Help with lenses... extension tubes or close-up lenses

photo28 · Aug 7, 2008

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and I have a few questions about lenses. So far I'm looking to get the Olympus Evolt E-410. I found two lenses at a good price but I dont know which one would be best for my needs... which would be for macro and regular photography.
The Sigma Zoom Super Wide Angle 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC G Autofocus Lens for Olympus Digital Cameras (Four Thirds System), and use close-up lens or extension tubes.
or
40-150mm F4.0-5.6 ED Zuiko Lens with extension tubes or close-up lenses

another question is, what is better, close-up lenses or extension tubes. I preffer close-up lenses and I have some experience with them but do the pictures really come out better with extension tubes?
Thank you for the help!!!
Jeremy

Steph · Aug 7, 2008

photo28 said:
Hi,
I'm new to this forum and I have a few questions about lenses. So far I'm looking to get the Olympus Evolt E-410. I found two lenses at a good price but I dont know which one would be best for my needs... which would be for macro and regular photography.
The Sigma Zoom Super Wide Angle 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC G Autofocus Lens for Olympus Digital Cameras (Four Thirds System), and use close-up lens or extension tubes.
or
40-150mm F4.0-5.6 ED Zuiko Lens with extension tubes or close-up lenses

another question is, what is better, close-up lenses or extension tubes. I preffer close-up lenses and I have some experience with them but do the pictures really come out better with extension tubes?
Thank you for the help!!!
Jeremy

Hi and welcome to TPF.

The two lenses you refer to might not suit your needs for general use are they are not wide enough (for landscapes for example). What do you want to use them for apart from macro? A zoom is probably not the best tool for macro but generally speaking extension tubes are better than close-up lenses as they dont contain glass elements (they are just tubes), which are likely to degrade image quality. However, extension tubes usually require more light than close-up lenses.

photo28 · Aug 10, 2008

Thank you,
I use macro for taking pictures of small caterpillars because I raise butterflies and moths as you can see on my avatar. Apart from macro I would be taking pictures of Insects, Beaches, Trees, Plants, Animals, etc. so I'm so confused for what lens to get! Does anyone have a recomondation for what lens to get either for macro or regular or both at a price under $200 for Olympus cameras?

johngpt · Aug 10, 2008

Here's a link to Olympus USA's standard macro lens, rather than the more expensive high end macro.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/lens/dea/products/lens/35_35M/index.asp

Googling for that lens shows online dealers selling it for under 200 USD.

It will also be a superb portrait lens, as with the crop factor, it's 70mm as compared to a full frame sensor or 35mm film lens.

Bifurcator · Aug 11, 2008

A macro lens is better than using an extension tube or close up lens. High quality close-up lenses are the same quality as extension tubes in almost every case. Occasionally a close up lens will produce better results than an extension tube especially the AC types. Close-up lenses additionally have the advantage of working on every lens with that filter size, and they work with all autofocusing and etc. that the camera or lens has. Also I think that some extension tubes with the electrical pass-thrus for the AF and VR etc. lenses can be quite costly.

johngpt · Aug 11, 2008

The disadvantage to the Olympus Zuiko 35mm macro lens will probably be the same disadvantage of my Canon 60mm macro lens. The Zuiko is the equivalent of a 70mm on the Olympus four-thirds sensor, and my Canon is the equivalent of a 96mm on my APS-C sensor.

With my Canon 60mm, for macro, I have to get quite close. This can be a disadvantage for those shooting insects or other things which could be bothered by that extreme closeness. From what I've seen, most who do insect macro use a 90mm, or 100mm, or 105mm macro lenses so as not to disturb the critters. 90mm to 105mm lenses are between 144mm to 170mm on an APS-C sized sensor and 180mm to 210mm on the Olympus four-thirds sensor.

I suspect the Zuiko 35mm will behave rather similar to my Canon 60mm regarding having to be so close.

Given what Bifurcator has told us regarding image quality, you might investigate further how to use extension tubes with a Zuiko lens somwhere around 90mm, giving the 180mm crop factor. How well that works with extension tubes is beyond my experience.

BTW, you're aware that for not much more, the Olympus E-510 comes with in-camera image stabilization?

As ever, I'm always happy to lend confusion to any issue.