Close-up lens

With my love for flowers and insects and other features of nature, a closeup lens is a must!  But I've been too cheap to buy a real lens.  A friend mentioned an excellent (and inexpensive) substitute - Canon 500D.  This is a screw-in lens that comes in various diameters.  Nikon quit making theirs a while back, but the Canon fits any lens that accepts a screw-in type lens or filter.  You can find them here.

So what difference do they make?  Here's a couple of pictures shot at the same distance away and at the same lens length - 135mm, f/stop - 5.6 and shutter speed - 1/1600.  The one with the two roses was shot without the Canon 500D and the single rose was with the Canon - as that was all that I could get into the lens!  Well worth the small investment for the return that you get - access to another world!!