Which Macro Lens

[Ken Lee]

You might be better off if you got an old 8x10 or 5x7 camera with a 4x5 reducing back - anything that will give you more much more bellows draw. As Bob pointed out, if you go with too short a lens (due to limited bellows draw) you'll get in so close that you'll see distortion of shapes, foreshortening etc. This presumes you don't want that "fisheye" effect :-)

[Mike1234]

If the OP can afford an Ebony he can afford a Canham. The wooden 4x5 uses all the same parts as the 5x7 version except the back. Consequently, it has a 635mm+ bellows draw. Add a 3" hat to that and you've broken into 700mm++ territory.

[pierre salomon]

One of the best way I use my Nikkor 120 AM is to front fit it with a Nikon close up No 4 T lens. This attachment is glass made and seems to have all the optics quality of a typical macro lens. It's almost double the magnification of the 120 without racking out the bellows. Good luck.

[Mark Sawyer]

Read Ernest Purdhams post again. Much of it is about the bellows extension at the desired magnification.

For 1:1 on the negative, process lenses work well. If you go much beyond that, you need a dedicated macro, especially if you enlarge. (Contact printing lets you get away with murder, and rightfully so, considering the tonal range..)

[Mike1234]

Greg, in theory you probably have enough bellows for 4:1 magnification with either an 80mm or 120mm. Your calculations are correct. If, however, the 120mm lens you choose actually focuses at 140mm then you'll need 560mm of bellows draw which, as you know, is 50mm more than you have. Should this happen you could just add a 2" extension board although you'll not really see much difference... something like 3.85:1 instead of 4:1.

I don't know which brand macro lens (Schneider or Rodenstock) is better. But I'll bet you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. As others alluded to, you're best off finding one corrected for your target magnification.

[Greg Liscio]

I have a 180 Schneider that's beautiful. Very nice. Most of the photos in my Angels & Insects collection were shot with it.

Incredible Pictures! What was you magnification ratio - 1:1 or 2:1?

[argos33]

Incredible Pictures! What was you magnification ratio - 1:1 or 2:1?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it say 4x5 Polaroid Negative? Thus implying a huge magnification? Wouldn't 2:1 only be twice as large as the insect on the ground glass?

Bosaiya, how much bellows draw did you need for those? Must have been quite the setup.

[Bosaiya]

Thanks, I'm glad you liked them. Magnifications range from 6-12x, sometimes as large as 24x but those tend to be difficult for technical reasons. I have eight-feet worth of bellows.

Here's a typical setup and result. As you can see there's not much to it, just smoke and mirrors.