Crude Macro Experiments With The Canon S3
I took a couple of old SLR (Tamron) lenses with focal lengths of 50 mm and 28 mm and tried them out as macro lenses today. You take the SLR lens and put it in front of the camera lens backwards. The focus is about and inch and a half to two inches in front of the whole assembly. And the great thing is that you can use the S3 zoom to make the image bigger.
This is what the Supermacro mode can do (full frame, reduced to 21%):
The "e" is about 137 pixels high on the original. With a 50mm lens in front I get an "e" of about 740 pixels; about 5.4 times more magnification:
And with a 28mm lens, the "a" is about 1300 pixels, a magnification factor of about 9.5 times that of the Supermacro mode:
The way I got these big images was by zooming the lens on the S3 all the way in. The depth of field is very shallow of course. The light level was very low, so the images are of very low quality (and have been enhanced a little), but this was just a magnification test.
I have ordered a reversing ring and an adaptor so I can properly fit the SLR lenses to the camera. Once I have those I will do some outside experiments in better light.
This is what the Supermacro mode can do (full frame, reduced to 21%):
The "e" is about 137 pixels high on the original. With a 50mm lens in front I get an "e" of about 740 pixels; about 5.4 times more magnification:
And with a 28mm lens, the "a" is about 1300 pixels, a magnification factor of about 9.5 times that of the Supermacro mode:
The way I got these big images was by zooming the lens on the S3 all the way in. The depth of field is very shallow of course. The light level was very low, so the images are of very low quality (and have been enhanced a little), but this was just a magnification test.
I have ordered a reversing ring and an adaptor so I can properly fit the SLR lenses to the camera. Once I have those I will do some outside experiments in better light.
Lensmate Adaptor For Canon S3
I received a black 52 mm adaptor for the Canon S3 today from Lensmate. I also included a 52 to 49 mm step-down ring. When my male-male adaptor arrives I will be able to connect the S3 to an old reversed 50mm SLR lens and try it out as a macro photography tool.
Macro Lens For The Canon S3
Now I have the male-male 49 mm ring, I have completed my macro set up. The camera on the right is connected to the 52 mm Lensmate adaptor tube. The smooth ring and the ribbed ring adapt that down to 49 mm male, and the SLR lens on the left screws into that.
Another picture of the same set up:
That's a 50 mm f1.8 lens on the end, an old Olympus kit lens. So how did it perform? I got one good picture in the fading light of the evening:
The circle is what you see with the S3 zoomed out. I had the focus on manual, set to infinity. Focusing consists of moving the camera closer or away from the subject. In theory I can zoom in on the above 12x using the camera zoom, but reality is more harsh. As you would expect, the main difficulty is light and depth of field. Most of my shots came out like this, especially when zoomed:
That's a leg. Here is a picture of my monitor screen, hand held:
My next challenge is fixing up a flash diffuser to see how much I can get out of the built-in flash. I plan on making some sort of light pipe with a diffuser on the end, but we'll see what comes out of the design process.
Another picture of the same set up:
That's a 50 mm f1.8 lens on the end, an old Olympus kit lens. So how did it perform? I got one good picture in the fading light of the evening:
The circle is what you see with the S3 zoomed out. I had the focus on manual, set to infinity. Focusing consists of moving the camera closer or away from the subject. In theory I can zoom in on the above 12x using the camera zoom, but reality is more harsh. As you would expect, the main difficulty is light and depth of field. Most of my shots came out like this, especially when zoomed:
That's a leg. Here is a picture of my monitor screen, hand held:
My next challenge is fixing up a flash diffuser to see how much I can get out of the built-in flash. I plan on making some sort of light pipe with a diffuser on the end, but we'll see what comes out of the design process.
Jumping Spider
A half-reasonable picture of a jumping spider about 1/8 inch long I found today in the grass. I took this with my Canon S3 in natural light with a reversed 50mm SLR lens fitted. It's been cropped and enhanced in Aperture.
Ant Stuck On A Sticky Plant
I shot a movie of an ant stuck on a sticky plant with my Canon S3 IS today (10MB 30fps H.264 Quicktime, 45s). Click to play in a new window:
To get the magnification I used an old 50 mm SLR lens mounted backwards. I used Quicktime to reduce the size and recode from AVI to H.264.
The plant that it is on has blue flowers and sticky parts that break off easily:
What type of plant is this? [Update: A reader tells me it is Cape Plumbago (Plumbago capensis)]
To get the magnification I used an old 50 mm SLR lens mounted backwards. I used Quicktime to reduce the size and recode from AVI to H.264.
The plant that it is on has blue flowers and sticky parts that break off easily:
What type of plant is this? [Update: A reader tells me it is Cape Plumbago (Plumbago capensis)]
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