[calculon] was able to modify a “dumb” adapter to allow his Canon SLR to use the aperture and focus on a retro lens. With his new flip mounted wide angle lens he was able to achieve some pretty neat macro shots. By cutting away some of the cheaper ring he was able to feed the wire through and glue it onto the the cameras contact points. The wire was then attached to the inputs on the “new” lens. With a new adapter running about $375 not only was this a neat little hack but it was also a money saver. You can see some more of his photos on his flicker
Holy macro batman.
Not bad at all for the money. I have a “real” macro lens and while the quality is better (and it can magnify more) this is a good idea for an old “unused” lens one may have laying around. The savings alone are worth it.
what ever happened to the good old extension tubes XD
2 36mm extention tubes and a 2X TC (not necessary but makes it easier) and a nikon F-mount manual AF lens has never failed me once
i’ve never understood the use of such wide lenses for macro work.
BiOzZ – the problem is that most extention tubes and bellows are not automatic – you typically get electronics passed through to the lens only when you’re spending hundreds of dollars more. I have a bellows for my Canon, but I’ve hacked together an adapter to mount an old Olympus lens (from an OM10) on it because it can be stopped down manually. I’ll definitely look into doing something like this for it so I can use my much better Canon lenses.
@DivePeak
i both my extension tubes (none have names on them) are both bridged and work fine automatic and the 2X tele is a nikon make
i had the option for other lens makes like sigma and canon (i have a canon 5D MKII sitting around) but im a huge fan of the nikon quality of a nikon lens on a nikon camera so extension tubes work great for me on my D90, D300s, D3x
and im really iffy about the filter threads being able to hold up a decent quality lens (like a 67mm or 72mm or 77mm circumference) … like my 24-77 2.8 weighs 2.5 lbs and i would not doubt a jolt or a bump would strip it and make $2k of lens go crashing to the ground XD
BiOzZ:
seriously…
i do better babelfish on my ti85!
@BiOzZ You sure sound like the person who needs money saving hacks alright… not
Don’t worry guys, BiOzZ just likes to namedrop all the hardware he has to make up for where he doesn’t have as much ;)
@BiOzZ You clearly have never dropped a lens onto it’s front element if you think that the weight of a decent quality lens will strip the threads of the filter mount. The filter threads will easily hold the largest lens you can think of a normal person owning with a monkey hanging off the end.
Filter threads are stronger than a bayonet lens mount.
This is an interesting hack from the technical perspective, but why do you want what it does?
The fact is you don’t need electronics to take a picture, and you definitely don’t need or even really want them for macro work.
Why go through all of this? So you can have autofocus? Why?
Use any old $5 junk shop manual SLR lens regardless of mount type – its on backwards remember? I use a $15 Rodenstock enlarger lens myself, they have filter threads too remember.
stunmonkey: go try controlling the aperture of a Digital Lens without having the data connection to it.
FYI: Aperture is INSIDE of the Lens and (on digital lenses) can’t be controlled without data and especially power connection.
PS: not everyone (and especially not every bug on a nice plant) hast the time to set up all the stuff like AF, Aperture, Shutter, etc.
So if you want to go fast, then you are better off using at least automatic aperture.
@Garbz
1) yes i have on one of my canon cameras and it stripped my CPL filter right off
@macw
does trolling make you feel like more of a man?
god i love the internet XD
i was talking photography to a fellow photographer and i was talking about one specific lens so please relevant comments only i know the internet makes you feel tough but some things you keep to your self
@BiOzZ – lucky you if you got working auto extension tubes for a decent price. :)
A 77mm filter won’t fit centered on the bayonet mount of that camera – it will hit the flash first! But the EF-S lens that’s being used (I’m guessing either 52mm or 55mm?) would be lucky to weigh in at 500g, so the filter should be plenty strong enough. And if quality is the absolute #1 factor, you wouldn’t be reversing lenses in the first place, but using a dedicated macro. Of course, there goes the $ saving purpose of doing the hack in the first place… Happy shooting!
@BiOzZ unlucky. Sounds like you may need to check the accuracy of your threads. When standard threads mate properly they are amongst the strongest bonds in engineering.
I dropped D200 + bat grip + 85mm f/1.4 onto cement from about 1m right on the filter. Combined weight of 1.5kg. Filter shattered and the ring had the black scuffed off it and dented, but no threads slipped and it was possible to screw it off again.
My girl dropped her Olympus in the same fashion, the result caused a single thread slip, but that was to be expected of a plastic lens.
http://www.camerahacker.com/directory/Hacks.shtml
This is a full lesson listed in the book authored by this website… Explains the entire process, how and why you want to do it. Just sayin.
Wait..
That lens has a rotating front element when focussing, seems like a bad idea to use the AF then, or is it not used at all?