There are all sorts of accessories on the market for close up and macro photography. One popular, although sometimes questionable option, is the Macro lens. I'm not talking about a "lens" in the normal sense of the word, but am instead referring to an optic that screws into the front of a normal camera lens much like a filter. The difference is that these add ons are actually ground like camera lenses unlike filters which are flat pieces of glass or resin. These close-up lenses come in a variety of powers ("diopters") and quality. Cheap ones offer an inexpensive entry into the world of macro or close-up work, but often at such poor quality that you wonder what all the fuss was about. High quality ones, while expensive, can deliver very good results. Marumi is an unfamiliar name in this country, but the company (The Marumi Optical Company of Japan) is a well established presence in Japan and its offerings tend to be popular amongst photographers because of their modest price and good quality. Marumi's DHG (Digital High Quality) is the company's top of the line designation and the DHG Achromat Macro 200 (+5) Lens is an excellent example of the product line. Achromat lenses are lenses designed to limit color and distortion problems common in less expensive optics. Often these problems show up at the image edges.
