Obviously I am rubbish with both, but today thought I'd have a play at being arty - and took some pictures with a 5X Loupe on the front of my 24-70mm L lens on Canon 5DMkII

There results weren't great to be honest (I wasn't expecting them to be) but can look quite arty - assuming you are as unclued up about artyness as I am...


Dial by Burbage Photography, on Flickr


Backlash! by Burbage Photography, on Flickr


Balance by Burbage Photography, on Flickr


By Day by Burbage Photography, on Flickr


23 Jewels by Burbage Photography, on Flickr

Very nice simes.

I particularly like backlash, balance and 23 jewels.

Does using the loupe + your lens allow the extremely shallow depth of field on balance and 23 jewels or are these the ones you played with in gimp?

Want to be able to get some shallow depth of field close up shots and was planning to use an extension tube with my 50 mm lens reversed onto it

I was using f2.8 - which in macro mode gives a very shallow DOF anyway - I think looking through the loupe added to it!

I guessed you were using a pro lens, from the quality of the image and also your description of your camera.

I use a Nikon d7000 and am trying to justify the purchase of some upgraded glass. Will probably get am 80-200 f2.8 from the 'bay as they seem to go for around £250 for the older push-pull varieties and £500 for the newer versions which are supposed to focus faster. Much cheaper than the newer 70-200 and only lacking in VR as far as I can tell.

Would like to get the 17-55 f2.8 but cannot justify laying out over £1k when the kit lens seems adequate at present and the lens I use the most is a 50mm f1.8.

How do you find Gimp? I tend to just use aperture as everything I shoot is in raw and I can do most simple stuff within the same program. I have PS express for image manipulation but wondered if Gimp will offer more...

Hi Simon,

I think that once you have decide on the brand of SLR you like, the glass on the front becomes ever more important. Especially as its an investment that can attach to newer camera backs as you progress and as technology for sensors etc improves.

I only use the Canon L series lenses - they are quite pricey (so are the Nikkor equivalents) but even on an entry level (not suggesting that yours is that) you can tell the difference. So invest in lenses and treat the cameras as something to be replaced from time to time.

The ting you tend to find with the cheaper OE or aftermarket lenses (Sigma Tamron et al) is that while they are adequate, what you miss is them being better than adequate - so they tend to be slower to focus, or spend more time 'hunting' for the focus in more difficult conditions (poor light, or low contrast scenes). Also, they are more likely to suffer chromatic abberation at the edges of a shot, or just plain old distortion.

Gimp is fine - I'm a Linux chap through and through, but occasionally fire up windows where I have Photoshop, and PS is more capable than GIMP - and benefits from 32 bit picture editing, whereas GIMP is 16 bit. But, unless you are preparing prints for billboards, or top quality glossy magazines you wont spot the difference in the final result.

Gimp also benefits big time from being free!