Cheap Like the Budgie: Macro Photography, Part 2

My Reverse Ring Set Up

Photography can be an expensive hobby, especially for someone working in a nonprofit field like myself. Decent camera equipment (everything from the camera body itself to lens to studio equipment) can easily sap you for hundreds of dollars without much effort. Here at TLF, it is one of my goals to provide tips and tricks that I’ve discovered or found that provide quality photos for a fraction of the cost.

“Don’t knock it, it’s cheap, like the budgie.” – Eddie, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

A few weeks ago, I brought you part one of this look at ways to achieve great macro pictures without spending hundreds of dollars. The first method was through the use of a macro magnifying lens that converts any lens into a macro capable lens. This week, we’ll look at another low-cost method of achieving a macro effect for macro dollars spent, and yes, I did just say that.

Today, I want to focus on the reversing ring. There are two separate types of reversing rings available, the reverse mount adapter and the reverse coupling ring.

The reverse mount adapter allows you take a single lens and mount it backwards onto your camera body. For an example of this (and to see a cheap DIY version), check out this article on DIYPhotography. If you’re not interested in going the DIY route and want something much more reliable, you can purchase a reverse mount adapter on eBay for as little as $4.50, or Amazon for $12.95.

Reverse Coupling Ring

To achieve an even more extreme macro result, a reverse coupling ring allows you to use the zooming power of two lenses mounted on a single DSLR camera body. Similar to the cost of a reverse mount adaptor, a solid metal coupling ring can be had for as little as $3.99 on eBay. Of course, if you’re planning to use a coupling ring, you’ll also have the added cost of a second lens to take on if you don’t already own one. One of the great things about the coupling rings is that you can combine lenses with different lens opening sizes. The one I currently use is a 52mm-58mm. A drawback of the coupling ring is that both manual focusing and automatic focusing are both pretty much out of the question. The only real way to focus using this method of macro shooting is by moving closer in or farther away from the subject that you’re shooting. Below are two example photos that I took utilizing a reverse coupling ring.