Sorry, I missed the original post. As Godfrey says, it's not *difficult* to use a bellows. I've done it a lot. :-)
If you plan to use the lens without reversal, you should pick a macro lens. The macro lenses can cope with a lot of extension without significant quality deterioration. If you plan to use the lens *with* reversal, you will need to ensure that there is a reverse adapter available for the filter thread of the lens. You will find that with long extension on the bellows, the viewfinder will grow very dim. It will be difficult to focus in low light, even with lenses like a 50mm f/1.4. I don't know how to compute the magnification you get by simple extension, but with a reversed lens, the math is simple. Divide the extension in mm by the focal lenght of the lens. With a 50mm, for example, you will get 2x magnification at 100mm extension. A 25mm lens would give you 4x at 100mm extension. I think lenses with focal lenght between 24mm and 100mm will be suitable for reversal. For me, 28mm seems about right. However, I do have a macro lens for up to 1:1 magnification. IMO, working with bellows is only practical in situations where you are not pressed for time. It's a slow and often iterative process to adjust extension, subject distance and composition into a common optimum. And always remember to stop down the lens before taking the shot...:-) If there's no movement in your motif, you don't need a flash. But even the slightest breath of wind can screw up your shot. I use flash more often than not. Especially at magnifications > 1x. Jostein Quoting Godfrey DiGiorgi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Using a bellows is not difficult at all. You will most likely want a > short-mount macro lens with a focal length around 75-135mm to get the > most out of it ... a good quality enlarging lens makes and excellent > macro lens for bellows use. Forget auto iris operation, etc. Focus > critically with a magnifier on the eyepiece, stop down, and use > aperture priority AE, or a flash setup. > > A flash setup helps out as it minimizes exposure time and camera > shake, but you have to either work out the correct exposure or use a > dedicated TTL flash unit. > > Godfrey > > > On Jan 3, 2006, at 2:24 PM, danilo wrote: > > > Hi all, > > reading about the m42 to EOS converter, I thought I'd like to give > > it a try. > > > > I was thinking to buy a macro lens, or maybe a bellow. > > what do you think about the takumar 50/4 macro lens? > > What lens do you think is better amongst the takumar line concerning > > macro? (keeping an eye on the price, that is) > > Which is a "good" price for them? > > > > If I'm going to buy a bellow, which lens should I use with it? a > > normal reversed lens (i.e. 50/1.7 - 1.4 ) or a dedicated macro one > > (such as the already mentioned 50/4 macro)?? which focal length would > > you suggest? > > > > Is it really such a pain to use a bellow ?? > > Will I really need a flash for it? (I haven't one) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.
