SLR +4 adaptor

[richie00boy]

Looking on ebay initially thinking about a macro lens for my DSLR, I came across these that appear to screw on the end of my existing lens and provide a macro function.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350219629022

Are these any good or likely to cause huge distortion or other problems? I'm not expecting it to be as good as a proper macro.

 

[printcom]

The only thing I can tell you about lens's is that pound notes = quality. It very much depends on how much quality you require.

 

[mike os]

Some work ok .... at that price there's not much to lose really

 

[richie00boy]

If they are likely to be Ok I would go for a better one, Hoya or Minolta. That link was just the first one I found.

 

[mike os]

Too many variations to say for sure... and I guess it depends on what you want from it

 

[zx9]

If they are likely to be Ok I would go for a better one, Hoya or Minolta. That link was just the first one I found.

The Hoya suplimentry lenses were as good as the offerings from Canon et al. There were a lot of low priced filters / lenses around in the late 80's / 90's mostly made resin or uncoated glass which should be avoided.
As said above a set of extension tubes may be a better option if you have a prime lens or decent standard zoom lens.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Nothing gives the results of a prime lenses, but as said ^^ you'll not break the Bank at that price to try.

Depends what you regard as 'acceptable' quality.

 

[Wozzaaah]

If you want to try macro on a budget get yourself a Raynox DCR 250. It clips onto the frint of the lens and gives great results.
I'll dig out a shot I took with mine later.

 

[mike os]

Forgot all about raynox. .. They used to do some fairly decent add on stuff

 

[RonA]

In the good old days of wind up SLR's you could reverse your prime telephoto lens with an adaptor & get a macro facility.
Probably can't do it these days with all the electrical connections to the camera body.
RonA

 

[zx9]

In the good old days of wind up SLR's you could reverse your prime telephoto lens with an adaptor & get a macro facility.
Probably can't do it these days with all the electrical connections to the camera body.
RonA

You can still do it either by useing an old manual focus 50mm lens with manual iris control and in effect 'stop down' metering or buy electronic 'z' rings which are expensive but retain open aperture metering and full iris control.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Taken with a Raynox DCR 250 mounted to a Canon 17-85.
I ruined it a bit with a heavy crop but you can still get an idea of what it's capable of.

 

[richie00boy]

Thanks. That looks worth looking at.

 

[Wozzaaah]

They're great fun.
You just clip it to the front of your lens when you want to use it and you're not limited to a certain size filter thread like the one you liked to.
New you can pick them up for about £55-60, used price around £30-40.
Considerably more than that screw-on one but a real nice quality bit of kit.