Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/08/08
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At 8:28 PM -0700 8/7/01, Doug Herr wrote:
>No there isn't any such thing but on a recent trip to Yosemite some
>plants were inaccessible unless I used extension tubes on my fave
>lens, the 400mm f/6.8 Telyt.
>
>The really cool thing about using such a long lens for closeups is
>the backgrounds - they turn into a clean wash of color, and by
>shifting the camera ever so slightly I can get a completely
>different area in the background, which may be a very different
>color. (Kodachromes in a few weeks).
>
>Just for jollies I threw every extension tube I have on the 400 to
>see what kind of reproduction ratios I can get. I used a 14198,
>14256 and 14182, plus the 60mm extension of the 400's focussing
>mount and the total extension is 180mm, for a reproduction ratio of
>1:2.2. Subject-to-film distance is about 6 feet.
>
>Has anyone else done this?
I used to do stuff like that regularly when I had my 400/6.8 and Viso
III. I had the 60mm extension tube, and sometimes I used the bellows
II with the lens and tube. Being a simple achromat design meant that
the extension factor wasn't too bad, and the whole rig, while looking
rather strange, was still fairly light and hand-holdable.
This sort of long distance macro is very nice, and one of the best
ways to do macro work. I've had a 200/4 macro for a long time, and it
is a lot more useful outdoors than the shorter ones. The main
advantage to the long macro is the ability you mention to have very
good control over your background, and you can often manage to make
it monochromatic. Also, it's often possible to have your main subject
backlit and the background be almost black, so the translucency or
rim lighting on the subject really pops. If you have a lens with
exceptional flare control this sort of thing works very well. The
400/6.8 is pretty good in this regard, but not as good as some of the
newer lenses (from other brands; I have no experience with long R
lenses).
- --
* Henning J. Wulff
/|\ Wulff Photography & Design
/###\ mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com
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