[lotech]

I remember in the old days we used reverse ring on 50mm lens to shoot marco of coins and stamps, that saved a lot than to purchase a real macro lens, I know it depends on the design of the lens, not all lenses mount in reverse can produce good marco quality, I wonder how they compare suppose we can get the best of the class in both type ?

[aslyfox]

I would suggest downloading the free ebook mentioned in this article

The Pentax Macro eBook
In-depth coverage of Pentax macro and close-up accessories
By PF Staff in Articles and Tips on Sep 18, 2021

The Pentax Macro eBook - Articles and Tips | PentaxForums.com

and reviewing this article

The Advantages of a Dedicated Macro Lens
Achieving lift-size magnification
By PF Staff in Tutorial Videos on Apr 4, 2016

Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/tutorial-videos/18-55mm-kit-vs-a-dedic...#ixzz7Cxsbc0DP

[MossyRocks]

One of my favorite lenses to reverse mount is my old S-M-C 28/3.5 Takumar. It basically gives a 2:1 macro and seems to do pretty well. This image was shot with that setup and cropped down about another 50% to 66% (1/2 to 1/3 the actual image size). When using the reverse mount method the focusing ring basically does nothing.

[Bob 256]

Another note is to use a reversed enlarger lens if you happen to have one laying around. They generally give better images than photographic lenses because they were designed with a finite conjugate ratio (a normal photographic lens usually has an infinite ratio) and they can have a flatter field.

[boriscleto]

CHEAP MACRO -- Buying or exploiting a lens for ultraclose work - PentaxForums.com

[lotech]

One of my favorite lenses to reverse mount is my old S-M-C 28/3.5 Takumar. It basically gives a 2:1 macro and seems to do pretty well. This image was shot with that setup and cropped down about another 50% to 66% (1/2 to 1/3 the actual image size). When using the reverse mount method the focusing ring basically does nothing.

I took very similar shot of a EPROM long time ago, your one much clearer my one got purple fringing

[MossyRocks]

I took very similar shot of a EPROM long time ago, your one much clearer my one got purple fringing

I think I had that 28/3.5 stopped down to f/8 mostly to get some more depth.

[ChristianRock]

The downside of using the reverse ring is that I liked to shoot at f16 or f22 for more depth of field, and the viewfinder would get REALLY dark.

The advantage of the macro lens is that you get to compose with a bright viewfinder.

As for what lenses work well, you have to experiment. My SMC-M 50mm f/1.7 worked really well. My SMC "K" 55mm f2 and Rikenon XR 50mm f/1.4 did not, pictures were never really sharp even at the main focus point. The Rikenon 28mm f/2.8, SMC M 28mm f/3.5 and Tokina 24mm f/2.8 worked really well. As mentioned the 28mm gives you about a 2:1 macro, and the 24mm, by my calculations, more than 2.5:1 macro. Really great for taking pictures of grains of salt or sugar and polen stems from flowers, of course.

I'm actually looking forward to my incoming K-S2 because I'll have a flip screen for the first time and I'll have to see if that works well with the inverter ring/reversed lens setup.

[lotech]

The downside of using the reverse ring is that I liked to shoot at f16 or f22 for more depth of field, and the viewfinder would get REALLY dark.

The advantage of the macro lens is that you get to compose with a bright viewfinder....

Of course I will stop down only after focus, the problem is a standard lens does not have a long barrel like a real macro lens, so need to adjust the tripod as well.

[Paul the Sunman]

I've heard the basic DA 18-55 kit lens does well reversed, but haven't tried it myself.

[wadge22]

I'll go ahead and point out that several different extremely well reviewed macro lenses are available used for $100-$250 ballpark.

I'll make a little list, probably missing some:
Pentax 50
Pentax 100
Sigma 50
Sigma 105
Vivitar/Tokina 90
Tamron 90
stretch a little further/get a good deal and there's Sigma 70.
Those are some really great 1:1 macro lenses for not a whole lot of money. It's not particularly cost prohibitive to get a top notch, conveniently designed macro lens these days.

