raynox dcr 250 on a d5200

[gaddypaid]

im new to my d5200 and have a raynox dcr 250 from my old bridge camera ( fuji pinepix 30 exr) will it still give me the same results i got a kit lens, 70-300mm lens and a 50mm(1.8) . or am i better off getting a reverse ring for my kit lens or save for a dedicated macro lens if so recommendations please
cheers.

 

[alfbranch]

Should work well on the 70-300 here is a shot with a similiar kit zoom and a 250

Hover-fly by alf.branch, on Flickr

 

[Tintin124]

Use your raynox and see if you like Macro first.... thats my recommendation there are many methods need to find best for you.... my favourite setup is reversed kit lens but thats just me.

 

[alfbranch]

Use your raynox and see if you like Macro first.... thats my recommendation there are many methods need to find best for you.... my favourite setup is reversed kit lens but thats just me.

I agree I prefer my Sigma 105 and use it with the Raynox when I see the need. I have not tried a reversed lens.

 

[GardenersHelper]

Use your raynox and see if you like Macro first.... thats my recommendation there are many methods need to find best for you.... my favourite setup is reversed kit lens but thats just me.

I agree I prefer my Sigma 105 and use it with the Raynox when I see the need. I have not tried a reversed lens.

I agree too. I prefer to use Raynox (and similar) close-up lenses, on a 55-250 on my Canon 70D for natural light shots and on my FZ200 bridge camera when using flash. What is best depends on what you are most comfortable using. You can get good results with reversed lenses, macro lenses and close-up lenses.

 

[lightshipman]

The shots taken with Raynox always amaze me.

 

[Carlh]

The dcr250 works well on the 50mm f1.8 (at about f8 and higher), just need a flash unit and some homemade diffuser, no need to go getting a macro lens until you're ready to push it forward - and then you can still use your dcr on a macro lens to get even closer.

 

[Swanseajack]

How far away can you be from the subject when using these Raynox lenses???

I'm not too steady on my feet and hand holding due to shoulder problems and have tried a macro lens, but I found I needed to get too close to the subject and I wasn't steady enough holding, as it was a lens without VR and AF. I may give one of these a go on my zooms, as they have AF & VR built into them and would they help me with a steadier shot????

 

[GardenersHelper]

How far away can you be from the subject when using these Raynox lenses???

About 4 to 5 inches with the Raynox 250, about 6 to 8 inches with the Raynox 150 and about 12 to 20 inches with the Canon 500D (a close-up lens, not the 500D camera). These distances are very similar for all the cameras I have used these lenses on: Canon S3, Canon SX10 and Panasonic FZ200 bridge cameras, Panasonic G3 micro four thirds camera with 45-175 and 45-200 lenses, Canon 70D dSLR with 55-250 lens.

You have to get the distance to within these ranges of distance to get a sharp image. As the close-up lenses get more powerful the range gets smaller and the lenses get more difficult to use because of that. More powerful lenses are also more difficult to use because they magnify any camera movement.

I'm not too steady on my feet and hand holding due to shoulder problems and have tried a macro lens, but I found I needed to get too close to the subject and I wasn't steady enough holding, as it was a lens without VR and AF. I may give one of these a go on my zooms, as they have AF & VR built into them and would they help me with a steadier shot????

If you are having trouble with closeness and steadiness a less powerful close-up lens like the Canon 500D might be a good starting point. This is less powerful than the others, but much easier to use and lets you work from fairly far away. Be aware that unlike a macro lens, where you change the magnification by changing the distance to the subject, with these close-up lenses on a zoom lens you alter the magnification by altering the amount of zoom/focal length, and you keep the camera still.

You might find it useful to use a monopod, a pole or a stick to help with stability (both yours and the cameras). With a pole or stick you wrap your right hand around the stick and have it against the palm of your hand as you hold the camera in (more or less) the usual way with your fingers. You can also hold the pole/stick or the camera with your left hand to give additional stability. This approach cuts down the movement from hand-shake, which helps with framing shots and also helps you use longer shutter speeds than you could simply hand-held. Using IS/VR also helps with framing and shutter speeds.

Another thing which helps with camera movement is to use flash. It depends on your subject matter. I rarely use flash for flowers, but for insects, spiders etc flash can make all the difference, and I use flash a lot of the time. If you do use flash you will probably want to diffuse it. You can use the on-board flash so it doesn't all get too heavy. In amongst the many complicated rigs here, there are some very simple (and inexpensive) ones using on-board flash.

