[dakight]

Cheap options are manual extension tubes which are fine if your lens has an aperture ring. You can get some nice shots without spending a lot of money. Reversing rings are ridiculously cheap and work well but have the same limitation; your lens needs to have an aperture ring. In either case you will have to use manual controls which isn't that much of a limitation. Autofocus is next to useless at macro ranges anyway. If your extension tubes (I have a set of Vivitar tubes) have the aperture lever you can use the green button for metering.


DA and DFA lenses are not suitable for reversing, bellows or extension tubes because they have no way to manually control the aperture. I did experiment with reversing the DA-50 and got reasonable result by propping the aperture lever open with toothpicks but I wouldn't recommend that as a general practice, especially on expensive lenses.


Reversing one lens onto the objective of another can produce amazing results but you still have the same issue with aperture control. The good news here is that you can get some older manual glass at very reasonable prices. If you do that you can use the camera to control the aperture of the primary lens and then leave the add-on lens open, or you can stop it down and use Av mode to let the camera determine the correct shutter speed.


So, there are many inexpensive options and all have their strengths and weaknesses. The good news is that they are cheap enough that you can try them all without busting the budget.

[aslyfox]

I want to thank all who have posted in this thread with examples and suggestions. I have a lot to digest. I hope that all of this info is helpful to others as well.

here are photos of the sleeping Sumatran Tiger Cub taken through glass at the Topeka Zoological Park, lens set for macro and I was physically moving back and forth to try to cut down reflection and obtain focus.

K 3 + Tamron 70 - 300 mm macro zoom 1:2

[TER-OR]

yeah, it's tricky. The second lens I bought when I got a used K10 was the FA100 f2.8 macro. That was in 2008 or 2009 (memory doesn't serve). It's only this year when I'm using the inexpensive Sunpak DX-8R ring flash in manual mode that I'm really happy with results. That said, each year is better. Getting out in the field doing insect survey work taking many photos has helped with technique. That's something I can't do with a reversed lens, I need the reach of the 100mm. I've been considering hunting down a rare 180mm macro. The rig isn't light, but relatively compact except the flash's sending unit which is pretty tall.

Light is your best ally for macro work - the magnification means you need plenty. Bright sun is enough, though the flash helps fill and isolate. The good news is you don't need to spend a fortune on flash gear.

There are some bargains out there. I found a Promaster 28-105 which is really sharp around 70mm. You may need to experiment with those zooms and find their sweet spots. Then put a band on the lens so you don't bump away from that FL.

Here's a great bargain:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/24-photographic-equipment-sale/328128-sal...ing-flash.html

[aslyfox]

macro photography - tricky indeed

I decided to experiment with my K 3 and my three options for lenses: 1 the auto focus tamron 70 - 300 mm macro zoom 1:2, 2 the manual focus Vivitar 70 - 210 mm macro focusing zoom and 3 the manual focus Vivitar 28 - 105 mm macro focusing zoom

I did my best trying to focus by physically moving. not very easy, practice will make perfect I hope

I quickly discovered that to focus the third option, I had to be fractions of an inch from my target. not useful for me in the field.


fortunately I had better luck with the other two. here are 3 photos of a bee on a blossom (actually 2 bees in one photo) - (in the true time line, I was using lens no. 2 and then switched to lens no. 1) - the amazing thing is that the bee stayed on the same blossom while I changed lenses.

first the tamron

on the second photo, still the tamron but note the bee which flew into the frame and landed as I was lining up the shot. See the pollen on the bee??

then the Vivitar 70 - 210

as I said I expect more practice will help.

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[Sagitta]

Have you tried catch focus yet?

I've found if I'm just going to plop my subject in the middle of the frame to crop later (or not crop) it helps tremendously with nailing the shot. I'll either do the drunken swagger back and forth til the shot first, or I'll try slowly focusing the lens in one spot until it fires.

Since macro subjects are (usually) fairly still or slow moving, it tends to lend itself well as an aid. The other option is to use focus peaking in live view and watching for the sparklies to kick in.

[Rnovo]

Extreme Macro Photography

You seem to be on a tight budget so a good choice is the Takumar SMC macro 50mm f4.0 (or 100m) - (screw mount M42) for $50 and a set of 3 tubes for $40 also screw mount. You can find those on e-bay or maybe on this forum. See the excellent e-book on bellows recently published on this forum. A Pentax bellows II will fetch a max $50.
The above reference web site is a very good document to start with.
The best macro photos are made with a prime macro lens, your zooms are good ones but a fixed focus lens offer better results. See all variations in the lens line up in this forum.

