Thank you for the response. The issue I am having is teetering the camera back and forth to get the focus with the tripod on the ground. This lens is manual focus and has 2:1 magnification. I used a bellows with the Leica set up and was able to get nice crisp images. I was hoping for the same with my Nikon set up. I am thinking a rail system might be better suited for the Nikon.
The PB4 has an integral rail, shown in post #6 above. By the way, for work above 1:1 the lens should be reversed. Nikon makes attachments for mounting a reversed lens on a NIkon mount bellows and for using a double cable release for stopping the lens down and firing the camera's shutter. I don't know why Mr. Sarile showed you a PB4 with what appears to be a 55/2.8 MicroNikkor mounted normally.
Working with a tripod and rail will usually work for mushrooms, lichens and "still lifes." No good for moving subjects, and that includes flowers if there is any wind at all.
I don't use a tripod for out-and-about close up work. Teetering with the camera on a tripod is, um, not easy.
It is a nice lens. I am just having issues getting to focus and getting the tripod into the correct position to keep the focus want.
Hello,
I am wanting to get a bellows for my nikon f mount (film and digital) to use with my macro lens. I hope to get better focused images. (I am getting a rail system too.)
My question is which bellows should I get? Are they the same? I see about 3 different ones at KEH and range from $30-$200. what would be the best option for casual macro shooting of Lichen and mushrooms and maybe fruit stilllifes.
Thank you.
My lens is a 2:1 which is two times 1:1 magnification. It's the Laowa 100mm f2.8, 2:1 for Nikon. I am wanting to set the focus on the lens, then move the camera to get the subject in focus. Moving the tripod back and forth does not work well outside. Inside I was fine.
How is this for a set of bellows?
View attachment 385872
This is two sets of Nikon PB4 bellows, connected together via a set of small Novoflex bellows and a few extension rings. DSLRs need an additional ring(PK-13 works fine) to mount and also require some maneuvering. That's for something like a D8xx series DSLR-you'd probably need a longer tube and would lose some flexibility to mount a single digit DSLR.
I built this set-up for a specific project-I was trying to photograph GC capillary columns with an inside diameter of .10-.50mm. It would have been easier with a good microscope, but I didn't have one. I put enough time and thought into this that I've just left it, and I have pulled it out a few other crazy times. I did accomplish what I was trying to do, and quite well(aside from almost no DOF) but that's a subject for another thread. Effective apertures are so small that I ended up using two Norman power packs, one firing a head at 2000 w-s and the other firing a second head at 1250 w-s. I've never used that much power on another shot-in fact I'm often fighting with being able to turn them down low enough even in macro work.
In any case, both of the PB4 bellows are mounted to a piece of aluminum box section(I think 1/2" but don't quote me on that-I actually asked by civil engineer brother in law to look over my sketches and make sure it would handle without flexing). I have one of the big Arca Swiss plates bolted to the center. The PB-4s have their mounting feet on nicely geared rails, so the whole set-up can be moved forward and back along the aluminum rail for focus. Of course focus can also be by moving the lens or the camera, and yes extension of all three bellows can be adjusted. At even minimum extension, any lens you stick on here is going to have more than enough circle to tilt and shift the the lens as much as the bellows allow.
I show the Nikon 105mm bellows mount on here, although it really needs to be reversed to be useable with this much extension. Really, for a Nikon lens, I actually found the 135mm bellows mount to be a bit more comfortable to use, especially when taken out of its dedicated extension tube and used with an M39 mount adapter. For the project I built this for, I ended up using a 150mm Rodenstock enlarger lens-I wasn't QUITE able to fill the frame like I could with a 135mm Nikkor, but it was a lot sharper so I could crop comfortably using my 45mp D850. I'd be interested to compare the 105mm Nikkor side-by-side sometime at the same magnification, but it was just too short for such a tiny subject.
BTW, I know I've talked a lot about using this with a DSLR, and hope I'm not running afoul of the rules by mentioning that I've used it there. Note that in the photo, I have an F2 hanging off the back. This is an F2 I put together YEARS ago for this sort of project, and did use it just because. This particular F2 body actually originally had a DP2 prism(the whole reason I bought the body in the first place) but at first it was flaky and then quit working completely. This body had battery leakage somewhere along the way, and I think the internal wiring to power a meter prism is shot. The DP2 ended up on another body. This one became the home for my moderately rare Type M focusing screen paired with the 6x chimney. The M screen gives an aerial image, has 1mm graduations on it, and a center reticle used for parallax focusing an aerial image. It's not an easy screen to use(and don't think about it unless you're using the 6x chimney) but is one of the few that will let you see much more than a shadow with this much magnification, and done properly parallax focusing is the best way to focus with this kind of work. I lucked into the M screen-if you're thinking about this sort of set up, the C screen is also an aerial screen with a reticle, but has a clear field otherwise. On a DSLR, life is easier with live view, and something with at least a hinged screen(like the D850) is welcome. I've also used my Fuji XT-5 on this.
I may end up buying another set of PB4 bellows, because as impractical as this unit is, I spent a lot of time planning and building it, and it's still just a really interesting piece...
How many watts does it take to see anything through through that?
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