Close up Lenses

[jambin]

I've had a Canon 500 D close up lens for a year or two (one of these trinkits you buy but don't really need) . This morning I read in CiC's tutorial on extension tubes/close up lenses that with a close up lens mounted the original lens does not lose its ability to focus on distant objects. Have I misunderstood this? I fitted my close-up to my 70-300 mm zoom and for the life of me can't focus on anything further away than a couple of feet. Can anyone explain this.

[Geoff F]

I'm not really sure what you mean by a 'close up' lens, but an extension tube will prevent focusing at infinity. The exact measurements will vary depending on the equipment.

The other downside with extension tubes is that they do require a bit more light so you may need to increase your ISO setting, etc, or use flash. And if you get a tube which is recommended by your camera manufacturer it isn't exactly cheap.

The advantage of a tube is that they will get you a bit closer to the subject but because they don't have any extra glass you won't lose any image quality.

If by 'close up lens' you mean an image converter then auto focusing abilities etc may vary depending on the manufacturer and compatibility and I wouldn't recommend using one on the 70-300 lens anyway.

And if you mean a lens adapter which fits to the outside of the lens, I haven't used one but assume that this would alter the focusing length in a similar way to a tube which would prevent focusing at infinity.

I don't know how much image quality loss this would produce but would assume that there must be some loss.

I have successfully used a 70-300 lens with a 25 mm extension tube and it does work reasonably well; obviously not quite as good as a proper macro lens but usually sufficiently acceptable.

[Colin Southern]

I've had a Canon 500 D close up lens for a year or two (one of these trinkits you buy but don't really need) . This morning I read in CiC's tutorial on extension tubes/close up lenses that with a close up lens mounted the original lens does not lose its ability to focus on distant objects. Have I misunderstood this? I fitted my close-up to my 70-300 mm zoom and for the life of me can't focus on anything further away than a couple of feet. Can anyone explain this.

Hi Jim,

You're right - maximum focusing distance does decrease. I'll bring it to Sean's attention (the author of the article).

[Colin Southern]

I'm not really sure what you mean by a 'close up' lens

Hi Geoff,

It's a canon product that screws on the front of your lens (like a filter). They have a 500D for longer lenses, and a 250D for shorter lenses

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-500D-77m.../dp/B00009XVDB

With mine installed on my 70-200, working distance is around the 350mm to 500mm range.

I took this with mine just over a year ago ...

[jambin]

I tried to send a thankyou reply but it doesn't seem to have got through -maybe this time. I'm a bit relieved that you have the same limited focussing distance as I have. I was worried that I was doing something wrong. Cheers