Originally posted by jezza323 Suggest to me a cheap Macro option I may or may not have just blown my budget on a 150-500mm on ebay which I couldn't go past... I was planning on buying instead a Sigma 70mm macro, so in the mean time, suggest to me a cheap option for macro My lens lineup is currently K - mount Sigma 10-20mm Sigma 30mm Pentax F 35-70mm Sigma 70-200mm Sigma 150-500mm M42 mount Jupiter9 85mm Tair 11A 135mm Tair 3PhS 300mm The way I see it my options are.... Find some cheap K mount tubes to go with the F 35-70mm, but they would need to have aperture control, and I havent come across any lately that would suit for cheap Get a Raynox or similar to go on a lens Get a full set of M42 tubes, but the M42 lenses I have are very heavy, not keen on that option hanging so far off the adapter Get a cheap macro lens, AKA Cosina/Vivitar plastic fantastic 100mm f3.5, but they are hard to find with the 1:1 adapter Suck it up and wait till I can replenish the budget for the Sigma 70mm So what would you do?
Well here is what I've picked up over the past 2 years - mostly for less than $30 an item
cheap set of M42 extension tubes
m42 bellows
K extension tubes - have since sanded down the back faces to ensure contact with the body so the lens will stop down
49, 52 mm reversing rings
a 3X macro focusing teleconverter - I find it works better as a 3X TC than the macro, but if you slap on a 50 mm lens you get 1:1, and it has A contacts
2 Takumar-A teleconverters, at least one of which will be deglassed to make an A contact extension tube
I've used some of these more than others. One of my favorite combinations is to hang a 135mm lens off of the extension tubes. Not the fastest lens to use, but it means you can stand well back of the object you are shooting. I've also put 50mm lenses on the tubes. I've not found this to be too heavy a combination. One of my favorite lenses for close ups (1:4) is the A35-105/3.5 which allows close focusing across the entire zoom range. The beauty is that you can use a combination of zooming and focusing so you have less stepping back and forth with your feet to get it right. It is a heavy lens, but I may still try it with an extension tube once I deglass.
For a little more money I bought a Vivitar 90/2.8 m42 lens. Beautiful glass. Great for macro. Only problem I have is that the focus throw is something like 900 degrees, and my copy is a bit stiff. So it can be hard to focus at times, especially if I go from a macro shot to a non macro one. If it wasn't for that, I'd use this lens a lot more often. There is at least one for sale on the forums, and the seller also has the vivitar 100 you mention, but without the extension tube. (Not an endorsement for the seller, but just to indicate you can price each of these lenses on the forum).
All of these tools have their ups and downs. Extension tubes are fine if you don't want to change magnification much, otherwise they are fiddly. The bellows is huge - I've yet to try it out properly yet. Reversing rings only give you very close focusing - you don't get the extra magnification without putting extension tubes in between.
One option you haven't mentioned is to pick up a set of m42 tubes and a cheap m42 lens like the SMC Takumar 55/2 or 55/1.8. I find 50mm a bit short for macro as you have to be very close to the object when you focus.
I'll close by saying I tinker, with the exception of the Vivitar macro lens, I don't think any of my tools are great ways to do macro, especially in an uncontrolled environment, but they were cheap options and I've had some fun learning how to use them.