Can't find step up ring for macro photography - please help.

Anupam Basu · May 22, 2006

I am having a really hard time finding a way to mount my new 1 inch Wollensak cine raptar f1.9 onto a 52mm thread (Nikon br-2 reversing ring, actually).

I want to reverse mount the lens for macro photography as discussed in (there was a url link here which no longer exists). Since the cine lens has filter threads that look to be about 24mm to my eye although it isn't written on the lens, the adapter seems to be a simple matter of a step up ring from 24mm to 52mm. Now this seems like a simple affair but I can't find such a beast (or even step up ring combinations that would add up to such a beast) anywhere. I called a few machine shops but they are quite expensive - much more than I can afford.

So does anyone know where I can buy such a step up ring or get it made. I could easily ship the lens and the ring to someone who can make the appropriate step up ring to couple these two at a reasonable cost.

Thanks for any help.
Anupam

Gerald Koch · May 22, 2006

Step up rings are made for changes of a few millimeters say 49 mm to 52 mm. I doubt that any were made to step up from 24 to 52 mm which is quite a large change.

Dan Fromm · May 22, 2006

Anupam, do it in several steps. That's what I do, and what I do you can do too.

Give up on the Wolly and look for a 25/1.9 Cine Ektar II. At f/2.8 and above 10:1, my 25/1.9 CE II beat my and Charlie Barringer's 25/3.5 Luminars wide open.

Anupam Basu · May 22, 2006

Gerald Koch said:
Step up rings are made for changes of a few millimeters say 49 mm to 52 mm.

I have a step down ring for 72-52 that I bought from camerafilters.com.

But I am not averse to using multiple step up rings if I can find any in the right size.

Dan Fromm said:
Anupam, do it in several steps. That's what I do, and what I do you can do too.

Give up on the Wolly and look for a 25/1.9 Cine Ektar II. At f/2.8 and above 10:1, my 25/1.9 CE II beat my and Charlie Barringer's 25/3.5 Luminars wide open.

Dan, I am just trying out the Wollensak because I picked it up really cheap. I'm looking out for the Ektar and will get one if I find a good price.

Where do you get your extension rings from. Most of the ones I see online are for common 35mm sizes approx 40mm upward to 80 and more. If I could get a set of step ups that go from about 20mm all the way upto 52mm, it would make life much simpler in terms of trying out odd lenses reversed!

Anupam

glbeas · May 22, 2006

I think I'd try cutting a plate out of cardboard and taping it to the nearest fitting ring you have. Cut the hole for a tight fit.

Dan Fromm · May 22, 2006

Anupam, try B&H. Search for step ring, then general brand. They start with 25.5 mm to something. Also try www.srbfilm.co.uk , they start at 25.0

I usually get mine from a fellow named John Aungst, who brings a mountain of filters and step rings and such to the 2nd Sunday Camera Show in Wayne, NJ. The advantage of dealing with Mr. Aungst is that I can take the item and try it out with various rings. I believe that he has a photo studio in Reading, PA, use Google, whowhere.com, yellowpages.com, and so on to look for him.

rbarker · May 22, 2006

If all else fails, there's always gaffer's tape.

titrisol · May 23, 2006

I looked for one such adapters for a long time....
get a reverse ring for the Nikon and ducktape your lens to it.

Dan Fromm · May 23, 2006

Guys, the tape (gaffer or darkroom, not duct, please) and cardboard solutions you proposed, also the foamcore solution you didn't, are pretty half-assed. More exactly, they're not secure and don't guarantee that the lens' axis will be perpendicular to the film plane.

Anupam has a tiny little lens and not much solid he can butt it up against before taping. That's why taping is a bad idea.

Anupam, I don't approve of it but there's another solution that hasn't been suggested yet. Drill or cut a hole in a Nikon body cap that's a little smaller than the front of the lens. Then epoxy the lens to the body cap. Or make the hole exactly the right size and insert the front of the lens into it before gluing.

titrisol · May 23, 2006

Dan's idea is great, given the thread is about 27mm
I tried it to make a LTm-M42 adapter but the hole was too close to the thread (M42) for comfort and was non-viable as such.

BTW c->T adapters are available in edmunds scientific
Maybe you can find something there

Jim Jones · May 23, 2006

I have perhaps the same Raptar. I cut a hole in a disc of thin metal and clamped it to the lens with a lens hood. The disc can be mounted on the reverse adaptor with an old UV filter from which the glass has been removed. Another way is to use a Series V adaptor ring the same way on the Raptar. Once one can attach a series adaptor ring to a lens, the lens can fairly easily be mounted on almost anything. Anytime one visits an ancient camera store, ask to see their old filter adaptors. Many treasures are hidden and forgotten is such places.

Dan Fromm · May 23, 2006

titrisol said:
Dan's idea is great, given the thread is about 27mm
I tried it to make a LTm-M42 adapter but the hole was too close to the thread (M42) for comfort and was non-viable as such.

BTW c->T adapters are available in edmunds scientific
Maybe you can find something there

Um, er, ah, the lens has to be mounted reversed.

Anupam Basu · May 23, 2006

Measuring thread sizes

Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I have found some online sources, but sine I can't try out the filters, are there any useful tips and tricks to measure the filter thread diameter with a degree of exactness?

Can some sort of callipers do the job?

Thanks,
Anupam

Tom Hicks · May 28, 2006

Anupam , Tom Hicks here, hope you get it worked out when you do post some pics of the results , you know where. hope you are doing fine .

Dan Fromm · May 28, 2006

Anupam, you need to know thread diameter and pitch. Devices called thread gauges are used for measuring threads' pitches. Try to find a small machine shop who'll measure for you.

donbga · May 28, 2006

Anupam Basu said:
I am having a really hard time finding a way to mount my new 1 inch Wollensak cine raptar f1.9 onto a 52mm thread (Nikon br-2 reversing ring, actually).

I want to reverse mount the lens for macro photography as discussed in (there was a url link here which no longer exists). Since the cine lens has filter threads that look to be about 24mm to my eye although it isn't written on the lens, the adapter seems to be a simple matter of a step up ring from 24mm to 52mm. Now this seems like a simple affair but I can't find such a beast (or even step up ring combinations that would add up to such a beast) anywhere. I called a few machine shops but they are quite expensive - much more than I can afford.

So does anyone know where I can buy such a step up ring or get it made. I could easily ship the lens and the ring to someone who can make the appropriate step up ring to couple these two at a reasonable cost.

Thanks for any help.
Anupam

S.K. Grimes can make you one. You will have to send them the lens for an estimate for the work. I would send the BR-2 ring as well so they can make the best step up precisely. It's an expensive solution but they do excellent work. I've had them make a step up ring for filter use for my Red Dot Artar. I think the cost was about $80 not including shipping.

Can't find step up ring for macro photography - please help.

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