Macro setups (Tubes, reverse rings, etc)

[Flybye]

Some of the methods I've seen are Extension Tubes, Reverse Rings and Lens withReversed lens at the end.

I've seen all methods and am wondering, which gives the least amount of quality loss?
Does it even matter?

What if you were to do some crazy combination?
Something like:
Camera>tubes>Teleconverter>300mm Lens>Adapter ring>inverted 50mm lens

[OldClicker]

The least amount of IQ loss is a macro lens. Next would be extension tubes. If you want more than 1:1 magnification, the lens-ring-reversed lens is probably the best without spending serious $. In general, each time you add something, the IQ goes down. If that something has glass in it, it's even worse. - TF

[Flybye]

Thanks. So more glass = nay. I have a 55mm f1.4 that I'll be playing with and will be either putting that at the end of an extension tube or reversing in hopes of it letting a decent amount of light in.

[SmartWombat]

I would use extension tubes, but not reversing.
With a film camera, no problem.

But with a digital camera, dust is the enemy.
It's expensive (usually) to get the camera sensor cleaned.
And reversing the lens so it gets dust all over it, then possibly putting all that dust inside the camera does not seem like a good thing.

Extension tubes are relatively cheap, and as long as you can stand the long exposure or use lots of extra light, you can keep on adding them.

I once made up a two foot extension tube for my old film camera and got some great images at about 7:1 magnification. But I had to fire the flash about 5 times at a distance of 6" to get enough light on it. I think it worked out at about f/140 or so.
Again I wouldn't do that for digital because of the possibility of dust.
Sometimes film cameras, where you can easily clean everything, are the best tool.

[mjs1973]

I have played around with using a macro lens, tubes and a reversing ring in the past with pretty good results. I tried to add a 2x TC but I couldn't get anything to focus and the loss of light made seeing anything very difficult. If I remember correctly, your magnification changes based on the position of the TC and the tubes. If you put the TC between the tubes and the camera body, you will get a different magnification than if you put the tubes between the TC and camera.

I don't worry about dust when using a reversed 50mm because I'm not reversing it on camera. I'm reversing it on the front of another lens that is properly attached to the camera.

Here is a thread where I used a macro lens and 3 extension tubes stacked together.

Here is thread where I used a macro lens, 3 extension tubes with a 50mm lens reversed on the end of the macro lens. With this combo, I had to stop way down to avoid vignetting.