Dear all. Though I`m a new comer for R8. I`m very fond of Macro-photography but don`t know how to start and what to buy?! Can anyone suggest me the ways to achieve this. I presently get 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R & 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R Type 2 lenses. Shall I consider buying 60mm f/2.8 Macro-Elmarit-R OR 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro-Elmarit-R lens? But they are too expensive for me to afford at the moment. Is there any alternative? Can I add some additional kits to my present lenses for initiating Macro-photographing? If yes, p-l-e-a-s-e list them for me!!!!! Many thanks to your help!

-- Parker Ten (unieric@ctimail3.com), June 28, 2001

Answers

Parker, there are various ways to get macro effects.

Use reverse ring. Kiron and others make reverse ring to enable mounting a lens in reverse. The aperture has to be set manually, the TTL metering still work. You can achieve about 1:1 with this method, stop down aperture to get good result. I have a Kiron reverse ring to mount Zeiss Planar 50/f1.4. I still use this method occasionally. Last time I want to put a photo of ACMEL color film package on my website, but my Leica ran out of film, so I could not use my Macro Elmarit 60/2.8 however, my Contax camera still had film inside, so I took out my Kiron and made the macro photo.

Use reverse filter ring to reverse mount on lens on top of another. Long time ago I use this method reverse mount a Konica Hexanon 135/f3.5 lens on top of a Hexanon 28/2.8 lens and sucessfully took close up shots of a diode, and a grain of rice with shell

Get a set of Leica extension rings, usually 3 rings set, you can mount 1, 2 or 3 ring, the 3 ring get you the the closest macro. I had the macro rings set for my Konica SLR camrera. Later the whole Konica setup with 3 lenses and accesories were sold to buy a Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm/f2.8. Leica 3 rings set retains the automatic function of R camera.

Use close up lens Leica ELPRO lens, attach one or two of them in front of lens. Stop down, you can get reasonably good close up picture.

And Leica also has bellow for R lens, you too need stop down the aperture. Leica has a twin shutter release for use with the bellow, one release attach to the shutter release, another leads to the bellow and close down the aperture.

But nothing compare with the top quality and convenience in continous focusing, full automatic of a Leica macro lens. The 100 AP0 macro is the best, or you can get the 60mm macro as your standard lens. It is one of my favourite lens.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), June 28, 2001.

The days of MF is numbered.

A new super film on the market may make MF a thing of the pass.

Gigabitfilm< /a>

A fine grain film film you can enlarge 1000x time, a Minox may even makes MF obsolete ;)

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), June 28, 2001.

This is old news. Gigabit or Giga-giga-gigabit film, there will always be an advantage to larger format sizes unless they repeal the laws of physics and mathematics. As always, it is the standards of the viewer which determine whether 8x10, 4x5, MF, 35mm or APS or 126 or 110 or Minox satisfies their standards for image quality.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), June 28, 2001.

One option you have is a Tamron 90mm macro with an R adapter. They make a 1 to 1 tube to go with it. It aint Leica but it's a good performer. You can get them used for about $200. US. Another option is the Nikon No. 6T close up lens. I have one with a 55 to 62 step ring that I screw into the front of my 50mm Summicron. It with some extension tubes may give you what you are looking for.

Regards Steve

-- Steve Belden (otterpond@tds.net), June 28, 2001.

Parker:

You can buy a Leica R 60mm/f2.8 3-cam macro lens in mint condition for about $600-$700 on EBAY or from a reputable Leica dealer. If you are lucky, you will get the 1:1 extension tube along with the lens! A used 100mm APO Macro lens will probably cost you $1500-$1800, depending on condition. I own both lenses, and the performance is stunning! I use the 60mm macro lens as my standard lens. I would recommend saving enough money until you can get the 60mm lens. The other less expensive options will not satisfy your craving!.........................

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), June 28, 2001.

Parker,

To echo Muhammad Chishty's advice, there's no real substitute for a true macro lens. However until you can afford one, I believe you should be able to achieve pleasing results with your 90 Elmarit and an Elpro close-up lens (I forget which Elpro goes with the 90mm but make sure you get the right one). I also have a 90mm Elmarit (one of my favourite lenses) but I've never tried it with an Elpro because I already have a 60mm macro.

The 60mm would be my first choice of a macro lens if I were you. It's a lot less expensive than the 100 APO and it should nicely fill a hole in your existing range of lenses - after all, there's quite a gap between 28mm and 90mm. IMHO, the 60mm macro has superb qualities, in terms of its flat field, image sharpness, contrast/resistance to flare, rendering of colours and the quality of out-of-focus areas (bokeh). This is true at both normal and macro distances. It is also reputed to have been the macro lens against which all others were judged. Its only disadvantages as a "standard" lens are its bulk and its rather small (f/2.8) maximum aperture; however, if you can live with those you might find, like me, that you never feel the need to buy a 50mm.

Regards, Ray

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), June 29, 2001.

Buying Leica R without a macro-elmarit, you missed one great advantage of R over M, and you missed one of the best macro lenses in the world.

Landscape master David Muench used Macro-Elmarit 60/2.8 with his Leicaflex SL.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), June 29, 2001.

Hi, Parker: Martin did a great job showing you the alternative ways you have to get in the fascinating macro world and several other friends have also contributed good ideas. I only want to focus on your statement regarding the price item. Not the least important one, I think. In fact, it is my main constraint, of course. First, let me try to summarize my experience for you to draw your own conclusions: I have tried close up lenses, macro tubes and the Visoflex way of doing macro in my M system. All of them have given me satisfactory results for my intended purpose which most of the time is to get a particularly expresive view of larger objects, from beach sand to the human body. The best results regarding optic quality have been the Visoflex pictures. The easiest work to do has been with the close up lenses. The least used system has been the macro tubes. The least expensive means, by far, are the close up lenses which also happen to be the only ones I carry all the time because of size and weight convenience. As a consequence, they are always available and no opportunity has been lost because of lack of macro equipment at hand since I bought them. All the above said, but the Visoflex, has to do with Nikon SLR equipment but it is technically the same in its Leica form, of course. I must make clear that I'm not a profesional photographer and has no standard to comply with but my own satisfaction regarding my intended purposes with my photography. If that were your own case I'd strongly recommend the close up lenses as the best choice to start with, specially if the money constraints are paramount. Still you don't have to necessarily buy Leica ELPRO since the very begining though the uggly it could be considered here. Enjoy your photography. Best wishes.

-Iván

-- Iván Barrientos M (ingenieria@simltda.tie.cl), June 29, 2001.