Macro lenses lets you get the camera close to the subject while still being able to focus properly, usually within inches. These lenses are useful for photographing small things and filling the frame with it like insects, flowers, toys, etc. But unless you regularly take macro photographs, it can be hard to justify the purchase of a $600 lens that you may use occasionally.
This doesn't mean you can't take a macro shot with what you have. There is a way to trick your lens into focusing closer than its minimum focusing distance. By placing a magnifying glass in front of your lens, it turns the current regular zoom lens you have into a macro lens. Instantly, your focusing distance can go from a few feet to a few inches, allowing you to get much closer.
f/4.5, 1/800 Alex Chi 2011 ©
Above the lens is zoomed to 105 mm and is placed as close as possible to the coffee beans while still be able to focus. You can see that the beans are small enough to have a few hundred populate the image. After placing the magnifying glass in front of the lens, the camera is able to get closer and get a larger image of the beans as you can see below.
f/4.5, 1/2000 Alex Chi 2011 ©
This is really neat. Because usually when you "zoom-in," the quality of the photos gets reduced (there are less pixels or whatever).
ReplyDeleteGreat post & blog!
-Amanda
What about lens extenders ? How is the image quality compared to regular telephoto lenses ?
ReplyDeleteLens extenders? Are they the same as tele-convertors?
ReplyDelete