FotodioX 52mm Reverse Mount Macro Filter with Aperture Control for Nikon G/DX-Mount Cameras

Macro Solution for Reversed Nikon G Lenses

An easy alternative to trying out macro photography is to buy a reverse lens adapter ring and mount your existing lenses backwards. The Nikon BR-2A Lens Reversing Ring (B&H#NIBR2A) is a great choice, and can attach any lens with a 52mm filter thread to your Nikon F mount camera body, backwards. The optical architecture of lenses is such that this turns your lens into a super-closeup lens good for high-magnification work. You get to enjoy the high quality of your existing lenses because the reverse adapter introduces no additional glass to affect them. But, of course, when you mount a lens in reverse, none of the electronic contacts are made between the lens and the camera body so the camera's computer and lens cannot talk to each other -- which means that autofocus, aperture and any other computerized controls you usually enjoy will not work. You have to focus manually and set the aperture manually. (Actually, you will find that you accomplish focusing a reversed lens mostly by moving the whole camera towards/away from the subject, but manual focus on the lens helps too.) To take photos, you will need to open the aperture all the way to best see your subject, get it in focus, and then close down the aperture (which often makes it too dark to see) before tripping the shutter. To be able to do this, the lens you use has to feature manual controls for focus and for setting aperture. All Nikon lenses that are AF-D or older designs will satisfy this requirement. Not so with the newer G type design. Those lenses rely on the camera to set the aperture electronically, and Nikon removed the manual aperture ring completely. You will find many comments online saying that you cannot use Nikon G type lenses in reverse because the spring-loaded aperture control pin stays completely wide open, forcing the depth of field to be too shallow to be practical. However, with the Fotodiox Reverse Mount with Aperture Control for Nikon F Mount, that is no longer the case. It adds the aperture control ring that Nikon removed from its G type lenses. After you reverse-mount your Nikon lens to the camera body, you attach this device to the F-mount end of the lens that is now exposed. It adds a ring that you can turn to push/release the aperture control pin and stop down the lens. Interestingly, it doesn't have detents like Nikon aperture control rings do, so you actually can set fractional apertures and not just fixed ones (meaning you can set it to be somewhere in between f/8 and f/16, for example). In fact, you can use this with earlier lenses that do have aperture rings, too; just set them to their smallest aperture first, and when you attach the Fotodiox ring you'll gain fractional aperture capability. I have Nikon lenses that are G (DX), AF-D (FX) and AI-S (FX) lenses and this device works beautifully with all of them. See the attached photo showing extreme magnification of a postage stamp that was taken with the aperture stopped down. This device has a nice bonus, too, for anyone using reverse lens mounting. Once attached, the Fotodiox ring puts a 52mm filter thread on the front-facing end of your lens. This is really great for peace of mind, because you can add a filter such as NC or UV glass to protect the rear element of your lens. (By the way, this happens to be exactly what the Nikon BR-3 (B&H#NIBR3) Adapter Ring does, but despite being twice the price it still lacks the aperture control feature of the Fotodiox adapter.) The build quality is all metal and is quite good, especially for something at this price. My only complaint is that the fit it a little too snug in my opinion, so I have to turn the ring harder than I'd like when attaching/removing. With practice, it becomes easy to handle. Lastly, bear in mind that, despite the confusing name, you cannot use this device to actually mount your lens in reverse -- you still need to buy the reverse ring. Have fun!