Customer Reviews

Sakar 52mm Close-Up Filter Set (+1, +2, +4 and +10 Diopters) Magnification Kit - Metal Rim

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first things I noticed about this set of macro lens is that they were cheaply made. I ordered this set of diopters along with a bottom-of-the-line uncoated Hoya polarizer and got them both today from Amazon.

The close-up filters grind against my lens tube and paint has already been scratched off the filters. So I would recommend a very light coating of light mineral oil before fitting the filters on your camera - e.g. valve oil for instruments would work. On the other hand, my bargain basement Hoya filter fits the lens tube like a glove - no grinding of parts during installation.

Speaking of the build, the lens are metal, which exudes a certain degree of quality. They are labeled with white paint - no they aren't etched with information on magnification, and the paint is already wearing off (or was it already worn when I received it)? The paint was also smeared a little on one of filters. So quality control isn't the best, however it's no biggie. The filters are also made of glass, not plastic. I dropped one of the filters once from my chest, however it survived. I was changing the filters in a nature trail.

On usage - the filters really allow you to get closer to your subjects. With the +10 diopter, your lens can be almost touching the subject and you can still lock focus and take a sharp picture. Stacking the filters only allows you to get even closer and make the subject appear even bigger in the final photo. Make sure your camera's macro mode is enabled!

While I dwell on stacking the filters, there is a little bit of asymmetrical vignetting when I stack all 4 filters on my camera - the right hand corners are dark while all the other corners are just fine. Not a biggie, a little bit of cropping will have this problem easily rectified.

And the filters do absorb a good amount of light so don't say you weren't warned about lower shutter speeds! Especially when stacking 4!

The pouch the filters came in is a nice touch, although I could see the coarse pockets scratching the lens if the case is compressed - e.g. you put it in your pocket and sit down.

As for image quality, stacking all four filters also introduces a nice bit of distortion into the image and depth of field is decreased significantly along with that little bit of vignetting covered earlier.

The small depth of field that any one of the filters will give any camera makes focusing mishaps very apparent. A +10 diopter even on a compact camera with a minuscule sensor can decrease the depth of field to 1 centimeter, depending on how close your subject is! The eyes of the fly may be in focus, but the legs won't necessarily be in focus!

Blue lateral CA is apparent. Looks easy enough to remove and even if you don't remove it, it's not major.

Pictures using the macro filters also come out a little too soft for my taste, however that, again, is easily rectified using the Unsharp Mask in many photo editing programs. I personally use GIMP, and a little tweaking using the USM filter boosts contrast tremendously.

So past the shortcomings, I am very excited to have this set of filters and look forward to acquainting myself with with them further. I do appreciate this item's "shortcoming" in the price department though ;).

ONE MORE THING!!! You really need a good way of cleaning these lens! With these lens, every speck of dust will show up on your camera screen when composing and WILL ALSO show up in your photos!!! Mine already have a little bit of dust on them, and many of my photos are starting to look like I took them through a dirty car window!

I recommend a good microfiber cloth because if you using something coarse and scratch the lens, then that scratch is going to be very prominent in every single photo. If dust specks show up, then what about a scratch!

While a far cry from a true macro lens, what can you expect for under $20. These filters tremendously boost the Nikon's 18-55 lens's macro capabilities.

The reason I only gave it 4 stars is beacuse the glass seems a bit splotchy. Perhaps a good cleaning would help. I'm also a bit disappointed in the "wallet" they came in. I was hoping for something a bit softer rather than nylon and nylon nets. But then again, what can you expect for the price?

The Digital Concepts Close-Up Macro Set is certainly worth it's very reasonable price. The filters don't themselves magnify, but do allow lenses to achieve a reasonable level of focus at much shorter ranges than normal.

The +1 filter significantly cuts the minimum focal distance (perhaps by half?) while the +10 cuts it nearly nothing. As you move from +1 up through +10 the softness of the images does increase significantly. These filters will not replace a good macro lens, but they do give another option while shooting.

Not a perfect product, but these filters have certainly found a place in my camera bag.

If you don't have a dedicated macro lens, or something like a 70-300mm lens with a macro mode, this is an awfully tempting deal. And for less then $10, it really is a good deal. The quality of the glass is more than adequate, and they do exactly what they are intended. The only problem I encountered was that my lens' autofocus would generally not work with the +10 macro filter. However, if setting up macro shots, you should have no problem manually focusing by hand. The case the filters was shipped in was also not of great quality, and could see it scratching the glass if they had not been individually wrapped in plastic beforehand. This is a non-issue for me, as I have dedicated filter wallets, but for someone who will be using this to carry these around, use caution.

