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I have mentioned my use of plus lenses several times in discussions here. I wrote to Kats about the practice and he responded promptly.
"Dear Kats,
I have enjoyed greatly your reports.
For years I have used a mild plus lens in front of a normal lens to reduce the bellows draw when making a portrait. I have good quality B+W +.5 and +1.0 Diopter lenses that I use with my 250mm Fujinon W and my 450mm M Nikkor. Results have been excellent. Nikon at one time included a plus lens with their big telephoto zoom lens to shorten the close focus distance. What is your opinion of this practice?"
"Hi Neal,
Thank you for your interest in my website.
Yes, the diopter was used for this purpose. Lens makers used to add these kinds of lenses to give more for the users. It works similarly to a macro lens you may find for the iPhone, for example. As a customer, I am indifferent on this practice, but as I lens designer I find it an interesting design problem on how to design an extra lens to achieve the functional performance when you can't change the other parts of the lens."
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