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Thread started 12 Apr 2011 (Tuesday) 03:13
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High magnification on the cheap?

 
Wallpap3r
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Apr 12, 2011 03:13 |  #1

I was wondering if anyone knows of ways to get good sharpness in the 7-10x range for about $50? Dont have much to spend on photography now that Im in college. Suggestions under $100 are welcome too :)

Ive been playing around with high magnification (3x-9x) but my set up is a bit limiting in terms of sharpness and ease of use; currently I get to 9x by reversing my 18-55 kit lens onto two sets of ebay tubes. It works, but is quite soft... The lens itself is poor wide open @18mm, and I can only stop it down a tiny bit before diffraction kills all sharpness. I use a wood vice to move the subject for stacking. All my equipment (besides a tripod, mini ballhead, and some lightstands) is listed in my sig

PS: In case it isn't apparent, this would be for studio use


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40D || 50 1.8 II || 18-55IS || 85 1.8 || 430EXII || YN560 x2 || Cheap umbrellas x2 || QBox 24 || Cheap macro crap

  
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ceriltheblade
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Apr 12, 2011 05:05 |  #2

is your reversed lens on the body or on another lens?
if it is on thebody (or that is body - ext tubes - reversed lens) then try body --ext tubes--lens--reversed lens


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50 1.8 II, MP-E65, 85 II, 100 IS
8-15 FE, 10-22, 16-35 IS, 24-105, 70-200 f4IS, 100-400 ii, tamron 28-75 2.8
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realjax
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Apr 12, 2011 06:04 |  #3

Wallpap3r wrote in post #12205090 (external link)
In case it isn't apparent, this would be for studio use

Then better switch to using microsope objectives. They can be had for well below 50.- and will outperform any reverse/stacking lenses solution :) Check out http://photomacrograph​y.net/forum/ (external link) for more info and faqs.


Jacco
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Wallpap3r
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Apr 13, 2011 16:49 |  #4

Dont think stacking lenses will get me much, but Ill give it a shot, no hurt in trying...

Thanks Jax. I actually bought that $4 lens yesterday, should let me experiment a bit. Looks atleast a little sharper than my current setup anyway. Im still looking through that forum, but do you off hand know of any sub-$100 objectives or bellows?


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40D || 50 1.8 II || 18-55IS || 85 1.8 || 430EXII || YN560 x2 || Cheap umbrellas x2 || QBox 24 || Cheap macro crap

  
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realjax
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Apr 14, 2011 02:49 |  #5

You're welcome. :)
But don't expect too much from that 4 dollar lens, it's by far not as sharp as a low powered microscope objective. I own several bellows, the most expensive one, a Canon FD Auto bellows was $ 90.- A big bellows only usable in a studio setup. I also own an (older) novoflex bellows which is *much* smaller but can extend almost as much as the FD one. This one is for use in the field. Finally I also own an Olympus telescopic auto tube. Basically a helicoid ( works like a zoom lens; turn to change length) but these are rather expensive. I got mine as part of a batch and I'm currently selling the other items from that batch. With a bit of luck that will set the balance for the auto scope to zero.
But it doesn't really matter what bellows you get. Preferably get a sturdy looking one and preferably one that has an indepent positioning system for both the back and the front of the belllows. The latter can prove to be very usefull but is not a must have AFAIK.

When it comes to microscope lenses, again it doesn't really matter much up to 10x. The cheapest ones ( which are still very good) are the finite ones, for use with a tube ( = in our case a bellows). They have a reading on the barrel like 160/- or 160/0.17.
The 160 stands for the needed tube length and the - and 0.17 indicates the thickness of the coverglass that need to be used. Up to 10x the image quality will not degrade noticably if you however do not use a coverglass on such an objective. Note: Tube length is the length from the shoulder of the objective (the place where the screw threads meet the objective) to the sensor(!) minus 10mm. An EOS has a flange-focal distance of 44 mm, so the bellows should extend 160 - 44 -10 = 106 mm. This is of course exluding the thickness of possibly used adapter rings.
If you change this distance, the objective will still work (either more or less magnification) but performance may/will drop considerably.

Finally you will need to have a mechanism that allows you to take very small distance increments to the subject photographed. Microscope objectives have a *very* small DOF ( much smaller then any dedicated macro lens or any setup with reversed and stacked lenses). Stacking is a necessity when using these objectives.
I use several mechanisms but the cheapest solution, which still works like a charm, is a linear stage with a micrometer as an actuator ( such as this ebay item: 160555413726).I have mounted mine in between my camera and my tripod using plates so it can easily be clicked on and off. I paid only 24 US dollar for mine so they can be had a lot cheaper then the one I pointed to.
Once all is setup it is just a matter of taking a pic, adjusting the micrometer and take the next pic.


Jacco
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monk3y
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Apr 14, 2011 03:23 |  #6

I am not sure how much magnification this is... but I did not crop this one...

IMAGE NOT FOUND
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55micro-8684 (external link) by bee_tee_double_you (external link), on Flickr

I shot this photo with this setup.. D700 + an old MF Nikkor 55mm Micro lens (father gave this to me) + full stack extension tube ($12)... if you could find old cheap macro lenses then that's the way to go :D

IMAGE NOT FOUND
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55micro-8687 (external link) by bee_tee_double_you (external link), on Flickr

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realjax
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Apr 14, 2011 04:57 |  #7

monk3y wrote in post #12219130 (external link)
I am not sure how much magnification this is... but I did not crop this one...
I shot this photo with this setup.. D700

The top of the key is aprrox. 500 pixels in length of a total image width of 1024.This implies that two (top of the) keys could fit in your image next to each other.
The top of a key is approx 10mm, which means your (uncropped) image covers 20mm.
You used a 35mm sensor width, so magnification is 1.75x ( = 35/20)
On a 20D the same setup would give 1.75 * 1.6 (cropfactor) = 2.8x.

monk3y wrote in post #12219130 (external link)
if you could find old cheap macro lenses then that's the way to go :D

I don't think so. Not if you want to go to the 7x to 10x range like the TS stated.


Jacco
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monk3y
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Apr 14, 2011 05:40 |  #8

realjax wrote in post #12219294 (external link)
The top of the key is aprrox. 500 pixels in length of a total image width of 1024.This implies that two (top of the) keys could fit in your image next to each other.
The top of a key is approx 10mm, which means your (uncropped) image covers 20mm.
You used a 35mm sensor width, so magnification is 1.75x ( = 35/20)
On a 20D the same setup would give 1.75 * 1.6 (cropfactor) = 2.8x.

I don't think so. Not if you want to go to the 7x to 10x range like the TS stated.

ok... sorry I just thought its a cheap way of doing macro.... carry on :D


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High magnification on the cheap?
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