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Reverse mounting a lens is a common practice for giving macro capabilities and I wanted to give it a try in the wild but doing so can be somewhat tricky as the lens itself often gets in the way as the focal distance is measured in millimeters.  This is what I got from a standard reverse mounted 50mm lens.

20100911-3901-HDR-MacroChurchville The wider the lens, the more dramatic the macro effect becomes but the more light is required and the thinner the plane of focus.

20100911-3958-HDR-MacroChurchville

At a full 17mm at f/4.0, the focal plane was thinner than I could make out with my eye.

The longer the focal length of the regular lens the weaker the macro effect is, which can be good when you want more distance to work with a la:

20100911-3992-HDR-MacroChurchville BEES!

The variable focal distance could lead to some odd cases like geometry such that the plane of focus was inside the lens.  200mm and focused at 4 feet near f/11 led to a depth of field thick enough for actual pictures of things.

20100911-3928-HDR-MacroChurchville YOU CAN MAKE OUT BOTH SIDES OF THE PETAL!

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January 20, 2010-39-Macro

It may look like a piece of foam board but that’s a gem mint Zendikar card pulled from the pack.  I received a macro adapter that’s lens-mount on one side and threaded on the other so I don’t have to man-hand my arrangement.  That’s with a reverse mount 30mm lens at f/16.  The wider the lens the more powerful the macro effect so as the focal distance increases the objects focus further away.  Also:

January 20, 2010-54-Macro

I thought that the bottom was grainy until I zoomed in and saw that it was actually the reflection off of the gorilla pod I was using as a stand for the camera.  I tightened up my light stand, got a light table that someone was throwing out and used it to help even out the illumination.  I still think a mirror may be a better base, I need to try.

The other photos in the set showcase the changes in Magic’s printing pattern.  It’s interesting to see that there are actual areas of true whtle compared to the speckled white of most white cards.  Below the face from A-6th edition Wrath of God.

January 20, 2010-43-Macro

I tried slapping a zoom lens in reverse mount for more control but the zoom effect was much less as one picks a longer lens.  For instance below is a pen at 250mm.

January 23, 2010-6-macro

Much less imposing but with a depth of field thicker than a pubic hair.

Next gratuitous shot type: Coin

January 23, 2010-26-macro

Rest of stuff:

[flickr album=72157623141180019 num=10 size=Thumbnail]

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It’s New Year’s Eve and I spent it updating the Ockanickon webpage and avoiding cleaning.  During the avoiding time I decided to try a trick I had heard where one could create a fake macro lens by cranking up the f-stop, triggering the aperture button on the lens while removing it and placing it backwards onto the body.  It worked.  I was in no way prepared for that.

Here’s an example:

January 01, 2010-12-MacroTest

Computer case screw at the closest distance my 30mm /1.4 would handle

And here’s it after reversing the lens on the camera body:

January 01, 2010-4-MacroTest

Reverse 30mm on body

Note that the depth of field is about a thick as a pubic hair.

Here’s a better example of the depth of field generated by this process (in this case, f/8.0ish)

January 01, 2010-17-MacroTest

That’s a Mana Drain I bought that had been lit on fire.  More specifically, that’s the burnt edge.

I finished with an obligatory shot of a ballpoint pen tip.

January 01, 2010-29-MacroTest

Obligatory Shot of a Ballpoint Pen

If you go to the Flickr page and view the f-er full screen you can make out the lights I used to take the shot.  These lights are also visible below:

January 01, 2010-35-MacroTest

I need to get a lightbox.