KM5D with 75-300mm lens

[Eyesthruthelens]

Hi,
Some photo shots with this zoom len..
Just wonder, is it appropriate to use this len for macro shooting?

[Eyesthruthelens]

More..

[eow]

i like the first and the last pics
seem to show the quality of the lens is a good one

[TME]

It's good enough but if u want to fill the frame, then u need to move nearer and then u probably want a dedicated macro lens. A cheap alternative is to buy extension tubes. They are very cheap and u get macro but often u lose AF, which means manual focussing... and usually u want to replace the focussing screen with the M screen if u have problems doing manual focus...

[Eyesthruthelens]

Originally Posted by TME It's good enough but if u want to fill the frame, then u need to move nearer and then u probably want a dedicated macro lens. A cheap alternative is to buy extension tubes. They are very cheap and u get macro but often u lose AF, which means manual focussing... and usually u want to replace the focussing screen with the M screen if u have problems doing manual focus...

What is extension tube.. from KM webpage, is this what you call extension tube?
AF 1.4X Tele Converter Apo (D)
AF 2X Tele Converter Apo (D)

How much you need to pay for these extension tubes?

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Originally Posted by Eyesthruthelens What is extension tube.. from KM webpage, is this what you call extension tube? AF 1.4X Tele Converter Apo (D) AF 2X Tele Converter Apo (D) How much you need to pay for these extension tubes?

no point getting the 1.4 & 2x for the 70-300, cos when u add those, you also need to multiply the widest aperture by the multiplier.. 300@5.6, den become 600@11.2... super 'dark'

[Drudkh]

Originally Posted by Eyesthruthelens What is extension tube.. from KM webpage, is this what you call extension tube? AF 1.4X Tele Converter Apo (D) AF 2X Tele Converter Apo (D) How much you need to pay for these extension tubes?

that's teleconverters. not extension tubes.
if you can find a 2nd cheapo 2X minolta mount teleconvertor, break off the glass and use as extension tube.

[TME]

Originally Posted by Drudkh that's teleconverters. not extension tubes. if you can find a 2nd cheapo 2X minolta mount teleconvertor, break off the glass and use as extension tube.

Eh... cheapo isn't that cheapo leh.... $60 is still quite ex to destroy something lor.... kekekeke....

Look for 2nd hand extension tubes.... although they aren't very expensive first hand... first hand perhaps the same price as a really cheap 2nd hand teleconvertor like Drudkh got...

The advantage of doing it Drudkh's way is that u retain the AF functionality of the lens cos the teleconvertor basically is a lens itself... but what Drudkh did was to smash out the lens portion, but the mechanism that drives the focussing on the lens remains intact.

On the other hand if u do it like me buying a dedicated extension tube, then u lose AF and u must MF. That can be quite troublesome if (1) U are using a heavy lens for macro, (2) u are shooting something that moves, (3) u've got poor eyesight, especially astigmatism like me....

Choose your posion...

[Drudkh]

hehe mine was $40.
brand new ext tube i think cathay sell about $100 for the 25mm or 35mm? also available a set of 3 sizes, selling over $150. that's the price i last checked.

[TME]

Originally Posted by Drudkh hehe mine was $40. brand new ext tube i think cathay sell about $100 for the 25mm or 35mm? also available a set of 3 sizes, selling over $150. that's the price i last checked.

In that case, it's more expensive than a new Teleplus 2x teleconvertor... I was quoted around $140? That's before bargaining if I dun remember wrongly...

[grado]

If I were seriously into macro I would get a dedicated macro lens like the minolta 100mm f2.8 macro or the tamron 90mm f2.8 DI macro. That would give excellent macro shots...

But if you just wanna try out, you can add some cheap close up filter, but the pics will have very shallow depth of field, but you which you can add to the abstract effect where critical sharpness is not that important... Like this shot I took with a 135mm f2.8 and +4 close up filter... Haha! Bees again!

[TME]

The extension tubes are cheaper and give very very shallow depth of field as well... but the bokeh is not as good I feel...

[Drudkh]

Originally Posted by TME The extension tubes are cheaper and give very very shallow depth of field as well... but the bokeh is not as good I feel...

i think it will be very hard to get bokehs with ext tube but still depends on what lens was used.

[AncientMariner]

Another way will be to reverse mount a lens.
I tried that with a 50mm on 75-300mm lens.
I had to be extremely close to focus at all but the magnification was almost microscopic.

[Drudkh]

Originally Posted by AncientMariner Another way will be to reverse mount a lens. I tried that with a 50mm on 75-300mm lens. I had to be extremely close to focus at all but the magnification was almost microscopic.

wow, 50mm is

by the way, to use with ext tube, it is best to use with a zoom lens, cos the zoom ring will become like focusing ring. prime lens will do too, but you'll have to focus by moving near and away from the subject to get focus.

[AncientMariner]

Originally Posted by Drudkh wow, 50mm is by the way, to use with ext tube, it is best to use with a zoom lens, cos the zoom ring will become like focusing ring. prime lens will do too, but you'll have to focus by moving near and away from the subject to get focus.

Tks but I don't have any extension tubes yet.
What I used was a reversing adapter that threads 2 lenses together with the outer one in reverse. I learned by trial and error about using zoom to focus and about moving the setup back and forth to focus. It was tedious and I decided to hold back on shooting macro until I have tried other aspects of photography.

[ratboy]

another alternative to confuse you

You can get a MAF -> M42 mount adapter
then get M42 extension tubes which are real cheap
this will also allow you to use real cheap M42 lens
( too bad no AS.. why they no allow us to manually set
the focal length for AS when the lens mount no sense lens chip : )

[TME]

Originally Posted by AncientMariner Tks but I don't have any extension tubes yet. What I used was a reversing adapter that threads 2 lenses together with the outer one in reverse. I learned by trial and error about using zoom to focus and about moving the setup back and forth to focus. It was tedious and I decided to hold back on shooting macro until I have tried other aspects of photography.

Problem with this is that the rear element and aperture mechanism is exposed to the elements when u shoot... not very advisable... U can't put a filter over the rear of the lens to protect...

Actually I tried extension tubes on a 50mm and a 70-200mm... the 50mm case was pretty tough focussing cos the camera was very 'light' and unbalanced. U had to go like 0.5 to 1 cm in front of the object... so that precludes shooting larger objects... the 70-200mm worked like a charm but the lens was very very heavy... will try a 17-35mm or 24-135mm next...

[Drudkh]

Originally Posted by TME Problem with this is that the rear element and aperture mechanism is exposed to the elements when u shoot... not very advisable... U can't put a filter over the rear of the lens to protect... Actually I tried extension tubes on a 50mm and a 70-200mm... the 50mm case was pretty tough focussing cos the camera was very 'light' and unbalanced. U had to go like 0.5 to 1 cm in front of the object... so that precludes shooting larger objects... the 70-200mm worked like a charm but the lens was very very heavy... will try a 17-35mm or 24-135mm next...

the 24-135 will be a good choice. remember to set to infinity if you're using manual focus.

[TME]

Originally Posted by Drudkh the 24-135 will be a good choice. remember to set to infinity if you're using manual focus.

Thanks!