Macro Photography, Bellows, Ext. Tubes, or Telephoto?

I want to do a lot more macro close up work. I have a Hasselblad 500C

w/ Zeiss 80mm. I have read that macro work can be done with

extension tubes, bellows, and telephoto equipment, but before I drop

$4000 on a telephoto or $2000 on a bellows setup or $300 for ext. tube

(s) I was hoping somebody might be able to tell me what the

photographic quality differences there are with each seperate device,

and/or which one is the best idea.

Thanks.

 

-Chris

Chris,

 

At the risk of over-simplifying the discussion, the "best" approach to macro / close-up work is to use a macro lens. The 120mm Macro Planar will get you to almost half life size without using an extension tube. Using a macro lens minimizes any compromises in image quality and special techniques.

 

Extension tubes and the bellows will enable you to focus closer; however, your camera-to-subject distance decreases and you loose some light, requiring exposure compensation, due to the added extension. If you don't have a meter prism for your 500, you'll have to take a light reading using say, a hand-held meter and then increase exposure in order to compensate for the extension.

 

A telephoto lens will magnify the subject but may not be sufficient for small subjects, such as insects. In order to enter the macro / close-up range, you'll need to add some extension and deal with exposure compensation.

 

Another approach would be Hasselblad Proxar close-up lenses (or filters) that attach to the front of the lens and get you closer. They require no exposure compensation. However, I believe that Hasselblad has discontinued Proxars.

 

If it were my money and I was in your situation, I'd look for used Proxar lenses first because they're rather straightforward to use and could be the least expensive introduction to close-up photography with the Hasselblad. Otherwise, I'd go with a 16mm or 32mm extension tube. The nice thing about the tubes is that they will work with any other lenses that you may get down the road.

 

Ernst Wildi's "The Hasselblad Manual" has a nice survey of using various Hasselblad accessories for close-up / macro photography. There are also a number of more detailed books on the topic, such as John Shaw's book, but these tend to use 35mm gear.

 

Good luck.

 

-Nick

Extension tubes will work fine with your existing 80 mm lens although if you want a magnification greater than one a bellows will be more practical. You will need a total of 80 mm extension for 1:1 reproduction ratio. Reverse mounting the lens can also improve quality if going beyond 1:1. The main advantage of bellows is the variable extension whereas tubes are usually of a fixed length. A longer focal length lens will give you a greater subject distance, and a macro lens such as the 120 mm macro planar will have a flatter image field and better correction in the close focussing range. The 'best' idea though really depends on what you want to photograph. I would start with the extension tubes as they are useful and convenient.

I would start with extension tubes, because they will always be useful, no matter how sophisticated your macro system becomes. If you eventually get the Macro Planar, for instance, you will still want the tubes to get even closer. If you can't get very close to your subject and need a longer lens, you might need extension tubes to get closer than the close-focusing range of the lens. If you use a bellows, you can add the tubes on for even more extension, and in some situations, tubes are more practical than a bellows, which can be bulky and cumbersome.

You can get a set of various diopter closeup accessory lenses

new for less than $60, and used for a lot less. They may be

just fine, depending on what you want to take photos of.

 

Flowers? Insects? If so you will not be too distressed by soft

focus near the edges of the negative. This would be the down

side of this approach.

 

If you need a flat field, like taking photos of a computer

circuit board, maybe you can justify spending between 5 times

and 100 times as much.

 

Another thought.. for much less money, here's a plan:

Buy an excellent 35mm setup, which would give you

excellent lenses, the possibility of a reversed mounted lens,

no-hassle auto exposure, etc. I use an old pentax Super ME with

a reverse-mounted 28mm wide angle, and sometimes extension tubes

(which cost something like $40 for a set of several...) to

get enlargement ratios of 5X to 10X life size (very small

sea shells.) See http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~fateman/shell.jpg for

a photo of a 3mm long shell. The rough surface under the shell

is actually smooth mat board.

 

Good luck in any case.

 

RJF

The MakroPlanar lens is top choice, A1, and worth it if you are doing a lot of macro work. I have not used the Hassy bellows, but on 35mm, the concept is similar- it's a variable length extension tube, essentially. I have used the Hassy extension tubes with excellent results from the 80mm Planar. I also have used the Proxars on the 80mm with excellent results. Actually, IMHO, the Proxars do a great job for the occasional macro need. Ext. tubes also do a great job most of the time, including bellows which are more flexible. If I had the bucks . . . MakroPlanar plus the bellows, and you can handle any macro task I can think of with outstanding optics in your hands.

Chris,

 

The answer is that you need all the things you mention, except telephoto lenses. Telephoto lenses do not take you further into the realm of macro than any other lens: they do not have a smaller minimum field of view. However, the longer the lens, the more extension you need to be able to focus closer. Plus telephoto lenses are very asymmetrical, causing more light loss than more symmetrical "standard" lenses (like the Planars), even when used at the same magnification.

So no telephoto lenses.

 

---

 

Jeff, you wrote:

 

"MakroPlanar plus the bellows, and you can handle any macro task I can think of with outstanding optics in your hands."

 

It's almost true. ;-)

There is however a gap between what the Makro-Planar can do on its own and what you get with a Makro-Planar plus bellows, so you will have to have at least on extension tube (32 mm) as well.

Keep an eye out for a (good second-hand) Macro-planar 120 and extention tubes.

 

Longer focal lengths are great for photgrophing small shy animals, insects etc. but you need more extention.

 

One option not mentioned above is stacking lenses: mount a short focal length lens reversed infront of a longer focal length lens.

 

Bellows are good but expensive and bulky: they even let you focus to infinity if you use bellows lenses with them: bellows lenses are ridiculusly cheap second hand.

 

See the Wista (bellows attachment) thread.

Chris,

 

I think that closeup/macro work can be very disappointing if you

don't have your exposure under control.

If you plan to shoot in the studio or at home it may not be such

a problem as if you are shooting nature.

In the field you need to be fast, there is no time for calculating

your exposure compensations, specially if you have to change

the magnification ratio rapidly.

The 500C is not the ideal camera for macro work for to many

reasons to list here, if I had no other choice ( Rollei 6008 ) I

would

use a fixed repro. ratio, a fixed aperture and exposure time

( 1/500 to avoid ambient light )and a flashlight in manual setting

and look for the object(s) that fit these circumstances.

The 80mm Planar due to its symmetrical construction is a good

choice for macro work, it will do unless you need a larger

working distance. Extension rings will give you a better quality

than Proxar lenses.

 

Salut!

 

Felipe

Medium format macro work is difficult due to the extremely small depth of field. Articulating bellows with view camera capabilities are the answer.

 

I have acquired a Sinar P, which is a bellows system for my Hasselblad and a 66, 69 and 612 monorail view camera. I might buy the 5 x 7 conversion and a 617 back - anyone got one?

 

Almost everything I found second hand, so I have a very versatile and cost effective system with 47, 90, 150, 300 and 600mm lenses - I will mount my Macro-planar 120 on it for macro work (the Sinar macro lens is over £800, and not readily availiable second hand - anyone got one?

Take a look at : http://www.zoerk.com/pages/p_mfs.htm

To Q.G., I agree with your comments. FWIW, I usually do, and think we are on the same page. What I was alluding to was, if one has the MakroPlanar and the bellows (a variable extension), then one has a combination that should meet most macro requirements, used seperately or in combination. Studying further, Chris, you may want to define what size your subjects will be on film - i.e. ratios of 1:2 etc. Lifesize of 1:1 may dictate a rig of one style vs. a rig yielding 1:10.