RRM (Reverse Ring Macro) in Tulamben

[Luko]

Olympics in Paris getting slower, business as well though still a short week to go before my usual august trip to Indonesia. Maybe a good time to post a few pics.

 

I'm often looking to try unusual techniques in Tulamben/Bali since macro subjects are plentyful and the guide I have been diving with these past 10 years is able to find anything an eye cannot even catch. During my last stays I dedicated a few dives to the "Lo-tech/Lo budget" Reverse Ring Macro technique that a few old timers might have practiced decades ago. 

RRM involves reversing a wide angle lens used as a super macro lens. The wider, the more magnification you get, you'll also see RRM is the epitome of frugal technology.

For this you need a random wide angle lens, it could be a cheap wide angle zoom lens, which front optic side is attached reversed to the camera sensor baionet with the help of an appropriate ring, hence the name "Reverse Ring" Macro. I used my 15-85 Canon zoom attached with a 10$ reverse ring purchased on Amazon, in order to spice it up a bit (Indonesia is home of the spice islands) and since I had additional room in my macro port, I added a macro extension tube of 3cm in between the reverse ring and the camera EF baionet (15$ more on Amazon... OMG such crazy expenses : have I told you RRM is for cheapskates on macro?).

With that rig, depending on your wide angle optics and the extension tube you are using, you may get down to a magnification of more than *4, this is where crazyness begins on a cropped sensor camera.

Once you're happy with the costs, you'll have to cope with the downsides of this technique :

• the aperture is fixed to the MINIMAL f/ stop, hence you'll be better off with a a crappy lens that opens to a max f/4.
• the focus point is fixed to the MINIMAL distance, which is usually not more than a few cm with the reversed lens position (a couple of inches at most). You need then to have a macro port really adjusted to your RRM setup, otherwise you won't be able to get any subject in focus.
• Having said this, the Depth of Field you'll get is critically minimal, not more than one or a couple of mm, you then need to have a clear view through a good quality viewfinder and be very precise to get your subject in focus while rocking your camera.   
• 99% of the subjects you casually shoot will be too large to fit in the frame : finding the good one with enough contrast will be a challenge in its own, having an eagle eyed guide who understands the kind of subject you need is key to taking decent shots.
• In summary, do not expect more than a 10% success rate (meaning framed and in focus subjects) for a maximum of 30-40 images on a 70-80 minutes dive.
• You know you had a decent RRM session when you have a headache at the end of the dive.

  

Is that worth? You tell me : at least I had focused dives, fun... and headaches too.

Nudibranches are hard to focus, I found that crustacean eyes had the most interest in terms of contrast and shapes.

 

1- Ghost shrimp

2- hairy shrimp (gives you an Idea with the magnification)

3- Thor amboinensis "sexy" shrimp

4- Eye of a juvenile harlequin shrimp

5- Incredibly small Trinchesia sp. nudi

6- Juvenile Micromelo nudi          

   

Edited August 9 by Davide DB
Acronym explanation added

[SwiftFF5]

Wow, good job!  Thanks for sharing.

[FrancoisC]

Having already tried RRM outside water, I can imagine the headhache 🙂 

 

yes, eyes are the most interessant.

Taken with the 70D or the R7 ?

I think I have already see some of the picures...

[Chris Ross]

If you find some old Canon FD lenses, they sit with the aperture at f5.6 when not mounted to a camera, so stopped down a little more than many wide angle lenses and available quite cheaply.  You can also find accessories in the FD system the macro auto ring which attaches and allows you to stop the lens with a double cable release, though using that UW would be an issue of course, but it might be possible to adapt it to hold the aperture open?

 

The Canon FD system had a really complete macro system with huge number of accessories, here's an old brochure:

 

https://www.galimbertipaolo.it/CanonFD/MacroBrochure1982.pdf

[humu9679]

@Luko that's very cool. Maybe pre-treat with acetaminophen?

 

@Chris Ross I had a look back at FD lenses a couple of years ago during a bout of nostalgia, and I found that some of my old beloved Canon lenses were really prone to fungus and internal element etching, eg, 28mm f2 v 85mm f1.8 - and wider lenses in general. But you can get screaming deals nowadays - 300mm f2.8s for USD 500-600.

[Luko]

On 8/10/2024 at 5:12 AM, Chris Ross said:

You can also find accessories in the FD system the macro auto ring which attaches and allows you to stop the lens with a double cable release, though using that UW would be an issue of course, but it might be possible to adapt it to hold the aperture open?

On Amazon you can find more elaborate EF "double" adaptors which are used both as a lens reversing device and will also connect to the baionet side of lens (ie. on the front of the whole system), a cable system between the two rings allows to drive the actual aperture. That said that's a lot of cables inside the port, it also reduces the fixed focus distance since it adds up some cms on the front end.

 

There's also a trick which works on Canon dSLRs : if you unscrew the lens while pushing the shutter release on BULB mode, the lens will sit at the current aperture when unscrewed. So then you can reverse it with any fixed aperture you'd want.

BUT the big trade off is that you're loosing light within your viewfinder, at some point it will be so dark you won't see anything and mess up with your manual focusing.

Uh... choices, choices...  

 

On 8/9/2024 at 10:11 PM, FrancoisC said:

Taken with the 70D or the R7 ?

 

First ones with a 70D the rest with a R7.

 

 

Edited August 12 by Luko