The reason an enlarger lens works well is because it's designed to work with very large magnifications (in the order of 10X to 20X) with a greater distance between the lens and image plane than between the lens and object
Depth of field at any given magnification & f-stop combination will be the same for any lens irrespective of focal length or any other consideration. However a Good lens with high resolution will give you a sharper image and thus more acceptable sharpness throughout the depth of field.
Old lenses for view cameras with work well if you can get them attached to the bellows.
In macro work you are using only the central portion of the image area so you get the best of any lens.
Herschel
fotofx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
fotofx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Hey (tightwad) Greg,
Canon made a version of the enlarger macro for bellows use. I have the 35mm with a FD mount and have an adapter to marry it to the camera body. But I also have used it on the old FL bellows and it works like a charm.
NO DOF to speak of though. I have also seen FD and Nikon 50mm used with a reversal mount for 1-1 macro work. Very sharp and a much faster lens than the little'uns. Depending on how much magnifacatation you need
I have also used W/A lenses w/ extension tubes and telephotos with the same. One of favorite lens for "Close Up is the old 28-80 3.5-5.6 plastic mount zoom. It's dirt cheap, and gets darn near 1-1 and stops down to f32!!
I have had crap loads of model car images published with that lens. Close-up to me is more fun than actual macro.
I like trying to shoot models as if they were lifesize. Maybe I will get one up on the board sometime. I have not done much with digital macro yet but it's on my list.
AFAIK the LF lenses can be used but the bellows factor are a bi*ch. As it was I often had to do multiple pops even with some of the model cars. The advantage of the LF glass is the ability to use f/64 or one some even smaller apertures.
Just look around for those lenses. enlarger lenses especially leitz and Nikon are easy to get cheap now because nobody does that much darkroom. Also you want to use a camera with mirror lockup if possible. Mirror slap can cause real issues in sharpness.
If you have a copy stand use it in conjunction with a magic arm for your subject. It works much better than the tripod thingy or hanging the camera from the center post.
Have fun and don't get stung shooting bees...
Les
I read recently that certain lenses work better on a macro bellows than other lenses. By 'better' I presume they mean sharpness and perhaps longer DOF. I read somewhere that reversing a Tessar formula lens is a good idea. I have also heard that enlarger lenses make good bellows lenses.
Now always one for a tight budget, I want to be frugal and I don't care how the end result looks as long as the images are clear. If an enlarger lens is good (or even if it's not), would a photocopier lens be good? How about a projector, microscope or telescope lens? Would using a lens designed for a 5x7 camera on a 35mm camera be of any benefit in macro work?
I've got several types of old (approx 100 years old) large format lenses I plan to try and some medium format lenses but I like to know why they might work or not work and experimentation won't tell me that.
Greg
Herschel Mair
Head of the Department of Photography,
Head of the Department of Photography,
Higher College of Technology
Muscat
Sultanate of Oman
Muscat
Sultanate of Oman
Adobe Certified instructor
+ (986) 99899 673
Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.
