Affordable close-up rig?

Paul Howell

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I'm planning to be hand-holding for most of this (it's close-ups of body parts of strangers, so a tripod setup is out,

In you price range I would use a Mamyia C220 but get a body then a 105mm 3.5 if still within budget maybe a prism finder.
 
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hospadar

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Ahh thanks for the field of view charts (and @runswithsizzers for the rolleinar chart) that's exactly what I needed. I was looking into mamiya C's with longer lenses but looks like I need to go shorter.

I'm [generally, intellectually] curious about shooting sheet film, but I'm not set up at all to process or scan it and I think for this project it would be inappropriate (too slow, no tripod) - I was kinda thinking a horseman with the rotating back set up with a groundglass and a rollfilm holder might get it done (and wow I would love to have one), but that's for sure out of my budget on this project).

Probably whether I go mamiya C/rolleinar 3/or 35mm macro lens will just come down to what I can get the best deal on in the next week or two - I'll post back!
 

Dan Fromm

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TLR? Handheld? Stupid, possibly insane.

Give what you need to accomplish, the ideal rig would be a 35mm SLR with a macro lens that will focus to 1:2 on its own mount and flash illumination. Autofocus would be helpful but is not necessary; just dial the magnification wanted and focus by teetering in and out. TTL auto flash would be helpful, but I've done this for > 50 years with small fixed output flashes; I took calibration shots to find the right aperture given magnification and film speed, made a table. Depending on working distance desired, lens focal length >= 50 mm. Around 100 mm is usually preferable.

If you have no gear, buy used. I'm a Nikon person, haven't shopped older Nikon digital SLRs recently. One of my friends who used Canon equipment died recently. I've seen thousands of his macro shots taken with micro 4/3 (I think) digital Canon SLRs (EOS Rebel T5i, EOS 20D); the shots he kept are all publication quality. These cameras and macro lenses to fit them (friend used a 50/2.5 Canon AF macro) are quite inexpensive these days. No reason to get the latest most best most expensive, obsolete digital gear is better than good enough.
 
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