Raynox DCR-150 Snap-On Macro Lens

kingyo

Greetings,
Anyone used the above lens with the 5200? I have a chance to pick one up for next to nothing, but if it's a waste of time, I'll pass. Also, what's the preferred lens for "Close Up" photography with the 5200?

Many thanks for your help.

bruto

I think on the home page here you may still find Moose's review of the Raynox lenses (there are a couple of different strengths). The upshot is that they work pretty well, and if you can get one cheaply, I'd go for it.

These lenses generally work best on a longer focal length, so for example on the standard 18-55 zoom, you probably want to set it at 55.

Magnifying diopter lenses such as this generally work well, because they don't cut down light, and still allow auto exposure and auto focus. Quality can vary depending on how many elements they use and how well coated they are. The Raynox is said to be good. Where such lenses fall down a little is in linearity and edge to edge sharpness, but for natural subjects like bugs they can be very effective, because the limited depth of field will tend to blur things at the edges anyway, and you'll never see a little linear distortion.

I have a couple of older screw-in diopter lenses that work pretty well for macro, though I generally use other things nowadays. I still often carry a couple around, though, because they're so convenient and portable.