redwatch

Couple of macro's of the ETA 2893-2 from FxrAndy:

Here's a couple more with the bellows and the reversed 50mm f/1.8:

I thought I would post a little review/tutorial on how to achieve some amazing macro shots. Please keep in mind that I am an amateur and I only started playing with this new system today. I understand the basic fundamentals of how this works, but I still have a LOT of practicing to do! Please note, this information is based on Nikon camera products (because this is what I use). There are similar products for other camera types, but I am unfamiliar with them. Traditionally, with a D-SLR camera, if you want to take nice and close shots of an object, you would default to a macro lens which is specifically designed to allow for 1:1 shots, meaning the image on film, or on the digital sensor is the same size as the object being photographed. In order to get greater magnification, you need to extend the distance between the lens and the film/sensor. There are a variety of ways to do this. Extension Tubes This is a very simple and effective way to get "a little bit more" out of your macro or traditional lens. Of course, once you disconnect the lens from the camera, you lose the electrical connection between the two. Now we are in full manual mode. There is no auto focus and no metering. The camera cannot automatically determine the speed of the shutter or the f-stop that the lens needs to be set to. This is where the fun begins! It takes a lot of trial and error to get the settings correct. You can speed this process up with the use of a good light meter that does Aperture Priority. You would set the aperture on the lens, enter that value into the light meter and if it's a good one, it will tell you exactly what shutter speed to set the camera to to get the best possible exposure. Lens Reversing Adapter Nikon makes a very nice 52mm thread adapter called a BR-2A. The older, BR-2 is for manual focus lenses only. You cannot use this one on the Auto Focus lens as it will damage the lens contacts. By using a lens reversing adapter, you flip the lens, screw it onto the reversing adapter and then mount it to the camera. It's best to use a prime lens and a manual focus one. This way you can set the aperture on the lens. The newer lenses use the camera to set the aperture and do not have a manual adjustment ring on the lens. Manual focus lenses are very cheap right now and can be had for less than $50.00. I bought a Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 on eBay for $44.00 in excellent condition. Using this technique you can get from 1:1 to 1:4 (4x the size), depending on the lens you use. Again, this is a fully manual process and takes a lot of trial and error to get the settings correct for proper color and exposure. The other problem you may encounter is with the aperture ring. When the lens is attached directly to the camera, while looking through the view finder, the camera forces the lens fully open until you press the shutter release. Then the camera automatically stops down the lens to the preset aperture setting. This allows you to see through the lens without restriction for focusing and for the metering to be effective. When the lens is reversed, or extended away from the camera, this system is no longer in place. You can manually hold open the aperture by moving the little lever until you have everything in focus, let go, and take your picture. This can be very cumbersome, so camera manufacturers have created a nice little adapter to compensate for this. Nikon makes two: The BR-4 and the BR-6. They both work the same way but the BR-4 is only for manual lenses. Do not attempt to use one on an auto focus lens because it will damage the contacts. The BR-6 will work with both manual and auto-focus lenses. The other nice thing about the BR-6 is that it has 52mm threads on it so you can mount a filter on it to protect the back elements of the lens from dust and damage. As you can see from the picture above, the two adapters both have a little slide lever on them that locks the blades of the lens open until you are ready to take your picture. Then you just move that lever and lock into position and you are ready to take your picture. If you do not have this, when you try to set the lens to f/11 or higher you won't see much (if anything at all) through the lens as the opening is way too small. Both adapters also have a cable release attachment if you have a double cable release but I find this is not really necessary to use. If you are using a BR-4 and want to attach a filter to the reversed lens, you can get a Nikon BR-3 which mounts to the lens mounts and has 52mm threads on the other end. Bellows Extension This is where the fun really begins!! A bellows extension is like what you see on the full sized or older cameras. It is a fully variable extension tube. The really good ones are mounted on a focusing rail. With an extension tube, reversed lens, or bellows extension you can only focus by physically moving the whole assembly closer or further away from the object. Having a focusing rail makes it very easy to move the assembly around in very tiny increments. The smallest movement will shift the object WAY out of focus. Pictured above is an older Nikon PB-4 Bellows Extension. What makes this one really unique is that it has the ability to tilt & shift the lens around. You can tilt it +/- 25 degress or shift it 10mm side to side. This movement allows for greater depth of field or can shift the perspective lines of the object being photographed. Nikon also made a newer model called a PB-6 and there were a variety of accessories for it. One of the accessories is a PB-6E, or Bellows Extension. The PB-4 allows for 190mm of variable extension. The PB-6 allows for 208mm. With the extension added to the PB-6 you can get a total of 438mm of variable extension. What does this mean in the real world? Well, with a reverse mounted 20mm lens, you can achieve 23x magnification!!! I recently acquired a Bellows set-up. I purchased a Nikon PB-4, BR-2A reversing adapter, BR-3, BR-4 and a 50mm f/1.8 lens. Here are some shots of the equipment set up: Here is the 50mm Lens reversed mounted on the BR-2A with the BR-4 on the back with a BR-3 attached to it. With the Bellows fully closed, and the 50mm lens attached normally (ie: not reversed), I was able to capture this shot of a Gen Ingy AMG Chrono dial: With the Bellows fully extended and the lens mounted normally, I was able to capture these shots: In this shot, I used the tilt ability to tilt the lens ever so slightly to the left. This seemed to increase the depth of field and allow for better focusing: And finally, here is another shot of the 6 o'clock position but with the 50mm lens reversed on the end of the Bellows: You can see it's a tiny bit bigger than the shot above, but I believe if i was able to get closer to the dial I would have been able to enlarge it even further. Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it and taking the pictures!!!

