Bellows Anyone

[sean_buerger]

Camels,

does any of you use bellows for macro photography? Is this totally yesterday technology?

I do have an M42 adapter and mounted a VEB Pentacon Bellows onto my SIGMA SD10. I used a MC VOLNA 9 macro lens on top of that and got really EXTREME macro. It does appear reasonably sharp too.

On the camera everything manual (especially exposure is trial n error).

Just for fun. Sean.

[sean_buerger]

Oops forgot this

[sean_buerger]

And that is the result!

[Narsuitus]

Yes, I use bellows for macro photography. If it is yesterday’s technology, it still works for me.

For 35mm film, I use a 105mm short mount lens that was designed specifically for mounting on bellows. With this lens, I am able to shoot from infinity to 1:1.

When I need to shoot deep in the macro range, I use a 28mm lens mounted in reverse position on the bellows. With this reversed lens, I am able to shoot from 2.5:1 up to 12:1 provided that I add all the extension tubes that I own to the bellows unit.

[sean_buerger]

Hi Narsuitus,

I understand that using a longer telephoto lens gives you more distance when working macro. With my 50mm the object taken in the above picture was very very close to my lens.

How does a 28mm in reverse compare to the 105 in terms of distance? Do you have to get very close? What makes a lens usable for retro use?

Cheers. Sean.

[Narsuitus]

Originally Posted by sean_buerger

I understand that using a longer telephoto lens gives you more distance when working macro. With my 50mm the object taken in the above picture was very very close to my lens.

A good rule of thumb is: Double the focal length and double the shooting distance. For example, with my 55mm macro lens at a reproduction ratio of 1:1, the distance from the optical center of the lens to the subject is about 110mm.

With my 105mm macro lens at a reproduction ratio of 1:1, the distance from the optical center of the lens to the subject is about 210mm.

[Narsuitus]

Originally Posted by sean_buerger

How does a 28mm in reverse compare to the 105 in terms of distance? Do you have to get very close? What makes a lens usable for retro use?

Reversed normal and wide-angle lenses produce better close-up and macrophotography photos than reversed telephoto lenses.*

With my 28mm mounted in reverse position, at a 2.5:1 reproduction ratio, the distance from the optical center of my lens to the subject is about 39mm. At 12:1, the distance is about 30mm.

[badpickev]

i dont this its so yesterday. there is a knock off company in china selling new bellows for major slrs and dslrs on ebay all the time.

[Wilt]

The problem is that 'yesterday technology' simply has failed to be kept up to pace with the need to pass bidirectional electronic signals from body to lens. Not difficult, but I think that the relatively low volume of business for bellows historically has prevented investment for electonic cameras! Too bad.

[Rokcet Scientist]

From what I understand the bellows Sean uses – movable in one axis – is for macro only.
In medium and large format photography they have bellows that allow movement in two more axes. Three axes in total. You can do weird and wonderful stuff with those. Essential for architecture. Gives you amazing control over perspective lines and DoF: the tilt-shift lens.
Well explained here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera

What you can do with a tilt-shift lens: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_correction

The adaptation of that principle for 35mm cameras, also called a tilt-shift lens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspec...orrection_lens has one less axis. At least Canon, Nikon and Pentax (used to) have offerings.
Those are pricey lenses though. So if you want to dip your toe in before you take a headlong (expensive) dive, there's an interesting D-I-Y hack here –> http://www.dennisonbertram.com/hackm...ft-pc-lens.htm that's worth considering.

[Bob]

Yesterdays technology - well not quite yet, take a look at what Novoflex is still making. http://www.novoflex.com/english/html/products.htm
The auto bellows and reverse adapters both have electronic control with the Canon gear. Nice stuff, not cheap tho.

Bob

[Jim Jones]

While yesterday's technology was perfected for yesterday's cameras, it can still be useful on many modern cameras. One inexpensive source of good macro and micro lenses is enlarging lenses. Newer ones usually have the Leica screw mount. Adaptors are available to use them on the M42 and other camera mounts. If the camera can't meter the exposure through a bellows mounted lens, a little math or a chart giving the exposure correction factor will do. Narsuitus' advice about reverse mounting lenses is very good. Doing this with movie camera lenses makes extreme magnification possible.

In micro photography, Depth Of Field can be a problem. Stopping down to increase DOF can result in unsharpness due to diffraction. Macro- and micro-photography gets complicated, but is worth the effort.

[Andy_T]

Originally Posted by Bob

The auto bellows and reverse adapters both have electronic control with the Canon gear. Nice stuff, not cheap tho.

Good find here

However, as you already mentioned, it's 500$ opposed to something like 50$ for an eBay M42 bellows unit ... quite a difference.

Best regards,
Andy