Ext tubes or + diopter lenses

[rasmusrok1]

Hi

I want to purchace accesories for my alpha a300 kit lens to start semi-macro photography.

Please could anybody tell me about these two items, what would fit my camera lens and which is the better/cost-effective option.

I can not as of now afford a macro lens so that is not an option

Thanks for the help

Jonny

 

[mastertrinity]

either work but for extension tubes you'll need to spend around £100 to get eletronic ones so you can adjust the aperture etc. for diopter lenses you'll also need to spend some money to get good glass versions like the ones from hoya available as a collection for £56 at jessops

 

[jgs001]

Another option for a converter lens, is the Raynox range, the DCR250 is what I use. It's a triplet lens and provides +8 IIRC diopters or adjustment. I get 1:1 at about 100mm with my 450d. It can be had from ebay for about £40

 

[Alan Neilson]

I have not used close up filters, so can't make any coment on them, I have used extension tubes, which is my prefered option, although they will cost more. But I think quality of images wil be better. Although it will make using the lens slightly harder with the extra length.

 

[coldpenguin]

I bought close up filters, as they were the cheaper option (and I didn't know that extension tubes would do what I want). They are OK to use, but I find that the ability to focus is restricted to a small surface of a sphere (it always is the surface of a sphere, but usually you don't notice). This meant that in order to focus, I needed to move the camera forwards and backwards, then use the camera focus to fine-tune.
My understanding is that although the same problem exists with extension tubes, that the problem isn't so bad. I am on the lookout now, when funds permit, to get some kenko fully automatic extension tubes.