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Reversing Rings?
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O.k… so, first hi, this is my first post here, as I haven’t had the ‘cajones’ to post anything sooner! But, to my question…
I know of “reversing rings” for using Prime lenses to do basic macro work, and I read on a site (which I now cant find!) that the make and model of the lens you use doesn’t matter (i.e, it doesn’t have to be for the camera you use), as long as you have the right reversing ring..
so my question is this.. I have a D90, but cant hope to afford a macro lens anytime in the next 5years at least, but I do have an old Canon AE-1 that I inherited from an uncle who died a couple years ago, and I have with it a 50mm prime lense… would it be possible to get a reversing ring to allow me to use that? or would it work at all?
P.S,I KNOW its probably a stupid question.. and badly worded, but hey, I wont learn if I dont ask. I’m so far down the rung of amatuer, that I wouldn’t call myself a photographer, I’ve always loved photography, but could never afford a camera… only got my D90 by getting a loan, so I could learn some bits… will be paying for it for quiet a while to come :s I’m starting basically from scratch, so any help with this would be very gratefully recieved!!
I have a couple of reversal rings, cheapies bought from flea bay, the give you an option of camera mount, in my case and yours nikon and then the filter thread size, as long as you get the right size to fit your canon lens you’re all good, the lens filter thread size should be written on the lens near the filter thread I’d imagine you’d have either 49 or 52.
PS: there’s no such thing as a stupid question in photography, if you don’t know you don’t know and you’re best off asking rather than muddling through yourself.
Hi Paj.
Welcome to the site. I haven’t used reversing rings in about 25 years, nor a D90, but from what I remember, you just attach the reversing ring to the front your lens on the D90’s filter thread & attach the other lens (50mm) facing the front of your camera using the reversing ring. Set the reversed lens’ focus to infinity. Light levels will get very low & the use of flash is advised. Hope that helps.thanks guys :)
dermot, I did figure that was the case.. but I wasnt ENTIRELY sure…especially since its an old lens, and from a film camera.. I wasnt sure it would do the job… but hopefully thats all there is to it..
miki, thanks for that, I actually never seen anything about setting the focus, so again, every lil helps :)
…all ok advice so far, except for the focussing bit: It doesn’t matter where you set your lens focus: With a lens revers mounted the focussing barrel becomes redundant as the glass is now fixed with the mount. :) Using a 50mm prime you’re thus normally limited to one focal point, near 1:1 (on FX) or even closer with crop-sensor cameras.
The ONLY problem I had in the past with reversing rings is using the lens stopped down for increased depth of field (apart from the rather fixed magnification ratio). Since f22 looks rather dim for focussing purposes and you thus want to have the camera on a tripod you then also need a focussing rail to move the whole camera: Focus, then stop down, then trigger the shutter. Needless to say all of this lends itself to rather static objects only. A nice studio set up involves a repro-stand instead of a tripod. You CAN of course shoot wide open with limited DOF instead.
Another option is to also buy some macro bellows AND the reversing ring for best optical quality. Then you can focus again (with rather high magnificaton only).
So, in any case, my advice is, before you buy a ring, and whatnot, perhaps just hold the lens in place against the camera body to get an idea whether you like what you’re getting. Good luck.wow, thanking you on that explaination :)
o.k, so, I have another question, something I had forgotten about.. close up diopters, or extension tubes…? would one of these be easier? I know it wouldnt be “macro” persay”.. but it would let me get a lil closer..
and again, would either of these be suitable with an 18-105 lens? sorry again for the idiot questions.. learning slowly…
…all ok advice so far, except for the focussing bit
Oops, that is correct, I think I was thinking of coupling rings where you would set the focus to infinity on the reversed lens & use the focusing ring on the lens attached to the camera for fine adjustments. Sorry :oops:
I can’t see why a nice +4 diopter on a 18-105 would be a bad idea. Diopters are about the easiest and not neccessarily the worst way into macro. I’d try it for sure. Ditto for an auto extension tube, bellows, or teleconverter or even a mix if you’re adventurous. Macro lenses aren’t THAT expensive s/h either though… I think I’ve had my first macro, a 55/3.5 micro-Nikkor and extension tubes for decades now and still can’t find anything wrong with it…..
Sometimes, lens and various conversion combinations work well, sometimes not. Yoda is quite wrong when he says: “Do or do not – there is no try” …there is indeed :)Nice one.. shall definately try the diopters first, as they’re by far and away the cheaspest option…
I was told that I wouldnt be able to use a teleconveter on the lens I have…? and I actually havent been able to find a macro lens at all that I can afford, not even second hand.. money is VERY tight alas.. my main hobby is battle reenactment and living history, which also tends to drain what tiny bit of money I have (I live on disability allowance)… but I’ll keep my eye out all the same. Ah sure, I know I’ll never be a great photographer.. I’m not very good as is.. but still, I enjoy it, and macro is the one thing I really wana do a lot of…!
Hi Paj.
What size filter thread is on the lens that you have? I have 2 sets of diopters which I no longer use & you can have them free if you want them. One set has +1, +2 & +4 (58mm). The other set has +1, +2 & +3 (52mm).thats really sound miki, really appreciate the offer! alas, its a 67mm thread… Not to worry though, I’ll be in Dublin Friday, shall see if I can afford a set up there… again though, I really appreciate the offer :)
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