Question re tubes

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cargo

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Gary
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Hi all.
Well I read the new post regarding starting out at this macro photography and all the questions that go with it.I must say I had never given it much thought to try this.It looks VERY difficult indeed.
Anyways back to my question. I was not sure wether to post in that thread but thought better of it in the end.
I watched some of the videos linked to in that thread and some mentioned the use ofa reversing ring and tubes. Me not wanting to spend a fortune on this realised I had a very battered old cheap 50mm prime and some tubes, equally cheap and tatty bought on impluse a few years back. These are that old that you needed a screw mount thingy to enable the tubes/lens to be fitted to the camera. I was thinking can a reversing ring be fitted to this somehow. I do have newer primes but would need to buy tubes to use on those. If it is possible, I do realise the image quality will not be fantastic.
I have uploaded a couple of poor phone images of the tubes/lens to see if anyone can help with this.

Gaz

IMG_20160227_154532717.jpg


IMG_20160227_154404876.jpg
 
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Hi Gaz,
Well with the tubes and the 58mm lens you have there you will get pretty close so I would say try it and see what you think, As it goes I have just today got some old (but vgc) tubes and I know that with a 50mm the distance is close enough to equal what I get with my 100mm Macro lens.
Cant wait to see some test shots of yours with this set-up.
The reversing ring is a good and cheap idea but see how you get on with this 1st.
 
Graham said:
Hi Gaz,
Well with the tubes and the 58mm lens you have there you will get pretty close so I would say try it and see what you think, As it goes I have just today got some old (but vgc) tubes and I know that with a 50mm the distance is close enough to equal what I get with my 100mm Macro lens.
Cant wait to see some test shots of yours with this set-up.
The reversing ring is a good and cheap idea but see how you get on with this 1st.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea to me. Assuming you have a set of three extension tubes there of different sizes, you might want to start by using just the smallest one so you can get used to it, then the next size up, then the biggest one. Then use the smallest one added to the largest, and then the medium one added to the largest, and then all three. The magnification will increase from step to step and it will get more difficult as you go. This way you can ease yourself into it a bit at a time rather than jumping straight in at the deep end.

As it happens I'm working on a video about reversed lenses but it will be a few days before it is ready. If you have a kit lens (typically an 18-55 with Canon), they can work really well with a reversing ring.
 
I've got a set of EF fit macro tubes that work ok. The problem is that you have to bring the object really close to the lens to get good magnification, this then gives you an issue with lighting it without getting shadows from the camera/lens in shot.

This was taken with 2 tubes and the 50mm f1.4

Flakey macro by Alistair Beavis, on Flickr

And this I think was 1 tube and the 50mm f1.4
Drawn in by Alistair Beavis, on Flickr

This however was taken with a proper macro lens, the Tamron 90mm f2.8 VC
Little balls of water by Alistair Beavis, on Flickr

Worth trying, especially if you haven't spent much.
 
Graham said:
Hi Gaz,
Well with the tubes and the 58mm lens you have there you will get pretty close so I would say try it and see what you think, As it goes I have just today got some old (but vgc) tubes and I know that with a 50mm the distance is close enough to equal what I get with my 100mm Macro lens.
Cant wait to see some test shots of yours with this set-up.
The reversing ring is a good and cheap idea but see how you get on with this 1st.
Click to expand...
Thanks Grahem thats a great help. Don't hold your breath for anything great though. I had a faff just before I posted for advice. MUCH MUCH harder than those videos make it look.
Gaz
GardenersHelper said:
That sounds like a good idea to me. Assuming you have a set of three extension tubes there of different sizes, you might want to start by using just the smallest one so you can get used to it, then the next size up, then the biggest one. Then use the smallest one added to the largest, and then the medium one added to the largest, and then all three. The magnification will increase from step to step and it will get more difficult as you go. This way you can ease yourself into it a bit at a time rather than jumping straight in at the deep end.

As it happens I'm working on a video about reversed lenses but it will be a few days before it is ready. If you have a kit lens (typically an 18-55 with Canon), they can work really well with a reversing ring.
Click to expand...
Thanks NIck. Good ideas. Unfortunately I just banged all 3 on before posting yesterday. Results are below :-(

Gaz
ABTog said:
Worth trying, especially if you haven't spent much.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the examples there great. I like the flake one very much. Not somethig you see every day. I get you re the light. Yes I didnt spend much money it was probably about £40 for the tubes lens and screw ring to attach to camera. I can't remember what photo I took with it at the time, can't have been very good but I can remember the photo that made me want to buy them and try! That said I never used them after that episode.

