Good alternative to a (Expensive) Macro Lens?

[thefunkygibbon]

Looking around on the 'bay with a view to maybe getting a Macro lens for my Olympus e500 as i miss having a decent macro from having one on my Fuji s7000 from before. Unfortunately I noticed they are all rather expensive.. so i better get saving (anyone got any good recommendations for a macro lens?)

anyhow to get to the point, i found these (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-1751-2978-71/1?AID=5463217&PID=582776&mpre=http%3A//cgi.ebay.co.uk/Close-Up-Lenses-for-Olympus-Zuiko-Digital-40-150mm_W0QQitemZ170109384251QQihZ007QQcategoryZ30070QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). has anyone used this sort of thing before? are they any good? bearing in mind they're about 5x cheaper than the cheapest macro lens i've come across, i'm guessing that they are gunna be a bit of a naff solution.

[Alan b]

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[thefunkygibbon]

Please affiliate these links where applicable

oops sorry. do you guys have some sort of alarm system that says someone has posted a link that could be affiliated or something? ;)

[Highlander]

Extension tubes is another cheap option. They contain no glass, so will not degrade the image any further than your current lens.

[chrisns]

The extension tube for the E-system is the EX-25 which offers Four-thirds coupling but ain't cheap (about £100) and for that price, you might want to consider the Digital Zuiko 35mm macro which is only a little bit more.

A very cheap alternative is to pick up a Raynox DCR-250 macro converter and stick it on the front of your kit lens. It's quite powerful and hard to use with manual focus on the E-500 (given the small viewfinder) but will better quality than the ebay filters.

[DeadKenny]

There are a couple of threads mentioning close-up kits here...

http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=429253
http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=381823

Results are varied and it's tricky to focus right and only the centre is in focus, but you can get half decent results.

Got these with a close up kit...

http://www.sirjohn.co.uk/gallery/albums/Misc/normal_600_tivo1.jpg
http://www.sirjohn.co.uk/gallery/albums/Misc/normal_600_coke1.jpg

[pkr]

About the cheapest way to do macro is to buy an old enlarger lens off a used camera shop or eBay ( maybe a few quid ) and get an adaptor from SRB in Luton. Obviously check with SRB first to ensure they do a 4/3 adaptor and get their recomendations for the enlarger lens thread and focal length.

Cons : You're fully manual for focus and exposure.

Pros : It's cheap and as enlarger lenses are designed for a flat field of view, they are perfect for macro work.


EDIT : Just looked at SRB and it doesn't look as if they have a 4/3rds adaptor atm so you may have to use an Olympus OM to 4/3rds adaptor and then a suitable adaptor on that ( enlarger lens to OM mount ).


SRB : http://www.srb-griturn.com/

[thefunkygibbon]

thanks guys. not sure what the enlarger lens stuff is. just checked out ebay and there isnt any which are olympus mount at all. also they look like they have a shutter in them too? is that right?

[AdsterUK]

I've got some closeup lenses for my e500 and while they work reasonably well I found that reversing the standard kit lens (and just holding it against the body of the camera) gives a much better picture.

Obviously thats only really of use in a controlled environment or you risk wrecking your lens.

[toadoftoadhall]

at college I used a body cap, with the center cut out, glued a filter adapter to it, and used this to attatch the standard lens reversed, to my camera. You can still use the iris in the lens, and of course, being a film camera, used the shutter in the body.

have fun.

toad

[thefunkygibbon]

I've got some closeup lenses for my e500 and while they work reasonably well I found that reversing the standard kit lens (and just holding it against the body of the camera) gives a much better picture.

Obviously thats only really of use in a controlled environment or you risk wrecking your lens.


how the heck do you release the shutter?

[AdsterUK]

how the heck do you release the shutter?The shutter is in the body isnt it? I just press the button to take the photo as normal

[thefunkygibbon]

sorry yes, what was i thinking. lol.

[DeadKenny]

However the aperture is in the lens. Though you can manually set the aperture but only on lenses that have an aperture ring.

[Sprout Crumble]

Ebay is awash with reverse macro adaptors, cheap extention tubes etc, but how about a cheap OM series 50mm/2.5 macro and an adaptor? Should get the lot for under £50

[thefunkygibbon]

Ebay is awash with reverse macro adaptors, cheap extention tubes etc, but how about a cheap OM series 50mm/2.5 macro and an adaptor? Should get the lot for under £50

yeah i was thinking along those lines.. would either of the following be any use (with a pentax adapter ring)

this one (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-1751-2978-71/1?AID=5463217&PID=582776&mpre=http%3A//cgi.ebay.co.uk/Makinon-28mm-f2-8-prime-Pentax-K-fit-lens_W0QQitemZ180124564711QQihZ008QQcategoryZ4688QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

or
this one (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-1751-2978-71/1?AID=5463217&PID=582776&mpre=http%3A//cgi.ebay.co.uk/PENTAX-K-FIT-50mm-1-1-7-CHINON-MULTI-COATED-LENS_W0QQitemZ170114980763QQihZ007QQcategoryZ4688QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
yeah i know they are pentax... but what would be a good make to go for for getting the best bang for the buck on old manual lens.

looking for a macro and a prime (and yes i know the above ones arent macro, but i'm still looking for one :))

[recoil]

you could try a Raynox 250?

about £30 on ebay and Ive seen some amazing pics from them...

some info here -> http://www.flickr.com/groups/raynoxdcr250/discuss/72157594265754805/

[thefunkygibbon]

and compared to a set of lenses ie from my first post?

[Muzza]

I was about to ask 'where can you buy one in the UK', but when I clicked on some of the Raynox 250 links in recoil's post, this one mentions some possible UK suppliers:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/raynoxdcr250/discuss/72157600062746812/ :notworthy

[1966]

With regards to the Raynox 250, the results (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/dcr250/interesting/) look good, and the price seems great, but I don't understand it! You screw it onto your existing lenses do you? Think my 50mm 1.8 and 70-300 IS would be the only things it would fit - would either be at all suitable?

[Muzza]

The Raynox website says this:
The lens includes a snap-on universal mount suitable for 52mm to 67mm filter size.

[Muzza]

Ordered a DC-250 on Wednesday from DigitalToyShop (Spain) on Wednesday - arrived on Friday :thumbs:

Downside is that you need to get approx 6 inches from subject in order to focus (that applies to various lenses inc 135mm and 70-210 zoom). Bloody bees zip about like they're on speed and it's difficult trying to focus & fire off a shot before they zip off to the next plant. Got about 5 shots in focus out of about 50. Here's an example (I'm only a newbie, so it's not a marvellous effort):

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c246/MurrayW/IMGP0413_L1Small.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

[Boink!]

Cat has taken some amazing close ups with her Raynox DCR-250 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/23123614@N00/525117123/)
I, on the other hand went with a lens reversal ring and use it with my 50mm f/1.8 and 28mm f/2.8. Examples:

50mm
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spookygonk/187323855/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/1/187323855_20049fef4c.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="July 10th" /></a>

28mm
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spookygonk/184965705/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/60/184965705_ea2fdfcb9c.jpg" width="500" height="331" alt="July 8th" /></a>

I also picked up an old Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm quite cheaply which also does macro to 1:2.5 ratio. I shall have to try that out at some point (especially with my Nikon F90x).