NiSi Close-Up Lens

MacM545 wrote:

Anyone here with experience using the Nisi 58mm Close-Up Lens? What magnification and working distance can I expect? I was thinking about using one on the following lenses-

Fuji 50-230mm

Rokinon 50mm/1.2

Viltrox 23mm/F1.4

also, adding extension tubes is an idea of mine but am not sure if it's practical using the close-up lens. Before that, I was thinking about getting a 7artisans 1:1 with infinity focus that can achieve greater magnifications using extension, but I haven't been very succesful in reaching a verdict about which product to obtain. The interesting idea of using the close-up lens on the Fuji lens is that I might possible be able to finally use my camera's built-in focus bracketing, because it has AF. With the 7artisans, which is only manual focus, I can most likely achieve better image quality but my camera's focus shifting is then not used, which it hasn't been used ever since I bought the camera back in October 2018. I might need to buy both products if I can't reach a decision, but am not sure that I want to do that. I mainly have wanted magnification up to 2:1, but more is not needed for my type of photography.

Since you are using the Fuji 50-230mm I think you are using 1.5X crop factor APS-C. I did some tests with a 1.6X crop factor APS-C Canon 70D, using a 55-250 lens.

According to the NiSi link that Bill provided the 58mm NiSi is a +5 diopter close-up lens. For my tests I used a Marumi 200, which is +5 diopters.

None of the following numbers is accurate to the nearest mm.

At 55mm focal length the scene width was 80mm (0.28X magnification), at a working distance of 200mm.

At 250mm focal length the scene width was 18mm (1.25X magnification), at a working distance of 190mm.

With 68mm extension tubes (as well as the Marumi 200):

• At 55mm focal length the scene width was 16mm (1.4X magnification), at a working distance of 20mm. (<< not a typo)
• At 250mm focal length the scene width was 11mm (2X magnification), at a working distance of 120mm, and 12mm at a working distance of 160mm.

Canon's dual pixel live view autofocusing worked for all of the above. Phase detect focusing using the optical viewfinder worked, but gave false positive focus confirmation on grossly out of focus images when the working distance was a bit too large.

The 70D does not have focus bracketing. I tested focus bracketing with the Marumi 200 on a 45-175 lens on a Panasonic G80. Focus bracketing worked at 45mm and 175mm focal lengths, and also worked at 45mm and 175mm focal length with 26mm extension tubes as well as the Marumi 200.

None of the above proves that the configuration you have in mind will work in the ways you want to use it. What works with close-up lenses, and how well, can be rather kit-specific, both as to the close-up lens and as to the camera lens and camera on which it is deployed. That said, almost all of my close-up lenses work much the same on all of the cameras and lenses on which I have tested them, so the above results should I think be at least promising for your requirements.