charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

I don’t have a macro lens but would like to take some macro shots. What do those on here that do not have a macro lens use?

I have looked at filters, bellows and auto extension tubes.

I would love some input on this

Thanks

Chuck

Rongnongno Loc: FL

There is a macro section. Use it to get the correct answers to our questions.

Quixdraw Loc: x

The big deal apparently is what you call things - I almost never claim Macro. I get a lot of photos, call them what you will, with Macro lenses and with a variety of tele - zooms that I am pleased with. Close ups, un-categorized, etc. Point is to have fun, take good photos - nomenclature...meh!

bleirer

I use extension tubes for occasional shots. Low cost and good quality. Downsides are loss of light and some hassle installing them in the field. Get a macro lens for more than occasional use.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I recommend Canon 500D close-up lens in front of zoom lenses and extension tubes in back of prime lenses and 1.4X tele-extenders for either zooms or primes to get more magnification for casual work.

For dedicated closer work, I like an enlarging lens in front of a bellows or, of course, a dedicated "macro" lens.
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f8lee Loc: New Mexico

Well, I will try to answer your specific question and not shunt you off to the macro SIG (though certainly you should have a look there).

Two approaches to enabling a lens to focus closer than it is initially designed to are the close up lens ("filter" as you call them) and the bellows/extension tube approach. Either way, the lens will not be able to focus out to infinity (which of course doesn't mater when you are trying to get up close). A general rule of thumb is the longer the focal length of the main lens, the more "working distance" - that is, how far you can be from your subject - will be. So, using a 50MM lens you might be able to focus 4" away from the subject, but using a 200MM lens you can get the same amount of enlargement and be perhaps 8" away (which might also mean the lighting you use will be easier to set up, to not get the shadow of the lens itself on the subject).

Another general rule is that depth of field flattens to millimeter thickness when you go to macro distances. This, in turn, means you might been to use a small aperture to try to maximize DOF (look at the flower photos on my website - many were taken at f32 or thereabouts). Naturally, the smaller aperture lets in less light, so either a tripod (for a static subject) or a flash unit to supply additional light wil likely be needed.

The advantage of the close-up lens is that there is no light loss; you screw the lens onto the front of your normal lens and at that point can get closer to the subject. Those close-up lenses come in varying powers - referred to by the diopter measurement (essentially the curvature of the close up lens) - the larger the number the closer you will be able to focus with a given main lens.

Meanwhile, bellows and extension tubes work on the principle of moving he lens a bit further away from the imaging ship, enabling them to focus closer than normally design would have. Here there is some light loss (since the lens is moving further from the chip, so the inverse square law takes effect). You will find extension tubes typically come in sets that can be mixed and matched - the longer the extension the closer the lens can focus. Also, whereas with close up lenses you need to have a close up lens of the same diameter as the filter size of the main lens (which might mean you would need step-down rings to use them on a bunch of different lenses that use different filter sizes) with extension tubes this is not needed - they will fit between any main lens and the camera body.

Note that wide angle lenses are not really suited for this kind of stuff - they end up having to be too close to the subject. In the other direction, the longer the focal length, the more working distance you will have.

Either approach will work; you might find close up lenses a bit less cumbersome to mess with out in the field (not having to remove the lens from the camera body and all). There is some loss of image quality, but for a start they can be quite useful. As it happens, the canon 500D close up lenses have two elements in them and are really pretty decent, but for a start the 3-lens kits offered by a few manufacturers can be quite educational.

I hope that gives you a start, anyway.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Concisely WELL stated !
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jcboy3

They make two versions: 500D and 250D. The article below shows their use and difference between them.

https://www.eos-magazine.com/articles/macro/closefocus.html

I have both. I do prefer them on prime lenses

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Congrats ... thanks for the good link !
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lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

You already know some of the possibilities. Another is get a reverse mount adapter / ring for your model camera and put a short prime lens on backwards, say a 28mm reversed on a FF camera. A 20mm flipped on a APS-C. Since there is no communication between the lens and camera and certainly no autofocus you can use any brand of lens. Old film Takumar, Pentax, Sears, and film era Minolta and Canon lenses work well this way and are usually fairly cheap on eBay. It really makes little difference any other brand in the say 20mm to 55mm range could be used.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

"The advantage of the close-up lens is that there is no light loss [as apposed to extension tubes, with no distortion.]; you screw the lens onto the front of your normal lens and at that point can get closer to the subject. Those close-up lenses come in varying powers - referred to by the diopter measurement (essentially the curvature of the close up lens) - the larger the number the closer you will be able to focus with a given main lens."

Is that really an issue today with digital and clean high ISO.

Note: I have the equipment for doing virtually any sort of macro or close-up with film or digital.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

It can be an issue for good clean focusing .....and VF brightness in DSLR's.....
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SteveG Loc: Norh Carolina

What are you shooting with?

fjwallace

I have been 'playing' with macro photography for a while and have tried nearly everything. Macro lenses (or objective lenses if using extreme macro) are best but if you want to try your hand at it, I recommend extension tubes. With these you can still use your metering, etc. and there are no optical elements to interfere with the quality of your lens optics. Remember a few things: 1) your camera and object must be really steady (if focus stacking this is incredibly important, any tiny movement will affect the final image!!!) 2) with increased magnification come diffraction issues (at high f stops, the image sharpness will actually get worse) with extension tubes, this shouldn't be much of an issue since you only get to about 2x 3) try to shoot 'mirror-up' or in live view (most cameras flip the mirror up in live view) - I know many think mirror 'slap' isn't an issue but I've found it was a major problem for me with focus stacking.
Good luck and enjoy 'playing' with macro!

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

I just use my zoom lens when I don’t have my macro with me.