I love the photo guys at the London Drugs on 51st Ave. I dropped by last night to pick up some home staples, and thought I'd see if they had any K mount lenses (I'm going to be borrowing my dad's K1000 at the end of the month for awhile).

I was especially interested in seeing what they had for K mount macro lenses, as I love the kind of pictures you can take with them.

They do have some used ones, it turns out, for about $80 (much better than the $300/400 for a new one). But the photo guy that was working that night showed me a trick with a standard 28mm or 50mm lens I can do to get damned close macro shots.

What's the trick? Put the lens on backwards.

Essentially, you take the lens out, open the aperture fully, and hold it onto the camera body - making sure not to let any light leak in. Then, simply move the camera forward until you get a good, clear shot. With a standard 28mm lens I was able to get a clear shot within 2 inches of an object.

It seems to be a bit of a zen technique that takes some practice, but saves you the cost of another lens. Apparently, the technique has been around for decades, and they used to make adaptors to mount the lens that way so you didn't have to hold it!

Another trick I learned from the last time I talked to the camera guys at LD is how to get metering preview on a Pentax.