Lens Reversal Ring: Lens won't focus.

[Don Schaeffer]

I bought an lens reveral adapter for macros and tried with a Soligor 136 f2.8 lens from a film camera. I can't find a focus with my Nikon D40. It looks like the focal point is inside the lens or something. What am I doing wrong?

[OldClicker]

I think you have to be real close - like the subject to lens distance should be less than the distance from the lens to the sensor. - Terry

[drg]

I think you have to be real close - like the subject to lens distance should be less than the distance from the lens to the sensor. - Terry

In other words for this to work at all the object in focus may have to be about a half inch or so in front of the lens!

Are you using the lens with a tube or another fixed focal length such as a 50mm? Be sure that the lens is set to infinity focus as the performance of a reversed lens degrades at other settings. AF won't work with the lens on the camera in its regular orientation. It should be manually set to infinity as well.

Some short telephotos like this one won't work at all as they have an extra element or two in them to gather light that when the lens is turned around/reversed spread out the light and mess up the focus. That's the non-technical version. Or they are computed/calculated for mono-directional light path projection with asymmetric collation. I think that is close

Either that or the resulting magnification will be so high that finding that narrow band of focused area is going to be far more difficult.

Have you checked out the Soligor lens by itself to be sure it is focusing in the regular way around orientation? That could be a first step.

[catspaw]

typically the reversal works best for macro work and using a 50mm reversed. a longer lens... I think depending on the lens, you CAN end up with a focus point inside the lens.

[Don Schaeffer]

thanks cats