How to shoot Macro without a Macro lens

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Have you ever wondered how to shoot macro without a macro lens? Here on my website, I am always trying different aspects of Photography. Shooting. Learning. And Sharing.

If you search #MacroPhotography on Instagram, you will find some absolutely stunning images of insects gazing back at you. A hairy spider staring you down, or the intricate details of a flower or a leaf.

I do not profess to be a Macro Photography expert, but I have had a go at shooting macro. And without a Macro lens.

Check out the below video. This shows you how I went about shooting Macro for the first time. I got in really close to my subject, much closer than the native focusing distance on my lens allowed.

Close Up Filters vs Macro Lens

The lens to have for a Canon camera is the Canon MP-E 65mm. This retails on the Canon website for over £1,000, which is a lot of money. But when you look at some of the images this lens produces in the right hands, you can understand why.

This is out of reach of many hobbyist shooters. There are cheaper options from other lens manufacturers. However, none as cheap as the £13.99 I paid for my set of close up filters.

how to shoot macro without a macro lens

It is easy to shoot macro without a macro lens with these filters.

These basically, screw onto the end of the lens, so be sure you purchase the correct filter size for the lens you intend to use them with.

Without getting into too much detail here, check out the video at the top of this post, or over on my YouTube channel. Macro photography is an easy and cheap genre of photography to have a go at, and you don’t even need an expensive Macro lens to have a go.

If you are keen to learn a bit more, then check out my other posts.

Below are a couple of snaps I took with the filters, and while they are not perfect (it was my first time after all!) They are still better than I would have got without the close up filters.

Thanks for reading, I hope you are getting out there and enjoying your photography, and don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel for more videos.

Thanks for reading, see you next time.

How to shoot Macro without a Macro lens