Reversed Freelensing some African Violets

After trying freelensing with the Schneider enlarging lens on the NEX (see previous post), I then reversed the lens and shot these African Violets.  The results were also good, though I think a wider angle lens would have been better (though not many enlarging lenses are wider than 50mm)

About a week ago I posted this story about how I reversed my Voigtlander 35mm Nokton on the NEX, with great results.  At the time I didn’t realise it was called Reversed Freelensing!

A word of caution – be very careful with reversed freelensing as it is very easy to scratch the front element of your lens. Using a front filter when doing this is a good idea.

Freelensing with a Schneider Enlarging Lens on NEX

I have had an old German Schneider-Krauznach  Enlarging lens floating around for a while.  This one is the 50mm f4 Comparon and is fitted to a cardboard lens board.  I have read quite a bit on the blog “Lens Bubbles” about using enlarging lenses on DSLR and EVIL cameras, and decided to give it a go, freelensing it on the NEX.  My previous freelensing results on the D700 were less than satisfactory, though a NEX probably had more room to experiment with due to the short base length (sensor to flange length).

The first thing I found was that the base length for this lens to be in focus was greater than the base length for both the NEX and M mount cameras (ie NEX + NEX to Leica M lens adapter) - see shot in the previous post.  Using some Nikon K extension tube adapters I experimented and found that I could get different focal lengths by adding or taking away the adapters.  For close up photos I used adapters K1 to K5 all stacked in a row.  This allowed a focal distance of approximately 30cm (refer to Photo 1).  

Photo 1 - NEX-3 with Schneider 50mm Comparon enlarging lens - 30cm focal distance

I then took away the K5 ring (approx 20mm long) and this increased the focal length to approximately 1 metre (refer to Photo 2).  

Photo 2 - NEX-3 with Schneider 50mm Comparon enlarging lens - 1m focal distance

As it was starting to get dark I had to shoot with the lens wide open at f4.  The shutter speed was only 1/20^th second using ISO 1600.  This made my early hand held experiments very shaky, added by the fact that both the lens AND extension tubes were hand held and not stable.  So I all I got were out of focus "bokeh" shots! (See photo 3)  By stabilising everything on our deck rail allowed me to concentrate on focus to achieve crisp shots.

Photo 3 - NEX-3 with Schneider 50mm Comparon enlarging lens - "bokeh" shot

A more serious comment on the bokeh is worth making.  At 30cm the bokeh is smooth, as you would expect; however at 1 metre is has a lot of circular outlining and looks lumpy.

This first freelensing experiment with the Schneider was definitely worth while, though next time I want to get a focusing adapter to make the whole experience a lot more painless.

Freelensing

I use the technique often, but I never had heard the term freelensing until recently.  Freelensing is where you hold a lens up to a camera and snap away, without ever mounting it securely to the camera (ie by way of the mount or an adapter).

By holding the lens freehand in front of the camera there are many techniques that can be replicated, such as tilt, shift and macro.   It’s worth it to Google ‘freelensing’ to see different shots that can be achieved.  Flickr’s ‘Freelensing’ group is especially worth a visit too.

Holding the lens in front of the camera with a gap in between greatly reduces contrast, but creates rather bizarre effects in the process.  Here’s one shot where I held a Schneider enlarging lens about 1 inch away from the camera, as I wanted to guess the distance required for focal points.  The image is quite unusual, especially when you look at what is and isn’t in focus, and it creates a very dreamy and old fashioned feel to the photo.

Sony NEX-3 & Schneider-Krauznach  50mm f4 Comparon enlarging lens

You can also add extension tubes to create a macro effect, and that is exactly what I did here when shooting orchids on one of my very first posts on this blog with a D700 and Carl Zeiss 50mm f2.8 M42.  Different amounts of Nikon extension tubes create varying macro effects.

My next challenge is to test the Schneider enlarging lens on the NEX to see what it really is capable of.