More equipment

I saw that the photos taken with the add on diopters no matter how many were stacked would not provide enough magnification. I read about reversing an ordinary 50mm single lens reflex camera lens by using a macro filter ring adapter. The adapter (filter) ring is has male threads on both ends so you screw one end into the existing lens or in my case the lens adapter and the other end into the filter threads on the front of the lens. When you're done it'll look weird because you see the back of the camera lens but it works. Easier to understand by looking at the photos.

I bought a excellent condition Konica Hexanon AR 50 F1.7 lens on Ebay for less than $20 shipping included. This lens is purported to be one of the sharpest lenses ever made and can be had for a pittance.

The macro reverse ring adapter was purchased online at The Filter Connection. The shipping was fast and the ordering easy. Highly recommended. I bought a 52mm x 55mm ring to fit the 52mm lens adapter and the 55mm filter ring on the front of the Konica Hexanon AR 50 F1.7 lens.




Here are some photos of the stacking order, ring and lens and what it looks like all combined.


And here's a photo of a dead ladybug taken with this set up. I need to work on the focus and take into consideration the extremely small depth of field (DOF). This was taken with existing light in a fairly dark room so hopefully when there's more light outside the camera will stop down the aperature giving slightly more DOF. I also didn't realize there was vignetting but that can be cropped so I just have to take that into account when composing a photo. With this set up it seems I have about 20x power. I'm guessing but I think I'm pretty close. So now to go out and start photographing.

Click on any photo to enlarge.