50mm with Macro Reverse Mount Ring (not stacked lens)

Seeing Scotts macro shots using his rig I thought I would post some macros here using a simple macro reverse ring and a 50mm "D" lens with adjustable aperture ring.

The ring is a simple metal ring with a bayonet lug on one side and filter threads on the other. You click the bayonet mount into your camera body then screw the 50mm lens, filter end, onto the mount ring. If using a "D" lens you can adjust the aperture from lowest to highest for more DOF. If using a G lens (AF-S) you will have to use tape, or similar, to hold the aperture tab open.

There is no metering with this rig. There is no auto focus with this rig. You simply take a shot and adjust as necessary. Camera will need to be in Manual mode and you set shutter speed and ISO. Aperture will not be adjustable in camera. You focus by moving the camera closer or farther from the subject.

As you can see focus is kind of hard to get just right on a very small subject such as sugar crystals. Larger objects are easier and the smaller your aperture the more of the subject you can keep in focus.

On the series of shots below I was at ISO 200, I changed aperture from f/1.8 with shutter speed of 1/4000th, to f/8 at 1/2000th then f/11 at 1/750th second.

Here I used a pencil and a sharpener to get some shavings. This was easier to focus on and I did similarly with aperture to get less, then more, DOF at each shot.

The first shot is a 100% crop of the uncropped shot below it to give an example.







And for comparison this is about as close as you can get with a standard 50mm f/1.8 when mounted standard to the camera. Not real close but not too bad.

Here is another with slightly more DOF.

And the final shot with a little more DOF

Interesting. The only thing that needs to be adjusted is lighting (at least from 3 sources/directions) - shadows are the biggest problem in any kind of macro photography.

Thanks for sharing this Mike ! Many years ago I used a stack of screw on filters to get in close , I think I will have a look at a reversing ring thing

DraganDL said:

Interesting. The only thing that needs to be adjusted is lighting (at least from 3 sources/directions) - shadows are the biggest problem in any kind of macro photography.

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And with this rig lighting is going to be an issue because you have to get so close to the subject. It will leave very little room to get lights in and around the subject. Can be done though I guess. I just don't care much for this method of macro.

Ijustwant1 said:

Thanks for sharing this Mike ! Many years ago I used a stack of screw on filters to get in close , I think I will have a look at a reversing ring thing

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It works but you have to really work at it to get it right. A longer lens might give more room for some lighting.

Thats why I like the 105mm version. Gives you a little distance.

FastGlass said:

Thats why I like the 105mm version. Gives you a little distance.

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Exactly! However, I have yet to be able to win a 105mm f/2.8 micro on eBay, or find one anywhere else, for anything under $250 for a manual focus version AI-S lens. I just cannot afford that and I surely cannot afford the new version.

So, for under $10.00 this reverse ring can give us broke blokes a cheap way to at least dabble with macro.

Here are some better examples of the detail that you can get with this reverse 50 rig if you are careful with the focus and have light without shadow.


This is the new $100 USD bill I got today.

None of these are cropped and none are sharpened. These are 100% out of camera, with minor exposure adjustments, and resized to 1000px on their longest side at 96ppi.

These are crops, still at 100% view, of some of those images above.

Those are great mike, might have to get me one of theses gizmos, but is that a Secret Service agent knocking on your door?

Bonus points if you know what the significance of the time on the clock is.

RON said:

Those are great mike, might have to get me one of theses gizmos, but is that a Secret Service agent knocking on your door?

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I will be listening for helicopters all night tonight.

As well you should. Just because your paranoid doesn't mean there isn't someone out to get you.

480sparky said:

Bonus points if you know what the significance of the time on the clock is.

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Changes to the $100 bill
Three Subtle Changes to the Flashy New $100 Bill - Businessweek

The time on the Clock

The time on Independence Hall’s bell tower clock on the current $100 bill reads 4:10, a fact confirmed by the Fed and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. (Yes, this is contrary to the fictitious “2:22,” which served as a plot point in National Treasure.) The time has always been something of a mystery, though, and there aren’t any records available explaining why 4:10 exactly. (One belief online is that the date April 10 represents the 100th day of the year, which, presumably, wouldn’t include leap years.) On the new $100 bill, the time will be changed to 10:30, which seems to be a time of no historical significance. According to Darlene Anderson, manager of external affairs at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, both images on the backs of the two bills—the south and north views—were engraved by the same man, J.C. Benzing. “He did both views before 1928, and he worked from photographs,” she says. “We think that the photographer took the images at different times of the day.”

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Mike d90 said:

Exactly! However, I have yet to be able to win a 105mm f/2.8 micro on eBay, or find one anywhere else, for anything under $250 for a manual focus version AI-S lens. I just cannot afford that and I surely cannot afford the new version.

So, for under $10.00 this reverse ring can give us broke blokes a cheap way to at least dabble with macro.

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Totally understand. I wonder how using extension tubes would work as far as the distance. Although not really sure on there cost.

FastGlass said:

Totally understand. I wonder how using extension tubes would work as far as the distance. Although not really sure on there cost.

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I been wondering the same. Was looking at a set that retains the metering capability, for use with an AF-S or "D" lens, and they run about $75.00 and up. A cheap set that would work with a reverse lens or an older non AI-s lens can be had for under $10.00.

But, if the tubes do not gain at least 5" or more they wouldn't help that much with the space issue.

Here are some more shots with the 50mm reversed lens.

These are 100% crops or uncropped as shot.

These flowers are small. Maybe 10mm across in diameter.