DIYPhotography.net

I just finished making it and its works great! I didnt use epoxy though, since i didnt have any on hand, but i sealed both the outside and inside with a nice thick layer of crazy glue, and it works great!

Thanks!

I've been dreaming of a macro lens for quite some time so this project, which needs only a few cheap parts (never found a use for my body cap before), got me quite excited. Thanks!

I only have the 18-135 D80 kit lens (the same one you took a test shot of) so I had to use a 67mm filter, which is significantly larger than the body cap. This meant I had a 5mm gap to fill between the filter housing and the body cap. Epoxy based putty worked great for this, it hardened within about 4 hours and the surface could be sanded to a nice smooth finish (which I then colored black with a permanent marker).

http://www.hot.ee/joonsaar/DSC_2445_2.jpg

I've found a few problems with this setup though (which could apply to commercial reverse rings as well):

1) Subjects need to be very strongly lit - I thought the aperture is wide open when the lens has no power but it seems to be closed down all the way, or at least it's VERY dark and thus quite difficult to focus. Should this be attempted with a lens that allows manual aperture selection, or is there something else I'm missing here?

2)I havn't managed to get a sharp picture yet ..it's almost getting there, but when viewed at 100% it's quite hopeless (kind of when using a bunch of macro lenses stacked ontop of one another). Could that be another problem with this particular lens or is there something I'm doing wrong?

Kind regards,

Laur

you should be able to manually open the shutter using the mechanism the camera usually uses (i hope you dont mind me using this picture)

of course, you have to have a steady hand or relatively fast shutter speed to avoid camera aperture shake

Dear Laur,

Widen the aperture of your lens will let you see more, but it will shorten your Depth Of Filed. In macro photography, 1 mm is a lot.
You wont be able to make very good pic. Please see in my sample shot, I use aperture value of f11, even with f11 left portion of the pic is out of focus.
So, my advice is, please do not widen aperture by hand, use strong Torch Light as your Modelling light and try focusing first, then shoot using off-camera flash or built in flash.
If you have time, prepare small tent using white papers. This will improve your shots.

Cheers!
OOPS! almost forget, use tripod.

It seems to me this project would work best with a 50mm 1.8.. reasonable sized filter and an aperture ring.

Hi,

Thanks for this good idea.

The trick below may work with other brands too.

With the lens in the right way, in Av mode, select an aperture, say f11 if the corresponding shutter speed is correct.
Then use the DOF tester, keep it pressed and press the release-lens button.

Put your lens in the other way. You're ready to shoot !

Instead of removing the glass from a filter, couldn't I use an extra UV filter to glue to the body cap?

The problem with using a UV filter is unles the glass is very, very clean, vapours from the superglue will set on any fingerprints/moisture etc. ruining the glass.

Obviously, you DON'T want to do this with a Nikon "G" lens!

Hot tip:
If you want to protect the backside of the lens, ( the side that becomes the forward end in this case) you could always make a protection lens made of the backside protection cover cap, in a similar way as you made the conveter.
Just be careful when you dismount the glass from the filter that you stole the ring from -so you dont break the glass - and just glue the glass on to the cap.
Voila! Now you made yourself a polar, UV or skylight protection filter for your new macro lens.

Hope it makes sense..hehe:)
/J

i tried it on my d70s and it wouldn't snap! any tips?
tq so much

Dear Bros,

So if i'm using the DIY macro reverse lense, the autofocus will not work, am i correct?

Hi. I've seen your wonderful guide and tried to follow it but I'm not able to open the aperture of the film slr lens (minolta). I've found the lever which controls it but once i let go of the lever, it automatically shuts the aperture again.

Am I doing something wrong here or is this lens not suitable to be used for reverse macro?

Thank you.

babyblue,

While holding the DOF Button hit the lens release button and turn the lens this should 'lock' the aperture

Good luck,
Alfa147x
www.inkedpaper.com

I'm just wondering which method would work better?

Attach to the body of the camera or between two lenses?

I made mine my last night. Thanks for the info.

Using an M42 or T2 adapter (doesn't have to be more expensive) instead of the body cap you avoid the cutting operation, and it is more easy to achieve a proper alignment.

Another interesting point is the great amount of manual, great old lenses that you can use in this way. As for the max aperture, as you will be using a f/8 and more closed, you can find exotic glasses, regardless actual mount (e. g. Miranda 28mm/2.8, available for peanuts) and get 1:1 or 2:1 magnification.

Wow, I had no clue about reverse macro photography but now I do.. Thanks!

can this method damage the lense i'm excited to do it but a little bit worried of damaging my lens

I accidentally the whole lens
what should I do...is this dangerous ?

I bought a neat little reversing ring on eBay for my Canon EOS. Cost me like $5 or something. Just mount and go. No glue and mess needed. Tried it out with the kit-lens and it's awesome!

Hi,
Nice article. I just bought a D40 with AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm G II ED kit lens. Shud this method work on my cam? Really excited abt this. Pls adv!

As far as i know reverse ring comes with female screw thread, the lens side is also female screw thread, how to connect? Any form of male to male adapter?

I picked up a CANON EOS reversing adaptor for about 20.00 from E-BAY. Has been lots of fun, and very educational. The "native" ring mount is 58mm. Here is a sample with a EF 50mm f/1.4 stopped to f/11 or so, with a 30D. I've also come to learn that a manual lens is more convenient than doing the electronic "DOF" then unmount and reverse. Many manual lenses have different size filter mounts, so you may need a step up/down ring to adapt, but their cheap on Ebay also. Remember also, that the wider the lens the more the magnification. On my 5D, I really like a 24-28mm, and on the 30D 35-50mm is great. The manual Olympus are very nice because they have a "button" to activate the aperture, which is very helpful with focusing, because you are at "max" aperture to focus, then just before you shoot, you can depress the aperture button...Have fun!!!

