NIkon 18-70 - reversible?

[andy]

Just wandering if anyone has tried lens reversal on the Nikon 18-70 mm?

Should work I suppose - however I note this lens does not have an aperture control ring. So I guess this would mean being stuck at f22?? I find when using my 50mm that around f22 does give good results - although usually the viewfinder is too dark to use.

Any thoughts?

[Grev]

No, it's not a good thing to reverse it because as you said there is no aperture ring and second of all I don't know of any of the Nikon lens reversal mounts that go to 67mm, I have only seen 52mm and 62mm, they're Br2 or br3 or something like that.

If you'd want to reverse a lens, why not just get one of the older Ai/AiS 55mm micro lenses for $150 or so dollars, although you'd lose metering and only half life size. Or just get the 60mm micro, the old version.

Or if you're insisting on reversing, get the AiS 20mm f2.8 lens and reverse that (with bellows, PB3 I think) to get 13x times magnification.

[andy]

I was looking at a step ring to use in conjunction with my BR2 to get the reversal done. But it does look like ebay offers some third party 67mm reverse mounts (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nikon-to-67mm-Re ... 638Q2em122)

It's not so much that I'm insisting on reversing, more that I've now exhausted my camera funds but figure if I can get extra functionality for a few measly bucks then why not

[Grev]

Well it's better to reverse your 50mm f1.8, although I don't know what 18mm would yield in magnification terms, it SHOULD be higher than the 50mm I think.

You don't want to shoot at the smallest aperture all the time with the 18-70mm, do you?

[andy]

You don't want to shoot at the smallest aperture all the time with the 18-70mm, do you?

I guess not?

[andy]

Well if no one has tried this then I might just have to give it a go and report back with my results.

Let's face it, I'm really just looking for any reason to feed my ebay addiction.

[Yi-P]

You may find very wierd results with a zoom lens reversed.

You may be stuck to work with 50-70mm settings. At 18-50mm areas, you may be forced to get too close that your rear element come in contact with the object you're photographing without notice.

I have reversed 28, 35 and 50mm lenses they to say, at 35 and below, you get scary results. And you really need bright lens to focus from a reversed position. Since the 18-70 is G type, you can't lock the aperture and may have to result to play with the aperture lever.

[andy]

Thanks for your comments Yi-P.

In fact I didn't even realise there was an aperture lever! Duh, learning every day.

[aim54x]

I was just about to mention the aperture lever.

For the record the 18-135mm has a 67mm filter thread, but it is not a common filter for Nikon.

I have reversed my 50mm f/1.8, without an adaptor, but found it rather annoying that way, so I got a 52mm Marumi close up set for it instead, (I remember seeing another one in the shop, Camera House Broadway). When using this set does not introduce chromatic, but it does make DOF really shallow.

Just another thought, but if you need close focusing ability and approx 1:1 reproduction then this may be a solution.