Bellows suggestions?

[blades]

I’m looking to buy a set of bellows, I love the Nikon ones but I use Sony.

Can anyone tell me others to consider please? I’ve looked at Novoflex and like them, is Novoflex kit still well made?

Thanks in advance

[Lou Jost]

Nikon bellows work with Sony cameras with an adapter, though this introduces some irreducible extension.

[Chris S.]

I use a Nikon PB-6 bellows with various accessories from the PB-6 ecosystem. This was a well-thought-out bellows system, and some of the accessories make the bellows especially useful. If you can live with what Lou aptly terms "irreducible extension" imparted by adapters to Sony, I'd give this system a thumbs-up.

Novoflex items are pretty to the eye, but I've never had their items in hand.

--Chris S.

[blades]

I use a Nikon PB-6 bellows with various accessories from the PB-6 ecosystem. This was a well-thought-out bellows system, and some of the accessories make the bellows especially useful. If you can live with what Lou aptly terms "irreducible extension" imparted by adapters to Sony, I'd give this system a thumbs-up.

Novoflex items are pretty to the eye, but I've never had their items in hand.

--Chris S.

Thanks Chris. I think I’m feeling that I’d rather avoid too many adapters if I can. I have a Focusing rack CASTEL-Q which I have to say is a lovely build quality, but I bought it over 10 years ago. I live in quite a remote part of Scotland so little opportunity to get my hands on one prior to purchasing.
I can only hope and assume until I know different that there’s been no drop in quality!

[Lou Jost]

I have to say that my Novoflex F-mount to L mount adapter is pretty but poorly designed, causing vignetting. A far cheaper brand works better. And their auto reversing system (https://novoflexus.com/macro-auto-lens- ... r-nikon-z/) looks lovely and coats a fortune but thoughtlessly has a very thick front ring that reduces lighting flexibility and working distance (I built my own for a fraction of the price and virtually no loss in working distance).

[Adalbert]

Hi Blades,

The blue bellows from Novoflex look cool,
but what are you going to do with them?

I also have some Novoflex parts, but I don't use them at all.

I can imagine, though, that lovers of the old,
finite corrected microscope lenses still use bellows.

So, it would be important to know
what you want to do with the bellows.

Best, ADi

[dickb]

Like ADi says, the best bellows for you is the one that meets your needs. So what do you require? Extreme rigidity for high magnification work in the studio? Compactness and ease of use for fieldwork?

Anyway, here are some less obvious differences between bellows that may be important to you.

Do you need a short minimum extension? There is a considerable variation in the minimum extension between bellows. Using adapters can add a lot to that minimum. I like to use M42 bellows combined with a flat Sony E to M42 adapter for when I want a compact setup.

Do you need a moving rear standard on your bellows? This allows you to reposition the rails of the bellows towards the camera. With the bellows at minimum extension the rails can protrude beyond the lens and interfere with your subject if the rear standard is fixed. This can be a problem with short lenses and high magnification.

Do you need extreme rigidity? The most rigid bellows I have used were all metal ones, with metal-on-metal clamps (Ihagee Vielzweckgerät). This one is bulky, heavy and not the smoothest to adjust bellow extension. Most bellows have a rack-and-pinion focusser where a plastic insert on the standards moves over a metal rail. Quite smooth but not always as solid as the fully metal clamps. Also annoying that you need to loosen and tighten a separate locking knob when adjusting the bellows length.

Anyway, I haven't handled the newest Novoflex bellows so I can't say how rigid and and easy to they are. I do rather like the old Novoflex bellows described by Ray here:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... ex#p286944

These are small and lightweight (and cheap, I paid 8 euro for one last week). Not the most rigid, but rigid enough for many setups, they have an odd mix of clunky coarse adjustment and very precise fine focus. For a larger and heavy rigid bellows I like an old Pentax M42 bellows, double rail all metal.

Also your Nikon bellows are a good balance between rigidity and ease of use. If you want to avoid additional adapters, you can ask RafCamera to make you a replacement rear mount. He made those for the Minolta Auto Bellows III, so most likely he can make one for yours as well.

[blades]

Hi Blades,

The blue bellows from Novoflex look cool,
but what are you going to do with them?

I also have some Novoflex parts, but I don't use them at all.

I can imagine, though, that lovers of the old,
finite corrected microscope lenses still use bellows.

So, it would be important to know
what you want to do with the bellows.

Best, ADi

Thanks for that… as I take more images with macro lenses, I’ve found myself looking at getting closer.
I’ve decided I’d really like to take my macro more extreme and use an objective. If my research to date is correct, there are 3 ways to use one.

1. Objective on a lens via a screw on adapter
2. Set of bellows and an objective
3. A tube like the Raynox with an objective on the end

What are the pros and cons between each method is where I’m a bit lost
With method 1. How do you determine the lens and objective to use together?

Having watched several of the Allan Wall’s video’s, I felt he seems to prefer using bellows… hence the research

[blades]

Like ADi says, the best bellows for you is the one that meets your needs. So what do you require? Extreme rigidity for high magnification work in the studio? Compactness and ease of use for fieldwork?

Anyway, here are some less obvious differences between bellows that may be important to you.

