macro photography is all about getting close to something isn't it?
now generally speaking to get in close to something,
you'd expect to use a specialist lens like a macro lens like this one here
a macro lens allows you to focus in incredibly close to something
way closer than you can with an ordinary lens.
so right now you might be thinking you don't know if you're interested enough in macro
to go out and invest in a pile of money,
because you're gonna look at 250 quid at least to do it.
what if I told you that your ordinary lens
that you've got on your camera right this minute can very easily
be turned into a macro lens. This one here
is and 18 to 70 zoom, it's not a fancy lens
it's a kit lens that came with the camera I bought years ago
but it is a very good quality lens so that's why I kept it.
simply by taking it off the body and turning it around the other way
it becomes a macro lens
and to prove it I'm gonna take a couple pictures
of these little snail shells that I picked up on the lawn.
Let's get down here now this is gonna be a fath and a fiddle because I've got to hold the
lens in this hand
up against the body and I've also gotta hold the aperture open because the
little lever
which is usually connected to the camera to operate the aperture
of course is sticking out into the garden but look at this
oh look, oh I like that.
now then it comes here it comes
now you've got to manually expose when you do this because
once again all your electronics aren't going to work because
you haven't got the connectors to the lens but
that doesn't mean you can take quite a smart picture
now with all this faffing you're possibly thinking to yourself
but mike why on earth should I bother with all that faff it's probably better to go and
spend $250 quid.
maybe but what if I told you could buy one of these
for only a fiver and it will cure pretty much all your problems.
let's go through this
one step at a time the first step is going to be
to put reversing rain onto
the lens because we want to reverse the lens on this age reversing ring
you have a screw which will fit inter
the filter thread that stacked into the interview lens
this lens has a sixty seven millimeter diameter so you the sixty seven
millimeter
Nick on reversing ring for this lens find out what your lens size is it will
say on the
inside and your lens cap there's my lens cap and it says just hear nothing see it
67 millimeters so
sixty seven millimeter reversing ring screw it into the front to the lens
we normally screw filters we got the new too tight
he might get it off for take off the lens
to any other way and then you can see this little
Red Dot just thought you'd have is made the same to the lanes
into that ended the lands we put them on their lawn at the dots
turn you get locked in place
as my child is tight enough now we have a much much freer hand only
we still have not me electronics because all these little
connectors a sticking into the fresh air
so you do have to use manual mode manual exposure
isn't difficult is especially not difficult like this because
you don't have an app which is a controlled gonna have a look at the
manual exposure film it'll tell you how to do it
we reduce just shut speed to get it right the other thing that you have to
contend with
is the aperture now this aperture leave it here
on this lens is in film and mechanical labeled labor there
icon spate is it a mechanical lever there which operates the aperture
now I'm pretty sure that most lenses were like that but I'm not a techie I
don't know everything on the market
so if you have a fully electric lines this might not work for you
you have to find out so what we gonna do about it
well this gun sort of cells out with the shop first
I need to take my toolkit which will consist a roller type
trustee tripod ok here icon and what these things are cool little mushroom
shaped old sorta rocks things
a car remember what they call look at all this Italy's likens we got the call
these little tiny things we got going on here
this if we get a couple shots for them using are reversed standard lens
as you know I'm the two photographs things that are not moving
with macro rather than 100 macro you don't you're subject to move cuz it's
pretty tricky
the first thing on it is just to see what we can do about getting the camera
in
nice and close to what I want to photograph
sxephil around from I'm you make a
and into their
this is England's I wanna show you something this particularly interesting
and I think this really has an age
over a macro lens were fixed focal length I can still same that
even though it's on the camera back to front
that means 70 millimetres I'd I won't be quite as close
let me see if we can set up shop the first thing I want to do though
is to wage the aperture open so that I can see through the lens
because when it snaps to its smallest aperture automatically
it means it cuts them like I can hardly see things through the viewfinder
hence the role of type you can EV is a bit im asking type
and just stereo bit of 20 precious about your equipment either lotsa people
terribly worried that
owner who now it's a camera you mustn't anything close to it because it might
get damaged
they're really quite rugged you don't have to worry
a cult following that now where is it hang on
Sunday that try prop
there it is there this is to leave here we need to make that stay in that
position for a minute
secret you prefer to type on a just put across
and the Yankees typed in place all
well I we cite never ever
get anywhere with out blue TAC and I keep it
stuck onto my tripod to stand here already for emergencies
all good photographers carry blue TAC
at a wedding into the hole on the lens because that would just be silly with
net
partners in the stone pieces pushing that cross with a little
global blue TAC next to it and it's the job done now is much easier than typing
I didn't know that to which is filmed it cuz haha this is cool down on the hook
I'm tried it before
too windy to get a shot now then to move in an a-hole
all straight away look at how I didn't expect that think I we've got a nice
interesting like any landscape right now the bag
expect that I thought we have to move the camera backwards and forwards a bit
to get everything to line up and I'm just gonna put into the gravel cuz it
wasn't quite
staying where I want here we go well that's not nice
fight is I can't find tweak the focus with the focusing ring
and is a very fine tweak very good are now set my focus
I've got my shot on these likens I now don't have to be an octopus because
everything's being held in place for me
but I do need to set my exposure I don't have an actor to play with
said this F nothing that's what got showing in the in the top with a camera
on the light meter
will go to do his speed up the shutter speed
until I get the little line and dot smack in the middle on the zero
and I know that my exposure is correct there it is
at same time J moves around me it's changing exposure here in the light
meats going up their local
yet so here we have it we have the correct exposure take the picture
Esprit cornet you can expect you to do that with a box and lend shoved in the
wrong way around chasing him cooler
if we do miss back into the
18 millimeter and saddam from 70 millimetres
to 80 millimetres common sense would make you think she says
opening at the field of view we can see more stuff going on but it doesn't
tenzin tape ac3 make a macro
BC if I can get something cool here we go
man we're rocking and rolling missed his composer shot
fine tune it with the focusing ring still doesn't have as much
power over it now get them right
they really is it's just I need to move the camera
this is fiddly Butler this is photography
we we think she just a click
and take a picture you dang thi after work your way through it one little step
at a time
nearly here
there it is there
moving a bit which wouldn't expect
and take the picture you can imagine
that was a minute almost microscopic pieces like in with you
you even more expect that shot like that to get that kinda magnification was
taken with the specialist mackerel and
that it was them this is the easy man's way to macro
and I'm a great believer in low-tech solutions
so for five quid and a piece a blue TAC
you got yourself a super duper make a macro lens