ABSTRACT
The minimum focusing distance of most lenses prevents placing subjects closer than a couple of feet from the camera and still remain in focus. However, there are specialized lenses, called macros, that make it possible to keep a subject in focus at much closer distances, in some cases even right next to the lens. The extremely short minimum focusing distance of macros allows them to greatly magnify tiny details that would otherwise be hard or impossible to see with the naked eye. A particularly effective example of the use of a macro lens can be seen in director Steven Spielberg’s historical drama Schindler’s List, the story of how Oskar Schindler, a German businessman, managed to save more than a thousand Jewish refugees from certain death during the Holocaust by employing them in one of his factories.
