Experiences with close-up lenses

ReneSi · Post by **ReneSi** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 3:28 am

I need some help! For working under laboratory conditions I thought of buying a close-up lens! My FoV is about 15mm:10mm. I mostly use a Canon 350D. Ideally I want more than a 1:1 reproduction (that´s why I do not think of using a macro lens).
What experiences have you made with which close-up lenses?
Thanks
ReneSi

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:00 am

ReneSi,

Greetings.

Are you talking about purchasing a camera lens... such as the Canon 65mm MPE, which allows 1-5X magnifications?

Or are you referring to an "add-on" supplementary close-up lens that is attached to the front of a camera lens to provide higher magnifications... such as the Raynox series? If this is the case it would be helpful to know what camera lenses you already have and are currently using.

seta666 · Post by **seta666** » Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:27 am

I thin he is talking about suplementary lenses, in that case I would recomend Raynox DCR-250 and MSN-202. They work very well with APS-C cameras. To get the most of them you would Ideally use them in fron of a macro lens (100mm lens and these two lenses would give you up to 4:1)

But in your case, and working in a lab I would get a bellows and a enlarger lens, something like the EL-nikkor 50mm 2.8, mounted on bellows the combination should give you the magnification you are looking for at a fraction of the cost

Regards

ReneSi · Post by **ReneSi** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:47 am

Thanks for your answers. Raynox DCR-250mm seems to have a quite good price-performance ratio. But the magnification is only 6 and I need nearly 10. And I also need a tripod. Now I found a macroscope with a magnification of 11. It includes two macro-lenses and a tripod. Another advantage is, that I could also use the less strongly lens outdoor without a tripod.

http://www.lmscope.com/produkt22/LM_DSL ... x_en.shtml

I think I will try this one out.

Rene

Pau · Post by **Pau** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:58 am

I did a quick look at the products you linked and I'm not convinced at all. It's not cheap (in fact very expensive for just close up add on lenses) and I think you are going to get much better quality with a MP-E 65 or a bellows+dedicated macro lens or reversed good enlarger lens as others sugested.

Of course I don't have any experience nor real life reference test about this equipment, but the samples posted at that webseite aren't very goood (and the repetition of the word "professional" almost in each paragraph always seems a bit suspicious for me, as the abusive and misleading use of the word microscope)

Harold Gough · Post by **Harold Gough** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:02 am

Pau wrote:I did a quick look at the products you linked and I'm not convinced at all. It's not cheap (in fact very expensive for just close up add on lenses) and I think you are going to get much better quality with a MP-E 65 or a bellows+dedicated macro lens or reversed good enlarger lens as others sugested.

I more or less agree. It seems very expensive for equipment of, apparently, limited versatility. Of course, it may do the intended work perfectly.

You can use supplementary lenses with non-macro lenses of good quality:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=13622

Supplementary lenses tend to be available only in a limited number of sizes i.e. diameters.

I find the parameters (field of view, more than 1:1 and x10) considered together, rather confusing.

Harold

enricosavazzi · Post by **enricosavazzi** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:08 am

The text on the LM-Scope site mentions you need a DSLR, but does not seem to mention that you also need a camera lens (like the Leica shown in the picture). If you follow the link below the macroscope description you get to a list of the macroscope components. This list does not include a camera lens. The sum of the individual prices of these components is 1594 €, and since the whole macroscope is listed at 1299 €, most likely it does not include a Leica lens.

You will not be able to use the supplied 80 mm lens alone for outdoors photography. You need to mount it on a general-purpose camera lens in the same configuration shown for studio use on the LM-Scope site. Once you do so, you may probably have a magnification range roughly around 0.7x to 2x (depending on the focal length of the camera lens), which is indeed possible to use without a tripod.

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:12 pm

I thought of buying a close-up lens! My FoV is about 15mm:10mm. I mostly use a Canon 350D.

Here in the US, the Canon 65mm MPE (1:1 to 5:1 magnification) sells for about $999 US. This lens would provide, in a continuous fashion, a field-of-view (left to right, longer dimension of the 350D frame) from 22.3mm down to 4.46mm.

I'm not quite sure sure why you are considering a a solution that is basically a macro stand plus two supplementary close up lenses (40mm focal length and 80mm focal length) that will cost $1844. Except for the included stand, The LM Macroscope set does not seem to offer more than the Raynox MSN-202 and DCR-250, which would cost, together, about $165.

http://www.lmscope.com/produkt22/Datenb ... 0mm_en.pdf
$667.40 (4 element, 2group. 40mm focal length)

http://www.lmscope.com/produkt22/Datenb ... 0mm_en.pdf
$418 (2 element, 1 group. 80mm focal length)

http://raynox.co.jp/english/digital/dmc ... tml#msn202
$90 MSN-202 (4 element, 3 group. 40mm focal length)
$75 DCR-250 (3 element, 2 group. 125mm focal length)

It is always with hesitation that I would steer someone away from equipment they are interested in. It just seems like the Canon 65mm MPE would be perfect for your needs. And the Raynox pieces are far less expensive than the LM products but seem to offer the same capability.

What lenses do you already have that would be used with the LM close-up lenses? What is the advantage you see in them that would make them worth so much more than either the 65 MPE or the Raynox? Perhaps I am overlooking something.