Macro experimentation pointers

Hi all, getting along very well with my GX-10, and really fancy experimenting with some macro work. The idea of reverse fitting, sticking lenses to lenses etc appeals no end to me (i'm an engineer and love this sort of 'playing' with things to get weird and wonderful results)

Dont fancy playing about with my brand new kit lenses obviously, so to this end managed to win a handy looking little auction on ebay tonight. Got a This:-

PENTAX MZ-M SLR CAMERA (35mm Film) in good condition fully working. Comes with lenses, (listed below), Flash (not sure if this works as I can’t get it to flash), accessories, lens and camera case, filters (various colours) and operating manual.

Lenses:
1 x Vivitar 72mm, 28-200mm, 1:3.5 – 5.3 zoom + Hoya Skylight (1B) Filter
1 x Vivitar MC Tele Converter 2X PK-A/R-PK
1 x Miranda 52mm, 35-70mm 1:3.5 – 4.8
1 x Pentax-A 35-80mm, 1:4 – 5.6
1 x Sirius 52mm 1:2.8, f=28mm
1 x SMC Pentax-A 50mm, 1:1.7 + Hoya Skylight Filter

all for the grand total of £67.

This should give me some good material for some experiments, considering using some Cokin type adaptor rings stuck together to allow me to fix lenses to lenses, will get a reversing ring for the GX too, and i'll pick up some tubes at somepoint.

Now i'm assuming that quite a few on here have done similar in the past, so any pitfalls/pointers for me? I've got a fair idea of how to proceed but by all means put me right on what to do

vignetting might be a problem and you need tons of light so a flash would be handy.

I would reverse mount the Sirus 28mm on top of the pentax A 35-80
You will get a 2.85 magnification then. For more you could resverse mount it 28-200, it might work but dont expect much quality, the 35-80 combination would be better.

Try to get prime lenses instead of zooms, 200mm f/4 are quite comon and are reasonable priced so keep an eye out for them

I'd probably go for the Sirius 28mm reversed onto the Pentax 50mm for maximum quality (and it's not far short of 2:1 which should be ample for most macro work). The Pentax takes 49mm filters so you'll need a 52->49 reversing ring and away you go! Good luck

I agree with Hefty, I have tried this combination with some good results. I made the 52-49mm adapter by glueing 2 old filters together and knocking out the glass.

You can also try a set of bellows heres one on E-bay which looks the goods, you will need a screw mount adapter.

I'd go along with that - I've had quite a bit of use out of my bellows since I bought them and they've allowed me to try out all sorts of weird and wonderful combinations

Thanks guys, yeah the 28 on the 50 was my first plan and i'll take it from there. Obviously the choice of lenses above wasnt intentional, just what came up in a suitable auction (pleased because i wanted a 50/1.7 anyway and they seem to make £40 so the rest of the gear for £30 odd quid is a major bonus) Plus the MZ is quite a respected film body from what i read, (the Mz-5 gets rave reviews, and the -m just seems to be missing the built in flash and the autofocus drive) so i have a film body for if i get back into the complicated side

I'll be sure to post results when I start......

What kind of magnification will the 28mm be reversed, also quite a lot right?
Might be a good solution instead of stacking.

It was raining outside and I had a couple of hours to spare so did a few comparisons, with a standard macro lens, reversed 28mm and 50mm and some stacking.
All shots straight out of the camera

100mm macro at 1.2 magnification
[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x261/ClarkyinAus/100mm12.jpg[/IMG]

100mm macro at 1.1 magnification
[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x261/ClarkyinAus/100mm11.jpg[/IMG]

Reversed 50mm
[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x261/ClarkyinAus/Rev50mm.jpg[/IMG]

Reversed 28mm
[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x261/ClarkyinAus/rev28mm.jpg[/IMG]

28mm reversed onto a 50mm
[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x261/ClarkyinAus/50mm28mmrev.jpg[/IMG]

28mm reversed onto a 100mm
[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x261/ClarkyinAus/100mm28mmrev.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks for that Clarky, interesting to see.
May just have a go at reversing my 24mm Sigma Superwide II.

Mike, the reversed 28mm is a lot easier to use than stacking it on another lens.
I was composing wide open by pulling down on the aperture lever on the front (back) of the lens and releasing it when taking the shot (black viewfinder otherwise) I had the aperture set on 22 and used a flash off camera on a bracket. You should get similar results with the 24mm I suspect.

Hmmm, I suspect I may have to use a tripod for once

These were all hand held.
A tripod would have given sharper shots on some of them, but that wasn't what I was after, just giving a magnification comparison.

This was taken hand held with a reversed 28mm using the technique described above. Not too bad, I do say. The bug is about 10mm in size

[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x261/ClarkyinAus/IMGP2294.jpg[/IMG]

Well the package arrived last night, and i must say i'm chuffed to bits. All lenses as described and in very good condition, a quick check shows all operating correctly, though was v.busy so have yet to fit to the body and start playing (tonight I expect ).
Also in the case, unlisted, was a good quality 49-52 adaptor ! (saves me buying one and seems the p.o. had the same ideas as me) and the flash unit, although a basic centron one, worked perfectly as soon as some charged batteries were fitted

One question before i fit and test them, although they are in good condition with no apparent chips/sctratches/fungus, they are dusty (and caked on dust at that). So what is the best approach to cleaning the lenses ? Only the two pentax's will be Smc, but the vivitar and sirius obviously have their own coatings, and i'd like to carefully clean them without knackering them before i even use them


Oh and thanks for the examples above clarky, thats a great help and gives me a good starting point. (i'll begin with the 28 on the end of the 50 as i have the adaptor for that here, then reversing the 28 on its own as soon as i pick up a suitable reversing ring for it)

Also have a 100mm pentax macro (m42), bellows, tubes and adaptors etc on their way to me thanks to Galoot from here too

For cleaning thick dust off a lens use a good quality brush (pop down to your nearest art supplier and get a thick sable one) followed by a blow with a rocket blower or similar. If there are stubborn marks then a cotton bud soaked in lighter fluid should do the trick - don't be tempted to use water! They'll be sparkling in no time