You can get great results with on-board flash - have a look at this to see the wonderful images Mark Berkery captures with a quite old bridge camera and Raynox lenses, using the on-board flash. Search for "velcro" on that page to see the diffuser he uses. (Like most people into this stuff, Mark has made his own diffuser.)

 

[Swanseajack]

Thanks Nick for taking the time for a comprehensive reply. The Canoon 500D seems the best answer for starting off.

I am using a Fuji XT1 and recently I have bought a tripod and monopod for the first time. Due to my disabilities I wasn't steady enough using the monopod as I was rocking to much. I have been using the tripod every day though trying to catch the birdies in the garden, I have been using a manual lens on the tripod as it was too heavy for me to hand hold and I'm also using the remote App.. I will give the stick method a go.

I have purchased a Fuji 50-230mm lens again this week to help me with stability and AF (I also have the 18-55mm lens), plus it's a light lens so I should be able to hand hold. and one of the reasons I initially asked the question. I have had the Fuji 60mm Macro 1:2 and a Vivitar 55mm f2.8 1:1 macro lens, I wasnt steady enough with these lenses for close up as they both didnt have VR and I was too close to be steady. I didnt need to try rocking back and for, it came automatically. I'm probably not going to use it much before the spring but it's something to practice on. Do you have any idea who sells the Canon cheapest, I thought £75.00 or so from Wex is a bit juicy. The Raynox 150 seems better value at almost half the price.

Finally, thanks for the links, both book marked and will make interesting reading.

 

[GardenersHelper]

Thanks Nick for taking the time for a comprehensive reply. The Canoon 500D seems the best answer for starting off......Do you have any idea who sells the Canon cheapest, I thought £75.00 or so from Wex is a bit juicy. The Raynox 150 seems better value at almost half the price.

Unfortunately that is the going rate for a 58mm Canon 500D, which is the one you would need for your 50-230mm lens.

Note: vignetting with close-up lenses

Close-up lenses work best on longer zoom lenses. You tend to get vignetting at the wide end with shorter zooms, and not a little slight vignetting, but serious, "looking through a porthole" effects. This sort of thing, but more or less of it depending on camera, close-up lens and focal length.


0509 03 Vignetting at 4.5mm focal length with Raynox 150 attached to FZ200 camera lens by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

With a 58mm close-up lens on your 50-230 with its 58mm filter thread you may well see no vignetting at all. I don't get any with a 58mm 500D on a 55-250 on my Canon 70D. I get very some very mild vignetting at the wide end with a Raynox 150 on my 55-250, but nothing like the nasty solid circle above, just a little brightness drop-off in the corners, which is fixable with post processing. I imagine you might get a little vignetting like that with the Raynox 150 on your 50-230. With your 18-55 it would probably be more of an issue. Bear in mind though that even if you do get really heavyweight vignetting at the wide end it is not the end of the world - it just restricts the range of magnifications you can use.​

As to costs, there is a much cheaper alternative that you might want to try. At this stage I assume you don't really know how you are going to get on with close-ups. Some people find it easy and enjoyable, but when some people try it they find it to be neither! You might want to consider a throw-away expense of £10 or so to get a set of close-up filters. Something like this. Be warned, you will not get great images from these.

Note: close-up filters vs achromats

The reason the image quality will be poor (and sometimes horrible) with close up filters like these is that they are made from single pieces of glass and suffer from chromatic aberration, and in some not very unusual circumstances, serious chromatic aberration. In contrast, lenses like the Canon 500D and the Raynox lenses are "achromats", using two or more pieces of glass so as to combat chromatic aberration. You can get really good results with achromats.
​

So why bother with these cheap lenses? To find out how you might get on with close-ups. They will give you a range of magnifications to try out, from less powerful than the Canon 500D to more powerful than the Raynox 250. You will get to see what the working distances are like with close-up lenses of various strengths, and whether you can get tolerably sharp images with some combination of VR, monopod, stick, tripod or whatever, and whether the bundled little flash that comes with the XT1 helps at all. Maybe it will work out fine and leave you wanting to get something that can actually produce nice results. Well, you won't have wasted much money getting there. And if it doesn't work out, then you won't have wasted significantly more money to get to the same conclusion.

I am using a Fuji XT1 and recently I have bought a tripod and monopod for the first time. Due to my disabilities I wasn't steady enough using the monopod as I was rocking to much. I have been using the tripod every day though trying to catch the birdies in the garden, I have been using a manual lens on the tripod as it was too heavy for me to hand hold and I'm also using the remote App.. I will give the stick method a go.

