What's the difference between close up filters and macro?

Howe Creative Photography · July 15, 2009

I bought a set of Hoya, +1, +2, and +4. The guy at our local camera store told me to get these and save my self a lot of money?! The only macro lens they had was Nikon 60mm and I wanted the Tamron 90mm or Sigma 105mm. I thought I would just try these out and see! But I would love to know what the "experts" have to say!

Lord Vetinari · July 15, 2009

Howe Creative Photography wrote:

I bought a set of Hoya, +1, +2, and +4. The guy at our local camera store told me to get these and save my self a lot of money?! The only macro lens they had was Nikon 60mm and I wanted the Tamron 90mm or Sigma 105mm. I thought I would just try these out and see! But I would love to know what the "experts" have to say!

Not sure what lens they are going to fit but you would need to use all of them on a 200mm lens to get to 1:1 magnification of a true macro lens. They will allow you to get "closer" to the subject but you will lose IQ over a real macro lens esp with single lens type diopters which often suffer from chromatic aberration.
Probably a better cheaper option would be to get a body reversing adapter for say the kit lens or a more expensive option would be to get a set of extension tubes which will allow any lens around 50mm focal length to achieve 1:1 magnification with good IQ.

Brian v.

Howe Creative Photography · July 15, 2009

I have a 50mm 1.8 lens.

So, in your opinion they are a waste of money?

PeterD-2009 · July 15, 2009

Howe Creative Photography wrote:

I have a 50mm 1.8 lens.

So, in your opinion they are a waste of money?

I have bought a set of such lens' and yes, I think they are a waste of money. If you really are looking at purchasing a screw on lens rather than going for a proper Macro lens, then I would consider the Sigma Achromatic Macro Lens. This lens is not a single magnifying lens but a proper Macro lens. The problem with a single lens is that the light at different wavelengths does not achieve focus at the camera sensor. The achromatic lens approach bends the light at each wavelength to ensure that they all strike the sensor in focus. Coating on the lenses prevents multi-relections. The lens that I have is for a 58mm dia lens and can be purchased on e-bay for about £10. One other thing you should be aware of - If you use screw-on lens adaptors, you are very likely to find you have to operate within a focussing window. That is, you will have both a minimum AND a maximum focus distance. Not too much of a problem but you should be aware of this.
I used the Sigma adaptor with a 70-300mm zoom lens.
Two shots of the Teasel at focal lengths of 70mm and 120mm.

Gallery link http://peterd-2009.smugmug.com/gallery/8920284_Q2J3L/1/#592403454_DBwuE-A-LB

Gallery link: http://peterd-2009.smugmug.com/gallery/8920284_Q2J3L/1/#592399843_opSUC-A-LB

Note the tiny fly at the lower left of the teasel.

Hoverflies

Gallery Link: http://peterd-2009.smugmug.com/gallery/7921526_8yYSh/1/#592405528_zX67r-A-LB

Gallery Link: http://peterd-2009.smugmug.com/gallery/7921526_8yYSh/1/#592404833_hXYvz-A-LB

Gallery Link:http://peterd-2009.smugmug.com/gallery/7921526_8yYSh/1/#592404024_qr5td-A-LB

These were taken when I just started out using a DSLR and so I apologise for the dof issues which are obvious. At least it will give you some idea of the minimum of what can be achieved. I have posted gallery links for you so you can see all of the shooting data and get full size images if you want.

Having played with it I decided to purchase the longer focal length Macro lens (Sigma 150 Macro) rather than the popular 50mm Macro. It is hard to achieve 1:1 results when you are virtually pushing the lens at the body of a live subject!

Sorry it is a long post but I hope this helps.

Lord Vetinari · July 16, 2009

THey probably are a waste of money if you want to seriously get into macro, but fine for a quick dabble. Extension tubes though are not a waste of money as you can use them on a macro lens (and other lenses) to significantly increase the magnification if you get one later on.
Brian v.

Howe Creative Photography · July 16, 2009

OK...thanks! I think getting a true macro would be better.

What's the difference between close up filters and macro?

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