NiSi 77mm Closeup Lens Review + Raynox DCR-250 Compared

Products I'm using in this video:

[MicaelWidell]

Products I'm using in this video:

[stephenbarlow]

Raynox also makes the DCR-150 which is a 4.8 dioptre close-up instead of the 8 dioptres of the DCR-250, and is about the same as the Nisi in strength. It's more or less identical in dimensions to the DCR-250. You could buy both and have quite a bit of change left over from the Nisi. However, large diameter close-up lenses like the Nisi do have big advantages. With the clip on Raynox holder it will only clip on lenses up to 67mm filter thread. Although you can use stepping rings, either on the filter itself (it has a conventional 43mm filter thread at the back and a 49mm filter thread on the front) or to get the lens filter thread to 67mm or less. But then there is the problem with vignetting. The Raynox lenses don't cause vignetting on the 72mm front thread Sigma 150mm macro on APS-C.

After years of using various close-up lenses, with the good quality multi-element achromats like the Raynox lenses, the biggest determinate of image quality tends to be the lens it is attached to, not the close-up lens itself. So if the main lens is free of CA, then it should be okay, but if it suffers from CA etc, then the close-up lens may exaggerate this, but it won't induce it.

I found out one very important factor with close up lenses that all macro photographers need to be aware of. Essentially, you may need to stop down the lens much more than usual to get the same depth of field you'd get with an equivalent macro lens, typically by up to 2 stops. As people may be aware close-up lenses produce no light loss, and a typical macro lens has an effective f-stop of 2 stops smaller than the one indicated at 1:1 (confusingly Nikon factors this in with the digital display, but other camera manufacturers don't - so f11 on a macro lens at 1:1 on a Nikon is the same as f5.6 on a Canon and most other cameras). If you put a Raynox DCR-250mm on a 100mm macro lens it will go nearly to 1:1 with the lens focused at infinity. However, because the lens is focused at infinity the aperture will be the one indicated. So if the indicated aperture is f8, that is what it will actually be. Whereas if you focused the lens to 1:1 without the DCR-250 (on all but Nikon) the effective aperture would be f16 not the f8 indicated on the camera. This effective aperture as regards to the nominal aperture varies depending on magnification. So at half life-size it is only one stop smaller. But generally, when using a DCR-250 on a macro lens for more magnification, you need to stop down by about 2 stops on the indicated aperture to get the same DoF you are used to at this aperture. Of course you don't have to stop down more, just be aware you will get less DoF than you might be expecting.

[sharanm]

I have been using the raynox dcr 250. It's a great tool.. took some great macro shots of insect and bugs.. opened a whole new world for me...

[zoltanorosz]

Hi Micael,
Did you check the quality of the pictures? Do they have any negative effects? Have you considered trying to compare a combo of Laowa 100 2x + Raynox vs Laowa 25 5x? They should have around the same magnification...

[pixual]

No glass can beat raynox250 for macro, 77mm can be a fun lens can't be use for serious macro work

[claudinchenchen]

Nice video! How many dpt does this achromat have? Or did I miss it? Have you ever filmed with this lens?

[Namaste..]

Hope one day you’ll do a review of your Panasonic G9 in macro photography.

[alincostache]

Excellent video, thank you, I take my hat off to you💎

[matthieugraveleau]

Thank you for the comparison ! As I said when you announced you were going to test it I was really looking forward to that as I did not know which one to buy to do macro when travelling. Answer is definitely the Raynox then but do you know at what magnification you start to have the heavy vigneting? Thanks again

[grantnewton]

Many thanks for the review Micael - This looks closer to the Raynox 150 .... similar magnification. I assume it has a limited range of focus .... much like using extension tubes?

[mooreshady]

In Australia today the NISI is only $40 more than Raynox, so price-wise is a no-brainer for NISI, provided you have at least a 70-200mm telephoto lens. Was thinking of raynox until they only have 49mm as their front element, which is heavily vignetted.

[diatomsaus]

Have you measured the focal length of this attachment? I've always wanted to buy one to see if it works well as a tube lens but it is quite expensive, too expensive for an experiment. Thanks!

[mikekay]

Thanks for showing the comparison. I have a Panasonic G9 with a 14-140 lens; would this be telescopic enough for the Nisi? Also I'm considering getting serious with macro and at present I've hired the Olympus 60mm macro lens for six months. I'm also looking at the Panasonic 30mm, or 45mm; can you offer advise in my selection? Hope you can help.
Mike in Oz

[fabriziocanale]

Hello, I already own the Raynox 250 and I’d like to buy the NIsi macro lens to combine with my Sony 100-400;
I’d use the this latter combo for shooting insects, like dragonflies, where you can’t get too close to your subject, while I’d keep the Raynox to use, sometimes, with the macro Sony 90mm when the subjects are still, e.g. butterflies in early mornings at the end of September and October.
Is it worth buying?
Thanks, Fabrizio

[heavyweather]

I got the Raynox 250 and tried it in my 105mm HSM OS Sigma 1:1 lens. Not really impressed.
Do you believe I can get better results with a 60mm 2:1 Laowa on my 70D? Have you ever tested a cheap Chinese no brand 60mm 2:1 lens?

I am not sure where I am going but I also ordered a reverse adapter for my Zuikon OM lenses.

[ivanguerra]

Bro, I just want to point something, some CloseUp lenses are thinked to work properly with Prime lenses not with Zoom lenses, coz it can provoque aberration problems as I can see in you samples, I recomend you to make a test with Prime lenses with the NiSi on 85, 100 and 135 MMs lenses and see what happen. In the other hand, the Raynox optic quality is famous than can work well with Zooms.

[ChrisDeger]

Thank you for the review. Would be newt to see what it looks like ok a 100mm 1:1 macro haha would it just make it a 2:1 or would it get strange results

[photooutdoor]

Mft is great for macro. Raynox and Nissin are both interesting. What would be best for the Oly 60mm 2.8 Makro in combination? An Idea?

[PATHETIC_DISASTER]

lol if the raynox250 gets you too close, get the 150.

[MaxPhotoGraphic]

Thanx, nice content are there filters with nisi quality but 10x? Does anyone knows it please? Thanx, Max