50mm f/1.8 Reverse Mount for Macro

[Arlington BowHunter]

I am thinking about getting the 50mm f/1.8 for my Xsi. I ran across this article about reversing the lens for Macro shots. Thought I would share the info if anyone is interested.

http://digital-photography-school.com/reverse-mounting-your-prime-lenses-for-affordable-macro-photography

[Hillary]

Wow.
I had no idea that you could do that.

Cool read

[justhrowit]

I have same camera and lens, I may try this out.

j

[Nitro1970]

Read about it in one of John Shaws books but I never could get my old Canon 50mm aperture to unlock like he described so I didn't try it, just bought a macro lens instead. I think the formula for calculating magnification is primary lens focal length divided by reversed lens focal length.

[OS_BRANDON]

cool! i wonder if that will work for my nikon d40

[Nitro1970]

cool! i wonder if that will work for my nikon d40

It should. The way I read it, it needs to be done with two prime lenses and the reversed lens needs to be wide open and then you just control everything with the camera like normal.

I finally figured out how to "unlock" my old Canon FD mount 50mm aperture so when my camera gets back from the shop I'm gonna give it a go.

[Casey]

I tried this over a year ago by holding my 50mm up to the camera backwards. No mount or bracket or anything, just hand holding it. I thought it turned out OK. That's a geranium bloom...probably and inch in diameter. Click it to see it bigger, there is a bit more detail.

[scotty]

Very cool shot Casey! I'm gonna try that when I get my camera back.

[Nitro1970]

Nice Casey! What lens did you hold the 50 upto to get the shot?

[Casey]

Nice Casey! What lens did you hold the 50 upto to get the shot?

I held the 50mm backwards against the camera body. The 50mm was the only lens used.