From a newbie

BZB · Post by **BZB** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 11:43 am

Hello,
I am most interested in photographing butterfly eggs, caterpillars, etc. I have had some success but want to improve - mostly with the eggs. I have a Nikon D-70 and so far, in addition to standard 18-70 lens, I have Nikon 105 macro lens, SB-800 flash, close-up attachment lenses, extension tubes. What sort of arrangement can I do with reversing a lens - and what other lens or equipment should I buy? Thank you in advance for your patience with a novice.
BZB

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:33 pm

- can't answer with how to do it with macro, but I have done butterfly eggs with a stereo microscope. See

http://www.gpmatthews.nildram.co.uk/mic ... lesnf.html

I look forward to some macro shots from you

BZB · Post by **BZB** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 6:31 am

Thanks for the reply Graham. Oh my, your photos are awesome. Maybe I have come to the wrong place if you are all mostly working with microscopes. It looks like great fun - but I should try to contain myself and learn more of regular macro. I am "consciously unconscious" however if you promise to be gently I will post a website where some of my recent work is. Do you know of another group that might be able to steer me in the right direction?
Regards,
BZB

S. Alden · Post by **S. Alden** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 7:32 am

Hey BZB

You have not come to the wrong place. I shoot macro and do not use a scope for this purpose. My setup is:

Canon D60
Canon 100mm Macro 2.8
Canon 550ex Flash Unit
Close up filters (+1 - +10 and 500D)
Extension Tubes

I seldom use a tripod, I prefer free hand as it gives me more options and one less thing to deal with when the insect decides to move.

Sometimes I use my Canon 100-400L IS USM if I need more distance (unable to get in close) and zoom in on them. Of course, the images taken this way require some cropping to bring in the subject better.

A few members do use the reverse lens technique, but I have not attempted that yet. My setup works for me, so I doubt I will go that route (unless my curiosity gets up and running

).

Looking forward to viewing your images, so post away

. Your setup will work fine.

S. Alden · Post by **S. Alden** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 8:01 am

I forgot to add....

This forum is divided into two areas. One is Macro/Closeup and the other is Microphotography. Microphotography is for images taken thru the microscope. Macro/Closeup, for the most part, are images that are not taken using the microscope. Some do use a stereoscope, but that is the exception and not the rule for Macro, so please do not feel you are not "equipped" for Macro. You have a great setup for Macro Photography and can get some great images.

Here is a link to an image I have posted in the Macro Gallery. This was taken using nothing but the setup mentioned above:

http://www.photomacrography1.net/forum/ ... php?t=1418

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 10:04 am

Sorry if I caused some confusion - macro and micro techniques are complementary - the macro stuff on this forum is superb and it is great to share ideas between the two fields of photography. I mainly do micro, and some of the others mainly macro. Have a browse through both - lots of inspiring stuff... definitely the place to be! - Welcome!

BZB · Post by **BZB** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:30 am

Hi Sue and Graham,
Thanks for the replies. Your photos are lovely Sue. I am actually not unhappy with my insect shots - it is mostly the eggs where I am trying to get more magnification. I thought they were "small" but now I see that it is all relative. So that is the area where I would like some suggestions - I don't need them as magnified as with a microscope - is there anything in between?
I know someone who has done this with a film camera - Nikon 100F with a PB-6 Bellows and a reversed 28mm lens and was able to get to 6X. How can I equate this to digital?
Thanks if anyone knows.
BZB

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 4:04 pm

BZB... the first thing I would do is try to use mostly the gear you already have. Reverse mounting another lens to the front of the 105 macro could give you very high magnifications... are you familiar with that technique? (If you've got the AF Nikkor 105 macro you might have to be careful how heavy a lens you put on front since the front section of that 105 extends and is not extremely solid when extended).

With full frame 35mm you often get severe vignetting when "stacking" another lens onto a 105mm (usually you try for a longer "base" lens), but since the sensor of the D-70 is so much smaller than a 35mm frame vignetting will be much less of a problem. Try carefully holding your zoom (face to face) in front of the 105 macro. You will certainly get the magnifications you are looking for, but you will need to check for vignetting. That zoom has a fairly small maximum aperture so it may be a problem.

If you know someone that has a 50mm f2.8 enlarging lens try mounting that to the front of the 105mm. It would be light enough that I would not be concened about the stress on the front of the 105mm, and should give super quality. (Again... you need to check for vignetting)

BZB · Post by **BZB** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 7:08 pm

Hello Charles,
Thank you for responding. I apologize for my ignorance everyone - this is my first SLR camera. I have heard of and inquired about doing a reverse mounting lens and some people had told me it would not work on my camera. What size lens would I try? When I try holding my 18-70 or my 70-300 in front (face to face) it is just total darkness.

Is an enlarging lens different than a close-up lens? I have a Nikon 4T close-up lens. I have some fairly decent results with a 2x teleconverter, then the Macro, then the 4T. I still end up magnifying further with my software, but for my purposes it may have to suffice. Is there a stronger solution - a more powerful close-up lens? I have 3 extension tubes but do they reduce quality?

I truly appreciate your input.
BZB

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 7:39 pm

BZB... let's be sure we're talking about the same technique. You can get high magnications by reversing a regular camera lens (usually of 50mm of less) and attaching it to the camera via bellows or a "reverse adapter". With this technique you no longer have any mechanical or electrical connections to the camera body. The aperture will (almost always) need to be set manually and depending on your SLR body some functions (metering or auto-exposure) may not work.

The technique I would try first is where you have a lens mounted normally on the camera. You then take another camera lens and mount it "face to face" against the lens on the camera body.

.... Put your 105mm on the camera. (Turn auto-focus off). Then take the 18-70 zoom, open the aperture to the maximum aperture (lowest f-number) and set the focal length to about 50mm or so. Now very carefully hold that lens so that is is "face to face" with the 105mm on the camera. (be careful not to scratch the front elements... you might want to have a cheap filter on each lens while you play around with this.) Move the entire assemblage (camera with 105 mounted plus zoom held "face to face" back and forth as a unit while looking through the viewfinder at a small detailed subject. The distance from the subject to the back end of the zoom will be small, maybe a couple inches or so. You should have a pretty large magnification. The magnification will increase as you focus the 105 closer, and/or change the focal length on the front lens to a shorter focal length.

What you are doing is, in effect, using the lens held in front of the 105mm the same way as if you had screwed on the 4T. However, the lens held in front (in this case your zoom) will have a much higher "diopter" strength (.... be a lot stronger

) than the 4T (which is about +2.9 diopter). This technique can work great, although your short zoom is probably not the ideal lens to use in front. (But you already own it so give it a try). Once you are satisfied it will meet yor needs you can buy an adapter or make one up out of two Cokin adapters.

I'm being summoned to dinner... let me know if you have any other questions...

From a newbie - looking for set-up ideas

From a newbie - looking for set-up ideas

more magnification for butterfly eggs

Newbie and macro set-up for butterfly eggs