Like everyone else here, I want nice pictures of my coins. Like *most* of you, I look at pictures posted by some of the pro's here and drool. I'm also starting to get interested in macro photography (for close-ups of the coins and other things), but am not ready to shell out $500+ for a decent lens. I've been reading up on "reverse lens macro photography". http://digital-photography-school.c...rime-lenses-for-affordable-macro-photography/ That link talks about protecting the part of the lens that is normally protected by the camera with something called a "bayonet-to-standard filter thread adapter." "Unfortunately, leaving the lens on in reverse can potentially let dust inside your lens. I highly recommend you use the lens protector cap that comes with your lens to protect it while not shooting. If you plan on using the lens in reverse often, you can buy a bayonet-to-standard filter thread adapter. This lets you screw on a UV type or other filter to keep nature’s elements away from your lens." I can't find that online using the search term "bayonet-to-standard filter thread adapter". 1) Any ideas on where to find it? 2) I called a local camera shop, and they said they've had problems with the adapter getting stuck and ruining the threads on the lens. Any thoughts on that? I've read that I can buy: a) reversing rings, or b) an Extension Tube Set, or c) one or more magnification lenses (I bought this one: Neewer 58mm 0.45x Wide Angle Lens with Macro http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002W4RPD2/, but they sell combo packs that come with multiple lenses that can be combined for more magnification power) What are the trade-offs? "B" seems to be the most expensive. Which of the options will work best for coins, snowflakes, etc.?
My setup: Canon T5i w/ kit lens Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens (Note: I also have a 70-200 f/4L USM Telephoto Zoom Lens and a Canon 430EX Speedlite Flash, but I don't think those would be used for these purposes.)
Extension tubes do work and a lot of folks use them. Go search "extension tube" at a photo site like http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/ You'll find lots of examples including product names. Lighting will still be the big deal though.
Magnification lenses always degrade image quality. They usually distort the shape of the image ("pincushion" or "barrel" distortion), and they produce colored fringes (chromatic aberration). I have a stackable set; the weak one is okay, but the higher the power I use, the worse the distortion is. At high powers, only the center of the image is worth looking at. Extension tubes work well; they don't let in dust, they don't add distortion, they're easy to use, and they're cheap-ish. On the down side, they darken the image (you're spreading the same amount of light over a larger area), and even if you spring for a set that carries focus and aperture signals through to your lens, autofocus usually doesn't work very well with them. (If you're shooting macro, though, you probably want to use manual focus anyhow.) I haven't done the lens-reversal trick, so I have no advice there. I usually use an older Canon 100mm USM macro, and I usually don't need more magnification than that. I remember it being more difficult to use with the extension tubes, but I don't remember details. Don't rule out using tubes with the 70-200L; I've used them with a 100-400L to get shots of butterflies, and it works, but I wasn't up to the technical challenge of managing focus and steadying the camera. I'm thinking that by stacking all my tubes I was able to get pretty close to 1:1 magnification with that arrangement. The 70-200L is a fine lens, and it would be worth trying this.
Are there any used macro lens options for Canon? I have a Nikon DSLR and picked up an old 1980's macro lens for under $50. Works great, only downside is manual metering/focus, but that's actually not a big deal shooting coins.
Doug, I don't know whether you've already got this info, but thought I'd post these two pics. Please note I am an experienced photographer but quite new at macro and coins... The first is just for scale: This second shot is using the Canon100mm EF Macro on a 1.3x Canon camera, as close as you can get, with 100% crop (you probably need to click on it to get it full size). Shot at f/16, which appears to be the smallest aperture I can use before diffraction starts to make it worse (the lens goes to f/32). This is not near as close as some of the closeup shots I've seen of yours through a microscope. Also the depth of field is quite clearly problematic here, and I didn't play with any focus stacking to try to fix it. On the same vein, my tripod setup shakes quite a bit when used for this kind of macro, and I suspect I'd be much better off using one of the expensive rail focusing mechanisms if I were really to want to focus stack this image. In any event, I just posted these in case you were wondering what you'd get with one of Canon's good macro lenses. I suppose the 200mm would be twice this good, at about 4-5x the cost.
I know some people use the extension tubes, and they apparently work well. I haven't been impressed by the results people get by reversing the lens. The best/easiest results that I have gotten come from just buying a macro lens. These are specially designed to do what you need - why try to MacGyver something when the engineers have already figured it out for you? I have a Canon T3i, and use the Canon 100mm macro lens. It works great, is fast, takes great pictures, and I am extremely pleased with it. If you don't already have them, a copy stand and proper lighting are also essential. Here is an example of my recent photography:
I'm a big fan of 100mm and 150mm macro. With a sturdy stand and good lighting you are on the fast track to taking nice images. Nothing wrong with playing around with other options. It can't hurt to learn them, it just takes more time to master it. I really like having lots of room between the lens and the coin. That gives you more room to play with the lighting.
I bought these yesterday: Fotodiox Canon EOS Macro Extension Tube Set http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Y60DZO/ Macro Focusing Focus Rail Slider http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009SJ7UWU Will let you all know how they work out. Holding off on the reverse lens technique for now. Canon lenses are nice, but expensive. Are there other brands that are less expensive but almost as good?
I'm noticing that those extension tubes do not pass on the signals from the camera for focus or aperture setting. So it looks like you'll be shooting with the lens at maximum aperture, which could be a problem... Sigma and Tamron make good 3rd party lenses for the Canon mount, though I don't know the product line to tell you which ones are good macro lenses.
Do other extension tubes pass on the signals for focus and aperture? If they exist, I would guess they cost more. I wonder how much...
I did a search on Amazon for "canon macro extension tubes" and found quite a few that claim to pass through the signals for focus and aperture setting. I haven't used any, so I can't really help picking one out though.
My set of extension tubes is from Kenko, 12mm, 20mm and 36mm, stackable. They pass focus and aperture info. I see that they're over $100 on Amazon. I didn't remember them being that expensive, but it was a long time ago. I see other units that claim to pass focus and aperture signals for under $50. I wasn't familiar with the trick of pulling the lens off the camera body while it's stopped down (using DOF preview). That makes me nervous, but I don't know for a fact that it's a bad idea. It certainly seems inconvenient. You do "lose light" with tubes, but only because of the geometry -- the light heading toward your sensor travels further, and spreads out more. There isn't really anything to do about it, but if you're using a good mount and mirror lockup/remote release, you can just lengthen the exposure to compensate. Again, AF doesn't work very well, but you don't want it for extreme macro work anyhow.
Sigma and Tamron are a couple of brands other than Canon. I'm not sure if they are that much cheaper though. You might find some slightly used models on eBay or Amazon. For coin photography you would do better to set aperture between f5.6 and f11. Something in the middle would work well. I rarely use any setting other than f5.6 and f6.3.
