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Non-macro lens for macro

danlindberg

Well-known member
Just wondering. If I use a non-macro lens to do tabletop with bellows/extensionrings, would it be best performance to put lens at minimum focusing distance OR at infinity, especially if the lens was corrected for infinity? What's the theory here?
 

pegelli

Well-known member
In case the lens has floating elements to correct focus at different distances I would put it at MFD to be as close to being corrected for shorter distances.

In case the lens has no floating elements and all glass elements move together it doesn't make any difference.
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
In case the lens has floating elements to correct focus at different distances I would put it at MFD to be as close to being corrected for shorter distances.

In case the lens has no floating elements and all glass elements move together it doesn't make any difference.
+1
 

PSon

Active member
In case the lens has floating elements to correct focus at different distances I would put it at MFD to be as close to being corrected for shorter distances.

In case the lens has no floating elements and all glass elements move together it doesn't make any difference.
+2

Also you can mount the lens backward for close macro works.
 

rdeloe

Well-known member
If your lens has floating elements, it will perform poorly if it's not at the right FFD and you focus with the rail. Or at least all of my Pentax 645 lenses that have floating elements perform poorly that way. However, the simpler designs work great. My Pentax 645 150mm f/3.5 is an excellent emergency macro lens on my VX23D.

As for the OP's question, infinity or up close focusing doesn't seem to matter when I use my P645 150/3.5 that way.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
If you are looking for a larger degree of magnification, reverse mounting the lens might be a good option.

If you are using a lens with floating elements (or even without) diopters or close-up filters can help as it will change infinity focus to something else. +1 diopter changes infinity focus to 1m, +2 to 0.5m, +3 to 0.3m, and so on. These lenses have a bad rap, but they have some real advantages like compensating for exposure and reducing the impact of diffraction (if you are at f/11, but have a larger bellows extension, your effective aperture can be much smaller which impacts both).
 

rdeloe

Well-known member
Enlarger lenses are a good choice too if you have a rail or bellows system. They reverse nicely. Reversing rings are inexpensive.
 
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