Playing with my new bellows, putting the A50/1.7 on them.

You don't need to tell me that I should use a tripod for this, it's just that I haven't found my old macro-tripod yet, and I don't want to wait until I've figured out were it is.

The ones I do not post are of course less sharp than these, which are far from perfect. But trying to take these bellows-macro pictures on free hand rise a technical question regarding the shake reduction of the K20D.

Whenever I put an older lens on the camera it will start by asking for the focal length because this is needed for the shake reduction. But what do I enter when I put a lens on bellows (or on extension tubes)? In this case, just entering 50 mm, that can't give a fair information to the camera how to correct for my shaking!? Let's say that the bellows are extended 100 mm, should one then enter 150 mm (100+50 mm)??





Both pictures are taken with bellows + A50/1.7, f8, 1/20-1/25 sec, ISO 800, shake reduction on, M mode.

[Peter Zack]

I would guess that the best settings would be with the longer extension factored in. A bellows will greatly amplify the shake just like a long lens does.

Beautiful shots. I really like the colour and 'film like' quality to these 2 shots. Well done.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

I would guess that the best settings would be with the longer extension factored in. A bellows will greatly amplify the shake just like a long lens does.

Beautiful shots. I really like the colour and 'film like' quality to these 2 shots. Well done.

Thanks Peter. It feels a bit like ektacrome, doesn't it?

About those many less successful pictures I did not post: My impression is that the shake reduction actually does a surprisingly good job, once I figured out that I needed to enter a longer mm. I mean these two photos are taken at 1/20's and 1/25's seconds with 10-12 cm bellows extension, which is amazing. The big problem is that the DOF is so thin that I only have to move some mm to shift the DOF out of where I want it.

Once I find my tripod I'm not likely to go anywhere with the bellows without the tripod, so this may not matter. Yet, it is still impressive that it all is possible to get a sharp picture with bellows at 1/20.

[codiac2600]

Moved to a better section to hopefully get you some more response. Nice shots BTW.

[timbo13]

I like these shots!

I am thinking about getting a bellows after reading about them on this forum. I have the
M50/1.7 lens, after seeing your results I think it will work just fine to get started with macro imaging.

Tim

[Peter Zack]

Douglas you might want to have a look at the setup shots in this thread. I have my bellows mounted on a set of focus rails and it makes life so very much easier for fine focus adjustments.

Did you see this thread as well Tim?

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-photography-knowledge-base/24622-m...l-bellows.html

[timbo13]

Did you see this thread as well Tim?

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-photography-knowledge-base/24622-m...l-bellows.html

yes, thanks, I've been following it with interest

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Douglas you might want to have a look at the setup shots in this thread. I have my bellows mounted on a set of focus rails and it makes life so very much easier for fine focus adjustments.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-photography-knowledge-base/24622-m...l-bellows.html

Yes, thanks for the tip. I've got my eyes on some rails, they are on my list, but there are some things further up first. It do look very convenient.