Macro Lenses

Macro Lenses

In addition to a telephoto, wide angle and normal lens the macro zoom lens completes the kit of any serious photographer and allows him or her to focus on near objects and achieve a magnification of at least up to 1:1. Some manufacturing companies incorrectly label as macro lenses, lenses that can only reach a maximum magnification of 1:4, that is the picture will be a quarter of the size of the original object. A good macro lens always has a fixed focal length, this means that the photographer must move in relation to the object they are photographing rather than the lens being manipulated to focus. A macro lens will not be able to take in as much light as a normal lens and lighting object with the lens so close is a problem and pictures taken at the widest aperture setting are also quite bad quality. But the small depth of field at wide aperture settings is often not a problem as in macro photography the focus is usually on only one important part of the picture. To achieve magnification of more than 1:1 there are some special lenses but it is also possible to use lens accessories like a extension tube or teleconverter or achieve the same effect at a fraction of the cost. More than one macro lens can be connected in series or a normal lens can be mounted the wrong way using a special adapter ring to make it a macro lens. A picture taken with a macro lens can then be magnified in the darkroom or by using a slide projector to produce huge, clear images many time life size.