Raynox DCR-250 macro lens

brydon53

Anybody out there used this lens for the D3100? I'm considering purchasing it, as the Nikko macro lens is VERY expensive to purchase. Do you recommend or not?

ellishmg

I got a Raynox DCR-250 macros lens for Christmas, but I am not sure what settings to set my camera on. The ones I've tried won't even take the picture. HELP!

bruto

Remember that any close up diopter lens will focus only very close, and the Raynox is pretty powerful. Since the camera is on "focus priority" whenever AF is engaged, it will not take a picture until you get close enough to focus sharply, and the range is so small that it may take some trial and error to get into it.

In general, your best performance will be at the long end of the kit zoom's range. Set the zoom to 55mm, and try switching the lens to manual focus. Get right up close to something and see if you can get a subject into focus. Move around a bit to find where the best distance will be.

As an initial trial, you might try setting the lens manually to infinity focus, and then rather than fiddle with the lens, just move the camera in on a subject until it becomes sharp. The D3xxx viewfinder is not ideal for macro sharpness at manual focus, but you should get close. Once you have the basic distance, you can reactivate AF if you need to fine tune the focus. Because depth of field is so small at macro distances, you may find that manual focus works best anyway, to get exactly what you want sharp.