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DIY - Reverse Macro Ring
As everybody knows, macro lens are expensive. Daniel Kyaw has a great way of creating a macro reverse ring for practically nothing.
Reverse rings can be used to shoot macro shot using non-macro lens like 50mm. We can buy original reverse ring from dealer, the price is ranging from 30~40 US$. And normally they do not have stock in hand since this is slow moving stock item.
Well, so I want to share my idea with you to make your own reverse ring from your old/unused accessories which will cost you about 3-4 US$.
What do we need?
1. We need old Camera Body Cap. (cost estimated 3 US$).
2. Unused filer which you were thinking to throw away several months ago. (Cost 0 US$). See mine below, this thing is full of fungus.
3. Some Quick setting glue (Super Glue). (Cost less than 1 $)
4. Some Epoxy Glue. (Cost less than 1 $)
And here are the step by step instructions
1. Cut the body cap in middle. Through dotted line.
2. Open the filter to take the glass out. Use lens opener if you have, as for me, I simply break the glass. Be careful as it may cut your finger.
3. Put the Body cap and Filter Ring together, should not be face each other on Lens Thread and Body Mounting notch.
4. First Align each ring carefully and set the position using small amount of super glue.
5. Wait and see how it was align. (In that stage you can re-align the position if you do not like the alignment, that’s why only use small amount of superglue).
6. Then, if you are satisfy with alignment, please fill some more superglue along the seam. Wait until the glue completely dry. Super glue normally dried in few minutes may be less than 5 min.
7. Then fill the internal seam with Epoxy glue. Epoxy glue comes with to compound "Resin" and "Hardener" mostly indicated as "A" and "B". you have to mix those 2 in equal ratio, and apply over seam inside the ring.
8. And leave it for at least 45 min before use. As for me, I leave it for over night.
9. Finally you can fit this between camera and lens.
Here is a sample shot taken with this DIY macro reverse ring
and another samle
And enjoy macro photography! are you done? good - Here is a cheap setup that is good for macro lighting.
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Comments
Fantastic!
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!
Great idea!
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
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
cameraaperture shakeI thought the aperture was
I thought the aperture was controlled electronically :) This way I can at least try to manipulate it, thanks a lot!
You CAN adjust aperture on electronic (Canon) lenses
It is possible to set an aperture on an electronic lens like Canon's. It just takes a couple extra steps.
1. Mount your to-be-reversed lens normally
2. Select Aperture Priority then press and hold the Depth of Field Preview button.
3. While holding the button, unmount the lens. When the electrical connection is broken, the aperture should remain fixed.
4. Mount the lens reversed using your coupler and shoot away!
Note: If you're worried about disconnecting your lens while the camera is on, then you may not want to try this method. For me, the voltages are so low that I'm relatively certain I'm not going to damage anything (haven't yet after doing it dozens and dozens of times). Besides, with a 50mm f1.8 lens costing only about $70, it's no biggie to me.
Dear Laur, Widen the
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.
Hi Daniel, I've been using
Hi Daniel,
I've been using the white tent (before seeing anyone else had done it), flash and tripod,
and ofcourse DOF is minimal when macroing, but sometimes I like that ...
On the other hand, having the aperture closed down all the way decreases quality
quite strongly (maybe this is why pictures lack sharpness?).
Thanks a lot for your advice!
It seems to me this project
It seems to me this project would work best with a 50mm 1.8.. reasonable sized filter and an aperture ring.
controlling aperture with canon SLR
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 !
UV Filter
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
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.
Aperture Problems
Obviously, you DON'T want to do this with a Nikon "G" lens!
Lens cap
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
failed
i tried it on my d70s and it wouldn't snap! any tips?
tq so much
Only works on manual setting
Only works on manual setting on nikon.
Dear Bros, So if i'm using
Dear Bros,
So if i'm using the DIY macro reverse lense, the autofocus will not work, am i correct?
Macro shooting
Hi Ferdinand,
You are absolutely right. But why would you want auto focus on an extreme closeup shoot. In my opinion, it is best to keep maximum control and use manual focus.
- Udi
How do you keep the aperture opened?
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.
www.inkedpaper.com
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
How are results different between two lenses for macro?
I'm just wondering which method would work better?
Attach to the body of the camera or between two lenses?
Thanks for the info
I made mine my last night. Thanks for the info.
M42 ring instead of body cap
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!
Wow, I had no clue about reverse macro photography but now I do.. Thanks!
can this method damage the
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
I accidentally the whole lens
what should I do...is this dangerous ?
Reversing rings
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!
D40
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!
M42 reverse ring
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?
Canon EOS reversing adaptor
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!!!
macro reverse adapter
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
Love It
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
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