Macro filter

[simon]

I received a Nikon D50 for my birthday recently and was thinking of getting a macro lens for it. Trouble is, being a student I have very little money and so have been thinking about a macro filter instead. Does anyone have any experience with these and if so would you recommend them?

Thanks for any help

 

[joan]

Unless you have a good quality lens, using a 'macro filter' is not going to improve the quality of your shots by a whole lot. Although if you can afford one, and it's Nikon-compatible, you can always buy it now, try it out, and buy a good lens later.

Another cheap way is to buy a big magnifying glass and jury-rig it to your camera (or make a stand for it).

 

[sergé]

I don't know if you mean the same, but there are close -up lenses which you can screw on to your normal lense. They are relatively cheap and come in +1 up to +10. I would advise to buy a +4 or +5. I use them all the time, and although you get some un sharpness in the edges of your image, for newts and salamanders it isn't a problem. They are much easier in the field as well. So if you are not a professional photographer this is a very good and cheap solution.

 

[simon]

Thanks guys. Sergé, the only thing I could find, the shop assistants called filters but you do screw them onto the normal lens. If they work then I may as well get one.

 

[sergé]

Simon,

that should be the same, they are like magnifying glasses. Just try them in the shop, than you can see what they can do...

Sergé

 

[juraj]

It`s a good compromise but there is one disadvantage of cheap close-up lens. They suffer from chromatic aberration which sometimes can destroy a photo.

 

[john]

I know I'm a little late weighing in on this but may I suggest the 60mm Nikon micro lens. It's a pretty simple lens with little to go wrong with it and it does a superb job on the APS sensor size Nikon cameras. I have had one for several years and I wouldn't be without it. Right now from Jessops it's £350 (http://www.jessops.com/Store/s24095/0/Lenses/Nikon/60mm-f28-AF-Micro-D/details.aspx?&IsSearch=y&pageindex=1&comp=n) but you should be able to get it off Ebay for a lot less. If you have access to the American market, it's about 3/5 the British price (the exchange rate is rather good right now if you have pounds).

 

[brian]

Hi, thank you for your advice

(Message edited by aartse_tuyn on January 03, 2007)