Macro photography is one of those niches that can be very interesting to newer photographers, but at the same time can be very expensive. Dedicated macro lenses that produce a true 1:1 or better ratio can be quite costly, and this can deter some from experimenting with macro photography.
Well, as this video from Indy Mogul shows, macro photography doesn’t have to be expensive at all. In fact, you can do it with just about any lens that you can put onto your camera, and what’s more, it can be effectively free.
In the video, the Indy Mogul team describes a simple yet effective method for macro photography by which you simply attach your lens to your camera backwards. You can spend a few dollars and pick up an adapter that makes this easy, or you can hand hold it and use this method without having to spend a dime.
So at this point, you might be thinking that this sounds too good to be true. Well, it’s not, it works, and many popular macro photographers have used this method to great success. But it is not without its drawbacks and caveats.
The first and biggest caveat is that you can’t focus as you are used to with your lens. In order to focus your image while you are working with this sort of reversing technique, you have to simply move your camera closer or farther from your subject until the area you wish to be in focus is in focus.
You also lose all electrical contacts and information passed from your lens to your camera, and in some cases, this means no aperture control. In reality, these are fairly minor caveats considering that, with any old lens in your bag, you can get macro images that may cost you north of $1,000 to get with a regular macro lens.
In an industry like photography where even the simplest things can be very expensive, it’s always nice to learn about cost-effective and alternative ways to achieve the results you are looking for.
