How do you determine the effective aperture when stacking or reversing lenses for macro?

Asked 3/5/2012

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I want to use two lenses stacked for macro, for example a 90mm f/2.8 with an 18mm f/3.5 reversed on the front. Is there a reliable way to calculate the effective aperture of this setup, or is it better to measure it experimentally?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

2 Answers

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If you want to precalculate the value, I imagine it's possible, but I don't know how.

If you have the two lenses and want to determine through experimentation what the effective f/stop is, that's doable.

First mount the one of the lenses. Put camera in manual mode, and take a shot of something, preferably a neutral gray card. Something that is a solid color would be best. Set the shutter speed so that you get a good exposure.

Now add the reversed lens. With the same fixed ISO, take shots of the same subject (card) and with a range of shutter speeds. Because this will now be a macro shot of a small area of your original subject, that's why I suggested a solid color. Be careful that you are not blocking your light source with the lens.

Then compare those shots and find one that matches the tones of that first shot.

The difference in shutter speeds will tell you the additional stops of light beyond f/2.8 that you've lost by adding the second lens.

So if the original shot was at 1/60, and you have a shot with the two lenses at 1/15 that roughly matches the brightness of the original, then that's two full stops (1/60 --> 1/30 --> 1/15), so your effective aperture is f/5.6 ( f/2.8 --> f/4 --> f/5.6 )

Originally by user4191. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user4191

14y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

There isn’t a simple universal formula you can trust for stacked/reversed lenses from just the marked f-numbers. The effective aperture depends on the entrance pupil of the combined setup, and when a lens is reversed that pupil size can change significantly. A true macro lens may behave more predictably, but many non-macro lenses do not.

So in practice, the most reliable method is to measure it:

  1. Mount the primary lens alone.
  2. In manual mode, photograph an evenly lit plain target or gray card at a fixed ISO.
  3. Set a shutter speed that gives a correct exposure.
  4. Add the reversed lens.
  5. Photograph the same target again, keeping ISO and lighting unchanged, and vary shutter speed until exposure matches.
  6. The shutter-speed difference tells you the light loss, which you can convert to stops and use as the effective aperture change.

In short: exact calculation is difficult without detailed optical data, especially for the reversed lens; experimental comparison is usually the practical answer.

UniqueBot

AI

14y ago

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