# Lens reversal macro on canon 17-40mm



## bonvoyage (Oct 3, 2013)

Hi guys,

I am a newbie in macro photography and wish to know more about lens reversal, i wasnt much satisfied with extension tube macro technique. 

Just wondering what magnification can i achieve using a lens reversal adapter on canon 17-40mm lens ? is it life size (1:1) or more ? 

how close i need to shot ? focus range between object and lens ?

will it be highly magnified at wide 17mm or 40mm ?

i have a 70-200mm IS lens with me, since both lenses got 77mm thread size, i could swap th lens with same reversal adaptor, will 70-200mm IS give more magnification than 17-40mm ?


it will be highly appreciated, if someone who experimented lens reversal can attach th photos ?

cheers


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## BrandonKing96 (Oct 3, 2013)

It's possible, but the wider the lens, the more magnification when you reverse it, and you don't really get anything in focus. Well, you can, but the exposure would be extremely dark because you'd have to shove your subject pretty much into your lens. Essentially, if you think of it like, the wider the lens, the smaller the image, but the bigger the lens, the larger the image, as you literally are reversing everything. 

The 70-200 is a better option to use. It's still a very small distance between the lens and subject, but a lot more practical. 

70mm is practical. I can do so on my 24-70 II and 70-200 f/4, but 100mm reversed would be ideal (not just because it's the same focal length as Canon's actual macro lens). 

http://www.digitalrev.com/album?id=7093364

Here is some examples of what I did with my 70-200 f/4 IS and 60D. It's a very difficult to focus. And you can only focus by moving the camera along with the lens back and forth. 

Happy shooting


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## BozillaNZ (Oct 3, 2013)

50 1.8 serves better reverse macro than any other lens


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## aroo (Oct 3, 2013)

77mm reverse macro adapter is liable to not fit very well on your camera body. I tried one out of curiosity, but there isn't enough clearance from the flash/hotshoe protrusion to really work.

+1 for nifty fifty with 52mm reverse adapter. Or if you're thinking of doing a lot of reverse macro, find a lens that lets you set the aperture manually on the barrel (Nikon's nifty fifty on a Canon body, for example, is even better than Canon's).


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## bonvoyage (Oct 3, 2013)

thnks a ton for the responses, well appreciated


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Oct 3, 2013)

I'd avoid a zoom to reverse for a macro. I'd also avoid a EF lens, since you cannot stop down the aperture as needed for any reasonable macro.


Remember, you want the lens wide open to focus it and then stopped way down for the shot.


A old M42 or other lens which can be stopped down is much better to reverse. You can put a adapter on the camera side of some of the old lenses which depresses the aperture lever and then reverse it to let you set the aperture.
Because of the aperture issue, a old $10 all manual lens works much better.


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## BozillaNZ (Oct 3, 2013)

Yes you can stop down the aperture of EF lens, just:

1. Adjust to desired aperture with lens on camera
2. Press and hold DoF preview button
3. While holding the DoF preview button, remove the lens from the body
4. The lens will stay in the set aperture value, until you mount it back and it will snap to wide open


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## Mantanuska (Oct 4, 2013)

I second the old $10 lens vote. Unless you feel like "hacking" the lens as described above. Its a lot easier to have an aperture ring and an old 50mm is only going to cost you 10 or 20 bucks.


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## KyleSTL (Oct 4, 2013)

aroo said:


> 77mm reverse macro adapter is liable to not fit very well on your camera body. I tried one out of curiosity, but there isn't enough clearance from the flash/hotshoe protrusion to really work.
> 
> +1 for nifty fifty with 52mm reverse adapter. Or if you're thinking of doing a lot of reverse macro, find a lens that lets you set the aperture manually on the barrel (Nikon's nifty fifty on a Canon body, for example, is even better than Canon's).


I was thinking the same thing, but you could always do something like a EF to 58mm thread and add a step-down ring for 77 to 58 or something like that to give you a bit more clearance, but that would also affect your macro maginfication by moving the lens further out.


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