Making any lens a macro: I’ve seen articles about making any lens a macro by reversing the lens by using an adapter. I am a little paranoid about leaving the lens connectors open to...

warzone

I’ve seen articles about making any lens a macro by reversing the lens by using an adapter. I am a little paranoid about leaving the lens connectors open to air, dust, etc. Anyone have any experience on this?

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Not Any lense...maybe some specific lenses. Just get some extension tubes if you don’t want to spend a lot of money. True macro lenses are not super expensive if you are serious about getting into macro shooting.

agillot

used to do it , a old 50mm lens work best .

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

"...making any lens a macro..." Not so... you need a lens with an aperture ring unless you are keen on shooting stopped down...

I've been there, done that... it's a kludge that works great however limited to 50mm or close to it... don't try this with your 70-200mm f/2.8... lol

Get a real micro lens, k?

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

I did it a few years ago. It is interesting as an experiment but you will find extension tubes much much easier to work with. It does work very well to magnify but you lose all capabilities of your camera that automate things

warzone

Thanks everyone.

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

Those adapters were more feasible back when most of your lenses had the same filter size. It didnt work all that well and left you with far less working distance to subject. Extension tubes are far better. Beware el cheapo versions with loose connections that wobble. If you can afford it, macro lenses are the best.

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

Fun experiments. Watch this for a few clues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmMcCjEU68Y

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

The only caveat with extension tubes is that most lenses will not give you good flat field images, being optimized for further focus. A reversing ring will preserve field flatness at close focusing distances, but if you are not trying to get edge to edge sharpness while photographing something flat, this will hardly matter.

ELNikkor

In the film days, I regularly reversed my 43-86 zoom for beautiful macro close-ups. Without an adapter, I would just hold the lens against the lens-mount. I did it so often, that I bought an f-mount-to-52mm-filter-thread adapter for cheap and it worked great!

warzone

While I appreciate the input from anyone, I haven’t seen, and perhaps it was my fault, my real question. I was concerned about leaving the contact points which are normally covered when the lens is properly attached. Reversing the lens leaves this points open to dust, debris, etc. Any comments on that point?

flasfill Loc: Sandy Springs GA

In the 70’s I put a reversing ring on my 42-86 Zoom. It made a great macro zoom.

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

ELNikkor wrote:

In the film days, I regularly reversed my 43-86 zoom for beautiful macro close-ups. Without an adapter, I would just hold the lens against the lens-mount. I did it so often, that I bought an f-mount-to-52mm-filter-thread adapter for cheap and it worked great!

I did it with this zoom coupled with a 52mm reversing ring on my Nikons (digital/film), works fine.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

warzone wrote:

While I appreciate the input from anyone, I haven’t seen, and perhaps it was my fault, my real question. I was concerned about leaving the contact points which are normally covered when the lens is properly attached. Reversing the lens leaves this points open to dust, debris, etc. Any comments on that point?

I would use some sort of protection over the contacts (even electrical tape) and/or any opening down into the lens, and bulb blow off prior to normal remount. I think this a legitimate concern with modern lenses. Look at the camera end of your lens and let your imagination help you DIY a solution. Perhaps a cheap lens cap with center cut out, if nothing else, would protect the entire end of the lens. Let your DIY-ness prevail!! Imagine if if touches some dirt, goo or worse....don't want to remount without inspection....

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

warzone wrote:

I’ve seen articles about making any lens a macro by reversing the lens by using an adapter. I am a little paranoid about leaving the lens connectors open to air, dust, etc. Anyone have any experience on this?

Any lens reversed will have a very limited focus range with the native helicoid - unless mounted on a bellows.
The image quality can be very good tho. Aperture control can be problematic.

I tried it ONCE - that was enough for me and dismissed it quickly !
.