How to Use Camera Lens Adapters

Contributor

By Richard Burke
eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating:

(3 Ratings)

Lens Adapter From LensBaby

Amateur photographers with SLR or DSLR cameras usually have only one or two lenses, as lenses are expensive and usually only professionals can afford to invest in a wide variety. Lens adapters provide a less expensive way to have the specialty lenses you may require, in that they allow you to do macro photography or extend the telephoto range of your lens. You can even find adapters that will allow you to alter perspective or provide special effects like light polarization. When it’s time to buy, just make sure you have the right adapter to fit your camera and lens. Each manufacturer has different screw threads on the front of the lens, and rear bayonets must be the right size to couple with your camera body. Read on to learn about the different type of adapters and their applications.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

SLR or DSLR Camera
Understanding of your camera and lens specifications

Step 1

Close Up Lens Adapter

Purchase a close up lense if you are photographing things like plants, insects, jewelry and maybe even food items. Close up lenses, which screw into the front of the camera lens, contain multiple elements of optical glass and are used to change the focus range of the lens. They come in different magnifications and are sometimes sold in sets. A 1X adapter will halve the focus range of your lens. If your lens could focus at 3 feet, you can now focus at 1.5 feet. With a 2X adapter you could focus .75 feet. They dramatically reduce the depth of field, as is true with all macro photography. They are also usually the least expensive accessory lenses to purchase.
Step 2

Telephoto Adapter

Buy telephoto adapters if you need to extend the telephoto range of the lens. These also contain multiple optical glass elements and are attached to the rear of the lens and then directly onto the camera. They are more expensive than close lenses and are very camera specific since they need to couple with the camera’s autofocus and exposure mechanisms. You need to also be conscious of the weight it will add to the lens. A 2X adapter will turn a 200mm lens into a 400mm lens. It can also be used with zoom telephoto lenses. These adapters are great for sports and wildlife photography and are also used in street photography.
Step 3

Bellows

Purchase an adapter that will alter the perspective of your camera in the same way a view camera does if you are doing architectural and scenic photography or any assignment where the perspective is critical. You can purchase an adapter like the one pictured at the top of this article from LensBaby (see Resources below). These adapters screw into the front of the lens and allow you to tilt the front element to alter the perspective and eliminate converging lines. Another way is to purchase a bellows like the one pictured here. This option actually provides more control since you have a bellows extension and front element tilt both available. You can always adjust perspective in post production, but you will lose some of the image in the editing process.
Step 4

Fisheye Adapter

Buy special effects lens adapters like the fisheye adapter (pictured here) if you need to turn your wide-angle lens into a fisheye lens. You can also find polarizing filters to minimize reflections from water and glass. Both of these adapters are useful in general photography and provide a function that cannot be achieved in post production. There are also multiple image adapters, clear spot adapters, soft focus adapters and many more. These are much less useful in the digital age since all of the special effects can be easily created in post production.

Comments

bonsueb said

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on 11/19/2009 I'm always looking for ways to save money on photographic equipment. Thanks for the tips!

kariharaldson said

on 11/14/2009 Thank you for this article,it is very informative and helpful 5*'s and rec.

archiesboy said

on 11/12/2009 Thanks for this well-written article! Gave me food for thought. I have two Olympus E 510 cameras, one with a 36-360 zoom and the other with a 140-600 zoom. They are proprietary, and so it would be difficult for me to find non-Olympus adapters that would work for me.