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How to easily convert your kit lens into a macro lens

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Are you looking for an affordable but also electronic macro lens? Or maybe you have an old kit lens, that’s just sitting around, collecting dust since your last upgrade?

Well, then read on, because in this article I am going to share one cool hack that will allow you too transform almost any kit or standard zoom lens into a capable macro lens!

And I am not talking about reversing the lens or mounting it on extension tubes, we’re actually going to convert the lens for good. And it’s incredibly simple.

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Sigma’s new 105mm f/2.8 DG DN Macro Art lens achieves “best ever optical performance”

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Sigma has now officially announced the new Sigma 105mm f/2.8 DG DN Macro Art series lens. Designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras, the lens is available for both Sony E and Leica L mounts. The new lens was announced in Sigma’s live stream (which is still happening as I type this).

They say that the lens is partly in response to the number of people stuck indoors this year due to the global pandemic who are obviously shooting macro – an idea backed up by the sales of Sigma’s 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro lens for DSLRs.

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Photos leak of Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Art series macro lens for Sony E mount ahead of announcement

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A couple of photos of Sigma’s upcoming 105mm f/2.8 DG DN Art series macro lens for Sony E and Leica L mounts. Pictures of the L mount version leaked a week or so ago, but now Nokishita has leaked some new slightly higher quality product images showing it mounted to an actual Sony body. The lens is expected to be officially announced by Sigma later today, but the specs have also already been leaked.

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This 5x macro is possibly the strangest lens you’ve ever seen

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There are a lot of oddball lenses out there these days. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. Look at Laowa’s crazy lookin’ 24mm f/14 2x macro probe lens, for example. I’ve played with that one myself and it’s a lot of fun and pretty awesome. The Yasuhara Nanoha Macro Lens for Sony, though, takes the reach much further, going all the way to 5x. And the best bit? It costs a mere $399.

You might wonder what’s so unusual about it. Well, for a start it’s got a strange removable hood thing that houses several LED lights, powered by USB (yup, it’ snot for firmware updates, just powering LEDs).  But that’s not all. This thing… Well, Arthur Reutov’s made a video about it. So, why don’t you have a watch?

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The new Laowa 50mm f/2.8 lens is the world’s first 2X macro lens designed for MFT

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Venus Optics has now officially announced their new Laowa 50mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO lens designed specifically for the Micro Four Thirds system. It’s for use on all of the Panasonic & Olympus cameras as well as more video-oriented systems like the Pocket 4K and various Z-Cam cameras.

While this is a manual focus macro lens, it does contain a chip which communicates with your camera. When you spin the focus ring, your camera’s LCD automatically zooms in, you can set your aperture via the camera body instead of a ring on the lens, and it also means the correct details are stored in the EXIF data of your images.

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Five reasons why you need a vintage macro lens – especially if you’re new

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Do you still need vintage lenses even in 2020? Well, yes, you do, despite all the modern ones out there. Vintage lenses can be awesome for video, or for portrait photography. And if you’re new to macro photography, they’re a perfect choice for you, too. In this video, Mark Holtze will give you five reasons why vintage macro lenses should be your choice if you’re just starting out.

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New Mitakon 85mm f/2.8 is a super macro lens with 1-5x magnification and long working distance

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Zhongyi Optics has released Mitakon 85mm f/2.8 1-5x, a new super macro Lens for full frame cameras. It features a wide magnification range for photographing subjects at different sizes. It also offers a very long working distance, so you don’t scare away your subjects by getting too close.

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This rare medical lens shoots super-sharp macro photos

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Non-photographic lenses such as projector or spy lenses can be used for taking some stunning photos. But have you considered using a medical lens? Mathieu Stern got to test an Elicar 90mm f2.5 Macro Medical V-HQ, a relatively rare lens that was used by medical professionals in the ‘80s. And it turns out that it’s super sharp and great for close-up shots.

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Sigma’s new 70mm f/2.8 Art Macro price and release dates announced

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Sigma’s new 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro Art lens got a lot of people excited. At least, a lot of Canon, Sony and Sigma shooters. Finally, a macro lens with the build and optical quality of the other Art series lenses. And it was one of the lenses coming in a new native Sony E-Mount. Finally, Sigma has announced prices and release dates.[Read More…]

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