Bellows: Worth Trying or Just Hot Air?

[Dean Wilson]

I am looking at Bellows for my R5 as a replacement/enhancement for my Meike 11mm and 18mm Extension Tubes. Does anyone have experience with Bellows?
The one I am looking at is a Fotodiox Macro Bellows (with everything manual) for $51.91 on Amazon. I could pay $1285.00 for one with contacts, but I (meaning my wife) can't justify the expense for yet another camera gadget.

 

[Archibald]

Those Meike tubes don't extend the lens very far, so I can see the attraction of getting bellows. The macro bellows will do the trick. But how will you set the aperture? You really need an all-manual lens to work with the Fotodiox bellows.

 

[Dean Wilson]

Okay I think I understand. With RF lens the aperture defaults to the widest aperture and not allowing the option to choose smaller apertures, which then requires more images for stacking as the DoF is smaller. Is that it?

 

[Archibald]

Okay I think I understand. With RF lens the aperture defaults to the widest aperture and not allowing the option to choose smaller apertures, which then requires more images for stacking as the DoF is smaller. Is that it?

Right - but with some trickery, you might be able to stop the RF lens down. Set it to (say) f/8, press the DOF preview button, then while keeping that depressed, remove the lens from the camera. (I haven't checked to see if that works.) Then mount to the bellows. Not very convenient! You need patient (or dead) bugs for that.

With RF gear, you are supposed to turn the camera off when changing lenses, and that would probably spoil the game. Removing the lens with the camera turned on might work, but might pose a risk to the sensor and maybe to software.

There are old manual aperture lenses around, which would work way better.

 

[Dean Wilson]

With RF gear, you are supposed to turn the camera off when changing lenses,

I have changed lenses during a double exposure....the 15-35mm and 100-500mm, because I can not because I shouldn't. No problems.

 

[Archibald]

I have changed lenses during a double exposure....the 15-35mm and 100-500mm, because I can not because I shouldn't. No problems.

I think it's just to protect the sensor, which sits quite far forward in mirrorless bodies and therefore is vulnerable. It should be fine if rain or dust or fingers don't get on the sensor.

I've also changed lenses with the camera turned on, and also removed mem cards with the camera turned on. And it was fine. So far.

 

[ShipleyNW]

If you're stuck on contactless bellows, you might consider a cheap aftermarket contactless lens to go with it . I've played a little bit with manual Rokinon and Laowa lenses and they're fun. Granted, it would turn your $60 notion into a $500 project, but that's still cheaper than a fully-RF-compatible set of bellows. Plus you'll have a small, fast lens in the bag that might be just the right thing for niche situations.

 

[Dean Wilson]

Here's a thought. Rather than buying a new manual lens I could buy a FD to R adapter (under $30 US) and use my Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 SSC breach mount lens.

 

[Archibald]

Here's a thought. Rather than buying a new manual lens I could buy a FD to R adapter (under $30 US) and use my Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 SSC breach mount lens.

Sounds like fun. What magnification were you aiming to achieve? It will affect your working distance. At 1:1, the subject will be 100mm from the front nodal plane of the lens. That nodal plane is probably somewhere inside the lens... so the working distance will be maybe 3 or 3 1/2 inches from the front of the lens. Might be OK depending on what you are shooting.

 

[ShipleyNW]

How do those converters work? I don't know about FD lenses specifically, but SLR lenses in general would go wide open when mounted up so you could see to focus. Part of the exposure clockworks was to have the camera push a lever on the lens to close the aperture down before it opened the shutter then let the aperture open back up when the shutter closed.

Cameras don't push levers anymore. Does the adapter have any kind of a mechanism to do a quick stopdown before you make the exposure?

Again, I don't know anything about anything, but I'd think if you're going to try adapting a mechanical lens to an electronic body, macro, and especially bellows, might give you the best opportunity to succeed. You're already working pretty slowly and meticulously, so adding a step to mess with the aperture might fit right in with the process.

I was looking at my little RF mount Laowa, and it doesn't have that lever to stop down the aperture. A mirrorless camera's brain can work out the viewfinder's brightness so you can see to work, even stopped down. An SLR lens' default condition is wide open, so you'd need a way to lock your chosen f stop in place. Thinking about it, maybe that's all a converter would need; just some kind of a mechanism to make the selected aperture setting live all the time. Just a little bar that the keeps lens' aperture lever pressed all the time.

 

[Dean Wilson]

Hurray? the Fotodiox Macro Bellows Compatible with Canon RF (EOS-R) Mount Mirrorless Camera System for Extreme Close-up Photography, Black (CRF-MCR-BLW) arrived!

Minus the locking screw...

I sent it back with an Amazon reorder. It should arrive around the same time as my FD to RF adapter.

 

[Archibald]

If Hurray is a question, what's the answer?