Reddit mentions of Westcott Micro Apollo 2200

I'm personally a big proponent of the reversed 50mm. A macro lens is a better tool overall, but I don't really have a spare $900 for the part of my photography that's little more than hobby work. My father owns Nikon's 105mm f/2.8 Macro, and the results and magnification are nearly identical to my reversed 50mm, with the exception of the amount of light it lets in. However, because I always shoot macro with flash, this has been mostly irrelevant to me. I use:

1. A Nikon 50mm f/1.4D (not G) - around $330 new
   
2. A Nikon SB-900/600 flash - as little as $330 new, mounted off-camera
   
3. An off-camera flash cable- around $60-70 new, though sometimes I use wireless iTTL triggering
   
4. A [flash diffuser](Westcott's Micro Apollo](http://www.amazon.com/Westcott-2200-Micro-Apollo/dp/B000O6KEMO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1311228721&sr=1-1) - around $30-40 new
   
5. A reversing ring - around $40 new
   
   Macro lenses are expensive ($800+), especially ones that give you 1:1 or better magnification. For $30-40, you can use a standard 50mm lens reversed (mounted backwards on the camera body) with the above-mentioned reversing ring, which just screws onto the front of the lens and allows you to flip it around and mount it backwards. This lens normally takes a wide world and make it narrow. But if you reverse the lens, it now takes something tiny and magnifies it, as described in the first part of Stephen Elliot's tutorial. I don't like putting lenses up against each other because of the following issues:
   
   

• You risk scratching the glass elements
  
• You almost always have at least a small light leak (reducing image quality)
  
• You are adding more glass elements in between your subject and the camera sensor (further reducing image quality)
  
• You may vignette
  
• It's heavier, without much added benefit
  
  Multiple lenses allows for zooming and may allow focusing from more of a distance, but I haven't generally had problems with focusing closely:
  
  
• Bee collecting pollen
  
• Jumping spider hunting for lunch
  
• Fly on bark
  
• Ant on sidewalk
  
  Those shots aren't manipulated much - just added a little Fill Light when processing as RAW, and I might have bumped the vibrance/saturation a little. Mostly, these shots are right out of the camera. Once you get the hang of it, you can slap this setup together and get an awesome exposure in all of a few minutes. It isn't as nice as an AF macro lens, but it's a lot cheaper if you've already got a prime somewhere between 24mm and 50mm, and an external flash. You'll need the flash for macro anyway, as you'll be stopping down all you can for DOF.
  
  Assuming you've already got the 50mm (which I'm assuming you will by following the above tutorial), this setup is pretty cheap. The reversing ring is around $30-40 new, and it'll net you better than 1:1 magnification, though you'll be shooting in manual mode. (You'd be doing this anyway, from that tutorial.) That means, not including the cost of the 50mm lens itself you're spending $30-40 for roughly the same magnification and quality as a branded $1,000 105mm f/2.8 Macro lens, which has nearly identical results as I mentioned previously. For a non-pro (or non-rich hobbyist), it's a no-brainer.
  
  The down side to a reversed 50mm is you have to get REALLY freaking close to focus with a reversed 50mm. (~1-2 inches.) Also, autofocus and aperture control won't work, though again that's the same as Scott's tutorial. Manual aperture control will work by twisting the aperture ring that most of these lenses have, though some of the more recent ones (Nikon G lenses, for example) do not. However, the in-camera light meter may not work. The meter in most non-pro/prosumer Nikon bodies' won't function with manual lenses. This is intentional engineering by Nikon to get you to buy a better body, according to a Nikon tech. If a lens is removed from the body (i.e. separated via a reversing ring, extension tube or bellows), your camera body assumes it's a manual lens. I think they made extension tubes a while back with electronic connections, but I'm not sure. The D300/D300s/D700 (and other pro/prosumer bodies) can all meter with manual lenses, so this hasn't bothered me. I'm a Nikon shooter; I can't speak for Canon. YMMV.
  
  Another potential con: using a reversing ring can result in a pretty huge loss of light. If your subject is moving or you're not using a tripod, you're going to need flash, ideally off-camera with a diffuser. I recommend Westcott's Micro Apollo. It's only about $30, folds up very small and flat, and the rip-stop nylon and metal internal frame will last longer than most of Lumiquest's vinyl offerings. The diffuser makes the light look very natural, as demonstrated in the above photos.
  
  Also, a tip for focusing with reversed (and therefore very dim) lenses: I usually rotate the aperture ring to all the way open for positioning/focusing, then stop it all the way down for maximum (hah!) depth of field. This makes it possible to easily see the exact center point of focus, then quickly stop down and hit your shutter release while your subject is in focus. This is another reason the true macro lenses are superior to a reversed 50mm... but it's not worth the extra $950 (to me, anyway) to upgrade.