Of course, that doesn't mean there's no reason to try other methods for macro. Extension tubes can do a whole lot of good work, too.
Just that budget isn't probably the huge dividing factor it once was.

[ChristianRock]

I've heard the basic DA 18-55 kit lens does well reversed, but haven't tried it myself.

It's always best to use a lens that can be stopped down via an aperture ring. As noted above, you try to compose and focus on a wider aperture, and then you shoot at the smaller aperture that gives you the best results.

Having said that I've used the DA 35 2.4 inverted, to some limited success. It was really hard to compose at f22 but every once in a while I'd get a very good shot...

[ChristianRock]

I'll go ahead and point out that several different extremely well reviewed macro lenses are available used for $100-$250 ballpark.

I'll make a little list, probably missing some:
Pentax 50
Pentax 100
Sigma 50
Sigma 105
Vivitar/Tokina 90
Tamron 90
stretch a little further/get a good deal and there's Sigma 70.
Those are some really great 1:1 macro lenses for not a whole lot of money. It's not particularly cost prohibitive to get a top notch, conveniently designed macro lens these days.

Of course, that doesn't mean there's no reason to try other methods for macro. Extension tubes can do a whole lot of good work, too.
Just that budget isn't probably the huge dividing factor it once was.

Realistically, other than the Sigma 50 you can't really get any of these in good condition for less than 150, probably 200+, unless you get lucky. I know, I have been looking for a long time and the only bargain I found in the last couple of years (other than my DA 35 2.8 Macro for 179 dollars shipped) was a 1:2 SMC-A 50mm f/2.8 that turned out to be defective and was returned. And that wasn't even a 1:1 lens, it was 1:2... I'm still looking for a 1:1 but not in a hurry at all since I do have the aforementioned DA 35 Limited.

To me price was a limiting factor for years, as we had 3 small children and my wife was staying at home with them (still is, after getting back to work for a year or so). It still is, I can't really justify paying 250 on a lens when I can invert what I already have (my inverter rings costed 7 dollars each at KEH back some 5-6 years ago).

There's also people here from other countries where the price of one macro lens would be more than the country's monthly minimum wage... I know because I come from a country like that.

And there's the fact that reversing a lens is simply a lot of fun, especially if you go with a lens wider than 50mm that will give you a magnification higher than 1:1. Then it gets real fun.

So I don't see why one would not want to talk about these cheap macro options that can yield results as good as a macro lens...

[wadge22]

Realistically, other than the Sigma 50 you can't really get any of these in good condition for less than 150, probably 200+.To me that was a limiting factor for years, as we had 3 small children and my wife was staying at home with them (still is, after getting back to work for a year or so).There's also people here from other countries where the price of one macro lens would be more than the country's monthly minimum wage... I know because I come from a country like that.

I'll concede that $150 is still a lot of money. I didn't mean to come off as saying everyone should just be able to afford that much easily.

I will maintain that you can get good copies of some of those lenses for $100-150. In the US, at least.
Pentax F and FA 100 in particular just aren't fetching much these days. I know as someone trying to sell...

[ChristianRock]

I'll concede that $150 is still a lot of money. I didn't mean to come off as saying everyone should just be able to afford that much easily.

I will maintain that you can get good copies of some of those lenses for $100-150. In the US, at least.
Pentax F and FA 100 in particular just aren't fetching much these days. I know as someone trying to sell...

You should be able to sell that easily. I had a search on those lenses for over a year (not anymore since I got the DA 35 Limited I'm taking a break from looking at macro lenses, other than the Tamron 90...) and the only ones that ever came up for under 200 were from Japan and had fungus. Well a couple did come up for less but by the time I saw them they were gone!

Anyway, PM me the details of your lens... you never know...