Leica M Bellows — up close and personal
The final component of the M Bellows setup arrived today.
The UOFRO extension tube plays a double role in my rig — it allows me to attach the M digital bodies to the M Bellows without blocking the lens release button on the body, but also allows me to use my other lenses for close up shots as a simple (but very well crafted) extension tube.
it’s not a bad setup at all. The UOFRO hardly takes up any space in my Billingham Hadley Large bag, and allows me to take shots like the one of my Dita Audio The Answer (Truth Edition) IEMs above.
It’s not quite a compact setup, but it does the job well. Some quick lessons about macro photography I picked up over the last hours
- Light. Lots of light. Shoot at high shutter speeds (1/250 is great) and low ISO. Shooting using ambient light or even a nice table lamp isn’t going to be enough.
- Get a product tent — not only because it balances out light, but also because it keeps the slightest breath to create enough movement to mess up a meticulously focused shot.
- Live View is a must. I can’t imagine anyone trying this on a Leica M9/P or the M Monochrom (“Henri”).
Focusing with the macro bellows turned out to be a huge challenge, seeing that macro hasn’t been my primary focus in photography since my Nikon days (i.e. years ago). But it comes back like riding a bike — racking the body closer increases magnification, and focusing is done with the lens rack. Basically, they go in the same direction — rack the body forward, then the lens.
The toughest part getting this to work is not being able to rely on focus peaking. The image is so close up that focus peaking practically stops working, and I find myself focusing using Live View magnified at 10x, and even then, it’s really hard to tell if I’ve nailed focus.
It’s DEFINITELY not a system I can readily deploy and use in the desert (to shoot desert flowers, which was my original plan) or outdoors in general. But it’s good fun and opens up new avenues of photography to keep me curious again.
