I’m no photographer, and it shows in what I shoot. I’m still waiting for my DSLR, so just a few “nonsense” tests with my HP M525 compact digital.
I created a new “version” of the extension I built, and this image was taken using that. It’s simply a piece of a pipe and the lens from a magnifying glass, put together and used in front of the compact.

I’ve decreased the brightness of the upper left corner of the flower, using PhotoShop. Was a lucky/unlucky situation the whole picture. Just shooting a lot of tests, and this happened to be one of them. The flash created a nice (at least I think so) halo effect, but also sort of burnt out the white part of that group of flowers.

Like mentioned I’m still very rough, and the shots leave a lot to be desired.
This has however sort of grown on my, and I’m actually quite keen on it. As I am very new, composition and lighting etc, etc… still bothers me, so I’m not keen on posting. But, I want to get better, and have a “record” of the progress, if any.

Should you happen to stumble upon this site, feel free to leave a comment on this. I can take most anything, as long as it’s somewhat constructive.

A few tests here at home has revealed that for really good macro shots, this camera won’t be enough. You need a good DSLR system, but my economy doesn’t allow for this at the moment. Thinking of a way to “work around” this limitation, got me a bit closed. I’m still very new to photography, so composition, focus (allthough it’s AF), lighting, etc.. is probably going to be bad, but you’ll hopefully get the idea.

This image was taken at the widest focal length (6mm) and as close as I could possibly get and also focus. (Click thumbnail to see a larger version.)

I’ve dabbled with a lot of different things in my life, and I have a few bits & pieces lying around. One of which was a sort of magnifying glass, seen depicted on the left. This magnifies the subject 8 times, but has no focusing abilities. For focusing you have to change the distance to the subject.

The working part of this, is actually only the ring on the top (in black). I pried this out using a flat-head screwdriver, making sure not to scratch the glass.

After getting the lens (with the plastic ring), I put a ring of cardboard around it. (Used the type you find in kitchen-paper.) Had to do this, to make a snug fit inside another cardboard tube I found lying around. The tube was almost a perfect fit around the lens of my compact. A bit of tape inside (on the right part of this image), and it fit just right.

Two more shots below. “Tube” as seen from the top and bottom.

I’ve had this magnifying glass for years, and I haven’t taken good care of it at all. The glass is dirty and a bit scratched, but I found it good enough for tests.

Click on the thumbnails below, to see the fullsize versions.
(Cropped, but retained 100% size, as it comes from the camera.)

After making this and testing, I found an article at photocritic.org, link to article. This made me revise my own “design”, but I haven’t had a chance to make it yet.

When I use the one I made, I have to have at least 50% zoom, in order to not see the ring of the glass. This makes the focusing harder, and could be changed rather easily. If I take ideas from the article at photocritic, and instead of a filter I add magnifying lenses. This will still be a cheap-as-chips solution, and the quality of the images is uncertain, but it’s a good test, as it’ll teach me more about photography as I work.

I don’t know if anyone will read this, but if you do, feel free to leave a comment of what you think.