Sony SLT A77 with Sigma 70-300 mm plus 55 mm lens reversed

Following a posting on Morguefile.com I hunted out my reversal adaptor.

I found that it would fit my old Sigma telephoto lens. I rigged my 1200 AF ring flash gingerly on the front of the 55 mm with no clips holding and found I could get almost 6 times life size, I checked by looking at metric ruler

However it is very difficult to focus and the Sigma has only 5 contacts rather than 8 and does not like stopping down. 

I feel safer going to 4 times with the Kenko rings and tele adaptor there I can manoeuvre with confidence and also without so much weight on the lens mount.  I will try with a converter on the front of my 18 to 270 mm tele and see what happens then. I still don't like the idea of the ring flash loose though. I would hate to bust it after so much trouble getting one.

Experiment

Tried an experiment. The pencil lead was taken with the Sigma 70 to 300 zoom lens, plus reversed 55mm. Set on program on the SLT A77 Sony. 16,000 ISO hand held by the light of an anglepoise. Weighty to hold and hard to focus

The Metric rule was the same unit with a Minolta 1200AF ring flash on the reversed lens. The flash could not be clipped so any pix have to be taken at level or an upward tilt. This gives approx 6 times life-size.

The Tamron + had the 55mm reversed on the 18 to 270 tele zoom. I had to use step-down rings and the 1200 AF flash, hung precariously on the 55mm. Hand held but gives only a useable centre section approx 6 times life-size.1/200^th at f22

The Tamron 90mm macro was used with a 2 times tele extender and 5 Kenko rings. The 1200AF flash mounted safely on the front; hand held 1/200^th at f22. gives a pic of approx 4.5 times life-size. 

Lighter than the Sigma set-up and can be moved around with confidence because the ring flash is firmly fixed.