(5) What macro lens did I buy?

This was the first macro lens that I bought from AliExpress. It was more of a gamble as I had no idea which were good and which were not. The reviews about it were pretty good but then again, reviews are rather subjective. And my assumption is that anything less than S$10 can’t be that great. This purchase came with 2 separate lenses – a 15x macro lens and a wide-angle lens – quite good value for money.

I paid S$14.26 for this package of 2 lenses – a macro and a wide-angle lens

Orsda Wide-angle Lens

From looks alone, the wide-angle lens was pretty impressive. Unfortunately it only looked good but its performance was just mediocre. The macro lens came fixed on a clip. To use the wide-angle lens, I had to screw it on top of the macro lens.

This photo is taken with the Orsda wide-angle lens. Compared to the above, it covers a wider area (that’s why it’s called wide-angle). But the quality of the photo leaves a lot to be desired. There’s a lot of blurring and colour runs (chromatic aberration). That’s why I just left it in cold-storage in my drawer. 🙂

Orsda Macro Lens

The Orsda macro lens didn’t look that impressive but the performance was very good. I was able to get sharp pictures from it on occasions when the focus is right.

Caution!

The Orsda macro lens is also good in that it was big enough to be able to cover 2 camera lenses of the iPhone. The thing with new phones is this – some of the phones have 2 or 3 cameras that work in tandem to produce the final photo. If that’s the case, you’ll need one that can cover all the 2 or 3 camera lenses. Before you buy your mobile macro lens, it is good to check with the seller whether it can fit the model of your phone. Sometimes, the information is found in the Item Description. You need to know that some macro lens come as a very small lens – in which case it might not be suitable for phones using 2 or 3 phone cameras.

My Macro Lens Upgrade – Prosumer Lensbong

Having played with the Orsda macro lens, and getting hooked on tack sharp macro photos, I looked around for a better lens. The one from India’s Apexel company (this Apexel seems different from the one in AliExpress) – Prosumer Lensbong (what a name!) looks very impressive. From the photos I’ve seen, I was blown away by the sharpness. But when I checked with Apexel.in, they do not deliver to Singapore. After trying to find ways and means of buying it and getting it sent here without success, I had to request some help from my ex-student who lives in India (Thanks, Dr Vamana!). So she helped me buy and send it to Singapore via DHL – the only available international courier at that time in India. Oh man, the DHL charges costs more than my macro lens! But no regrets … it was an excellent buy as the quality of the photos taken can be really tack sharp when I get it right.

Cost me Rp4499 (not Rp3999 as shown here; the price has increased) – about S$83 and the DHL courier charges added up to Rp4825 – about $91.
Total : S$174

Here’s how the Prosumer Lensbong look like on my S8. I put the white sponge there to make it fit snugly each time I clip onto my phone. Used a double-sided tape to secure.

One of my favourite photos – taken with the Prosumer Lensbong

Free Extreme Macro Lens

The Prosumer Lensbong came with a free extreme macro lens – for very close shots. But this extreme lens isn’t very good because the “depth of field” is extremely shallow. What this means is that for any subject, if I focus on the front, the middle (we’re not even talking about the back) is out of focus. Because it is meant for very small subjects, even those parts of the subject just millimetres apart might not turn out clear. And because of the close magnification, any shake is amplified many times. So it’s a difficult lens to use. Having said that, it has come in useful in cases where my Prosumer Lensbong cannot get that close.

I put in the white sponge so that it’ll fit nicely on my phone each time I clip it on. Used a double-sided tape to secure.

Left : Taken with Lensbong. Right : Taken with Extreme Lens – you can see that not all are clear, only certain parts even though they are so close to each other. By the way, these are slime mould.

So these are the macro lenses that I have purchased and used.

While you can just buy a mobile macro lens, point and shoot, there are still some factors to take into consideration. I will elaborate on these in my next blog post.

Recommendation

For now, I will recommend the Orsda macro lens for those of you who are keen to start out simply because I have used it and I find it to be good – and not because the others are not good. For the other brands, I do not know as I have not used it before and thus cannot advise you on them. And the Orsda lens is very affordable at S$14.26 (may not be the same price now though). And surprise, that’s all you need to start your macro-photography hobby. Have fun!

Disclaimer :

I paid for all the lenses on my own. I do not get paid for recommending Orsda lenses … although I wish I did … lol! Maybe I should ask them to sponsor some lenses for review.