Having read this article , and was so excited I decided to make my own .
i have a nikon D50 and D80 and using a 50 mm 1.8 lens on the adapter its unreal
i have always had a longing to photograph at close range and now I can, far cheaper than if I bought a proper lens. This works well on both cameras and look forward to shooting some nice close ups for my photography college course
Many thanks for this wonderful article, Regards Pat

This is the best piece of gear I've made yet... thanks for posting it... My old pentax 35-80mm gives me almost 2:1... and it filled a empty slot in my bag... http://leafandlightning.deviantart.com/art/another-spider-141529357

Hey i've rebuild a Canon 18-55mm II into a reverse macro with complete electrical wiring and a selfmade LED ringlight on the front that's powered by the camera itself without any need for external batteries :)

A pretty much complete explaination is on my homepage. It's in german but i've included many pictures so you should get the idea how it was done even if you don't speak german :)

http://bardiir.net/2010/02/makro-objektiv-im-selbstbau/
http://bardiir.net/2010/02/makro-objektiv-im-selbstbau-fortsetzung/
http://bardiir.net/2010/03/makro-objektiv-im-selbstbau-das-ende/

Guys, I took the risk....

Iv tried it and im glad I shot it well in handheld... but after a couple shots and returned my lens into its normal position, the lens couldnt AF anymore... late that I thought that i forgot to turn off the camera while removing the lens and put it on reverse.

Is there anything that i can do to fix this or I'll just bring it to the repair shop? anybody who could help?

TIA

just wanna say that it was a big mistake, regarding my previous post, pls dont post it anymore... i just forgot that i turn the focus on manual thats why it couldnt AF. my bad...reverse lens technique is a success...fire on guys! :D

Just wondering, can I use my 18-55 mm lense for makro photograph? I've read that there is option to use extention tube with this kind of lens, It said that I can use ext. Tube + 18-55 (without reverse). but the problem is, when we use ext. tube, everything goes manually. while my lens don't have aperture ring.

1. my question is, can I still can use this method with my lens for macro photograph?

2. If I use ext.tube, and my lens don't have aperture ring my camera (D80) won't show aperture number right? so how much my lens aperture really is? it can't be fully closed isn't? so perhaps I can still shoot something? 

thanks a lot (sorry if i have a bad english)

Works perfectly with my 50mm f1.8. Easier handheld than with tripod. In sunny days I can get up to 1/4000th of a second.  Works great using sunlight coming through the window so I dont have to shoot outside.

Hi, i have a problem. My D3000 won't shutter when no objective is connected.

Wont either with a reverse lens.

Any ideas? Cheers from denmark

Great tip. I might just give this a try! Thanks for sharing.

@MATHIAS Try to switch to AF-C, or M (manual focus)

Thanks for the tip! I just picked up an old 52mm UV filter at a 2nd-hand store and fitted it to the body cap of my Nikon D90. 

Having lots of fun with it using a 35mm 1.8G lens and the 18-55mm kit lens. Bit of a hassle that you have to handle the aperture thingie yourself, so I'll try to find an old manual-aperture lens somewhere. 

What I didn't manage to do is get the camera flash working, does anyone know how you can use the flash when the camera thinks there is no lens attached?

Martijn

My Nikon D90 displays a F-- error on the secondary LCD screen, how to override it and make the camera click?

I really like this technique...I have a picture I took with a reversing ring here..

[www.flickr.com/photos/eddy999uk/5324394425/]

Hey man,

I commented a while ago, telling you about a DIY macro inverter I built for myself, which in my oppinion brings together the best from all worlds (inverted lens, complete with all contacts, but detachable, without ruining the lens).

I notice you still didn't approve my comment. Was there anything offensive, to make you choose not to approve my comment, or is it simply that you overlooked it? (it happens, I know...)

Anyway, in the meanwhile, I put a short article online, complete with a gallery showing my project, here: http://graffiti.hbfx.com/?p=869
Eros

Reverse mounting lense on Nikon D5000 for macro Iwas getting bored this morning and I set out on a DIY reverse mount thingy on my D5000 for some macro photography.I did what you are describing here. After tidying up everything i tried it on my D5000 but damn it doesn't work.

The camera says there is no lens attached! Is there a way to override this? Or did I did something wrong? Or even better, was I totally hectic to set out on this with the D5000 body?

Please help me, I don't want my 2 hours toil to to vain! Please help me out.
Thank you in advance!

I use a 550D with a reversing ring (lens 18-200mm) to take macro photos. Does anyone know if it is possible to get some kind of "female" lens adaptor to go on the end of the 'back-to-front' lens that has a screw fitting? I would really like to be able to put on my Opteka's Macro Ring Lite RL-600?

hi everyone,lets visit my blog,my reverse lens picture :)

http://episilentkiller69.blogspot.com/search/label/MACRO

This is a brilliant and useful item, and used with macro extension tubes you get amazingly good macro, look on my flickr page to see a couple of shots taken with this combo and an 18-55 lens...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50585393@N05/

I didn't get the chance to make my own macro ring, but The thought got me started on shooting smaller product shots. The article helped and started me in the right direction, thanks guys.