Want to take the very best picture of a small coin or the Grand Canyon's panoramic vistas? Your camera's lenses may hold the key to success.

Sure, you can tinker with your digital camera's images using photo-editing software, but re-sizing and cropping images lowers the resolution. It's better to use the right lenses for the situation than to have to dress up pictures after the fact.

What if you don't have a digital single lens reflex camera with interchangeable lenses? You can gain lens flexibility even with point-and-shoot digital cameras by using conversion lenses. These lenses typically attach to the camera's existing lens, either directly or with the aid of an adapter.

Here are some tips:

Macro, or close-up, lenses let you take great pictures of flowers or very small objects.

The magnification of a macro lens is usually expressed as a ratio. With a 1:1 lens, the object appears life-sized in the picture. A 2:1 macro lens doubles an object's natural size.

You may also see macro lenses expressed as a number, such as +10. The higher the number, the greater the magnification.

You can find a macro conversion lens for as little as $15.

For landscapes or cityscapes, choose a wide-angle lens. These allow you to capture more without having to move farther away from the subject.

The focal length defines wide-angle lenses. Anything smaller than 35 mm is wide angle. When expressed as a power, decimals indicate wide-angle — for example, .56X. The smaller the number, the wider the angle.

Perspective distortion is inherent in wide-angle lenses. The edges of the photos curve and part of the image appears abnormally large.

Telephoto lenses are easy to understand. Use them to take pictures of wildlife or close-ups at Junior's soccer game.

Telephoto lenses zoom in on objects. This is achieved with an increased focal length. Anything longer than 70 mm is considered telephoto. When expressed as a power, anything greater than 1X is telephoto.

For telephoto or wide-angle lenses, expect to pay at least $80.

To find the availability of conversion lenses for your digital camera, check the manufacturer's Web site. Manufacturers often make conversion lenses for popular models. Other manufacturers include Tiffen (www.tiffen.com), Kenko (www.kenko-tokina.co.jp/e/in dex.html) and Raynox (www.raynox.co.jp/english/eg index.htm).

Contact Kim Komando at www.komando.com/contact.asp.