Create a DIY Extreme Macro Tube

An extreme Create a Home Macro Photography Studio setup is a great way to get some really neat closeups. This article will show you one way of doing it.

Steps

  1. Cut a hole in the body cap of your camera. (It is assumed that you keep a lens on it and aren't using it any longer). The hole should be big enough to let enough light in to the camera-body when taking a picture.
    • Better yet, get a cheap aftermarket body cap and cut that up, keeping your original body cap for protecting the body and possibly adding value if you sell it.
    • Be careful that the hole stays small enough so that the systems that locks the body cap on your camera body stays intact!
  2. Cut a hole in the metal bottom of an empty Pringles can.
    • Try a short Pringles can for roughly 1:1 magnification (the picture covers an area about the size of a postage stamp); a long one for significantly greater magnification and more difficult use.
    • The hole must be a little smaller than the hole in the body cap, so that the body cap can fit perfectly on to the Pringles can.
  3. Glue the body cap onto the Pringles can with super glue.
  4. Let it dry, and clean off excess glue.
  5. Line the inside of the Pringles can with black paper. Since the inside of the can is made of reflective material, you get nasty lighting on your pictures if you don't do this.
  6. Put your lens into the other side of the Pringles can, REVERSE! Wrap a small piece of cloth around the lens, so that it fits snug into the can.
  7. Attach the whole thing to your camera, with the body cap.
  8. Take pictures in manual mode. Remember that because the lens itself isn't attached to your camera, you'll lose autofocus and aperture control. Focus by physically getting closer to or further away from the subject, and control the aperture manually by the lever on the lens.



Tips

  • A body cap is easily available through ebay. Search for your camera model and "body cap." E.g. "canon eos body cap"
  • SOME LENSES DON'T HAVE AN APERTURE RING; In this case use the depth of field preview button, while attached to the camera select the F value, then press and hold the DOFP button, now detach the lens, this works in some canon models.
  • You will need to make allowances for the loss of light due to the extended tube unless you are using your camera's built-in light meter (most photographers do).
  • To see examples of this extreme macro tube at work, go to Flickr.

Warnings

  • This may not hold the lens very securely, so don't use an expensive lens or heavy lens. You may not want to use your modern, somewhat-expensive "basic" lens. An old, cheap 50mm f/2 manual-focus lens would be perfect. They are also optically excellent, better than most zoom lenses (not that it matters with the general impreciseness of this setup) and fairly light, but check that the aperture can be adjusted or is at least wide-open when the lens isn't mounted (a Canon FD lens would be a poor choice for this reason).

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Sources and Citations

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