Customer Reviews

Fotodiox 52mm Filter Thread Lens, Macro Reverse Ring Camera Mount Adapter, for Nikon D1, D2, D3, D3x,D3s, D100, D200, D300, D300s, D700, D40, D40x, D50, D60, D70, D70s, D80, D90, D3000, D3100, D5000, D7000

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This thing is amazing. I was looking at some $700 macro lenses, but thanks to this I no longer need one.

Because there is no glass in between the lens and sensor, the image quality is not affected at all. What you get are clear, crisp macro images.

I experimented with this (see the product pictures) and was shocked at how good it worked. Yes, everything must be done manually - exposure, focus, etc. But it's definitely worth it. You can get VERY close to your subject - I was only about one inch away and the focus was great.

Thanks to this, I saved $700 and now can take amazing pictures with my kit lens (18-55mm) and Nikon D40.

Some tips:
To get the best results and focus the absolute closest, zoom your lens out as wide as it will go. The pictures I have submitted were taken at 18mm.

Use as much light as possible. I used a simple flexible desk lamp to light my subject, and still had shutter speeds of about 1/2 a second.

Use a remote release - you need to reduce vibration as much as possible.

When focused VERY close, all the dust on your lens and camera sensor will be visible in the photo. You can take it out fairly easily in Photoshop, but it is best to keep things as dust-free as possible.

When I bought this, there was limited information in the description, so I bought it thinking it isn't much money, and it could be returned if it didn't do what I hoped it would. Stuff i wish I was in the description when I bought it:

This adapter allows you to mount a fast lense with a 52mm filter thread backwards on your F mount camera.

This must be used in full manual mode on dslr cameras.

This worked as intended with our f1.8 35mm lens.

This will be less useful with slow lenses, because there won't be enough light to find focus. It worked, but not well enough to try to get any pictures with the 55-200 lense at 55, and didn't work well at all at 200 (to dark to see focus).

On our 55-200 zoom lens at least, the zoom ring works as a focus ring, making it so you can get perfect focus on a tripod without a macro mount or moving the tripod. A fast extending barrel zoom with an aperture ring might actually be better with this than a macro prime lens.

Old lenses might have convenient aperture rings, but modern lenses will require you to manually adjust aperture against minor spring tension. At first I thought I would jam the aperture open with something (delicately), but it turns out that you need to adjust aperture to get good shots handheld. This is because you need light to focus, and you need depth of field to get good macro shots of most stuff (the F1.8 35mm reversed and set to f1.8 doesn't have enough depth of field to put the top and bottom of the mint mark on a coin on focus at the same time). If this paragraph doesn't make sense to you, you are unlikely to be happy with this item.

With our 35mm lens reversed, we get somewhere about 2:1 reproduction ratio. That is both awesome, and somewhat frustrating. It is frustrating in that since working distance is how you focus, you can't back up to get a bigger area in the shot. It appears that longer focal lengths give lower reproduction ratios and greater working distances.

Still, the image quality we get is stellar (as good as the F1.8 35mm nikkor is capable of frontwards).

Unlike the screw-on-the-front macro adapters, or diopter filters, etc, the image quality seems to be as good as the lens you use it with. So picture made with this are harder to make, but excellent quality is possible, not just "excellent for the price."

I freaked out when it wouldn't come off of the lens. No worries. The proper procedure for using this is to install it onto the lens finger tight, then install the lens onto the camera. When you are done with it, REMOVE THE LENS first, then the adapter from the camera. This does not have an extremely tight fit to the camera body, and pressing the release button, it comes right off.

Forget the reviews that claimed it was impossible to use. This thing is simple and works perfectly.

Nothing else really needs to be said. You lock the lens adapter on the body of your camera just like you would any lens, then screw your actual lens onto the the other end of the adapter, head-first.

when done, just unscrew the lens and remove the adapter just like you would any other lens, or remove the lens and adapter as one unit, then unscrew it from the front of the lens.

Dead-simple. Don't spend $30 for the Nikon-branded one. it's a waste of your time and money.

My equipment (all of which tested to work with this adapter):

Nikon D40
50mm f1.8 Nikkor (prime)
18-55mm Nikkor (standard lens)
55-200mm Nikkor

If you have a D40 and have any interest at all in trying out Macro photography, don't hesitate.

Understand, this approach is not going to be a perfect solution to side-stepping all macro lenses, but it will work well until you save your pennies up for a true macro lens. will add pictures soon.

I just got this. It works well, but I had difficulty removing it from my lens when I was done. If you buy one, I would advise attahing it to the camera first (not the lens), and removing it from the camera only after you have unscrewed the lens.

I bought this so I can reverse-mount my 50mm prime and effectively have a cheap macro lens. It works exactly as advertised! The only issue I had was that it doesn't ship to Canada.

I have just recently found a fascination in photography but dont have a lot of money to spend on expensive lenses right now. I am really interested in macro photography and a friend suggested that I pick up one of these lens rings. For $13 it sounded like my kinda deal.

Its been alot of fun to learn how to use. I shoot with a Nikon D3000 and at first I was using the ring with my 18-55 kit lens. But then I used it with my 50mm 1.8D lens and have been able to take some really amazing pictures! I will post one that I took of a pine cone. Keep in mind that the pine cone was about 2 inches tall and about 1 inch at its widest.

I most definitely recommend this ring to anyone, amateur or pro, who wants to get into macro photography.

These work very well, easy to keep in your pack for those moments you wish you brough a macro and just have a wide-angle on your DSLR. Focusing is by moving closer and further from the subject, so keep in mind that it only works easily with manual lenses or those you can manually change the aperature rings on (not the "G" lenses), otherwise it will be dark to see through and not easy to focus.

Get this one if you want to use it for reverse macro. Don't buy more expensive one when it does the job exactly same way. The metallic body will last for ever and no problem in using it with my lens and nikon d90. Make sure to remove the small screw before using it with your camera.

Works fine. I keep loosing these things and the price is right on. It has just a bit of play. But no negative function.

Bought this reading the reviews and wanted to jot down my initial experiences
a) It works! as long as you are careful and know what to do
First time i installed it - camera said - No lens found - turns out it was not in Manual mode
I struggled to remove the filter from the lens - till i read that we should remove the lens from the filter first and then remove filter from camera
Worked like a charm next time around and for <10$ , the macro capabilities are mind blowing