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Pillar Of The Community
United States
2535 Posts |
I just picked up a Schnieder 50mm Componon-S and an Rodenstock Omegaron 50mm for under $40.00 for the pair. Now just need to get some adapters to hook them up to the new bellows. The Omegaron was made for the Omega Enlager line (hence the name). I believe the lenses are the same from what I can tell, though the Compnon-S is a known lens with great quality, can't wait to try it out. THe Omegaron does not look like it will be able to mount in a reversed mount as there are no threads at all on the front of the lens. I'll try it out in a standard configuration, the Componon-S I plan to mount reversed. Adapter is supposed to arrive on Thursday or Friday, I'll let you know how it works if I can get it all hooked up.
"Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1982 • 2¢ variety collector. Edited by westcoin
03/28/2012 10:31 pm
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
Hey guys, I read all the threads and just when I thought I knew what I needed, I read some more and ended up getting confused  I have a Nikon D5000 with a manual focus Nikkor 55mm 1:35 lens. I have been able to take some decent images with the lens hooked directly to the camera body, but was hoping that a bellow and el cheapo lens setup would deliver better results. Can someone provide me with a recommended setup for a Nikon D5000? Thanks in advance! |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1050 Posts |
You should be able to get pretty good pics of Dollars with your 55mm directly on the camera, with OK working distance. But for smaller coins, a higher mag is needed and the working distance decreases, making your lighting more difficult. For Cents, I prefer a range of 75mm to 105mm for the lens. A small bellows (Vivitar Triple Track, Spiratone MacroBel, Nikon Bellows III, etc) with one of the El Cheapo lenses, would give you better imaging on Cents (0.8x) and smaller coins than your 55mm. A 75mm would allow you to get up to around 2:1 for detail shots.
This advice may seem confusing, or even counter-intuitive versus other threads where I recommend longer lenses for bigger coins. The confusion lies with idiosyncrasies when using the lens on the bellows. Your 55mm is not designed for bellows use, but instead for use directly on the camera, so you don't have to worry about minimum bellows extension. If you ever do put it on bellows, you will find your minimum magnification is nearly 1:1, making photography of larger coins impossible.
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
By me being confused please don't take it as you not explaining things well; I'm just easily confused  I deeply thank you and other forum members for sharing their knowledge. Ok, so I will keep my 55mm for larger coins, but for smaller coins would this bellow work for my Nikon D5000? So this would hook up to my camera body just fine. But then for my el cheapo lens, if it has a M39 mount per say, then I will need to get an adapter like this ? Do I have the concept down? |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1050 Posts |
Yes, I think you get it! That bellows will work, though everyone I know who has purchased one has moved on quickly. The quality is so-so, but it will get you started for a low price. The adapter is correct for that bellows, or any bellows that has Nikon mount. I usually recommend older but higher quality bellows like the Vivitars, Spiratones, etc. These usually require you to put the appropriate adapters on both ends to mount camera and lens. Here is a Vivitar with integrated focus rail on eBay for example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/VIVITAR-BEL...em53ec7b2857And here is a sweet deal...Spiratone bellows, with Nikon adapter, and focus rail for $49 with free shipping! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spiratone-R...em4602a303f7 |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1050 Posts |
Note that for the M39-Tmount adapter you can use a M39-M42. It won't thread all the way on since the pitch is different, but it will go on far enough to take a good hold.
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
Nice! After you made your initial recommendation, I saw that Spiratone bellow, but was trying to stay in the spirit of the thread by being an el cheapo But as you say, the quality of the older item is better. Besides, after using eBay bucks got it for around $35. Ok I will purchase a M39-M42 adapter to mount the bellow to the camera body. Thanks for the tip, I saw it came with a Nikon mount and assumed it would've fit. I found el cheapo enlarger lenses ranging from 75mm and 90mm. For smaller coins (cents, dimes, etc) which would you recommend? |
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
duplicate
Edited by louie_two_bits
04/10/2012 11:58 am
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1050 Posts |
Quote:
Nice! After you made your initial recommendation, I saw that Spiratone bellow, but was trying to stay in the spirit of the thread by being an el cheapo But as you say, the quality of the older item is better. Besides, after using eBay bucks got it for around $35.
Ok I will purchase a M39-M42 adapter to mount the bellow to the camera body. Thanks for the tip, I saw it came with a Nikon mount and assumed it would've fit.
I found el cheapo enlarger lenses ranging from 75mm and 90mm. For smaller coins (cents, dimes, etc) which would you recommend? It looks to have a Nikon camera mount. Not sure if it has a Nikon lens mount other side. Your "safest" bet is to get a Nikon lens mount (Nikon F-female to T-male) and then use the F-male to M39 female adapter you linked to. My M39-M42 suggestion will also work if there is no Nikon lens mount and you aren't squeamish about mismatched threads...
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
rmpsrpms, ok, I'm really excited. I have the Macrobel Bellows and Beslar 75mm f3.5 Enlarger lens. I'm going to go to IKEA to get the lights tomorrow. I'm going to have to wait until I get all of these in hand to determine which adapters I need to make it all work with my D5000. I tried to find all of the adapters you recommended, but it got way too confusing for me So I'm in a holding pattern until the good arrive. Thank you for all of your help; you're single-handedly making two hobbies out of one. |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1050 Posts |
You got a great deal on both the bellows and lens! After reading the listing again, it looks like it has the camera adapter but no lens adapter. So you will need a T-mount to M39 or M42 to M39 adapter. In the meantime, you can do a little trick...tape a bunch of layers of masking tape around the M39 thread to make it big enough to thread snugly into the T-mount bellows. I've done it many times for odd threads and it works pretty well to get the system working while you're waiting for the adapter...Ray
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
Me being a cheapskate, I may just get the M39 to M42 adapter. As for some reason M39 lens to T bellow mount adapters are uncommon and expensive. So n00b question here...where the lens/adapter attaches to the bellow, is it a female thread where the lens/adapter (male) ahem...screws the female threads? Or is it similar to how the lens attaches to the camera body? If the lens/adapter screws into the bellow, would this combo work? Attach the M39 to M42 lens adapter ring to my Beslar 75mm lens and then attach my newly converted M42 lens to the bellows? |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1050 Posts |
Yep, that "helicoil" looking adapter is what I use. Thread it onto the bellows until it gets tight, and the bellows will look like it is M39 threaded...Ray
PS by the way that Beljan adapter is superb quality...I own one and am very happy with it.
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
Hmm, that's tempting...seeming how many of the el cheapo lenses are M39 and I could use the Beljan adapter for many lenses with my T mount bellow, would you recommend spending the money on the Beljan instead of leveraging the helicoil M42 adapter? Just to give you an idea of how heavily I will use the system; I have about 100-150 coins I want to image.
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
1050 Posts |
The helicoil will work fine, only go for the Beljan if you are queasy about having the threads interfere between the bellows and the helicoil...Ray
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Posted 03/28/2012 10:27 pm
