Michelle Tofi

4 Piece Close-Up Lens Kit Review

New toy time! This past weekend over at Vimeo there was a Macro video project. The challenge was to create a video of no more than 3 minutes using only macro shots, with a complete narrative told through the images. A great project and one which inspired me, but unfortunately my only macro-capable lens is a Sigma telephoto that really doesn’t get close enough to anything to be true macro. So, I bought myself a set of 52mm Close-up lenses - including shipping these set me back about £20, a total bargain for what I got. 

The set includes four glass lenses in various strengths (+1,+2+4 & Macro) which screw onto the front of a standard 52mm filter size prime, such as Canon’s EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens.  Below is a test of three of the lenses, compared with the standard shot achieved using the Canon 50mm.

As you can tell, the Macro Lens alone is incredible - as soon as this kit arrived (the day after I ordered it!) I’ve been playing with the macro lens all day - my Flickr has a whole new album dedicated to shots taken with this filter, and you can see more examples running along the bottom of this page.  I highly recommend checking them out - For a cheap glass filter you can really achieve some incredibly detailed work, and I can’t wait to put these lens filters to good use at the weekend, taking advantage of the great sunshine we’ve been having to make my macro film. Ok, it’ll be a week to late to get it entered in Vimeo’s project, but it should still be something pretty special! Pick your set up today! If you’re not yet convinced, here’s another snap shot I took using the filter this afternoon:

Pre-review: Prestigio E157 HD LCD monitor

Before I get a chance to properly use it and shoot a little video review I thought I’d drop some first impressions of my new ‘E157’ full HD DSLR monitor. As an advisory caution, I’ve labelled this ‘prestigio’ as that’s the only brand name I could find in any of the packaging, and even that was just in a small picture in the manual. You’ll find it on EBay though, here: HD DSLR Monitor 1080p on EBay

First impressions are pretty basic: I’m thrilled. This beauty normally goes for around £150 on EBay but I managed to bargain mine down to £118 including free express shipping from these guys in Hong Kong - yup, it arrived in the UK two days after I ordered it, and I was able to pay a tiny (£6) customs charge and pick it up the next day. For just over a hundred squid I’ve got a full 1080 HD monitor with a remote control and a ball-rotating hotshoe mount. The thing even came with a sun shade to protect the image from glare!

My only niggle so far is that it came with a non-uk plug. Still, a couple of quid for an adapter from your local Market and you’re sorted. I actually happened to have a 12v adapter that fitted anyway so it’s charging up nicely as I type.

So there you have it- a real bargain full HD monitor for your DSLR. So far, it’s really awesome!