Can't find step up ring for macro photography - please help.

[Anupam Basu]

I am having a really hard time finding a way to mount my new 1 inch Wollensak cine raptar f1.9 onto a 52mm thread (Nikon br-2 reversing ring, actually).

I want to reverse mount the lens for macro photography as discussed in this thread.. Since the cine lens has filter threads that look to be about 24mm to my eye although it isn't written on the lens, the adapter seems to be a simple matter of a step up ring from 24mm to 52mm. Now this seems like a simple affair but I can't find such a beast (or even step up ring combinations that would add up to such a beast) anywhere. I called a few machine shops but they are quite expensive - much more than I can afford.

So does anyone know where I can buy such a step up ring or get it made. I could easily ship the lens and the ring to someone who can make the appropriate step up ring to couple these two at a reasonable cost.

Thanks for any help.
Anupam

[Gerald Koch]

Step up rings are made for changes of a few millimeters say 49 mm to 52 mm. I doubt that any were made to step up from 24 to 52 mm which is quite a large change.

[Dan Fromm]

Anupam, do it in several steps. That's what I do, and what I do you can do too.

Give up on the Wolly and look for a 25/1.9 Cine Ektar II. At f/2.8 and above 10:1, my 25/1.9 CE II beat my and Charlie Barringer's 25/3.5 Luminars wide open.

[Anupam Basu]

Step up rings are made for changes of a few millimeters say 49 mm to 52 mm.

I have a step down ring for 72-52 that I bought from camerafilters.com.

But I am not averse to using multiple step up rings if I can find any in the right size.

Anupam, do it in several steps. That's what I do, and what I do you can do too.

Give up on the Wolly and look for a 25/1.9 Cine Ektar II. At f/2.8 and above 10:1, my 25/1.9 CE II beat my and Charlie Barringer's 25/3.5 Luminars wide open.

Dan, I am just trying out the Wollensak because I picked it up really cheap. I'm looking out for the Ektar and will get one if I find a good price.

Where do you get your extension rings from. Most of the ones I see online are for common 35mm sizes approx 40mm upward to 80 and more. If I could get a set of step ups that go from about 20mm all the way upto 52mm, it would make life much simpler in terms of trying out odd lenses reversed!

Anupam

[glbeas]

I think I'd try cutting a plate out of cardboard and taping it to the nearest fitting ring you have. Cut the hole for a tight fit.

[Dan Fromm]

Anupam, try B&H. Search for step ring, then general brand. They start with 25.5 mm to something. Also try www.srbfilm.co.uk , they start at 25.0

I usually get mine from a fellow named John Aungst, who brings a mountain of filters and step rings and such to the 2nd Sunday Camera Show in Wayne, NJ. The advantage of dealing with Mr. Aungst is that I can take the item and try it out with various rings. I believe that he has a photo studio in Reading, PA, use Google, whowhere.com, yellowpages.com, and so on to look for him.

[rbarker]

If all else fails, there's always gaffer's tape.

[titrisol]

I looked for one such adapters for a long time....
get a reverse ring for the Nikon and ducktape your lens to it.

[Dan Fromm]

Guys, the tape (gaffer or darkroom, not duct, please) and cardboard solutions you proposed, also the foamcore solution you didn't, are pretty half-assed. More exactly, they're not secure and don't guarantee that the lens' axis will be perpendicular to the film plane.

Anupam has a tiny little lens and not much solid he can butt it up against before taping. That's why taping is a bad idea.

Anupam, I don't approve of it but there's another solution that hasn't been suggested yet. Drill or cut a hole in a Nikon body cap that's a little smaller than the front of the lens. Then epoxy the lens to the body cap. Or make the hole exactly the right size and insert the front of the lens into it before gluing.

[titrisol]

Dan's idea is great, given the thread is about 27mm
I tried it to make a LTm-M42 adapter but the hole was too close to the thread (M42) for comfort and was non-viable as such.

BTW c->T adapters are available in edmunds scientific
Maybe you can find something there