Bee Macro

[Iguanasan]

They didn't turn out nearly as good as jude01's Macgyvered macros part 1 or Macgyvered macros part 2 but I did play a bit by reversing my nifty-fifty and had fun doing it. I guess I still have a lot to learn because the DOF seemed to be about 1/10th of a millimeter.

[asnow]

Nice first attempt Iggy. This maybe a stupid question .....when you reverse the lens does the aperture have any effect on the DOF
i.e can you close down to get more DOF the same as when the lens is on the right way around.

[Marko]

It's been a while since i played with this but this is a nice attempt iggy - the sharpness zone is so small with these things.
The answer to your question asnow is yes.

[jude01]

Nice first attempt Iggy. This maybe a stupid question .....when you reverse the lens does the aperture have any effect on the DOF
i.e can you close down to get more DOF the same as when the lens is on the right way around.

In my experience the f stop is F00, and the only thing you can really control is the shutter speed. I use my kit lens 18-55mm, and when i'm at the 18mm end I have to be extremely close, like within an inch but I can focus on something extremely small like a spider eye, but when i'm at the 55mm range i can be about 3 inches away and id almost get the whole spider in the frame

[Yisehaq]

Never tried this. It must be difficult I guess!

This maybe a stupid question .....when you reverse the lens does the aperture have any effect on the DOF
i.e can you close down to get more DOF the same as when the lens is on the right way around.

Could please explain a bit on this? Can you reverse and fit the lens??? how and what is the purpose? Thanks

[Iguanasan]

So, I don't profess to be an expert on this, however, I'll pass on what I've read. First off, do be careful as taking your lens off is the most opportunistic time to get dirt into your camera and on the sensor.

In my case, what I did was unscrew my lens and take it off the camera body. I then flipped it around and held the front of the lens up against the camera body while I photographed the bee. They do make reversing rings (link below) that enable you to actually mount the lens on backwards. The practical upshot of all of this is to create a way to take macro shots without a macro lens.

I have read somewhere that it is possible to control the aperture by setting your aperture while the lens is on the camera then activating DOF preview (there's a button on Canon cameras) and then remove the lens while the preview button is pressed and the lens will retain the selected aperture. I haven't actually tried this yet so I am unsure if it actually works.

Reversing Rings

[Yisehaq]

Thanks for the explanation Iggy! I think that is not for me at this moment in time ;(

[Michaelaw]

I think this is a clear cut case of practice makes perfect Iggy, good on you for experimenting and going other places I think your first has an abstract quality that has appeal.

[Iguanasan]

You're welcome, Yisehaq.

Thanks, Michael but Jude gets some of the credit. I just followed along and tried as well.