Click here to view a larger version of the images and read the related forum thread. Also note Alex’s mention of the greater working distance due to its 180mm focal length. Macro lenses with long focal lengths are ideally suited for bug photography because you needn’t get as close to the bugs to get the shot, as compared to, say, a Nikkor 60mm macro lens. Hopefully, we’ll get to see bug shots with his lens when the weather gets warmer.

You might like to check up on prices and deals on the Sigma APO MACRO 180mm F3.5 EX DG IF HSM lens.

I’m not handy at drawing diagrams, so I hope the following illustration is clear enough:
[spider] <-- [reversed Nikkor 50mm f/1.8] [adapter ring] [Nikkor 28-200mm G] [Nikon D70 + SB-800 flash]

Let’s get to the notes on the setup. One thing to bear in mind is there are tons of different ways in which you can configure the setup, and mine is by no means the best or only way. I’ll add some links to some well-known macro photographers and their technique as soon as I have my to-do list sorted out.

Jumping Spider

The spider was placed on a white card. The poor fella wasn’t feeling in tip-top condition, so I had no trouble with it jumping all over the place; it just remained at the spot for the entire duration of the shoot. The “scene” was illuminated by incandescent lamps at my dinner table, but these lamps were only to aid in autofocusing, as the main source of light at image capture would be from the SB-800 flash mounted on my Nikon D70.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF Lens

The 50mm was opened up to an aperture of f/1.8. Since this lens has a mechanical aperture ring, it’s a cinch to do this. I also turned the focusing ring to infinity. This shortens the barrel length of the lens and produces a lower degree of vignetting.

Yup - before I continue, just be aware that photographing macros using this setup will produce vignetting, also know as dark corners, which you will have to crop away in an image editing program. The bonus is you are able to get some serious magnification with cheap hardware.

Adapter Ring

The front end of the 50mm lens has to then be, how shall I say this, pressed against the front end of the Nikkor 28-200mm lens. I did not (and still do not) have an adapter ring that would make this operation a little safer, and had to use my left hand to hold the 50mm in place, but there you go. I took extra care to make sure that glass did not come into contact with glass, only the rims touched.

Without the adapter ring, I guarantee that the muscles in your left hand will feel cramped before long.

Nikkor 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF Lens

You’ll note from the EXIF data that the Nikon 28-200mm lens was zoomed to 135.0mm. Using the formula: Magnification = [Focal length of main lens] / [Focal length of supplementary, or reversed lens], this combination results in a magnification of 135 / 50 = 2.7x - much greater than what you’ll get with any of the stock 1:2 or 1:1 macro lenses. At 135mm, autofocusing and holding the camera steady becomes a difficult feat - I found it much more easier to use my cheap Sigma 18-50mm at 50mm focal length rather than the 28-200mm at 135mm - the magnification at 50mm wouldn’t be as impressive, though.

A magnification of 2.7x gets pretty scary when you shoot a spider’s portrait - depending on the size of the bug, either its whole body, or just its face will fill up your entire viewfinder. The formula also shows that if you use a supplementary (reversed) lens with a shorter focal length, say 28mm (some VERY nice Nikon lenses come with a fixed 28mm focal length), you get very much higher levels of magnification.

The aperture of the 28-200mm lens was stopped down to f/16 to give as much depth of field as possible, which, as you can see from the photo, isn’t much. Well, just call it a portrait and suddenly a shallow DOF makes aesthetic sense.

By the way, you could use almost any lens in place of the Nikkor 28-200mm - some suggestions would be your 18-50mm or 18-55mm lenses, 55-200mm, 18-70mm, 18-135mm, 18-200mm, Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 or Nikkor 105mm Micro lenses - you name it. I guess the only thing to keep in mind would be that the focal length of the primary lens has to be equal to, or greater than the focal length of your supplementary or reversed lens, otherwise you’d end up with reverse magnification based on the formula given above.

Nikon D70

Given sufficient lighting from the dinner table lights, the camera managed to acquire a lock while autofocusing the 28-200mm lens. I know that many advocate manual focusing for macro photography, and if you were to reverse the 50mm lens directly to the camera lens mount (also known as the traditional “reversed lens” technique), then manual focusing is all you can do. With this setup, the camera is able to AF the 28-200 lens, which suits me just fine since I pretty much hate to focus my lenses manually.

