Alex; Like that hand held idea a lot but apart from blind, you need to be more bold than blind to go for that. My "Arachnophobia" won't let me doing that. But for macro there is no other way easier to focus than having subject hand held, provided the holder is not having Parkinson's either:D.

These macros are getting more and more interesting. Thanks for sharing the reverse 50mm idea and throwing a headlight in macro section of the forum.

These are the links to the photos
1.bellows
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...=500&ppuser=57
2. Very old lens Tessar 2.8 50mm with No 3 tube
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...=500&ppuser=57
3. canon 75-300 with 31mm ext tube.
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...=500&ppuser=57
4. Canon 75-300 with 31mm ext tube
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...=500&ppuser=57

Christine,

The last one is my favourite. I just screams QUALITY.

Don

Christine: I agree with Don the last shot is beautifully done....The wasp shot is excellent as well.....Alex

Hey there Sassan:).. I only have guts with spiders that are reeeeeally small:D.. I am happy that I contributed a spark to the macro section because it is obvious there is considerable talent here. I hope the macro gear hasn't been sitting collecting dust:) :). What a great bunch of folks you all are.... I am happy to be here.... I have been a bit under the weather the last few days and so I am sorry I have dropped my participation level.... I am excited to take part in the fun..... I am just starting to come out of the haze now and I will get some of my macro images resized for posting.... I have taken a few over the last couple of days..... I love the fact that Don has shown what the direct reversed lens will do with the right set up and settings and I am looking forward to working more with mine....Anyway Thanks.... I appreciate being welcome.....Alex

Yesterday I had the opportunity to try out a true Macro lens a sigma 105mm, I was very impressed with the build and ease of use. Today I took some photos of the same flower with my cheap alternative the Canon 75-300 with the 13mm and 31mm ext tubes. It is a little harder to focus than the true macro but I am quite impressed with the results although there is a lot less DOF. There has been no sharpening done on either of the photos its as they came out of the camera, cropped and saved.

Left photo. Sigma at F8 1/60s
Right photo. Canon 75-300 13mm+31mm F7.1 1/125s

I have only just found this thread and I am impressed by your squidgy insect shots. I can't say that I like Aphids given the damage they cause plants. I had some nice Capsicum baccatum destroyed by the devils. But I digress.

Regarding a reversing adaptor, it depends what you want to do.

If the idea is to reverse one lens, so that the filter end mounts onto the camera, I know that Nikon make one. It is a BR2 if my memory serves me well. Also Jessops (eeek, the seven letter word) sell them, as I bought one and it works. I am sure the Nikon one can be bought new and cheap from FleaBay. Also Speed Graphic are very good for hard to find odds and sods. I think you have a lathe, and you could make one from a body cap, drilled out, and glued to a step up ring.

You might also have meant mounting a reversed lens in front of another lens. I tried that by taking two step up rings, and gluing them together. That is somewhat of a bodge, but it works. I am not sure if it matters if the optical axes are not perfectly aligned.

I like the second one better - the lighting on the first is very flat - was flash used? Also I'm not convinced that there is much difference in the DoF and in fact assuming that they were taken at the same magnification/size in the viewfinder this article on DoF confirms that DoF is independent of focal length and is just a function of focusing distance and aperture.

I'd be interested to know how close that extension tube set up enables you to get compared to the ture macro lens - can you post the full frames of both for comparison?

Gidders here are the full frame photos as requested, unfortunately I can't remember how far away I was with the 105mm, the Canon with converters I was about 6 inches.. I didn't use flash for either, being so close I had to make sure my body wasn't shading the flower, I did take them at the same time of day so the lighting was the same with no clouds about.

Too late for this now Leif as the 80-200 has gone - swapped for the 400. I have though, machined an adaptor to easily use the 50mm enlarging lens on bellows and / or tubes. Just got to make a thin lens hood to fit. That will be easy as I got an old 40.5mm filter for a £1 to provide the threaded section.

Don