I have purchased a Fuji 50-230mm lens again this week to help me with stability and AF (I also have the 18-55mm lens), plus it's a light lens so I should be able to hand hold. and one of the reasons I initially asked the question. I have had the Fuji 60mm Macro 1:2 and a Vivitar 55mm f2.8 1:1 macro lens, I wasnt steady enough with these lenses for close up as they both didnt have VR and I was too close to be steady. I didnt need to try rocking back and for, it came automatically.

As to focusing, do try autofocus. A lot of people say you can't/you shouldn't/they won't use autofocus for close-ups because it doesn't work very well/it doesn't work at all/you can't get the centre of focus where you want it. I use autofocus a lot. So as it happens does Mark Berkery who I linked to. It does depend on the camera and lens you are using though, and what you are photographing. But if you have a steadiness issue then autofocus, if it works ok on your kit, may make a big difference.

I'm probably not going to use it much before the spring but it's something to practice on.

I strongly suggest starting with some really boring indoors subjects, like matchboxes, pens, anything around the place. They don't move, you can put them by a window to get some light on them, and away from the window you can try using flash. It will get you used to the distances involved, and how your camera handles with a close-up lens on it, for example in terms of autofocus and manual focus. It will also give you a chance to experiment with different apertures and ISOs and compare the results in terms of detail/sharpness, amount of noise, depth of focus etc. If you spend some time doing some stuff like this and examining the results, adjusting things, trying again, etc, that will pay huge dividends when you get out there in the Spring and try photographing more interesting subjects.

Finally, thanks for the links, both book marked and will make interesting reading.

Mark Berkery is one of my macro heroes. It's amazing what beautiful images he produces with some very simple equipment: an old bridge camera, an inexpensive close-up lens, DIY flash diffusion on the on-board flash, and a stick.

 

[alfbranch]

Here are some shots of a previous set up.

This is an Olympus OMD E-M1 (which I still use) and a 4/3 40-150mm zoom (I have a newer smaller version in m4/3)

Please note that the minimum focus distance of this lens is 1.4 meters

This set at 150mm with a Raynox DCR 250 fitted and the card shows the minumum focus distance

at 150 mm with raynox by alf.branch, on Flickr


This is the same lens at 40mm again the focus distance marked.

at 40 mm with raynox by alf.branch, on Flickr

This shot was taken at 150mm with this set up

Hover-fly by alf.branch, on Flickr

This was at 134 mm (it is a big ant)

Ant-Queen by alf.branch, on Flickr


This was at 40mm

Ant-Queen-3 by alf.branch, on Flickr

 

[Swanseajack]

Unfortunately that is the going rate for a 58mm Canon 500D, which is the one you would need for your 50-230mm lens.

Note: vignetting with close-up lenses

Close-up lenses work best on longer zoom lenses. You tend to get vignetting at the wide end with shorter zooms, and not a little slight vignetting, but serious, "looking through a porthole" effects. This sort of thing, but more or less of it depending on camera, close-up lens and focal length.


0509 03 Vignetting at 4.5mm focal length with Raynox 150 attached to FZ200 camera lens by gardenersassistant, on Flickr

With a 58mm close-up lens on your 50-230 with its 58mm filter thread you may well see no vignetting at all. I don't get any with a 58mm 500D on a 55-250 on my Canon 70D. I get very some very mild vignetting at the wide end with a Raynox 150 on my 55-250, but nothing like the nasty solid circle above, just a little brightness drop-off in the corners, which is fixable with post processing. I imagine you might get a little vignetting like that with the Raynox 150 on your 50-230. With your 18-55 it would probably be more of an issue. Bear in mind though that even if you do get really heavyweight vignetting at the wide end it is not the end of the world - it just restricts the range of magnifications you can use.​

As to costs, there is a much cheaper alternative that you might want to try. At this stage I assume you don't really know how you are going to get on with close-ups. Some people find it easy and enjoyable, but when some people try it they find it to be neither! You might want to consider a throw-away expense of £10 or so to get a set of close-up filters. Something like this. Be warned, you will not get great images from these.