Gaz
 
Like I said above. Before postingI placed all 3 tubes on as in the images above. All eager and inspired even had videos playing in the background (Youtube) of those fabulous flys eyes photos (you know ones) you guys"n" gals take them in this thread.
That said turns out it's way way harder than it looks.
So I took this next to patio doors camera on tripod but shutterspeeds were long too long to hold still, had to rest my hand on the ironing board (well you have to make an effort don't you, can't just faff with camera all day Mrs Cargo needs to be happy too) :)
I had the aperture ring closed right down shutter was 0.3 second.
Can't see me capturing any insects images !!

Gaz

IMG_7227macro.jpg
 
Can't see any flies eyes, did it fly off ;) can't really see anything wrong with this shot, looks light but not that sharp, although I am on my phone atm.
 
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Graham said:
Can't see any flies eyes, did it fly off ;) can't really see anything wrong with this shot, looks light but not that sharp, although I am on my phone atm.
Click to expand...
Ha the fly would have deffo flown by the time I would have clicked. Yep it is light and soft compared to my modern lenses.There again It may not be in focus I took others that maybe sharper.I will check later.
I don't think I would see flies eyes at this distance.

Gaz
GardenersHelper said:
I managed to get it done sooner than I expected. It is up at You Tube, here, if you are interested.
Click to expand...
Cheers. Yep off course I will look.

Gaz
 
GardenersHelper said:
anaged to get it done sooner than I expected. It is up at You Tube
Click to expand...
Hiya. Just watched the video lots of great information. Did leave me feeling like this is even more difficult than I previously thought. Worth buying a reversing though as there cheap as chips.

Gaz
 
Ps:Nick ! Just looked at your Flickr images.OMG loads of flies eyes how on earth ? Are these lenses as close to the subject as the ones in your video above ?
You really must have patience of a saint.

Gaz
 
cargo said:
Ps:Nick ! Just looked at your Flickr images.OMG loads of flies eyes how on earth ? Are these lenses as close to the subject as the ones in your video above ?
You really must have patience of a saint.

Gaz
Click to expand...
Nah, I just think Nick has time :D
 
Nice video, Nick. Out of interest is the multi-armed flash/light arrangement home made or are they available to buy?

I don't know about other DSLR's but my Sony needs to have the "Shutter Release w/o Lens" setting enabled when turning the lens around.
 
Graham said:
Nah, I just think Nick has time :D
Click to expand...

:D

But Graham touches on a serious point there. I was watching a Thomas Shahan video yesterday and in it (around 1:33) he talks about what is important for success with macros, and he ends up with "it's about perseverance, persistence and, most of all, the sheer volume of shots taken. I've said it before, but the more shots you take, the better images you'll have". I strongly agree with this, which is why I may capture between perhaps 500 and 1500 images in a day. And it takes time to be able to do that, and even more time to sort through them afterwards.
 
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cargo said:
Ps:Nick ! Just looked at your Flickr images.OMG loads of flies eyes how on earth ? Are these lenses as close to the subject as the ones in your video above ?
You really must have patience of a saint.

Gaz
Click to expand...

Not really flies eyes. I go in almost entirely for "see all of the subject" and "see the subject in its environment" shots. If you want to see flies eyes shots have a look at the work of Thomas Shahan. Take a look at this video, listen to what he says and note the equipment he is using - a reversed wide angle lens and some extension tubes and a flash gun with a home-made diffuser on a small bracket. And see what remarkable images he produces.

Some patience, yes, but mainly the available time of a retired old bloke who doesn't have many commitments.

I don't (at the moment) use the sort of setup shown in the video. I mainly use close-up lenses. I have four of different power, and each has a particular working distance. These are a bit over a foot (one I use for flowers and large insects), about six inches (the one I use most, for flies, wasps, beetles etc), about four inches (for smaller flies etc), and about one inch, for the really small things like the tiny springtails and barkflies that you can see some really good images of in this forum. I don't often photograph things that small, but I might do more of it depending on how my experiments with reverse lens setups go.
 
Giblets said:
Nice video, Nick.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm really having fun making them and learning how the editing software works (I'm completely new to video - never really found a use for it before.)

Giblets said:
Out of interest is the multi-armed flash/light arrangement home made or are they available to buy?
Click to expand...

Yes, it is a Venus Optics KX800. No TTL exposure - manual flash power setting.

Giblets said:
I don't know about other DSLR's but my Sony needs to have the "Shutter Release w/o Lens" setting enabled when turning the lens around.
Click to expand...

I imagine my "turn it around" method is not an approved one. I don't know whether it might damage the camera or not. I suppose I should have said that on the video. But I don't know of any other way of doing it. There may well be a setting I ought to be using. Perhaps someone who knows will chip in.
 
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