Close-Up Lenses

[mihag]

I was wondering if a quality close-up lens like the Leitz Elpro can be used in combination with a normal (plasmat) lens for macro photography? There are many instances in 35mm when a close-up lens delivers higher quality compared to extension tubes as they usually cause strong field curvature. Summicron-R 50mm and 90mm are such lenses.

[Jim Noel]

Anything is possible. There is no better way to learn if it will do wht you wish than to give it a try. Nothing will be harmed.

[Drew Bedo]

Not sure if I understand the OP:

I have successfully used accessory close up lenses (aka "+diopters") in macro work. There is no additional exposure correction and its easy to just screw on or off a higher or lower power to get the image I want. If the subject is centered in the composition any aberrations' at the edges will be lost in, or contribute to, the Bokeh.

Optical purists may disagree.

Mihag: Is this what you are asking about?

[mihag]

Mihag: Is this what you are asking about?

Hi Drew. Yes, sort of. With a bellows camera one can focus as close as they wish (limited by the bellows, of course), so there is no need for various close-up attachments to get us close. The problem we are faced with is that a non-macro lens isn't really fit for the task, as we know the quality degrades after certain magnification ratio, so my thinking was that with a quality close-up lens we can overcome this problem.

[Ken Lee]

It's a matter of degree: how much better is the quality close-up lens ? How large are your prints ? Who is your viewing audience ? From what distance will they be viewing the prints ? Are the images in color (which will expose more problems of chromatic aberration) ? ... etc.

[sun of sand]

diopters are supposed to be used on lenses for closer focus so im sure it works

plasmats
dialytes
process lenses optimized for it
enlarging lenses

if its bellows limited then youre stuck with close up lenses or top hat boards



I don't think close-up lenses -even good achromats- will turn a non-macro lens into a better suited for macro work lens
only worsen quality -how much worse is up for you to decide

[Ken Lee]

He's not referring to simple "diopter" lenses (which introduce the aberrations that Drew mentioned).

He's referring to more expensive close-up attachments which consist of several elements.

That's what he meant by a "quality close-up lens".

[Drew Bedo]

Hi Drew. Yes, sort of. With a bellows camera one can focus as close as they wish (limited by the bellows, of course), so there is no need for various close-up attachments to get us close. The problem we are faced with is that a non-macro lens isn't really fit for the task, as we know the quality degrades after certain magnification ratio, so my thinking was that with a quality close-up lens we can overcome this problem.

Mihag: You are so right. The best thing for macro photography is a lens optimized for macro imaging. If money is not an issue and your camera has enough bellows draw, a true macro lens is the solution.

[sun of sand]

He's not referring to simple "diopter" lenses (which introduce the aberrations that Drew mentioned).

He's referring to more expensive close-up attachments which consist of several elements.

That's what he meant by a "quality close-up lens".

I don't know what the elpro is but it looks like a simple lens filter to me
what is a close-up attachment that is not a diopter?

Type 1 and VIa: 2.51 diopters; Type 3 and VIIa : 1.66 diopters; Type 4 and VIIb: 0.75 diopters. VIb and the Elpro 2 are both 4.92 diopters
that's what I've found
same as macrotar
people stack them
call them close-up filters/diopters/achromatic close-up lenses



to me it seems nothing more than a good achromat filter
don't know what else it could be
never heard of close-up filters with more elements than 2
still simple filters but of higher quality
maybe something like the macro teleconverters http://www.nicobastone.com/Vivitar_2x_Macro-Focusing_Teleconverter.htm

[ic-racer]

The question is: "With respect to large format lenses, did anyone ever make a diopter that also flattened the field at macro distances"
I'd say: probably not. However, with large format lenses, one can experiment with front/rear cell spacing to adjust the field flatness and just use the view camera bellows.

[mdarnton]

On the other hand, if you're not copying flat stuff, what does field curvature matter? Sometimes in the real world I find it works for me rather than against me.

I believe in general the rule is that sticking a piece of glass in that the maker didn't design and didn't anticipate is usually not going to make things better, or if it does, it's an accident. In the case of close up lenses, what they are actually doing is turning the lens into a shorter focal length one, which when used with the normal position of the lens equals an extension, which is why they're normally used on lenses with a limited close focus range, not view cameras with extendable bellows. If you need that situation with a view camera, just switch to a shorter lens---it will have the same effect without the extra random glass in the way.