wide angle / close up lens attachments

captain_boycott

Has anyone any experience using devices such as these;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200455515781#ht_3451wt_1039

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/55mm-Close-Up-Lens-Kit-1-2-4-Macro-fr-Sony-Alpha-DSLR-/200447838700?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_CameraLensesFilters_JN&hash=item2eab9f49ec#ht_3008wt_1066

Clearly they're no substitute for a real wide angle or macro lens, but do they work at all? If anyone has tried similar products, I'd love to hear your impressions.

The lens linked here are single-glass cheapies, and probably prone to lots of fringing, but there are more expensive 2 element ones available also, would these work or should I just keep saving (for a long time) until I can afford a real wide angle and macro??

pete4130

If you search you'll see there are several threads on these sort of adapters. The bottom line is they are cheap for a reason. They aren't great quality, they add more distortion, shift colours, lose contrast, prone to flare and glare and are poor quality glass that reduce the amount of light coming into the camera.

They are generally the first wide lens people go for and soon realise that buying cheap, means buying twice.

I think it was another user TheCageyOne who posted a thread where they were going REALLY cheap, for 99p or 9.99 or something, and at that price you don't have anything to lose (I just noticed they are cheap in your link too).

It might seem like proper wide angle/fisheye lenses cost lots of money. They are a big investment if you don't get the use/fun out of them. My first wide angle was something similar to what you posted on here and after I had it a short while, I realised I had to spend the big money to get something worthwhile.
I was using Pentax gear back then and at the time, the only real option I had that was practical was a Pentax fisheye zoom lens (17mm fisheye up to 28mm). I think it cost IR£720 in 2001!!!!!

I still have it today and its brilliant. As for the wide angle adapter thing, I'm pretty sure I gave it away to someone who then gave it away to someone else.

For 12 quid it can't be any harm to try out to see if you want to spend the money for a real wide angle lens. Just don't expect miracles from it.

DaireQuinlan

pete4130 wrote: »

It might seem like proper wide angle/fisheye lenses cost lots of money. They are a big investment if you don't get the use/fun out of them. My first wide angle was something similar to what you posted on here and after I had it a short while, I realised I had to spend the big money to get something worthwhile.

Sure why bother, can't you just duplicate the fisheye effect in photoshop anyway !

pete4130

I was actually out and about today shooting with my fisheye, so I'll post some results later this evening!

captain_boycott

was not really interested in fish-eye perspective, more the macro capability for close up shots and wide angle for landscapes...hell, given the price think might as well try out the close up macros.

But based on comments, I'll forget about the wide angle - can't imagine getting a decent landscape with one of those.

Ghost Train

Here are some shots using an adapter... personally I think these adapters are good value for money if you want to try some wide angle shots. Or you can always stitch photos together in software like Daire says

simple test
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eolhc/sets/72157621902913148/
some lens correction
http://pix.ie/ghosttrain/1445817/in/album/365978
macro
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eolhc/3788421577/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eolhc/3893472764/in/set-72157622130394010/

DaireQuinlan

Ghost Train wrote: »

Or you can always stitch photos together in software like Daire says.

:eek: oh noes ! Sarcasm fail !

Thecageyone

The close up 'macro' filters do actually work. I only have the one x3 filter for my 50mm lens, it does actually allow you to focus in closer. I find it does tend to soften images a little though, nothing a little PP doesn't sort out.

hbr

captain_boycott wrote: »

was not really interested in fish-eye perspective, more the macro capability for close up shots and wide angle for landscapes...hell, given the price think might as well try out the close up macros.

The quality of add-on lenses varies quite a bit. As usual, the higher quality ones cost a lot more. The Canon 500D lens (not to be confused with the camera with the same model number) is one of the best. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7rrEQxjHmA

Cheaper lenses won't be as good, but they can be useful. I bought a set of FoxFoto close-up lenses on eBay just a few days ago. They won't be as good as a proper macro lens, but they are good enough for many purposes. These are my first test shots. I'm sure I can get more out of them with a bit of practice. The insanely shallow depth of field is quite tricky.
http://pix.ie/corkpix/album/372959

Thecageyone

Mine is a Hoya filter, which are widely regarded to be pretty good mid-range filters.

pete4130

Yeah, as TheCageyOne said, there are pretty decent macro rings available.

They were the first thing I used for Macro. It's basically 3 filter rings that act as magnifying glasses in front of your lens. I got a set of 3 for IR£25 years ago and you just stack them up on top of each other for more and more magnification. The quality from them is pretty good for the price too.

Fenster

I use one periodically. The quality is nothing but atrocious, but I still enjoy the final effect:

cnocbui

To do macro on the cheap with 35mm, all you needed was an extension ring. These can be had relatively cheaply. Are there cheap equivalents for DSLRs or do all those electrical contacts between lens and body make them all expensive?

hbr

cnocbui wrote: »

To do macro on the cheap with 35mm, all you needed was an extension ring. These can be had relatively cheaply. Are there cheap equivalents for DSLRs or do all those electrical contacts between lens and body make them all expensive?

You can buy extension tubes but the cheap ones don't have any electrical contacts. This means that AF won't work and you won't have any way of controlling aperture on modern lenses.