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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,644 |
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Valued Member
United States
215 Posts |
I don't know why I am worried about taking pictures, I probably don't have more than 3 coins worth viewing, but I like the technical side of things. So, please help with some direction. I have a T3i camera I loaded the software, and took a couple pics using the advise from the $400 thread (f8, 200, etc), shooting sideways with white paper as a background. I will try to post in a few. All I have are the two lenses that came with the camera, 18-55? and an EF 75-300 mm 1:4-5.6 (zoom wont work?) I used the 18-55. Also: Waiting for this to arrive: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Tes...047675.l2557need help with finding el-cheapo lens/bellows?/adaptor rings. Would either of these lenses work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Geminin-75M...em5b0fc5e5b1http://www.ebay.com/itm/Omega-75mm-...em3cf666bd36 |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
The El Omegar is the specific lens I use right now. $20 shipped ain't bad. Look around for a 75mm El-Nikkor; it's the best of the "cheap" lenses but will cost more. Have a look: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-enlar...em1e9db9e7d1I nosed around the seller and stuff; he's new but look at his recent feedback. Couple of high-dollar camera items. This might be a good deal, especially if you can talk him down a few bucks. Me, I'd probably throw $50 at this lens. It looks dusty, but I suspect that dust is only on the outside because the rest of the lens looks unused. Oh, yeah: My personal experience with the 18-55 is it's happiest at 50mm and set so you're as close to the coin as it will successfully autofocus (lens front 12" from the coin, maybe?). On a much smaller-megapixel sensor (12MP) than your T3i, that meant a Morgan dollar image of about 1100 pixels in diameter. Your 18MP sensor will do better. |
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Valued Member
 United States
215 Posts |
Thanks Dave,
I like that lens, I sent him an offer.
As you see from my other post, now I know why I need to take good pictures, even if it is just to see purchases more clearly!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
Those EL-Omegars for $20 shipped are an incredible deal. Good lens, and they list them as new. Should go in the EL-Cheapo lens thread.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
As you see from my other post, now I know why I need to take good pictures, even if it is just to see purchases more clearly!
SNERK!  Truth in that. Learning to image yourself makes you a far better interpreter of poor ebay images. You'll reach the point where you can easily see what they did wrong with their imaging....and what the other buyers are missing on the coin.  |
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Valued Member
United States
215 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
The Vivitar, I'll let Ray comment on as his experience compared to mine with these is like throwing a marble at Mt. Everest.
The other two are priced rather lower than you'd expect to pay for a decent used bellows of sufficient quality to last. I bet the paper rips the first time you extend them.
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Pillar of the Community
921 Posts |
Made me go  but the price sure beats the price of some of the CANON macro lenses: "This method actually uses an extension (which we'll discuss below) and a reverse mount. What you'll need to do is to take the lens hole cover that came with your camera and cut a big hole in it to give you a fitting that will attach to your camera's body. Then insert a PVC pipe securely into that fitting and place a rubber coupling over the pipe. Finally, flip your lens around backwards and stuff it into the rubber coupling. Make sure everything is nice and snug so that nothing falls out and smashes to pieces on the ground. Additional optional steps include sanding everything down and painting it black so that it doesn't look like you've got a giant PVC pipe sticking out of your camera" http://photography.tutsplus.com/art...--photo-2857 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
The Vivitar bellows are excellent but you must purchase focus rail separately. I often put Vivitar bellows on microscope stands that have their own focus mechanisms, but they won't work well on tripods or most copy stands.
I don't have nice words for the other bellows.
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com |
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Valued Member
United States
215 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.comEdited by rmpsrpms
04/30/2015 11:45 pm
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Pillar of the Community
921 Posts |
Quote:
Buymyemu wrote:
"ha, aarspeed, I have never been good at plumbing!"  |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
You'll need adapters for the Konica that will push your minimum distance out beyond usability with 75mm lenses.
The bellows structure still amounts to a 30-40mm extension even when fully closed, and has to be factored into your thinking. It takes very little extension beyond that for me to fill the sensor with a Morgan, and at that with a 75mm lens I'm near the top of my rig's vertical travel. The rig itself has enough vertical to use a "normal" 100mm macro lens. |
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Valued Member
United States
215 Posts |
I made offers on a few things, and through some wonderful work on my part I now own the omega and Nikon 75mm lenses. The omega is brand new old stock ( and TINY!). The Nikon looks good but dusty.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
TINY is another thing, and a very important one, you get with the systems we're championing here. Dedicated Macro Lenses are all fairly large in diameter. This is a requirement due to the complexity of focusing mechanisms and such, and indeed I don't believe "small" is a factor in their design at all! Small is however important for Macro to allow maximum flexibility for lighting. I headed down the enlarger lens path after I bought a Nikon 105mm AFS VR lens, and found it was nearly unusable for coins due to its extremely large physical size and relatively short working distance at higher magnification. I immediately started looking for alternatives, and the small lenses we recommend now fit the bill perfectly.
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.comEdited by rmpsrpms
05/07/2015 04:25 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
Oh, and don't worry so much about dust. It doesn't affect the image much, if at all. It can lower contrast a bit if it's really bad, but that's about all.
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Replies: 16 / Views: 3,644 |
Posted 04/29/2015 11:27 pm