A silver dialed, US model sharkhunter? Where's the expert on this one? Is this in the great orange book Lani??

Beautiful as always N!

Wow! That's a beauty!!

Ohhhhh.......post some pics if you get one!!!!

Time for a service I think. Mine lasts much, much longer than that. Haven't timed it yet, but here's a scenario. If I put it down when I go to bed, and put on a new watch the next morning, the Tudor is still ticking away when I get home from work. That's pretty close to 24 hours at least.

Just noticed the merge! Thanks BT! For a second there I couldn't believe that this was already at 12 pages!!!! Earlier listing to 80's revival music and "Jump For Your Love" by the Pointer Sisters came on. At that point, the station had to be changed for fear of my manhood being called into question while at work

A "rep" lathe?? Now we're talking!!!

The skills on this community never, ever, cease to amaze me! Nice job J!!! Thanks for taking the time to post the "play by play" as you did this. One of these days I am going to learn the art of working with metal and lathes! Nice to see you putting my old movement to great use!!! So glad it all worked out for you! It's a definite keeper that one!

Thanks ST4! I am getting quite pleased with how my shots are turning out lately!

With it on top of my desk, it sits at 36.75" or 93.345 cm. It's only 7cm shy of a meter, but I'd say it would make a difference. With the arm rests, it is super comfortable and I don't feel any strain on my back. And I can keep my chair at a good working height as well. It definitely helps to have a good chair and I am fortunate enough to have a nice Herman Miller Aeron Chair. Nice mesh seat so my butt doesn't get too sweaty

Definitely rep this one!!!!! I love it!!! Nice combination of the old Monte Carlo look with a little update!

Tech - the Chests that are really nice are the ones in your Avatar my friend!!!!

Thanks for the thumbs up guys!! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! Been working a lot behind some racks lately, so no watches on the wrist! Definitely missing this one!

So after a week of use, I can safely say this project is a huge success! The bench is the perfect height and it is so comfortable to work on! Thanks again guys for the input on this one!!!

Cheers and Happy Birthday RWG!!!!!!

Very very nice!!! And congratulations on your wedding!

Ziggy's vintage tritium mix would look AWESOME on this one!!! Congrats again my friend! That's a keeper for sure!!!

Wow! Just plain WOW!!!! That's turned out beautifully! Some crafty folks here on the forum!!! K.....is that the case that I sent you, or a different one? Turned out quite nicely!!!

Love it! Do all the digital functions work on it??

How did it work for you? Found a really good deal on one and from the reviews, it seems to be a pretty solid meter and does what I would need it to do.

Anyone ever used a Gossen Ultra Pro Light Meter???