Filters and Adapters

I have never tried macro filters. I am pleased enough with my close up shots with my DSLR in close up mode. A polarizer is one of the most useful filters I have. I also have fun with color and multi filters as well as some the make stars with lighting (star six is one of them). Nowadays you can do that stuff with computer editing, but I find it more fun to take the photos with the filters and very rarely do any computer editing, which is boring to me.

Hi elmasahe! A macro filter or a close-up filter is okay if you are just learning or starting with macro photography but it will definitely affect the quality of your photos. An extension tube is a better option. The manual extension tube is cheap (costs around 800 pesos) if budget is really a concern or the more convenient one that permits auto-focus (kenko) but more expensive (around 6000-8000 pesos). Just try to search/google "extension tube" so you can have a better understanding of its features.

Currently I have a Cokin +3 close-up filter, a manual extension tubes and kenko extension tubes (which I use the most).

My boyfriend takes really excellent digital shots just using his regular dslr camera. They permit closeups and some of the shots are really quite spectacular.
Casio xeline. It allows some really close up picture taking without the use of a close up lens.

Hiya,

I've been doing landscape and wildlife photography for about 6 years now and have used macro filters on both my standard SLR and my DSLR, I find them quite helpful when I am just out and about and dont want to take a huge rucksack of lenses with me. sometimes i just go on a walk with the main camera, one lens and bunch of filters. I have a +2 and a +4 filter, I find them very handy for taking close ups of plants and flowers. The cons I have found is how close you have to get to the subject you want to photograph, which isn't toomuhc of an issue for a plant but insects and other wildlife don't tend to wait around for you.

Close-up filters are not really filters at all: they are magnifying lenses that screw into the filter ring of your lens. As such, they magnify the central part of your image. They can reduce contrast a bit by introducing reflections, glare or light artifacts because you have added extra layers of glass to your system, but the real problem with image quality is that in magnifying the image, they also magnify any flaws in your lens.

For all practical purposes, you will not see any loss of quality in you pictures until you start to enlarge them well above A4 (11" x 8.5") and you will have a lot of fun!

Front element fisheye lenses will produce problems with quality, but the fisheye effect is so extreme that it is going to be what people notice, not the picture quality.

A quality polariser is a wonderful tool. Buy one soon.