canon lens converter

[dviper150]

I don't have the budget yet for a Macro lens for the canon slr but was reading about the converter lens that can turn your standard kit lens into a macro lens. It only costs about 30-50$. I know it isn't going to be true macro but it should get much closer and able to focus compared to the standard lens. Any thoughts on this and which converter lens would be good?

Forgive me but I am new to slr

 

[Misled]

So I can't really say how well or bad those work, but you have to look at how cheap they are and understand, good glass costs money. You can look into extension tubes. They are a little more but there isn't any glass. Just air, which you already have.

 

[IslandCrow]

Are you talking about the macro filters that screw onto the front of the lens? I'd definitely go with extension tubes over those. You can buy some of the cheaper extension tubes for about the same price. About the only drawback to extension tubes is you're going to lose your autofocus (there may be some that will integrate with your AF, but I'm not sure), but if you're shooting corals, they aren't moving, so that's not going to be a real issue. The biggest advantage is there's no degradation to image quality, since as Misled pointed out, there's no glass, just air. Kenko is probably the most popular brand of extension tubes among macro photographers.

 

[Misled]

The Kenko will allow AF, at least they do on mine. The problem with the ten buck set is you need an aperture ring. Most new lenes don't have this. They do take some getting used to, but IMO it is the better way to go.

 

[dviper150]

I was thinking of just getting the zoom lens instead of going cheap and buying a converter or extender. Now is the Image stablizer zoom lens any different from the non image stablizer. I know the non IS is 75-300mm and the IS lens is 70-250mm. Would taking regular everyday pictures work with the non IS lens or would they always come out blurry since it doesn't have the IS feature. Are both the same for image quality for your average photo (no moving objects)?