I have to emphasize again that sufficient lighting is a must in order for the camera to perform its AF operation with this type of setup.

My D70 was also put into M mode, and Auto ISO turned off, so that I could manually have the camera settings at 1/250 sec shutter speed, f/16 aperture and ISO 200. It’s also advised to shoot the images in NEF (RAW) mode. I strongly believe that all photographs shot with equipment set up to this extent and with so much effort have to be shot in RAW mode.

Nikon SB-800 Flash

The last apparatus in the setup is my Nikon SB-800 Speedlight. This was totally necessary considering that the 28-200mm lens was set at f/16, 135mm and that it was night time. With stacked lenses, it seems that the D70 was not able to relay accurate information to the SB-800, and it was impossible to get an accurate flash exposure; in fact the pictures shot at TTL or TTL-BL modes were all but overexposed. So, the SB-800 had to be put into manual, and flash intensity manually selected the trial and error way.

I used the supplied diffusion dome and built-in wide-flash adapter to diffuse and spread the light from the flash as much as possible.

Final Thoughts

Shooting macros this way is a major pain in the derrière, and I’ll have to admit that most of the time, the thought of setting up the equipment dissuades me from shooting the many colorful bugs that can be found in my garden.

If you haven’t tried it though, you owe it to yourself to give it a go - I can tell you that it’s immensely satisfying if you manage to capture shots like these - you’ll feel that the effort was worth it.

Go here for a list of links to other macro photography techniques. Or read this post on why macro lenses with a longer focal length makes photographing bugs a bit easier. And here’s a discussion thread on reversed lens macros with photo samples.

1. View a larger version of the images and read the related forum thread
2. Equipment used: Nikon D70s and Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 G ED-IF AF-S DX lens (link to latest prices for the Nikkor 18-70mm lens)

Can’t get enough of the 18-70? Then enjoy this landscape images shot by Steve Sieren shot with it.

1. View a larger version of the images and read the forum thread. Note that the pics were shot handheld, with the D70 set on JPEG Fine, Aperture priority, apertures f2.8-3.2, center weighted metering, shutter speeds ranging from 1/60-1/125 seconds, exposure compensation of +0.3 EV, incandescent (tungsten) WB (white balance), and ISO640 to ISO800. Michael remarks that he had ten times more keepers with the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 than with other lenses.
2. The price of a used Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 might cost around USD300.
3. More shooting, bracing and breathing techniques are shared here.
4. The images were postprocessed in Photoshop Elements 3.
5. More notes on the advantages of using the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 in low-light situations
6. More theater images can be seen at Michael’s gallery on PBase.com
7. Additional Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 images shot in a dimly-lit school auditorium, contributed by Victor

Links

1. View a larger version of the images
2. Zheka made use of airshow shooting tips by Sonny Red on the shutter speed to use and the recommendation to use continuous focus (AF-C) mode.
3. Equipment used: Nikon D70 + Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO lens
4. For more Shoreham Airshow information and schedule, go here.

Oh btw, has anyone ever tried driving through the tunnel (can’t remember which one) at night with the headlights switched off? The tunnel has no lights, and I’d never been in a darker place (as in totally black) in my life.

The other source of my envy is the great pictures taken with the glass he used, the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM lens - this lens seems to be making its way into the hands of many, and I’m seeing fantastic imagery taken with it. Anyway, on to Kenn’s images …

Links:

1. View a larger version of the images
2. A circular polarizer was used for all the shots

3. Postprocessing work was needed for the shots
4. Visit Kenn’s Photo Galleries

With the Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G AF lens:

» View a larger version of the images.

With the Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 lens:

» View a larger version of the images.

Visit Teru’s website for more stunning images.

Equipment:

Nikon D70s, Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR lens

Links:

1. View the large image here and read about how one goes about getting a new D70s for a BGLOD’ed D70
2. Jason’s website

Equipment

Nikon D70s, Nikkor 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 G IF-ED AF-S DX VR lens

Links

1. Larger view of the images
2. The images only required minor enhancements in Nikon Capture 4.4; Randy shares a few postprocessing and shoot details.
3. Randy’s Photo Gallery website