Close-Up/Macro attachments

Close-Up/Macro attachments

A close-up lens, aka a close up filter, works in the same way as a pair of reading glasses - allowing you to focus on an a nearby object without the necessity to have your arms lengthened.

A close up lens is a very practical, and far less expensive, alternative to a full-blown macro lens on either a DSLR or mirrorless camera. They are also considerably lighter which is worth bearing in mind if you are going for a long walk. Unlike an interchangeable lens or an extension tube, they can be attached without removing the lens in use and exposing the sensor to dust and rain.  Particularly worth bearing in mind if you are going for a long walk in either very wet or very dry and dusty conditions.

Canon supply them individually; Hoya sell them in sets of three which can be screwed together for extra effect. Their close-up power is measured in dioptres in exactly the same way as spectacles, monocles and eyesight correction lenses, also often referred to as dioptric lenses.

Some of the more expensive ones have two or three elements cemented together to correct for abberations.