p.1 #1 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Hello Folks, It's nice to have this forum in the Winter. To my left there is a window of which beyond it is a snowy scape that invokes frigid feelings. To my right, my brand new Samsung 22" LCD Monitor (My Christmas gift) showing all your photos in incredible detail. Heartwarming!
I'm curious to know what different setup options people are suggesting for shooting jumping spiders. I know Jody M has pretty much perfected the Reverse 50mm setup, but personally I can't stand not having all the control of the lens. Basically I suppose, I'm using a Nikon DSLR, and am looking for a setup to provide me with the opportunity to take a photo of the average 2mm jumping spider, and still fill a good 1/4 the width of the frame with him, without cropping significantly. Consider suggestions based on me having no current equipment other than a Nikon DSLR- for sake of more options.
I've been suggested a Nikkor 105mm, with Kenko Extension tubes. Supposedly produces 2:1? I'm not sure that is quite enough to fill about a 1/4 frame with a 2mm spider.For everything larger, it seems this is a great combination, but suppose I still wanted to get in tighter.
So, If you don't mind post up a photo of your Jumping Spider, with details on the setup, and if there was cropping or not. If you have multiple photos of multiple setups, post them each.
p.1 #2 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Will, like Jody , I have used a rev setup for some of my macro . I use a 50 rev mounted to a 100-300 canon that takes me to the outer limits of manually focusing and natural light shots.
p.1 #4 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Well Apparently I can reply, but not make new posts, which I am thinking has to do with the problems that were noted about on the home page.. Thanks for starting the thread for me though Tom. I'm not a new member, I'm just not active, so much as a periodical stalker to get my Macro fix by one of the best macro forums I've found on the net.
The work produced here is fantastic.
Tom, so as I understand it, the reverse lens produce an equation for figuring out the life size ratio? 300mm:50mm means that it is a potential 6:1. The 50mm is manually set to have the widest aperture. The controls on the 100-300mm then are affected how? What compensation is used. Both lenses must then be focused, yes?
p.1 #5 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Will, most of the close up stuff you see me post will come from a rev lens mounted Directly to the camera, not on the front of another lens like the first set. I use mostly natural light and no cropping.I will shoot up two 3 times life size.
Edited by Tom Hicks on Dec 30, 2007 at 11:46 AM GMT
p.1 #6 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Will, set the front lens wide open , and also set it at it's infinity mark on the focus ring, the lens on camera will act just as it reg does, set f stop where needed and shoot. You will focus by moving to and fro with your body. and your math is good .
p.1 #11 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Sorry Will: I'm a Canon shooter and for us it's easy -the MPE-65mm macro lens. I'm curious about the width of the sensor on your camera. On the 1.6x crop factor bodies the sensor is 22.5mm wide (let's say 22 for the sake of argument). Your requirement for a 2mm jumper to fill 1/4 of the screen means a width of no more than 8mm. That's roughly 3x for me. I've used tubes and a teleconverter to get to around 3x with a 100mm macro lens but I didn't like the image quality. Tubes and a 500D diopter was better, but I think I was shooting at about 2.5x. Seems to me you could get close without having to reverse a lens, but it depends on the size of your sensor...
I didn't shoot any jumpers with the 100mm + tubes and diopter rig, but here's a carpenter ant to give you an idea of the mag and IQ. Click on the image to get to larger versions.
p.1 #16 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Canon 40d with Sigma 105 macro and combination of +5 close up filters. I had the 430ex on camera with Demp Bounce/diffuser and I shot handheld proping myself against the wall to steady myself while I shot this little fellow. I was practically in his face but he did not budge. I used manual focus and I just shot away. I took about 40 shots and came up with about 10 keepers that I liked.
I posted a thread on this little fellow named "Freddie Four Eyes" on this board. http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/ralphig/IMG_2820.jpg
Ralph
p.1 #17 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Sorry folks, I was away on a short trip to the US to purchase fish and plants for my Aquarium. It was cold and I was under dressed so Ive wound up with a cold/fever and haven't thought about this (or much else) until now.
So unless the photos you guys are posting are significantly cropped, I should be able to Get away with Nikon D50 + Nikkor 105mm + the full package of Kenko extension tubes. Here's where my math fails me Tom, that combination would give me what ratio to life size, with what aperture being the lowest possible? Does the 1.5 crop factor on Nikon DSLRs (Except the new D3) affect this, and in what way?
Some great photos have been posted in this thread. It seems that the large majority of photos of Jumping spiders shot with reverse lenses are done with controlled studio setups, rahter than "In the field", so to speak, with flashes or macro-lights.
The Canon MPE-65mm photos look nice from what I have seen. Though Nikon doesn't have an equivalent lens to the MPE-65mm does it? And likely not in the same price range as a 105mm+ Kenko Tubes.
p.1 #18 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Ron_M wrote:
OK Tom, I have Canon 30D with a few lenses. How do I reverse mount a lens. Never seen this done and have no idea how to do it. One of the lenses is a Sigma 105 macro, but does not get as close as I would like.
Thanks for any help from anyone,
Ron
p.1 #20 · Reverse mounting info. Topic Name Change.
Will Hayward wrote:
Sorry folks, I was away on a short trip to the US to purchase fish and plants for my Aquarium. It was cold and I was under dressed so Ive wound up with a cold/fever and haven't thought about this (or much else) until now.
So unless the photos you guys are posting are significantly cropped, I should be able to Get away with Nikon D50 + Nikkor 105mm + the full package of Kenko extension tubes. Here's where my math fails me Tom, that combination would give me what ratio to life size, with what aperture being the lowest possible? Does the 1.5 crop factor on Nikon DSLRs (Except the new D3) affect this, and in what way?
Some great photos have been posted in this thread. It seems that the large majority of photos of Jumping spiders shot with reverse lenses are done with controlled studio setups, rahter than "In the field", so to speak, with flashes or macro-lights.
The Canon MPE-65mm photos look nice from what I have seen. Though Nikon doesn't have an equivalent lens to the MPE-65mm does it? And likely not in the same price range as a 105mm+ Kenko Tubes....Show more →
Will, if the 105 you are getting is a macro lens then you are going to get 1to1, to get to 2to1 with that same lens you need to put 105mm of extension on it . if you have the standard 105 , to get to 1to1 you will need 105mm of extension, since most kits contain 68mm of extension the most you can get is 1.7 to 1 approx.
The 1.5 crop factor, will only give the appearance, you are getting more magnification , remember it is basically an in camera crop, where you don't loose image quality, unlike cropping a full frame camera shot of the same image to match the 1.5 image. hope that makes since.
