That's what I thought but curiosity prompted me to ask, just in case you had tried it. My other 35-80 is probably safe for now !

Yes, lots better - the parapet no longer stands out as if it were a model. Lovely lead in by using those standing stones.

This lot is wonderful. And the last one more so.

Wow. Thanks for all those positive comments. For those about to have a go, there are at least three 'A' series f1.7s going for peanuts on E bay right now. De-glassing them is not difficult.

The detail you got on that damsel fly's eye is absolutely marvellous David. I think I shall butcher a zoom too because it looks like you can use the manual zoom mechanism for focussing? What happens if you were to try and 'auto focus' it? The camera will still see the image from the reversed lens on the front even though its own AF lens has no glass in it? The flange distance remains correct, the projected image is just going to be a bit of a strange one to the AF algorithm.

Lunchtime at the Sage and Persecuted for being different are my favourites here, especially the former with that lovely chrome and blue lighting.

That's going to most people's favourite I think. Smashing subject for these cold times !

I will start by saying that this is not my idea. It is fully documented at link by an (ex?) PU member.

There are several problems with really close-up macro: Use of long extension tubes deprives you of any kind of aperture control from the camera; the light loss means you often can't see anything anyway and the depth of field is so shallow that most of it is out of focus.

The major problem (automatic aperture control) can be solved by taking all the glass out of any old f1.7 or f2 lens that has an 'A' setting. Mount that on the camera and you have an extension tube with an auto iris --focus wide open and stop down as you please - but wait a bit and read on. Screw a male/male reversing adapter into the filter ring and reverse mount (in my case) an old FA 35-80mm zoom. (you can use others so do play around).










Set both lenses to infinity because you won't use the focus rings at all. Focus is achieved by physically moving either or both of the camera or the subject whilst watching the result in live view. I fortunately have a field monitor (purchased from Smudge - thank you!) that makes life even easier.




The lighting is natural and the exposure is being metered by the camera on Av. I have the room lights on here to warm the harsh light from the snow outside!
Release is by IR remote on 3sec delay. In this shot, focus was achieved by raising/ lowering the tripod column. You can get an even brighter focussing image by increasing the EV somewhat (but remember to restore it to a normal level before taking the shot).




Getting a detailed image of this tiny gypsophillia (baby's breath) bloom would be hard with a normal macro lens




Focussing this time was done by physically moving the flower away and towards the lens so do mount your subject on a moveable platform.




Notice the considerable working distance I have between lens and subject. Also check out the enormous
depth of field, even at f4, with these crayons and remember you can also stop down the taking lens manually if you wish.




As well as good DoF and high magnification, you can also capture considerable detail, as with these black peppercorns.
Again, focus was by moving the platform forwards and backwards.







So, where is the catch? You can get considerable vignetting,




It isn't really a problem though since you can always crop the good bit out of the middle.

3 is rather a nice one and I especially like the tiny sun perfectly sandwiched on the horizon.

Astounding special effects !

No, that's what happens after too much wisk-Eh.