[audiobomber]

The best macro photos are made with a prime macro lens, your zooms are good ones but a fixed focus lens offer better results.

Also, when people say "macro" these days, they mean 1:1, which is beyond any zoom except for the specialized and very expensive Canon MP-E 65mm.

Aslyfox, you asked about close-up lenses, which should be avoided due to heavy aberrations. A diopter is a cheap and capable solution, because it is as easy to use a close-up lens, and has corrective elements. A Raynox 150 would mate well with your existing zooms. It is an inexpensive means of getting to true macro range and a handy solution for adding close-up ability to almost any lens. Check out the Raynox thread. https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/122-lens-clubs/74221-raynox-macro-club.html

[aslyfox]

Personally speaking, the more money spent on true macro equipment means less for:

Son''s upcoming wedding, savings, in general and for return trip to africa, first trip to yellowstone/grand teton, mortgage, house payments, car payments, other photography equipment which would be used more often, etc., etc., etc.

Decisions, decisions, decisions little $ can add up to $$$$$

Possible "go fund me " project

Very helpful and educational postings folks

[Skodadriver]

I am becoming amazed at the macro photos I am seeing on the forums

the nearest lenses I have to a macro lens are my tamron 70 - 300 mm macro zoom 1:2 AF and Vivitar Series 1 1:2.8-3.8 28 - 105 mm macro focusing zoom mf, and Vivitar Series 1 1:2.8-4.0 70 - 210 mm macro focusing zoom mf

I have fooled around some with the Tamron but not with either of the Vivitars. I am not sure of the ratios on those.

I understand my options for macro photograph would be true macro lenses, close up filter/lenses, bellows/extension tubes and "reverse" technique.

any recommendation as to the best way to proceed keeping in mind budget concerns. IOW, if the close up lenses are the least expensive option, are they worth it? can you use bellows/extension tubes in the field or are they studio use only, and finally, how do you do the "reverse" technique with a K lens?

thanks for no LOL and for any other advice or help you can offer

I have both the Tamron 70-300mm DI LD and the Sigma 70-300mm equivalent, they both allow for close up (macro) shots at 300mm end which enables keeping some distance from the subject. I also have some close up lenses that screw into the filter thread of my 52 and 55mm thread lenses. The best of these close up lenses I have seems to be a Nikon close up no 3T which apparently is a 2 element achromatic (better than cheap 1 element lenses if what I have read is to be believed). This came attached to a Nikon 70-150mm lens that I sold on effectively making the close up lens free.


I also have some Cokin close up lenses but have not used them much as they do not seem to provide good IQ.


I fitted the close up lens to a Pentax-M 200mm F4 and shot the following image. The minimum focussing distance was reduced from about 6 feet to a foot providing me with a close up lens that I believe may provide better images than the "macro" setting on the lenses you already have.


If you are looking for cheap, find a good (2 element) close up lens, though you will probably want a prime lens to fit it to, something around 135mm to 200mm with the right filter thread (49mm to 58mm) for the close up lens can be found cheaply enough, there are many 135mm non-Pentax lenses that sell for less than the cost of a close up lens new that are sharp if not with "A" contacts. Another bonus with these close up lenses is they can be stacked to increase magnification. I have (I hope) included a link that has some information that might be helpful.
Nikon T-series close-up lenses - A lens that works like a filter | DSLReports, ISP Information



Raynox lenses seem to get very good reviews but I have not yet come across one I felt was cheap enough to warrant purchasing and trying.
Shot at F11 ISO400

[mee]

One other aspect, I'm not sure yet mentioned, is the usage of a camera flash along with your macro lens. IF the scene allows for it (please dont flash bright light into a tigers face haha), this will allow you to stop down to a larger aperture value which generally allows for more of the subject to be in focus and also a bit sharper (maybe even a little less CA).

But, along with this, you may need to experiment with some sort of snoot to direct the light onto the subject (at the end of the lens). Pringles cans are cheap and fairly effective. Can also create one out of cardboard as a fun, DIY project. If interested, search around for this as it has been discussed before here on the forums.