I have been intrigued with macro photography for years, though I have never had enough mula to invest in the macro lens that I really want. So when I heard what I consider to be a weird tip about macro photography, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. And if it worked, then I could share the tip (as part of the DIYPhotography How I Took It Contest) with others in case they were a ‘Doubting Mustafa” just like me.
The tip sounds (and is) simple.
- Take the body of your camera and make sure no lens is attached.
- Grab your 50mm lens and hold it backwards against the area where the lens would normally attach to the camera.
- Take some photos.
Like I said, the tip itself is pretty simple. But there are some nuances when it comes to actually getting a shot. Your depth of field is EXTREMELY small – I’m talking millimeters. It’s hard to hold the camera and the unmounted lens steady enough to take a photo with such a narrow depth of field and have the item in focus that you are hoping for. I would recommend using a tripod or setting it on a surface. This technique probably wouldn’t work well with an insect because your focal length is roughly 5 inches (i.e., the bug would get startled and run away).
Here are a few samples of some photos I shot using this technique, along with the camera settings for each photo (NOTE: There is no f-stop listed because the camera doesn’t record an f-stop since the lens and camera can’t talk to each other when the lens isn’t actually connected to the camera).
Canon 60D | 50mm lens (on backward) | 1/80 | ISO 400 (slight crop to a 5×7)
Canon 60D | 50mm lens (on backward) | 1/20 | ISO 400 (slight crop to a 5×7)
Canon 60D | 50mm lens (on backward) | 1/60 | ISO 400 (Converted to B&W with a slight crop to 5×7)
Although it isn’t as sharp as what I would probably get with the 100mm f/2.8 macro lens I want, it’s a great way to experiment with macro photography to see if you enjoy macro photography before purchasing the expensive lens.
Good luck, and if anyone shoots macro using this technique, I invite you to share a link to it on this post.
~signed, Carltonaut
Carltonaut 
This is beyond cool! Now I gotta try it as well. Thanks for the ‘nuances’ and ‘notes.’ They’re super helpful for wannabe’s like myself!
This is awesome thanks a lot I have heard of this before never tried it and I have a 50mm f/1.8 lens and love macro shots but the lenses are so expensive. I love this pictures especially the last one good picture great book!!
Thanks. If you try it, share your photos. I would be interested in seeing what others shoot with this technique. I love the book, too. 🙂