----- Original Message ----- From: "jon carver" Subject: Macro Setup
> Hi Ya'll, > Haven't really been active lately but have found this list very helpful in > the past. > > One of the things I absolutely love about my wee point-and-shoot is the > macro mode but sometimes I'm without the PnS so I'm looking for > suggestions on a macro kit for the DSLR. My current DSLR kit is a K10D, > both DA* zooms, DA 70 limited and the DA 40 limited (soon to be replaced > with the 21). Anyway, I've been thinking of getting the FA 50/1.4 and a > bellows so that I can start taking some macro shots with the big cam. One > of the reasons I like this idea is that this kit would be dual purpose. > The 50/1.4 seems like it would work well for macro *and* it would be nice > to have at least one fast lens in the kit. However, I'd love to hear some > other suggestions. I've noticed a 100 f/4 seems to be a popular choice so > I'd love to hear opinions on that lens. I'd also like to hear what some > have to say about lighting products as well. Basically, I'm about to > invest and would like to feel confident that I'm making the right choices. Depending on how "macro" you want to go, you have several options. For magnifications to 1:1, your best bet overall is still the 100ish mm macro lens. Some are better than others, but anything from an old Vivitar 100mm macro (Series1 or otherwise) to the now legendary Voigtlander 125mm Apo Lanthar is going to be an excellent performer. I'd be on the lookout for any of the Pentax 100/2.8 Macro lenses, the A series is the best of the lot, but they are all excellent lenses. I had an old Vivitar 100/2.5 (pre Series1) for quite a while that was most excellent, so don't be afraid to buy an older macro lens if the price is right. Don't worry if it isn't an AF lens, as AF and macro aren't necessarily the best partners anyway, though I would place fairly high importance on the lens being of the A series type, as with stopped down metering, you will fall outside of the K10's metering range very quickly at the small apertures common with macro work. Don't forget that at 1:1, your lens is fully two stops dimmer than it was at infinity focus. If you want to go closer than that, and are looking for a bellows, there are lots of good options. Any old screw mount bellows will do, though your best bet is a well built one that hasn't been abused. Look for a dual rail rather than a single rail, as they are more rigid. I have both a Pentax screw mount bellows and a Pentax K-Mount bellows, both are excellently built. I have a really old Fuji Single rail bellows that is quite wobbly, hence my dual rail preference. To mount a bellows onto the K10 (or any Pentax DSLR) you will need a short extension tube ( the shortest of the three in the auto extension tube set, for example) to push the back of the bellows far enough from the camera to allow it to mount. The prism extends out too far in front of the camera to allow a bellows to mount directly. Technically, an FA50mm/1.4 is out of it's operating range on a bellows, but it will probably still give very good to excellent results. I haven't tried this myself, but my past experience with this sort of thing leads me to think it will be an acceptable combination. If it doesn't work out, you can always go looking for a more appropriate lens. The best lens to put on a bellows is a bellows lens. Pentax made a couple of gems, the old Takumar 100/4 bellows lens is a real gem, and apparently, the SMC Pentax 100mm/4 bellows lens is somewhat better. They also can be found for reasonable coin if you are patient. If you want to go closer still, then you can look at reversing one lens onto another, for example reversing a 50mm lens onto a 100mm lens can give remarkable magnifications. I trotted these old horses out a while back, but I'll show it again: http://pug.komkon.org/01feb/pixels.html http://pug.komkon.org/02mar/dime.html These are more extreme than the example I gave above, but does show what can be achieved. Both are full frame the one of the dime is approximately a six power magnification, I hesitate to guess what the other one is. For this sort of stuff a bellows is pretty much required. When you get into photography close to life size and bigger, you aren't focussing as much, instead, often you are moving the camera back and forth slightly to bring things into focus. A macro focussing rail is a very useful tool to add to your macro kit, as it allows for very precise placement of the camera. As an aside, if you are interested in doing stitched panoramas, a focussing rail is an excellent tool for placing the rear nodal point of the lens directly over the pivot point of the tripod. Some problems to be aware of, especially with digital. Dust on the sensor becomes your enemy in a big way. With close to life sized magnifications, you will magically see every speck of dust on your sensor, not just the big chunks, and no matter what lens you are using, at extreme magnifications, the focusing screen is very dim, and hard to focus with. Your AF sensor probably won't help as it will be well out of it's operating range. While the K10 viewfinder is quite good compared to it's competition, viewfinders on DSLRs tend to be not very good compared to a good film SLR finder that was designed to be focused with. Hope this helps William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
