Diopters

[JohnK]

Been after a macro lens for a while but came across (thanks to digitaldiver and scubaboard) a relatively cheap alternative called diopters. These are basically add on magnifying glasses.

At a third of the price for a +1/+2/+4 (giving up to +7 magnification versus the standard 3) set I will give them a try. I`ll post if they work OK

[Tim Ingmire]

How close will your lens focus?  The 5050 can go real close (about 1 inch) so close infact that getting light without a shadow is a bit of a problem.

[JohnK]

The 4040 allows you to about 8 inches (no super macro mode) assuming you can get the "sweet spot". Dont like zooming in too much as the results are often out of focus - or just plain grainy when blown up due to movement of the camera. Using these will allow me to stay a little back from the subject (particularly the skittish ones) hopefully losing the shadow effect as well - thats the theory anyway. Dont know how other things will be affected (depth of field etc) but some folk swear by them

Some folk are stacking 2 or 3 macro lenses to get real close shots - thought I`d try the diopters first to see if they work for me - For £40 its not a major disaster if the results are crap !!!

[Tim Ingmire]

Yea I can see your point - I would recommend that you upgrade to the 5050.  As luck would have it.....

[JohnK]

LOL - are you selling the Canon instead ???