A Compromise

the other day i was "talking" with claudia and told her that at the top of my camera accessory wishlist was this macro lens.   (this is a very inexpensive macro by the way.  they can get pretty expensive).   but with the home improvements, i really couldn't splurge right now.  so i was using instead a very inexpensive set of magnifying filters.  "what is that you say?" she said?  (ok she didn't say that.  but you know what i mean.)

"magnifying filters,"  i replied.

"how do those work?" she asked.

"well i'll show you in a blog post."

*********

so here we are.  so what are magnifying filters and what do they do?

let's start with what the deal is with a macro lens, shall we?

a macro lens allows you to get really close to your subject and still be able to focus.  so for example, the lens i mention above, allows me to get 8 inches away from my subject, whereas my 50mm normal lens allows me to focus no more than 1.5 feet.  why do i want to get that close?  because sometimes you want to focus on a very small precise area, with the rest of the field more fuzzy.

because sometimes you want to take a picture that looks like this.

but now you're thinking, "hey i thought you didn't have a macro lens!  LIAR!!!"  no, i don't.  but i have magnifying filters.

here's my anniversary bouquet taken with my 50mm lens alone. this was a close as i could get to the big purple flower and still be able to focus on it.

then i added my 1+ filter to my lens.  see, the flower is closer because i was able to focus closer.  but the focal length of the lens didn't change (when you're using a telephoto lens, you're changing the focal length to bring the image closer to you). 

here's the flower with a 2+ filter.

and so on ...

+3    +4

+5    +6

and finally, +7.  i'm so close to that flower that the petals are practically tickling my nose.

pretty cool, huh.

 

here's another example ....

so claudia,  that's what magnifying filters do.   i'd definitely add a set to your christmas list. 

by the way.  i don't pretend to be any kind of expert.  so if i'm wrong about some sort of technical detail, i apologize.  but the pictures don't lie.

there's a 10+ filter out there too that i may have to get.  i want to be IN the flower next time.

next post will be about knitting, maybe.