malevolence and fecundity

I received my latest toy, an Opteka 10x close-up filter and went around shooting with it today. It is soft around the edges, but definitely capable of good shots. Paired with the Nikon 28-200mm it gets to about 1:1 (fully zoomed), for $30 that's not bad. A little more then 1:1 when focused to infinity, less when focused at .44m. Also, when focused to inifinity it gets very, very soft. I find the softness to be an interesting effect. This shot is somewhere in the middle. I did not notice any vignetting, that was surprising. Like with all close-up filters, it reduces the focal range of the camera to almost nothing, working range is a two or three inches from the lens. That can make it hard to find the subject.

It does not hold a candle to the Nikon 60mm Macro in clarity or technical brilliance (or price), but because of its 'effects' I think it will have a place in my bag next the to reversing filter ring.