Macro Filters

Nikonite

Nikonite

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Name
Dez
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Hello,

I bought 4 macro filters/lenses (1x, 2x, 5x and 10x) to screw on to a 52mm lens.

My questions to the panel are, are they best used on a zoom lens? (55-200) or are they just as effective on a 18-55? or indeed a 35mm?

and lastly, any advice on how to use them?

MANY thanks!

D
 
Hi Dez,

I think the best advice is try it out and see :)

I personally used them on a sigma 17-70 for years but that lens is very close focussing anyway. I also had one of the canon 550 macro filters which I used on my 70-200 which was good fun!!
I got some cool shots with them but recently upgraded to a real macro lens.
 
Cheers!

I tried them last night but the bug i was trying to shoot wasn't interested in staying put whilst i tried different combinations...even after i asked nicely.
 
I used a set of these mostly on my 18-55 IS on a 550D. You just have to make sure you get everything nicely focussed as they can distort the image. I used them on a Canon 75-300 MkIII lens (the worst lens I've ever used) and the results weren't very good at all, but I'm not sure if it was the lens or using the filters on a long zoom.
They seem to work fairly well on the short zooms though, you wont get a massive increase in size of the subject, but you will see an improvement. Nothing like getting a proper macro lens though when you can afford it.
 
The first bit of advice for the cheap 1,2,5,10 times filters is not to buy them as they are usually awful. Having got that out of the way, and you've got them anyway so you might as well try them out and find out why they're so bad, you will get best results when the power, and hence chromatic aberration (CA) is relatively low. Use the 2x on a zoom at between 100-200mm focal length. Hold the camera about 12-18" from your subject until you get sharp focus then use the zoom to frame the subject. Allow plenty of room around your subject because the edges are going to have CA and you can then crop them off during post processing.
A rather better way of getting cheap semi-macro is to replace your set of filters with a single achromat. Raynox, Sigma and Canon make good ones but I would avoid the higher power ones as although their quality can be quite good, the depth of focus in these is very small. I had a Canon 500D close up lens for many years and stuck it on a 70-210mm zoom with great results. Being an achromat meant that quality away from the centre was good.
 
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Cheers eccles. Yeah, i know what you mean by them being bad. I wanted a quick cheap way (they were around a tenner) to see if i had any interest or patience in macro. Probably get myself a dedicated lens one day but today is not that day. Tomorrow doesn't look very likely either;-)
 
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