My first go at lens stacking

WeeHector

Senior Member
I spent part of yesterday reading up about lens stacking as an easy and cheap way to do macro. So, after a bit of reflection yesterday evening, I decided to try my hand at it this morning. As you can see from my list of goods below, I have 3 lenses at present and decided to try out the 18-55 with the 70-300mm. This would, I thought, give me a good range of magnification. I set about joining them together using the adapter rings for my ring flash wiith a strip of foam rubber and a hose clip. All looked good and well.

lens stack.jpg

Now I'd read a bit about the problems of hyper-macro - vignetting, chromatic aberation, etc. - so I decided to start small - 70 + 55. With the apertures set at max, I was amazed to find that I had a small circular image. Only thing to do was to increase the length of the main lens. 200mm was the minimum length to get a full image but we are getting into the realms of 4x macro. This was the first full shot I took.

Fly 1.jpg

220mm + 55mm
f/5.6 + f/5.6
1/500th sec, ISO 3200.
Manual mode, hand held. No flash.
Uncropped.

Next up:

Fly 2.jpg

300mm + 55mm
f/5.6 + f/5.6
1/1000th sec, ISO 3200
AP mode, hand held, no flash
Uncropped.

So what can I make of this?

Firstly, forget about focusing. Both lenses were set to infinity and I focused by moving in and out from about 2-3 inches. Don't waste time worrying about being in focus; if it looks okay just snap.

Secondly, forget about a tripod. By the time you've set it up and got it in the right position, your bug will be a mile away.

Thirdly, this is not ideal for use in the field. It takes an age to actually find the thing you want to shoot; I was lucky to find two flies which didn't move but spiders do not like camera lenses and generally shy away. Besides, taking photos of flies' eyes soon loses its charm.

Would I use this method again? Only if there was no other solution and if the conditions were ideal, eg indoor shot with stationary subject and good lighting. If you're going to take photos in the field then rather buy macro tubes or a good macro lens or both. Do I regret doing it? Certainly not. It was great fun, though it might have been easier with two fast primes.
 

Scott Murray

Senior Member
You got me thinking and here is a comparison with my 90mm macro and my 90mm macro and 50mm1.4D held reversed on the end.


90mm macro and 50mm1.4D held reversed (uncropped)
SHM_2615.jpg

90mm Macro (uncropped)
SHM_2616.jpg
 

WeeHector

Senior Member
When I took off the two lenses and put on the 40mm, it felt so light I thought the battery pack had fallen off. :D

Not something one would want to lug about all day.
 

Vincent

Senior Member
I hope you do not mind me sharing my experiments here, I thought of starting this subject: I use a 77-77 male male connection. Reversed is the 52mm full open with a bunch of step up step down rings brings it to the 70-200mm.

Here is the try this weekend to get a spider with a body of about 2mm long (needed a large magnification to see something):

Lens stacking.jpg

A massive fail:
Missed spider.jpg

Wind and loss of light in that set-up with very shallow DOF (cropped the limited vignetting off), I had a lot more success with a bit larger animals and just a reversed 52mm. (Note: in lifeview I had reasonable results, just did not get a decent shot in the end)

Macro Spider.jpg I must admit I could have done this one with my Osawa in Macro mode as well with quite some crop, not clear if I would have had the same detail on the head. This is about 1:1.

I do want to get there with the staking, hope to find some subject inside and to get a focus rail and maybe go to focus stacking.

N.B.: Do your partners also hate this kind of pictures?
 
Last edited:

WeeHector

Senior Member
I hope you do not mind me sharing my experiments here, I thought of starting this subject: I use a 77-77 male male connection. Reversed is the 52mm full open with a bunch of step up step down rings brings it to the 70-200mm.

Here is the try this weekend to get a spider with a body of about 2mm long (needed a large magnification to see something):

View attachment 54235

A massive fail:
View attachment 54236

Wind and loss of light in that set-up with very shallow DOF (cropped the limited vignetting off), I had a lot more success with a bit larger animals and just a reversed 52mm. (Note: in lifeview I had reasonable results, just did not get a decent shot in the end)

View attachment 54238 I must admit I could have done this one with my Osawa in Macro mode as well with quite some crop, not clear if I would have had the same detail on the head. This is about 1:1.

I do want to get there with the staking, hope to find some subject inside and to get a focus rail and maybe go to focus stacking.

N.B.: Do your partners also hate this kind of pictures?

If you really want to try, then don't give up. It is a bit hit and miss but when it falls for you the result is worth the effort. Focusing is the hardest part but don't waste time trying to hold the perfect position. As you move in and out, hit the button every time it seems in focus. You may get one good shot in 20 or 30 but that one will be worth the effort.

If you are trying to photo insects or spiders then a tripod is out. It takes so long to set up that your target will either have moved away or died of old age.
 

Vincent

Senior Member
If you are trying to photo insects or spiders then a tripod is out. It takes so long to set up that your target will either have moved away or died of old age.

I´m not giving up on the tripod just yet.
Why:
1) animals come back to the same place, it is a matter of patience, e.g. a flower, the entrance of an ants nest, the middle of a spider web, etc ...
2) I have been working with very slow shutter speeds. high magnification, hand held; this does not go together with sharp pictures

One thing I believe is that I will need a focus rail to get something this way. The many misses are obvious for macro, sometimes it will take a lot of time.

P.S.: Pardon my French (look on youtube), étant prés de la Lorraine, comment t´est en Bourgogne et en Lorraine?
 
Last edited:

Scott Murray

Senior Member
I´m not giving up on the tripod just yet.
Why:
1) animals come back to the same place, it is a matter of patience, e.g. a flower, the entrance of an ants nest, the middle of a spider web, etc ...
2) I have been working with very slow shutter speeds. high magnification, hand held: this does not go together with sharp pictures

One thing I believe is that I will need a focus rail to get something this way. The many misses are obvious for macro, sometimes it will take a lot of time.

Get an off camera flash with diffuser it makes the world of difference.
 
Top