One area of photography I have been particularly interested in is macro photography. I have been deterred in pursuing this because macro lenses are prohibitively expensive.
However, I recently came across a reference to a type of macro lens that just screws onto the front of another lens like you would do with a filter. I wish I could remember where I came across this reference so I can give credit, but, alas, I cannot.
The lens I ended up purchasing is the Opteka Achromatic 10x Diopter Close-Up Macro Lens for a mere $25.00.
This type of lens is not technically a macro lens but a diopter lens which allows you to reduce your camera’s focus length. Basically, that means you can get closer to a subject and still be able to focus. I have never used a true macro lens, but from what I have read, the major drawbacks of the diopter lens is that it introduces some curvature to an image and limits your depth of field options.
The depth of field issues are apparent in my images below. Only a small part of the images are in focus and adjusting the aperture made minimal difference. In some cases, I compensated for this by cropping the photos to increase the percentage of the image that is in focus.
An interesting artifact of this being an extension that you screw onto an existing lens is that at a certain focal length, you can see the outline of the lens in the image.
I am still new to this and may not be explaining all this clearly, but I found a post at DIY Photography that may help.
Despite these drawbacks, the Opteka lens is an inexpensive and excellent way to try out macro photography. I have been having a lot of fun taking close-up pictures. If I ever have an extra $500 I don’t know what to do with, I would certainly be interested in getting a proper macro lens.
Leave a Reply