Note: close-up filters vs achromats

The reason the image quality will be poor (and sometimes horrible) with close up filters like these is that they are made from single pieces of glass and suffer from chromatic aberration, and in some not very unusual circumstances, serious chromatic aberration. In contrast, lenses like the Canon 500D and the Raynox lenses are "achromats", using two or more pieces of glass so as to combat chromatic aberration. You can get really good results with achromats.
​

So why bother with these cheap lenses? To find out how you might get on with close-ups. They will give you a range of magnifications to try out, from less powerful than the Canon 500D to more powerful than the Raynox 250. You will get to see what the working distances are like with close-up lenses of various strengths, and whether you can get tolerably sharp images with some combination of VR, monopod, stick, tripod or whatever, and whether the bundled little flash that comes with the XT1 helps at all. Maybe it will work out fine and leave you wanting to get something that can actually produce nice results. Well, you won't have wasted much money getting there. And if it doesn't work out, then you won't have wasted significantly more money to get to the same conclusion.



As to focusing, do try autofocus. A lot of people say you can't/you shouldn't/they won't use autofocus for close-ups because it doesn't work very well/it doesn't work at all/you can't get the centre of focus where you want it. I use autofocus a lot. So as it happens does Mark Berkery who I linked to. It does depend on the camera and lens you are using though, and what you are photographing. But if you have a steadiness issue then autofocus, if it works ok on your kit, may make a big difference.



I strongly suggest starting with some really boring indoors subjects, like matchboxes, pens, anything around the place. They don't move, you can put them by a window to get some light on them, and away from the window you can try using flash. It will get you used to the distances involved, and how your camera handles with a close-up lens on it, for example in terms of autofocus and manual focus. It will also give you a chance to experiment with different apertures and ISOs and compare the results in terms of detail/sharpness, amount of noise, depth of focus etc. If you spend some time doing some stuff like this and examining the results, adjusting things, trying again, etc, that will pay huge dividends when you get out there in the Spring and try photographing more interesting subjects.



Mark Berkery is one of my macro heroes. It's amazing what beautiful images he produces with some very simple equipment: an old bridge camera, an inexpensive close-up lens, DIY flash diffusion on the on-board flash, and a stick.

Thanks again for your reply, some excellent advice.

Looking at Alfs use, below your post with the DCR250 is he getting a minimum focus distance of about 10 inches, what would be the maximum for a picture like his shown? I'm looking at the length of the bricks as a guide. If so, thinking about it more, I may go with the DCR150. If it doesnt work for me I can sell on. I always try to buy the better items and I'm in no huge rush and have plenty of time to look around as I'm home all day.

Also for info, I'm considering selling my XT1 as I want longer lenses with AF/VR as Fuji have delayed there super tele by 12 months. I am struggling with a heavy manual focus lens for the small birds I'm trying to capture in our garden, we have a lot as we back onto woodlands (the 50-230mm is a little short for the small birds in gardens and was primarily bought for going out). With the Raynox will it give more flexability with the step up rings if I change lenses and systems???

Here are some shots of a previous set up.

This is an Olympus OMD E-M1 (which I still use) and a 4/3 40-150mm zoom (I have a newer smaller version in m4/3)

Please note that the minimum focus distance of this lens is 1.4 meters

This set at 150mm with a Raynox DCR 250 fitted and the card shows the minumum focus distance

at 150 mm with raynox by alf.branch, on Flickr


This is the same lens at 40mm again the focus distance marked.

at 40 mm with raynox by alf.branch, on Flickr

This shot was taken at 150mm with this set up

Hover-fly by alf.branch, on Flickr

This was at 134 mm (it is a big ant)

Ant-Queen by alf.branch, on Flickr


This was at 40mm

Ant-Queen-3 by alf.branch, on Flickr

Thanks for showing your set-up, it looks as if your using similar equipment to mine. I'm considering selling my XT1 as I want longer lenses with AF/VR as Fuji have delayed there super tele by 12 months. When sold I will be looking at the EM1 and others.

 

[alfbranch]

I am very happy with the OMD and if want small and light the E-M10 with a Zuiko 60mm f2.8 macro would be seriously small and light. The m4/3 lenes are much smaller than the 4/3 lenses I am mostly using.

The raynox clips on like a lens cap and is added or removed in seconds I carry mine in a filter pouch I got with a circular polariser

This poor quality video shows the dcr250 and it doesnt last forever showing packaging

here is my sigma 105 4/3 lens with MMF3 adapter attched again minimum focus makrked which is 1:1

EM1 sigma 105 Mk11 by alf.branch, on Flickr

 

[gaddypaid]

thanks guys for all your feedback will become a permanent addon in my bag to use with my Nikon AF-S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6G VR ED AF Zoom Lens wish me luck

 

[GardenersHelper]

thanks guys for all your feedback will become a permanent addon in my bag to use with my Nikon AF-S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6G VR ED AF Zoom Lens wish me luck

Enjoy! It should work nicely.

