Hacking the EF-S 60 Macro: Someone had to do it

dude... after thinking about this some more.

you are CRAZY........

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #2099433
Way to kill the shutter! You're nuts.

Happy consumerism and all, but:
Full frame needs a large mirror. EF-s lenses designed for the small mirror. If you hack them - the mirror can collide with the element.

I'm surprised the shutter still works.

Me too. Think you meant mirror actually, since the mirror is the moving part which makes physical contact. I think what happened was that the mirror swung up, but did not manage to clear (see image, and remember image is inverted when projected onto the sensor) the top third of the frame.

Bob_A wrote in post #2099443
You have a lot of guts. But I suppose no guts no glory

Maybe it would be safer to use it with a 12mm extension tube on your 5D?

That's what I was thinking. You should see what I am going to use the next time round, three extension tubes, a FD lens and metal epoxy. (the lens to the tube, not to the camera..)

Mark_Cohran wrote in post #2099653
So, why not just buy the 100mm f2.8 macro? This just seems crazy to me.

Mark

grego wrote in post #2099706
Kinda crazy, but I defintely want to see. You were better off selling and trading for the 100 f/2.8 macro. But I trust you'll do fine.

I know. I don't know WHAT possessed me to start hacking the macro over lunchtime. I think it is because I would love to use my favorite macro on the 5D, and a true 60mm appeals to me (it's the FL I want).

I think it's also the inconvenience of shipping out the lens, or selling it at a loss, and then paying more $$ for the 100 macro.

Quick snap of the lens after the mission was accomplished.. ignore the blown highlights, as I said, it was a snap:

cgratti wrote in post #2099812
You have cahonas the size of grapefruits!!!

I must admit they shrank substantially after the 5D test

Billginthekeys wrote in post #2099856
dude... after thinking about this some more.

you are CRAZY........

Thanks.. I honestly don't know what I was thinking!

Actually, I did some measurements and I THOUGHT the mirror would clear. Once the baffle was removed I checked the tolerances and minimum dimensions, and the furthest the lens stuck out from the rear was JUST a hair over the rim of the EF mount. It appears this hair was enough to interfere with the mirror, just as I was told. It looked close enough to warrant a try, so it wasn't silly stupid stick it in and click. In fact as you can see most of the mirror cleared the frame except the top part.

Classic, just terrific. Now this is my kind of thread...Finally something interesting

Now THATS balls!

Well i guess its time for someone to play with the EF-S 10-22.

Although you could just play with Sigma's 10-22.

Thanks A01, Lightrules - YOUR work inspired this project, I had your photos up on my monitor as I was tearing into the 60

I wish all my projects were this successful. My other EOS FD Macro project took a big bite today, when I went to the camera shops. By mistake, I parked in a loading bay. I've never seen a bloody parking sign *THAT* self-contradictory either, it is more like a timetable for who can do what during which days of the week at what time (and hence being very easy to misread). And I got busted. *BIG SIGH*

To make things worse, they didn't have a FD 1.8. The most common lens on the freaking Internet.

Note to self: get stuff ebay'ed, it's cheaper. I used to have some kickass local dealers, and then I moved. (DOH)

grego wrote in post #2100106
Although you could just play with Sigma's 10-22.

From what I hear the Sigma works fine without any mods on a 1D.... interesting as it's rated at 1.5 crop and above.

Lightstream wrote in post #2099373
And I volunteered.

I love the 60 macro, I'd love to take it with me to the 5D, and so on. Sadly, this is not to be, because of the EF-S mount.

So in a nutshell, I hacked the EF-S 60 macro to remove the baffle. .

Can you post a step-by-step guide [w PICs ...] on how you did that ?
TIA

Doesn't removing the baffle make the lens VERY prone to dust? And how did you fix the "hair longer" issue with the lens that made the 5D's mirror slap against it? And now I know for sure I'd lose in a fear factor competition against you.

AdamJL wrote in post #2100354
From what I hear the Sigma works fine without any mods on a 1D.... interesting as it's rated at 1.5 crop and above.

It's probably vignettes till at least 15-17mm wide open. I know with the Tokina 12-24, that's about where it was.

grego wrote in post #2100473
It's probably vignettes till at least 15-17mm wide open. I know with the Tokina 12-24, that's about where it was.

Apparently not:

http://www.ephotozine.​com …estdetail.cfm?t​est_id=362

The lens is designated as a DC, meaning that it's designed exclusively for dSLR cameras with a crop factor of 1.5x or greater. However, we did try it on a Canon 1D, which has a crop factor of 1.3x and found that, without filters, it could be used from 11mm upwards without vignetting.

Haha.Well done Lightstream!
Having been there and done a similar thing i enjoyed the story

One thing though- you went about it in a silly way ! You know you could have reduced the risks to near zero with some subtle test tweaks - stuff like placing a teensy ball of blue tack to pad the front edge of the mirror.Or coating the lens rear element with a small piece of soft plastic (from a plastic bag)

ron chappel wrote in post #2100660
Haha.Well done Lightstream!
Having been there and done a similar thing i enjoyed the story

One thing though- you went about it in a silly way ! You know you could have reduced the risks to near zero with some subtle test tweaks - stuff like placing a teensy ball of blue tack to pad the front edge of the mirror.Or coating the lens rear element with a small piece of soft plastic (from a plastic bag)

Thanks Ron I figure I was running on too much adrenalin and not enough sense by the time the 5D test took place. If the opportunity ever arises again (hope not! EF-S is starting to tick me off a little) I'll remember the blue tack.

No marks on the mirror, thankfully. And it still continues to work, I took the camera out for some test shooting and everything is A-OK. If the mirror wasn't flipping out of the way fast enough or fully enough, I'd see black, and I don't, so it's all good.

To the rest.. pics & writeup to follow in due time when I recover

PS: I was just thinking, for other EF-S lens hackers, that the 18-55 makes a nice lens on a 1D camera - 23-71mm! And why is my 17-85 IS USM suddenly sweating as well? (1D here it comes.....)

OMG!!!!!!

I JUST DID IT!!!!!!!!

The best part: I didn't even unscrew the metal lens mount, I just put my fingers into the 17-85 and gently pulled - DANG!!!!!!

Gently is the word, do not break the tabs unless you are dead sure that this is either permanent, OR you want to talk to Canon about a new baffle (maybe 24-85 baffle as Lightrules suggested)