A60 Macro Photography with EF 50 mm / 1.8 II

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The starting supplies to improve the A60's lacklustre macro capability up to the "kick-ass" level (for a P&S) by using the Canon 50 mm f/1.8 II as a monster close-up adapter. The magic here is getting two 52 mm Cokin A adapters to be glued together. (And to have a 50 mm lens!) Note that all shots in this gallery are full frame. Also, they come from two cameras. The A60 shots are in 4:3 ratio, while the SLR shots are 3:2. You can also check the EXIF data under the shot in the large view. Scratch or otherwise mark the edges of the rings for alignment if you want the 50 mm to end up in any particular position once mounted. I scuffed the mating faces up on an oilstone, and then clean really well with soap. I used a good CA glue, and alcohol to clean all grease off the mating faces. #&$^#^%!! Assembly did not go well the first time. Or the second time. Third time's a charm though. Be sure to have acetone on hand. I was trying to align the rings by the outside edge, but the glue set too quickly. I then soaked the rings in acetone and separated by tapping a one-sided paint-scraper razor blade between them. (Then clean and re-sand and re-clean...) The second attempt was good but revealed unequal vignetting. I repeated the separation process. In the third attempt I had the plates installed on the camera and lens before adding the glue, and then assembled them "live", with the viewfinder on to see the vignetting. Ta-daaaaah! Once aligned to equalize the vignetting in the 4 corners, you can see that the rings are not well aligned themselves. Apparently the A60 lens is not well aligned with its bayonet mount. I then scratched a "C" and an "L" into the appropriate faces to mark the Camera and Lens sides of the adapter to maintain the proper alignment. A test shot with the 50 mm reverse mounted indicates an approximately 18 mm FOV. Note vignetting! Argh. This was not there with the hand-held test shots, so apparently the few extra millimeters added by the adapter pushed the lens out just enough to cause vignetting. Darn! This is as close as the A60 can get with its macro mode. This shows the improvement with the 50 mm. This is as close as the A60 can get with its macro mode. This shows the improvement with the 50 mm. This is as close as the A60 can get with its macro mode. This shows the improvement with the 50 mm. This is taken with the A60 + 50 mm. It is shot of the LCD monitor on my other camera displaying a shot of the A60 with the 50 mm attached. Brainwave to solve the vignetting! Make a forward-mounting adapter using a lens bottom cap to accomodate the bayonet mount. I have a choice of caps to work with. From left to right: Kenko, Sigma, Canon, Canon. Yes, Canon apparently changed their cap design at some point to use a little less plastic. I choose the Kenko (from my new set of extension tubes!) because it is the lowest. The Kenko cap has a ridge on the back that I wish to remove. Millimeters matter here. The shorter the adapter, the wider the A60 can zoom out without vignetting. My improvised milling machine (Dremel tool clamped to the work bench) for removing the ridge on the cap. Inside the Kenko cap. It's as if they are answering the question "Was this really made in Japan?" ;-) This is another shot of Scotty, using the forward-mount adapter, and with the bill more perpendicular to the optical axis. This is taken with the reverse-mounting adapter. Note the vignetting. This is taken with the forward adapter. No vignetting, but since the lens is recessed from the front, the working distance is frustratingly small. (Note the icky yellow liquid...that's what ladybugs spit out as a defensive measure. It's supposed to taste bad, but I wouldn't know. Or it puked on the sugar I was feeding it!) Just for fun, this is taken with my SLR using a 2x TC, a 36 mm extension tube, and the same 50 mm f/1.8. This time I gave it some orange juice.
All images Copyright 2005, Norm Lyon