Need Help with Macro shooting

[Gay Larson]

I have a Pentax AF 645 system with the lenses that came with the kit and I want to do some macro work. I've searched e-bay and can't decide what lens I need to do great close up work. Any suggestions.

 

[rbarker]

A Schneider G-Claron is a great older lens for macro work. The only problem is you'll need to have the Photo Fairy transform your Pentax into an 8x10.

Seriously, I'm not sure what is available for the Pentax for macro work. Aside from the lens, you'll need the capability of much greater lens extension for the close focusing - either a bellows unit or extension rings. Often, reversing the lens via a lens-reversing adapter is needed to get optimal sharpness from a conventional lens at macro distances. True macro lenses are corrected for the close focusing distances, whereas conventional lenses are corrected for infinity focus.

Longer focal lengths require even more extension, but provide the convenience of somewhat greater lens-to-subject distance, making lighting more convenient. Then, there's the problem of DOF being very limited at macro distances. So, a lens with smaller apertures may be a better choice.

Lots of trade-offs in the macro realm, and there are a variety of solutions based on what you want to achieve.

 

[Gay Larson]

Thanks for the response. I guess I need to do more research

 

[Claire Senft]

I do not know the Pentax system well. You either need a macro lens or a extention tube set or a bellows or a simple close up lens. If you can get a doublet close up lens that fits the front threads on the lens you already have you could get very nice results. I have seen examples made with a doublet close up lens that out performed an extention tube.

You could go to the hpmarketing website and check out Novoflex bellows to see if they offer adapters for your camera. If they do then you could use an enlarging lens on the bellows which is very flexible and the equal of a good quality macro lens.

 

[Gay Larson]

Thanks, I'll look into it and see what works for my camera. I think I can get the close up lens that screws on the front. I just wasn't sure how well that would work.

 

[Donald Miller]

Pentax has everything from close up lenses, to extension tubes and bellows for their 645 camera.

The bellows would allow the greatest macro capability insofar as degree of magnification and control. The extension tubes would be next in capability. The close up lens would be last.

Close up lenses will not normally get one into the life size arena that most macro work addresses.

Prices vary quite a lot between the differing approaches.

 

[KenS]

Coming somewhat 'late' in this thread after some re-reading... I'm somewhat surprised that no-one seems to have made note of the fact that that there is a DISTINCT difference between 'micro' photography and 'photo-micrography'... The two are completely different...
Photomacrography is a close up image with a camera on which you are using lens extensions (often with a 'macro' or a close up 'filter' attached to the front of lens to acquire an image or bellows (or spacers) between the rear of the lens and the camera body... whereas a camera body attached to a microscope, creates photo-micrograph images, whereas a micro-photographs produced a negative as small as a typed period at the end of a sentence.... a means during WW2 whereby information was secretly passed on to US (and other military) incarcerated as P.O.W,s during wartime.

Ken

 

[REAndy]

I think we are talking about macro, not micro or micrographic.

I have a set of extension tubes (wish I had a bellows). I also have a lens reversal, but I always seem to just go for the extension tubes. Because I don't have a bellows, I can't give you a comparison between tubes and bellows, For me, tubes have always "been enough".

 

[GRHazelton]

As a Pentax 645n owner I recommend the Pentax 120 macro lens for these cameras. It offers infinity to 1 to 1 without tubes or auxiliary lenses. Price, of course, may be a problem. You'll need a sturdy tripod, ideally one capable of positioning the camera really close to the ground. Get a cable release. A macro focusing rack is really handy, serviceable ones can be found for about $50. And keep an eye out for a right angle finder for the 645. This item lets you view your camera at ground level without lying on the ground.