 

[GardenersHelper]

Looking at Alfs use, below your post with the DCR250 is he getting a minimum focus distance of about 10 inches, what would be the maximum for a picture like his shown? I'm looking at the length of the bricks as a guide. If so, thinking about it more, I may go with the DCR150. If it doesnt work for me I can sell on. I always try to buy the better items and I'm in no huge rush and have plenty of time to look around as I'm home all day.

I doubt it is as much as 10 inches. I'll give you some numbers for the Raynox 250 on my FZ200 bridge camera. The distances I have measured have been very similar on the other cameras I've tested this out on.

• Here on the Raynox web site it specifies a distance to the subject of 109mm (4,3 inches) with the Raynox 250 on the FZ200 with the focus set at infinity.
  
• With the Raynox 250 on the FZ200, I can only get autofocus to lock on between about 4 inches and 5 inches from the subject.
• With the focus set at minimum distance on the FZ200, I measured the Raynox 250 to be in focus at about 4 inches from the subject.
  
• With the focus set at infinity on the FZ200, I measured the Raynox 250 to be in focus at about 4 and a half inches from the subject.

I have measured the usable distances as about 6 to 8 inches with the Raynox 150 and about 12 to 20 inches with the Canon 500D. This does depend on the focal length. There is more latitude at shorter focal lengths (lesser magnifications). This is particularly evident with the low-powered 500D, which can focus at infinity at the very widest angle on my FZ200.

Mostly though, at the sort of focal lengths you are likely to be using for close-ups, you do have to get into the ranges mentioned above. (One reason people sometimes get images that are not very sharp with close-up lenses may be that they are outside of the appropriate range of distances to the subject but are using manual focus and get the image they see as sharp as they can. While it may look sharp in the viewfinder or on the LCD, and the camera will happily take the shot, it may in fact not have good focus.)

Also for info, I'm considering selling my XT1 as I want longer lenses with AF/VR as Fuji have delayed there super tele by 12 months. I am struggling with a heavy manual focus lens for the small birds I'm trying to capture in our garden, we have a lot as we back onto woodlands (the 50-230mm is a little short for the small birds in gardens and was primarily bought for going out). With the Raynox will it give more flexability with the step up rings if I change lenses and systems???

A close-up lens won't help with birds, no matter what camera you are using. You would need a tele-extender for that. Alternatively you could use a camera with a lot of zoom, such as a modern ultra-zoom small sensor camera such as the Canon SX60. There are debates about the quality you can get with small sensor cameras, but for example have a look at this thread over at dpr, and you might also want to look for bird photos from ken53 at dpr (he was one of the participants in the thread I linked to. He has been using bridge cameras for small birds for some years, with terrific results).

 

[Swanseajack]

Hi Nick,

I have no plans to use the Raynox for birds, I have a 300mm f4 lens and teleconverter for that. I'm looking to change for the availablility of longer zooms with brands like Nikon, Olympus etc............ Fuji's longest AF & VR lens currently is the 50-230mm which I have. As I mentioned, Fuji have delayed there tele zoom by 12 months and it's the reason im looking to change.

The reason I mentioned the DCR150 possibly being better for me, was the ability to take it with me when I swap brands as it has the range of 52-67mm and the 500d is a fixed size lens, unless I bought step/down rings for it?????

 

[GardenersHelper]

Hi Nick,

I have no plans to use the Raynox for birds,

Ah, I misunderstood.

The reason I mentioned the DCR150 possibly being better for me, was the ability to take it with me when I swap brands as it has the range of 52-67mm and the 500d is a fixed size lens, unless I bought step/down rings for it?????

I use step rings for all my close-up lenses, including the Raynox 150 and 250. They both come with a spring-loaded lens holder that clips into the filter thread of the camera lens, but I have twice broken the little lugs off of a lens holder and made it useless. They are difficult replace (in fact, the only way to get another one may be to buy a new lens, which I did once), so after the second time it happened I moved across to step rings. They work fine.

 

[alfbranch]

I estimate the focus to be a bout 4 (10cm) from the front of the camera which in real terms is under 12 inches (30 cm) roughly from the snsor.