Camera Labs

Hi guys,
I just came across the Raynox DCR-250 lens.
I'm not really a macro photographer, but I like macro and don't want to carry another lens with me (and also, short on budget right now).

Does anyone use this lens? How it is?
I read that it's up to 67mm, so it won't fit my 17-40 (which is 77mm), but it can fit my 70-200 f/4. Do you have any experience with it on the 70-200?

Thanks

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Canon EOS 50D, Canon EF 17-40L, Canon EF 70-200L f/4 IS and Canon SpeedLite 430EX
My picasa

Hi amitzil,

I have the Raynox DCR150 and DCR250. And I have used both on my 55-200mm lens.

Optically and price vs. performance-wise I have only praise for these lenses.

The DCR250 is "extreme" at 200mm and will give you a lot of magnification..the kind you might want for a close-up of a fly's eyes or something like that...not a whole flower, for example.

In my experience, I've found that the DCR150 is the one that I typically reach for , but if you're anything like our esteemed GMAZZA and want to get so close to a spider that you can see if it's happy or sad by it's facial expression, then maybe the DCR250 is for you.

As with all macro-photography, the challenge is to get the depth-of-field wide enough to cover the subject appropriately. So the lenses you put these Raynox attachments on doesn't have to be large-aperture lenses - you will most likely require the F-stop to be at F8 or even higher - F11, F16 or something like that - which means you need to have a lot of light on your subject. Sun or artificial lights. The reason I bring this up is that these higher F-stops are usually where most lenses perform at their best anyway, so that Raynoxes can turn any lens they fit into a well-performing macro lens in all but the most unusual circumstances.

Good luck with your choice!

Cheers

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Nikon stuff and other stuff, but not nearly as much stuff as I really want!

Hi LahLahSr,
Thanks for the info, it's very helpful. I didn't even know that there is also DCR150. I'll check it out. It sure looks nice and a great option to have a "cheap and lightweight" macro.

By the way, I'm aware of the DOF issue in macro, and I assumed that the aperture used is f/8 or lower. But if this is the case, why macro lenses usually have large aperture?

Thanks again

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Canon EOS 50D, Canon EF 17-40L, Canon EF 70-200L f/4 IS and Canon SpeedLite 430EX
My picasa

Hi amitzil,

that's a good question - I honestly don't know why macro/micro lenses are typically large-aperture. Maybe it's to make them overall more attractive - those lenses are also excellent portrait-lenses...60mm or 105mm are great portrait focal lengths.

The third one I think was taken with that Raynox on a 55-200mm lens.

..And the very last one was an experiement..it's taken with the DCR-250 @ 200mm to illustrate the crazy-think DOF and the magnification...almost abstract there..lol.

Cheers


Here's two casual examples I found, using my Raynox DCR-150 on a Nikkor 50mm F1.8 AF-D lens. They are taken F11 and F5.6 and I have no complaints on the sharpness or color with these Raynoxes.

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Nikon stuff and other stuff, but not nearly as much stuff as I really want!

On the aperture, I think it is to do with reducing effective aperture at high magnification.

The equation is effective aperture = physical aperture * (1+magnification)

So for a 1:1 macro lens, the effective aperture at maximum magnification is double that of the physical. Why is this important? The camera AF is typically rated to f/5.6, which happens to be double f/2.8 typical of most macro lenses.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

LahLahSr, these are nice pictures.
I ordered the DCR-250, it will take about a month until my friend will bring it to me from the US. Can't wait to try it on my 70-200...

popo, that's very interesting, I didn't know that... If this is the calculation of the effective aperture, it does make sense.
Also, I now remember that most cameras have AF extra sensitivity (or something) when using f/2.8 or faster lenses.

Thanks to you both

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Canon EOS 50D, Canon EF 17-40L, Canon EF 70-200L f/4 IS and Canon SpeedLite 430EX
My picasa