Do you need a short minimum extension? There is a considerable variation in the minimum extension between bellows. Using adapters can add a lot to that minimum. I like to use M42 bellows combined with a flat Sony E to M42 adapter for when I want a compact setup.

Do you need a moving rear standard on your bellows? This allows you to reposition the rails of the bellows towards the camera. With the bellows at minimum extension the rails can protrude beyond the lens and interfere with your subject if the rear standard is fixed. This can be a problem with short lenses and high magnification.

Do you need extreme rigidity? The most rigid bellows I have used were all metal ones, with metal-on-metal clamps (Ihagee Vielzweckgerät). This one is bulky, heavy and not the smoothest to adjust bellow extension. Most bellows have a rack-and-pinion focusser where a plastic insert on the standards moves over a metal rail. Quite smooth but not always as solid as the fully metal clamps. Also annoying that you need to loosen and tighten a separate locking knob when adjusting the bellows length.

Anyway, I haven't handled the newest Novoflex bellows so I can't say how rigid and and easy to they are. I do rather like the old Novoflex bellows described by Ray here:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... ex#p286944

These are small and lightweight (and cheap, I paid 8 euro for one last week). Not the most rigid, but rigid enough for many setups, they have an odd mix of clunky coarse adjustment and very precise fine focus. For a larger and heavy rigid bellows I like an old Pentax M42 bellows, double rail all metal.

Also your Nikon bellows are a good balance between rigidity and ease of use. If you want to avoid additional adapters, you can ask RafCamera to make you a replacement rear mount. He made those for the Minolta Auto Bellows III, so most likely he can make one for yours as well.

Thank you, I really appreciate your efforts to reply. My aim / learning curve is as per my reply to Adi

[Lou Jost]

For field work where weather and weight are issues, a bellows is not good; it is much better to use a focusing helicoid plus rigid extension tubes as needed, with the camera mounted to a worm-gear plate that fits on an Arca tripod clamp, so that you can smoothly move the whole assembly.

I would use a bellow only if rear-standard focusing was needed, or if tilts and shifts are needed.

[blades]

For field work where weather and weight are issues, a bellows is not good; it is much better to use a focusing helicoid plus rigid extension tubes as needed, with the camera mounted to a worm-gear plate that fits on an Arca tripod clamp, so that you can smoothly move the whole assembly.

I would use a bellow only if rear-standard focusing was needed, or if tilts and shifts are needed.

Apologies, I should have said, this is for studio work.

[Lou Jost]

Ah, sorry. Then a bellows makes good sense. And one that has at least some tilting and shifting capability is useful. Even if you don't use them now, you will some day.

[Adalbert]

Hi Blades,

This depends on what microscope objectives you already have.

1.) If you have finite corrected microscope lenses,
then the lens is connected directly to the camera.
In most cases, via a phototube with a length of 15 cm or bellows.


2.) However, if you have infinite corrected microscope lenses,
you have to connect a tube lens in between.

Very often the Raynox DCR-150 is used as a tube lens.

But other lenses with a focal length of about 200 mm can also be used.
If you use a tele-lens lens 200mm with AF as a tube-lens,
then you can use the focus bracketing and stack with the AF.

For example, I do this with the Canon EF 70-200 and a Mitu 5x.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=17 ... 0269581589

Best, ADi

[blades]

Hi Blades,

This depends on what microscope objectives you already have.

1.) If you have finite corrected microscope lenses,
then the lens is connected directly to the camera.
In most cases, via a phototube with a length of 15 cm or bellows.


2.) However, if you have infinite corrected microscope lenses,
you have to connect a tube lens in between.

Very often the Raynox DCR-150 is used as a tube lens.

But other lenses with a focal length of about 200 mm can also be used.
If you use a tele-lens lens 200mm with AF as a tube-lens,
then you can use the focus bracketing and stack with the AF.

For example, I do this with the Canon EF 70-200 and a Mitu 5x.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=17 ... 0269581589

Best, ADi

I don’t have any yet… this is me just looking at what to buy to get going. I don’t want to buy cheap and have to replace the gear later on, hence the research. I really like the work of Leven Biss. I have a collection of beetles that I slowly want to photograph. Thank you for the reply

[lothman]

1. Objective on a lens via a screw on adapter
2. Set of bellows and an objective
3. A tube like the Raynox with an objective on the end

4. get a Laowa macro 60/90/100mm lens what goes from infinity to 2:1 or their 2,5-5x macro lens.

for beetles this is sufficient, provides excellent image quality and is much easier to use and can be sold again with almost no loss if bought used.

I once had a Novoflex auto bellows BalMin (for Minolta DSLR), they are rather the same beside the Bayonet adapter for models for other camera brands. They are sturdy and well built but they don't offer tilt or shift possibility and not rear mount displacement, what I myself never missed. They also have a built in macro slider but since this is done via rack/pinion drive the travel space per revolution of the adjusting knob is too big in order to provide the small enough steps you would need. So you need an additional macro slider and then you could go the Laowa macro lens route.

If you want to use microscope lenses 5x ... 10x ... 20x than a bellows can act as a variable lens holder, it only has to be sturdy. The reputed models from Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Minolta, Olympus, Novoflex will work if they are securely mounted on a macro rail.