Hasta La Gadget!

If you’ve got a DSLR you’ll notice your lens will only focus so close. Maybe not close enough for you. That’s especially true if you want to show detail in a flower or insect or some other small object. When your photo shows an object larger than real life it’s called macro photography.

What’s a shooter to do? Moving your lens farther from your camera’s sensor with an extension tubes or bellows is an idea I’ve talked about before. That’s a common method of reducing your minimum focus distance and getting macro shots.

There is another method–not always preferred. You can put corrective optics on your lens in the form of a close-up or macro lens. If you wear reading glasses the concept is exactly the same. Close-ups attach to your lens by the screw threads made for a filter. There are expensive close-up lenses and cheap close-up lenses. eBay is littered with the cheap kind, which is what I decided to try.