Filtration units

[Battou]

Bigger here

A set of 58mm Macro Filters produced by Vivitar. This shot was taken this morning for an instructional illustration of close up (Macro) filters intended for Photo-Lucidity. I still have more photos of my macro equipment to take for this set but, I would like some feed back on this one for the time being.

 

[Dwig]

These are not "filters". Using the term "filters" when referring to them is incorrect.

They are "closeup lenses".

 

[Battou]

These are not "filters". Using the term "filters" when referring to them is incorrect.

They are "closeup lenses".

Actually the proper term is "Close-up diopters", however "Macro filters" is an accepted alternitive.

 

[Dwig]

These are not "filters". Using the term "filters" when referring to them is incorrect.

They are "closeup lenses".

Actually the proper term is "Close-up diopters", however "Macro filters" is an accepted alternitive.

The proper term is "close-up lenses". "Close-up diopter" and sometimes simply "diopters" has become common slang, but is a bastardization and not proper.

The attachments being described are lenses. "Diopters" is a unit of measurement and not an object so using it in the compound noun like "close-up diopters" is grammatically incorrect. "Diopter" has become to be used as a noun by those who don't know the proper term and latch onto "diopter" because that is the common unit of measurement for the strength of a close-up lens. It may be common to use "close-up diopter", but its not proper.

 

[Derrel]

I like the shadows you have, but am not too keen on the tilt. I think it might look better if the tilted aspect were done away with. I like the overlapping of the filter rings.

As to the correct name of these devices-- I class what you have shown as close-up filters most of the time, since low-cost single-glass ones like these are single-element and use only ONE type of glass. To me, a close-up lens uses TWO types of glass, like crown glass and flint glass, and thus correctly focuses two colors of light to a single point of common focus, and that makes an achromatic lens; the Canon 250D and 500D are two-element doublets,and as such are more properly termed "close-up lenses". And they are priced as such, at around $140 for a 77mm model. The advantage of a two-element Canon close-up lens is a much better optical performance than with a cheapie, without all the color fringing so commonly seen with single element filters like those shown.

To me, a cheap, single glass, thin, filter-ring mounted device like these Vivitars is a close-up filter. A high-quality, two-element, achromatically corrected Canon 500D is a "close-up lens". At least, that's the way I mentally frame this subject.