Two New Close-Up Lenses from NiSi - In-Depth Review

Hello all and welcome back to Allan Walls Photography.

If you check out my blog post (which can be found at https://www.allanwallsphotography.com/blog/NiSi) you will find some additional information, boring formulae, images, and even some links to the equipment and supplies used in this video.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these lenses and would like to support the channel at the same time, use these links (as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission from qualified purchases made using these links).

For the 58mm lens, click here... https://amzn.to/39YMjLQ

And for the larger 77mm lens... https://amzn.to/399BIhP

This video is a product review for two new close-up filters from NiSi. The equipment was sent to me, along with their macro focusing rail, to try out and to review. I will not be reimbursed for producing this video and all comments are my own, honest opinions.

I have never been a fan of close-up filters for macro photography - probably because all the filters I have ever used (Raynox being the one shining exception) have been utter garbage. So I did start this review with high hopes - even though I have been using NiSi GND filters for years. But I could not have been more pleasantly surprised by what I found.

NiSi sent me two close-up filters - they call them lenses (good idea, as that is what they are) - to try out. The smaller of the two is a 58mm, +5 diopter, 200mm close-up lens It is designed to be used with smaller, shorter focal length lenses and seemed to be a good match with most of the kit lenses available today. The second, larger lens is 77mm in diameter, has a power of +3.33 diopters, and has a focal length of 300mm. It is clearly designed for use on longer focal length lenses and is ideally sized for large lenses with filter sizes of 67mm to 82mm.

In the video, I discuss what close-up filters are and how they are used. I explain the difference been good and bad filters, and spend a little time talking about the way these lenses do (and do not) correct for lens aberration. I walk through all the different ways in which I used these lenses and show plenty of examples of how they performed with a wide selection of cheap and expensive lenses.

I really liked these filters! They fill an important gap in the macro equipment market - close-up lenses of high quality, in larger sizes, with good corrective construction, and at an affordable price. They are definitely high quality, made using very nice optical glass, and consist of a complementary lens doublet. They are heavy and solid, with no color cast and negligible aberrations when used at the recommended apertures. Their performance was slightly degraded by opening up the native lenses that I used, but only slightly. At normal macro apertures, they showed no significant geometric or chromatic aberration. There was some minimal edge softening at larger apertures and shorter focal lengths, but by-and-large, the images were sharp and bright.

I intend to purchase the 77mm lens, and possibly the 58mm lens, as well - depending on how well it performs as a tube lens (which will be covered in a separate video, by the way). These lenses are not cheap, compared to other close-up filters, at least. The smaller lens sells for almost $80, while the big boy is a hefty $130. But those prices look less steep when you compare them to the cost of a new (or even a used) macro lens.

Overall, these lenses do exactly what they claim to do, and perform better than I expected - by a mile. I’m sure some macro-snobs will find things to grumble about, but I like them a lot. I just wish they had been around when I was getting started, and couldn’t possible afford a macro lens. There are plenty of ways to get started in close-up photography, but none are more intuitive, more comfortable, or more fun than this.

As always, a huge thank you to my Patreon supporters and to those kind folks who have made donations through my donation page (https://www.allanwallsphotography.com/donations). None of this would be possible without your generosity!

Creating this content is my full-time job, so if you would like to support my efforts and help keep the videos coming, please consider signing up as a Patreon patron, which can be done by going to https://patreon.com/allanwallsphotography.

Thank you all!
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Cheers,
Allan

Видео Two New Close-Up Lenses from NiSi - In-Depth Review канала Allan Walls Photography