on the plants, especially now with the reversing lens that I have to get a lot closer to the bugs. I will still give it a try but it doesn't seem work out for me yet.

Maybe get a CSC camera :p? which my husband keeps smirking at me that I either want to change my gear to Canon in order to buy and use a MP-E or new CSC:D Not that I don't want to :p:D but I would like to get a set-up that is comfortable to use for most cases and concentrate on the photo side,rather than faffing around with stuff. I am stubborn and don't like changing and easy to get disheartened:D

Hope the weather will be nice tomorrow and will grab a bit time to test it out again. Thanks all for the help again and will update with the process:)
 
Be careful with moving to canon for MP-E it's very unwieldy and heavy plus you still need a flash setup.

Maybe look at a smaller flash unit like the Nissin i40.

I'm surprised the reversed 28mm + gear is as heavy as your mammoth sigma 105 plus flash.
 
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