Hi guys!
This will be my first post with photos here at PF. I thought I’d start things up by sharing a little project I have been playing with this weekend. In theseventies my father worked for Rank Xerox Company doing maintenance to copy machines.He kept one of the lenses designed for these machines and I snatched it to seewhat it is and what it can do. I tried it in front of a regular lens and itseemed to work as a macro-extention, if you can call it that.



I don’t have any prior experience with macro photography or special equipment for that purpose apart from close-ups with a regular 18-55 zoom. Anyways, I decided to build an adapter for my M-135mm f3,5 to see what happened.



The lens is about 500grams (17 ounces).The glass measures 50mm in diameter. Quite some dust inside, but it seems fairly easy to open and I guess I will clean it later on.



It has an 8 blade aperture ranging from f4,5 to 16.





I used some cardboard paper and rolled it to a tube. Than more layers of cardboard to build up around the profile of the lens.








I ended up with a kind of a tube that slides on the 135mm lens. The fit is secure but not too tight, so it can be pulled off but won’t slip off by accident. The focus and aperture ring works like before. It handles really well on the camera.





Measurings: Focus distance shrank from 1,5meter/infinity to 14cm/17cm with a DOF around 1mm at f3,5, 3mm at f11 and 15mm at f32. Pointing the lens at a white or dark wall and pressing the “green button” with and without the tube on doesn’t change the shutter speed, so it does not seem to steel any light.



A perpendicular shot to a flat surface yields an even sharpness across the frame and minimal distortion.



Alright, time to try it out: I shot these in Jpeg-mode and they are straight from the camera apart from cropping on some pics. I also increased the saturation a little on the fly.

Compulsory flower shot f3,5



f11



Cropped from above





Ferocious wildlife





As I stated above, I don’t know the first thing about real macro equipment. What do you guys think about this setup? How are the specs compared to real macro lenses likepentax 50 and 100mm or dedicated macro rings?

With regards/ Johan

[GeoJerry]

I'm no macro expert either but it looks like you got some pretty good results. Pretty crisp shot of the fly and the yellow stamen. Nice work!

[AussieTrev]

You are quite the inventive type by the looks and very fine results. Looks like not an expense setup either. Puts some of the money we spend on our kit as perp has not necessary. Look forward to more results.

[Kerrowdown]

The resultant images look great to me, but I'm no macro buff.

Question is are you happy with them, I would be if they were mine.

[Johan Holmgren]

Thanks for the kind words you all!
Yeah I'm surprisingly happy with the results, given that I got the lens for free by chance and it's a spontaneous diy. But man isn't it a hassle to get some decent shots. With the short focal length and shallow DOF you really have to get down and dirty with these bugs. And they won't stay still either !

[Kerrowdown]

get down and dirty with these bugs

Refrigeration and super glue is the answer, but don't tell anyone.