What’s Your Preference?

nigelisabelle · #1 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 05:05 PM

As a newbie to photography and Macro photos I am not ready to purchase a Macro lens however I think a filter/diopters (sp?) would be the best bet for me right now.

Can someone tell me the pro's con's of the '+' symbol. I found this +10 filter and want to hear feedback.

http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/241668375.htm

Thanks and I promise I"ll get off this Macro kick soon...I'm a pain with all these questions I know. Sorry.

Joanne

darrell · #2 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 05:16 PM

I honestly don't know a thing about it, but I looked up on Wikipedia (sorry for those against it) and I eventually came across this. It talks about it a little bit. Hopefully someone can be more helpful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diopter

nigelisabelle · #3 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 05:19 PM

Thanks a bunch

Major_Small · #4 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 05:51 PM

Diopter filters are a great way to go macro if you don't have the money for a true macro lens. The quality isn't nearly as high, but the cost savings really makes them worth it IMO. Then again if I shot macro as a main form of photography, I'd go for a macro lens.

nigelisabelle · #5 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major_Small

Diopter filters are a great way to go macro if you don't have the money for a true macro lens. The quality isn't nearly as high, but the cost savings really makes them worth it IMO. Then again if I shot macro as a main form of photography, I'd go for a macro lens.

I think as I'm just starting out this would be a good way to go right now, I'm a bit overwhelmed with the choices of macro lens...not sure which would be a good 'starter' lens if I were to purchase one. I'm just doing macro shots for fun..nothing professional or anything so I would want a decent lens but nothing crazy... know what I mean

Nicole · #6 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major_Small

Diopter filters are a great way to go macro if you don't have the money for a true macro lens. The quality isn't nearly as high, but the cost savings really makes them worth it IMO. Then again if I shot macro as a main form of photography, I'd go for a macro lens.

I just wanted to say it's a refreshing thing to hear people say that the filters are a good way to go when you don't want to spend all the money.

nigelisabelle, I don't have the +10 filter, but I do have a set of +1, +2, +4 filters that I can stack together. As long as you use a moderate aperture (say f/8 or higher) you'll get pretty decent results. They are a little softer, but I've had pretty good experiences with them since I'm not necessarily committed enough to macro to get a real lens yet. I can't quite remember how many of the filters I had on the camera with this shot, but it gives you an idea of how close you can get to smaller items on a regular lens with a few filters.

nigelisabelle · #7 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicole

I just wanted to say it's a refreshing thing to hear people say that the filters are a good way to go when you don't want to spend all the money.

nigelisabelle, I don't have the +10 filter, but I do have a set of +1, +2, +4 filters that I can stack together. As long as you use a moderate aperture (say f/8 or higher) you'll get pretty decent results. They are a little softer, but I've had pretty good experiences with them since I'm not necessarily committed enough to macro to get a real lens yet. I can't quite remember how many of the filters I had on the camera with this shot, but it gives you an idea of how close you can get to smaller items on a regular lens with a few filters.

Gosh..great photo! What's the difference between using just one filter, say a +10 and then using a couple of filters together like you do?

Nicole · #8 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 09:07 PM

You're likely to get less distortion with fewer filters. Every piece of glass that you put in front of a lens can create more potential for distortion, blurriness, reflections, etc so a +10 filter may be clearer than stacking a bunch. Of course, the benefit of having multiple filters is that I can add one, two, or three to get the right distance from more subjects.

Still, I haven't actually encountered many problems while stacking all 3 filters together.

nigelisabelle · #9 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 09:18 PM

Makes sense Nicole, thanks.

Canadian Mum · #10 (**permalink**) 04-08-2008, 10:48 PM

I have a +10... and I love it!
With this I can do Macro shots from quite a bit farther back from the subject, which allows me to use my flash. I have a Flower Set on Flickr which were taken with the +10 and from about 8-12 inches from the flowers. Only the rose and the pink flower weren't taken with the +10.
The flowers on the tulip were about one inch high... Here is one example with the +10