My Homemade Adapter at DVinfo.net

Matt Katsaros · December 25th, 2005, 12:50 AM

I finally finnished making mine thanks to the help of all of you. It turned out alot harder than I anticipated, but I am more than satisfied. I did it more as a project and wasn't expecting anything spectacular. Here is what my setup looks like: http://media.newschoolers.com/upload...pter%20003.jpg . Instead of a support rod system, I went the ghetto way and just took some plywood and L brackets. For now, I have an Canon EF-S lens so the image is a tad bit smaller than a normal 35 mm lens would project. Also instead of buying one or two +7 lenses for $250 each, I just bought the kits that had +1,+2,+4 for $45 and just stacked them up. I'll upload some quick clips I took (all from inside a car, because it was raining the whole time I was trying to test it) when I find a site to do so. For now, I have some frame shots:
http://media.newschoolers.com/upload...2391Frame1.jpg
http://media.newschoolers.com/upload...2408Frame2.jpg
http://media.newschoolers.com/upload...2429Frame3.jpg
I wanted to know what are the main things people do in editing to make the image better.
Thanks,
Matt

Ben Winter · December 25th, 2005, 01:54 AM

Quote:

instead of buying one or two +7 lenses for $250 each

Holy overkill batman! It's well noted that a $40 +7 Hoya will do the job just fine, in fact much better than your stacked jobs. Never stack macros, especially three in a row. Get one that's powerful enough and use only that one. That'll improve your image a lot. Also, get a PXCL. ha...buying one or two for $250 each. You actually thought that's what people do? The Century Optics adapter is definately not neccessary.

Your image suffers from a lot of vignetting and barrel distortion. Minimizing the macros into once piece of glass and adding a condenser (PXCL) will do eons of good towards improving your image.

You can do a bunch of things in post to improve your image, but you can't make gold from cr*p.

Matt Katsaros · December 25th, 2005, 02:20 AM

I brought what I had made to the guy at the local shop and he said he has seen a fair amount of them, and he took out the century optics +7 and we tried it and then said we should use another one. he told me, and i knew that it would reduce the quality alot, but i'm no pro and i wasnt about to spend 250. i wish i had known there was a different one for cheaper. wats a PXCL, where do i buy it, and does it go between the gg and 35 mm or wat? and for the record, im not going for gold, im really just going for some shiny metal...

Wayne Kinney · December 25th, 2005, 04:32 AM

is it a spinner?

Leo Mandy · December 25th, 2005, 10:48 AM

I would try to get a macro that is more expensive if I were you. I think those +10 +7 Asian macro were a bit on the cheap side and others were having distortion and abberation problems with them. Go for the C. Optics like Ben ( a great idea ) or the Hoya and Tiffen (I have a tiffen +7 +10, but don't use them and they are for sale - shameless plug). I also have a Sigma Achromat that is +1.6 and is really great, but not strong enough. Something like that would do you alot of good. There was a link for a comparison of macro/achromats on the dvinfo.net that showed a bar code that was really good - here it is
http://home.planet.nl/~heuv0283/achromats.html

Matt,
What are the materials you used for your system? It looks like a project box, but I can't tell exactly because it doesn't look like the one they sell at R.Shack.

Matt Katsaros · December 25th, 2005, 12:10 PM

It is a project box, but I got it at Frys, cause the ones at radioshack were too big or too small. For the gg, I used a frosted CD, spun by a cd motor connected to 4 AA batteries with a switch on the outside.

December 25th, 2005, 12:50 AM	#1
Matt Katsaros New Boot Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 11	My Homemade Adapter I finally finnished making mine thanks to the help of all of you. It turned out alot harder than I anticipated, but I am more than satisfied. I did it more as a project and wasn't expecting anything spectacular. Here is what my setup looks like: http://media.newschoolers.com/upload...pter%20003.jpg . Instead of a support rod system, I went the ghetto way and just took some plywood and L brackets. For now, I have an Canon EF-S lens so the image is a tad bit smaller than a normal 35 mm lens would project. Also instead of buying one or two +7 lenses for $250 each, I just bought the kits that had +1,+2,+4 for $45 and just stacked them up. I'll upload some quick clips I took (all from inside a car, because it was raining the whole time I was trying to test it) when I find a site to do so. For now, I have some frame shots: http://media.newschoolers.com/upload...2391Frame1.jpg http://media.newschoolers.com/upload...2408Frame2.jpg http://media.newschoolers.com/upload...2429Frame3.jpg I wanted to know what are the main things people do in editing to make the image better. Thanks, Matt

December 25th, 2005, 04:32 AM	#4
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	is it a spinner? __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

December 25th, 2005, 02:20 AM	#3
Matt Katsaros New Boot Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 11	I brought what I had made to the guy at the local shop and he said he has seen a fair amount of them, and he took out the century optics +7 and we tried it and then said we should use another one. he told me, and i knew that it would reduce the quality alot, but i'm no pro and i wasnt about to spend 250. i wish i had known there was a different one for cheaper. wats a PXCL, where do i buy it, and does it go between the gg and 35 mm or wat? and for the record, im not going for gold, im really just going for some shiny metal...

December 25th, 2005, 10:48 AM	#5
Leo Mandy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	I would try to get a macro that is more expensive if I were you. I think those +10 +7 Asian macro were a bit on the cheap side and others were having distortion and abberation problems with them. Go for the C. Optics like Ben ( a great idea ) or the Hoya and Tiffen (I have a tiffen +7 +10, but don't use them and they are for sale - shameless plug). I also have a Sigma Achromat that is +1.6 and is really great, but not strong enough. Something like that would do you alot of good. There was a link for a comparison of macro/achromats on the dvinfo.net that showed a bar code that was really good - here it is http://home.planet.nl/~heuv0283/achromats.html Matt, What are the materials you used for your system? It looks like a project box, but I can't tell exactly because it doesn't look like the one they sell at R.Shack.

December 25th, 2005, 12:10 PM	#6
Matt Katsaros New Boot Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 11	It is a project box, but I got it at Frys, cause the ones at radioshack were too big or too small. For the gg, I used a frosted CD, spun by a cd motor connected to 4 AA batteries with a switch on the outside.