PROS:
+ Good quality glass filters
+ Great deal for macro photography

CONS:
- It's still not as good as a macro lens
- Included filter wallet is sub-standard

(I tried the closup finters on m4/3 kit lens). The filters are more of a toy as they degrade the picture quality by a lot. +10 lens is only sharp in the very center, all filters display a lot of chromatic aberration. Using them is fun as it opens up possibilities, owever, if you are even slightly into macro-photography perhaps you should save the money for Raynox (or better) achromatic filters.

I was a little skeptical about purchasing these filters because of some other reviews remarking on poor image quality and such. I am not having this problem. I think the problem is not with the filters but with the fact that you simply can't use f/1.8 and similarly low aperture settings. When you do use the lower f/ settings you do get soft images. The higher the magnification the larger the f/ has to be to get sharp images. You still get the nice DOF that you would using the lens at a lower f/ without the filter, so (IMO) you're not really sacrificing much in the way of image quality.

When I purchased them, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I'm sure this is only because I wasn't reading enough. But just in case I'm not the only one unclear about this, let me explain a little how these work. They don't turn your lens into a zoom lens. What I mean by this is that if you are standing in one spot with your bare lens and you can focus on something, when you apply the filter you will not get a closer focus while standing in that same spot. You physically have to get closer to the subject to get focus. The higher magnification you are using the closer you have to get. I would say that with the 10x filter you have to be somewhere around 4 inches or so away from the subject to obtain focus.

These filters are not going to be something you can use to get macro shots of insects and bees and such (unless your brave and want to get 4 inches away from a bee, which I'm not). You will, however, be able to get closer to your subject and still be able to lock focus. On a 50mm f/1.8 the min. focus distance is 18 inches. I love the 50mm lens but I do, from time to time, want to get just a touch closer than the lens allows. That is where these filters come in handy for me. Say you want to use the 50 for a close up shot of some water drops on a leaf or an eyeball or something. You can get that with these filters without having to crop your image and sacrifice some pixels.

I think what these filters do for you lens is pretty spiffy, especially for under twenty bucks. They probably won't suit everyone's purposes but for under twenty bucks they're a fun novelty filter to own, if nothing else. I have a feeling tho that I will be putting these to use quite often.

As far as the lens case goes, I have no complaints. It folds up nice and neat and fits easily into your camera bag.

All in all, I'm very happy that I bought them.

**One final note...I placed my order through Big Mikes Electronics (I didn't notice this until just now) but the item advertised is Sakar, the item I received is Zeikos. Doesn't make a difference to me, but it might to you. Also, the filter case in the picture appears more like a rectangular wallet shape. The case I received with the Zeikos filters folds up into a square.

Don't waste your money on these lenses. I figured I'd give them a shot but am returning them tomorrow. Each of the 4 lenses has a defect in the glass itself. The defects are so bad (they appear to be bubbles and fuzzes stuck in the glass) that they completely ruin my pictures.

The product build quality is great, my only issue with it is that I get a lot of chromatic aberration on the edges of the images with all 4 filters. My mom has another set from a different manufacturer and they don't have this issue. I'm not saying it's a bad product, but I don't know if the material for the lenses is all that great.

Actually it gives results similar to a lensbaby with a low aperature, so if you're looking for that effect, these are great. I already own an LB, so I'm not.

I am very pleased with my recent purchase of Digital Concepts close-up Macro Filter Set. Still learning the skills to properly use them to thier full potential but have already had some great results. The price was really great compared to all others I looked at. I would highly recommend this set to anyone who would like to enter the world of very close or macro photos. I'm sure there are better , more expensive products out there, but for a novice you can't beat it! I keep it in my camera bag at all times just to be prepared! A small tripod is highly recommended for these although handheld shots are still possible. I am thouroughly enjoying my set. Jerry Robertson

This set is well worth the price. I found myself constantly wishing to get more up-close when I was photographing flowers, but my Nikon D40 was unable to focus when I was that close to the object. Being a poor college student, I certainly do not have the money to invest in macro lenses, so this set was a great alternative. I can now get some of those up-close shots that I was itching to get. These filters are so fun to play with!

I have no complaints, other than that the pouch is a little disappointing, as others have stated in previous reviews. The nylon net pockets inside of the pouch are rather cheap, and almost seem like they could scratch the glass of the filters, so I store each filter inside a plastic wrap pouch before slipping them into the pockets.