Not Quite Macro

As my interest in the micro-wildlife on our terrace has grown I have found myself wanting to know more exactly what I am looking at. I don’t have any way to catch things, but I do have a macro lens on my camera. Problem is, the focal length is quite short, which means that in macro mode the subject can be about 1cm from the front of the lens. In addition to sometimes blocking the light, it alarms most insects. It’s fine for things that aren’t moving, and though the auto-focus is reasonably quick, even a gently waving flower can defeat it. So, yes, I have taken some good close-ups with it, but that’s often more a matter of luck than judgement. It lives on my camera because quite apart from the macro capabilities, it is a great lens for out and about photography. As I was reading around and contemplating a new, longer macro lens, I came across an article that made me realise that my zoom lens has a much shorter close focus, something I had never really paid attention to. For some…