[Buddha Jones]

First off, I finally got my VIV105 replacement in today and man I almost want to take tomorrow off just to walk around a shoot everything that I see, but that will wait until I get my K10D back from Pentax.

Preface: Picture quality was not my focus here, pun intended.

First here is the setup, took a lot of eBaying and googling to find these:



Now here are the results:

My models for tonight:


The results from the little Buddha statue were just so rediculous that you cant even make anything out so I will only post the phone pics.

Here is a standard shot using the VIV105 as close as you can get it.



Now here is the same shot with the VIV Tubes on it. These tubes are special cuz they will carry the aperature setting from the camera to the lens so you can shoot in A mode if you have an aperature ring. Not much of an issue here but still a cool feature.



Now here is the setup with the VIV105 with the 2x teleconvertor on that supports Macro while still having the extension tubes connected to the body. This setup did not support the A feature on the lens so I had to manually drop it down to f2.4



Personally I think the results are phenominal, a 210mm Macro, I can get withing 6 inches of the object. Lighting is an issue, but a ring flash is an easy and cheap cure for that [VIV6000 for $70] But I shot these w/o a flash, only my bedroom lights. I cant wait for this weekend to do some real field testing.

So whatcha think?

[roy]

BJ,
here's a shot from about the same setup. viv 105mm + 63mm ETs + 2x TC... mag is around 3-4:1



here's the actual setup



a shot using just the 1:1 vivitar at 1:1



and one with the ETs and the TC.



just for grins this is a shot from a smc M200 with 63mm ETs.



enjoy!!! it's another world..

[barbosas]

Nice gear buddha

i'm waiting to see some field results.

cheers

[johnyeros]

wow that's one sick macro setup..

[roentarre]

Congrads on the finally getting your copy, Buddha

Roy, the shot of the dragonfly head on is something I would never forget about. Really nice

[Deni]

One word: WICKED!

How much did that set you back? Aren't you afraid one of all of those connections might break?

[TaoMaas]

Are you using a tripod with your new macro set-up?

[kenyee]

Roy: are you using the same TC as Buddha? Your results seem quite a bit brighter/contrastier than his. Buddha's setup w/ the ET looks great until he puts on the TC...

[Peter Zack]

Buddha_Jones,
You said "These tubes are special cuz they will carry the aperature setting from the camera to the lens so you can shoot in A mode if you have an aperature ring. Not much of an issue here but still a cool feature."

I have the same tubes (same model numbers and length) and unless I'm missing something they have the auto aperture lever for stop down shooting but still have to be metered in manual (green button) and have no contacts to transmit lens data to the camera. When used my display does not show the f-stop. Am I missing something or are yours different?

BTW it will be interesting to see what sort of results you can acheive with such high magnifications. Next you'll have to get a microscope....

[Buddha Jones]

Roy - That shot is just sick man, but that is what I want the ability to get. I imagine one can make some interesting abstracts and such with this kinda setup as well as take some interesting macros, you do very well with that indeed.

Roentarre - Thanks man, now I can stop whining and get back out there and do what I love.

Deni - Not too bad IMO. $200 shipped for the lens on eBay using the best offier option, $80 shipped for the 2x Tele, again eBay. I was actually in a bidding war with PornFlake but didnt know it. And $50 shipped for the tubes from Cameta, was the last ones they had.

PornFlake - You need to get the VIV105 next man, you have everything else.

TaoMass - Yes, for those shots I used a tripod, but it didnt help much. I was using the K110D and with all that weight from the lenses I was getting crazy amount of camera shake. I need a lens mount and my K10D back so I can use SR.

Kenyee - I dont think that we have the same TC, but also I wasnt using a flash for this test. Lighting is still on my list of things to resolve.

Peter Zack - I was told that the tubes allowed you to shoot in "A" mode, making me believe that most tubes dont. But I havent tested it any further than last night.

I need a nap...

[Peter Zack]

Buddha, I'm fairly certain I have the same Ex tubes (same model number) and they have the aperture tab so the camera can stop down to take the shot. But metering is all manual. They basically work the same as a non A lens. There are no contacts to carry the EXIF data to the camera so AF and all other "A" settings are lost. But they work just fine. maybe yours are different and I'd be interested to find out once you've tested them.

Below is a picture taken of the center of a rhododendron just using available sun light with a 50mm FA1.4 all three Vivitar tubes and the same Vivitar 2x macro tele-converter. The lens was almost wide open here but greater DOF is possible as the bug shot that was posted shows. I just wanted to focus on one spot to see what it would look like. Bokeh isn't too bad either.

I like using this with a 135 f2.8 It gives a very close crop but allows a little distance to get some light on the shot. the other great aspect is you have 2 focusing rings. The one on the 2x macro converter and the one on the lens. So it's possible to get a pretty sharp image.

[Eaglerapids]

My Vivitar ext tubes look exactly like Buddha's also and work just like Peter describes.

[cmv]

Ha! You brought that AT-22 set . I was thinking it over and even had it in my cart for a while but didn't go for it. Maybe next time as they look to be well made.

[Buddha Jones]

I am fighting a cold but my roommate was going to his Moms housee to visit so I toughed it out and went with him. His Mom has an awesome garden, so many different types of flowers and they attract so many different kinds of insects I was excited to put everything to the test, even though I was feeling like crap.

Well we get there an hour later and I realize that I forgot my tripod and shutter remote. In my weekend condition, I wasnt even going to attempt to do any serious shooting.

I was able to snap off a couple OK ones with just the VIV105, I may post them later when my energy returns.

[Khukri]

Hullo everybody!

Very interesting set ups. Just wondering: Will it not be more convenieint to use a 28 or 24 mil lens with a reverse adapter? Very compact set up, reduces camera shake, easier to focus, use available light and gives pretty sharp pictures, I suspect sharper than what I see here today. (Have used it on my Canon T90 with very good results.)

By the way, I am en-route to building my Pentax 35mm kit. For macro I have short listed:
1. Either the AF 90 Di Tamron macro or the old 105 Vivitar Series 1 macro combined with a TC.
2. TC: - The Vivitar 2x tele-converter with macro or the Pentax 1.7x AF version.
3. A Sigma 180mm macro by itself or at best with a Pentax auto extention tube.

Can someone who has used any of these advise me which combination will prove a better decision in terms of ease of use and image quality? My primary subject for this contraption will be butterflies.

Thank you all.