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A Reverse Lens Technique With the Zenit SLR
written by iamwen on December 24th, 2008 , 10 comments (2 votes)

Have you heard of the reverse lens technique? I got all this information from the internet which states that reverse lens technique makes your lens become a macro lens.

At first I didn’t believe it, but I tried it on my Zenit E SLR camera with a Helios lens. When you reverse the lens, the front part of lens (normally attach with a filter) is now on the camera lens mount. You will need to hold the lens when taking picture because the lens is not screwed in to the camera body. I try it by holding the lens, set the biggest aperture possible and get as close as possible to the object until you see the object is in focus and press the shutter.

Some sample pictures are provided below. Take out your zenit camera and try it now!

Check out the Zenit E SLR

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10 comments

  • superlighter
    by superlighter
    11 months ago

    I love the Helios lens blurrines!

  • breakphreak
    by breakphreak
    11 months ago

    I like that dreamy effect! I like that crazy lo-fi idea :) thanks for sharing :)

  • by brendend
    11 months ago

    I used to do this in high school with my old Canon SLR - I loved the effect and my classmates were always curious!

  • oldskool_rider
    by oldskool_rider
    11 months ago

    wow, this is so good, i love the shota and am definitely going to try it

  • lomosexual_manboy
    by lomosexual_manboy
    11 months ago

    I love the color characteristics to these shots. I did this with my digital and Diana lens and it worked great, but I haven't been brave enough to try it with film because I can't quite find the focus distance.

  • zanther
    by zanther
    11 months ago

    My friend used the same technique with his Petax *istDL.
    Apparently it also works if you hold two lenses together so that the lens mounted on the camera is looking into the other lens' front element.
    Its supposed to give you a little more distance to work with because it magnifies the image twice.
    Or something like that. I wouldn't know. I always used a macro lens or pinhole.

  • by vaya_cornholio
    11 months ago

    bokeh effect!
    cool..

  • weechonghooi
    by weechonghooi
    11 months ago

    great technique... well done iamwen~!! i like this mode~!! haha!

  • makeyuu
    by makeyuu
    11 months ago

    tried it today. also tried the reversed lens with a diana+lens in front of it and with this combo i was able to make suuper close ups.

  • kylethefrench
    by kylethefrench
    10 months ago

    ok i tried this on my zenit e and i got macro shots, weird and cool

Opinion is free and discussion is encouraged on lomography.com, however, neither the content nor the ideas expressed in the comments are supported by or representative of the Lomographic Society International.

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