Extreme macro on a budget

In all pictures for my projects (and other photographs also) there’s always that moment when I need to take an close-up on something exceptionally interesting, like a ball point pen… On my Canon S40 (compact 4mp but still good) I have this feature which lets me snap a picture as close as about 10cm (~4 inches) which is usually sufficient if you take the photograph in high resolution and then crop it down. But it could definitely be better, like as on this picture. Hajejan took this a step further – on a budget. He has a removable lens on his Canon EOS which is not something that I could do so maybe it’s time for me to get a new camera? To wrap it up (aka spoiler) – he mounted a Pringles can in-between the camera and the lens which allows it to get into real macro. Read about the ‘Extreme Macro Photography on a budget‘

2 Responses to “Extreme macro on a budget”

1. BLueminies Says:
   December 20th, 2005 at 14:14

   nice pic of a ball point pen. thought that image was some machinery shit first.

2. Michel Says:
   October 19th, 2006 at 14:04

   You can make an even more powerful macro camera using only some electric tape. This simple trick works for any type of camera with removable lenses.

   Remove your lens and look through it by the ‘wrong side’, you’ll see it have a strong macro effect (must be really close to your subject, about 1 to 10 cm). Wide-angle lenses (low ‘mm’ value) will gives more magnifying capability.

   Now fix the lens backward to your camera using thick tape. Black electric tape is good because it’s light-proof. Use a lot of tape to ensure no light can enter between the camera and the lens. You’re now ready to shoot!

   Remember that a reverse-mounted lens cannot focus normally using the focus ring, so you must move your subject or the camera to get a sharp picture.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.