Extension tubes - worth messing with?

Dj_Jestar

Dj_Jestar

Dj_Jestar

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Over the weekend I was attempting to take some macro shots of flowers, insects, anything, everything and the lenses I have (kit lenses - 18-55 AF-S VR and 55-200 AF-S VR ED) don't have a particularly close minimum focus range. Instead of paying for a macro lens (which I plan to in the future, I just don't have the cash at the moment) I have read about extension tubes that can be had for sub £10.

My only question is, though.. are they worth the bother, or will I just find myself £10 down with something I'm never going to use? I understand how they work, but am left wondering if there will be an inherent loss of quality, and if so, how much?

I expect someone will tell me I need to spend £1500+ on a macro lens, and that all extension tubes should be resigned to the task of replacement door knobs or something, but I'm not interested, thanks. I'm a novice photographer that just wants to capture a few nice pics of really up close things on my entry level dslr, not a professional looking for atom perfect sharpness on a D4 or 1Dx.
 
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I can't speak for the cheaper ones but my set of Kenko extension tubes have probably been, pound for pound, the best thing I've ever bought for my camera.
 
Echo the above, got a set of Kenko ones for my birthday for my 550d, had loads of fun with them and taken some pretty good macro shots imho. For a little over 100 I think they are more than worth it.
 
for £10 you cant go wrong really, its just a piece of plastic providing its sturdy why not. I believe there is a clear difference between a dedi lens and these but if you accept that you can still get some great macro shots.
 
Don't think you get any loss of quality from tubes - they're just hollow - so no glass to distort the view.

It just changes the focal points so you can get closer to the lens, only way you'll lose quality is if the lens can't resolve the detail well enough. Depth of field is tiny though!

I've got a ~£10 set with the electronic connections still for the autofocus and other lens control. It rarely actually focuses correctly, but it will confirm focus and allow me to change the fstop without bodging around. I'd definitely not consider tubes without the connectors.

Some examples I got with my old 18-55IS kit lens and Canon 450D.
http://jfarthing.co.uk/pics/MacroSpider.jpg - spider was 2-3mm long at most?
http://jfarthing.co.uk/pics/wasp_full.jpg - normal sized wasp
 
Sorry for gate crashing this thread but I was reminded of it when reading a magazine last night and came across screw on lenses that you add like a filter that enable you to take macro shots with a regular lens. Anyone had any experience of these before?
 
They're okay if you buy decent ones and there are few of those about. The standard single element ones from the auction site are generally rubbish. You need a dual element 'achromatic' or similar to get decent quality. Marumi make them in 3 & 5 diopter versions; Canon make (made?) the 500 series and Nikon used to make some. A similar technique is to reverse a short focal-length prime lens on the front of the camera lens and this can give high magnifications without the loss of light caused by extension tubes.
 
Dj_Jestar said:
Over the weekend I was attempting to take some macro shots of flowers, insects, anything, everything and the lenses I have (kit lenses - 18-55 AF-S VR and 55-200 AF-S VR ED) don't have a particularly close minimum focus range. Instead of paying for a macro lens (which I plan to in the future, I just don't have the cash at the moment) I have read about extension tubes that can be had for sub £10.

My only question is, though.. are they worth the bother, or will I just find myself £10 down with something I'm never going to use? I understand how they work, but am left wondering if there will be an inherent loss of quality, and if so, how much?

I expect someone will tell me I need to spend £1500+ on a macro lens, and that all extension tubes should be resigned to the task of replacement door knobs or something, but I'm not interested, thanks. I'm a novice photographer that just wants to capture a few nice pics of really up close things on my entry level dslr, not a professional looking for atom perfect sharpness on a D4 or 1Dx.
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:D You don't need to spend even a third of that £1500 to get a decent macro lens but point taken.
Extension tubes are fine in principle but you do need to consider the lenses you'll be using them with. Your two don't have aperture rings so you'll find it hard to set the aperture if your tubes don't pass the electrical signals between camera and lens. Spending £100 on a set of Kenko tubes removes any uncertainty and you get a decent quality product. However, I've just spotted a set for around £35 which look like a copy of the Kenko and might be worth a look.
 
I bought a set of extension tubes from eBay (hong kong) for just over £5 I think. They looked like plastic on the ad but I was pleasantly surprised when they turned up and were metal (aluminium I think). I have been using them with my 60D and an old OM 50mm 1.8 with an adapter (my dad's old lens) as I found the manual aperture control pretty useful (but not essential). I stop the lens down to f16 and have had some fun with them.

I have loved my set and think it was one of the best £5 I have ever spent. Sure it is totally manual and I have to focus by moving closer to or further away from the subject but the tubes split into three sections so I can essentially adjust the focusing distance and magnification by changing the tube combination.

The only thing that I would say about them though is as with all macro you do need to use small apertures due to the small depth of field meaning that your viewfinder will be very dark. Therefore they are fine outdoors but if you are indoors it is best to carry a flashlight in one hand to illuminate your subject so you can focus.

Also, I have been using mine with an external flash as you won't get decent shutter speeds at low ISOs with F16 so if you are going to use them without a flash they will only really be useful outdoors or with a tripod.

To be honest though for £5-6 you can't really go wrong and I have used mine a fair amount so would definitely recommend them.

Below are a few photos that I have taken with them just to give you an idea of how much magnification you can get with a 50mm lens.


Fly In The Garden by B_Alexander, on Flickr


IMG_2788 by B_Alexander, on Flickr


IMG_6858 by B_Alexander, on Flickr


IMG_6866 by B_Alexander, on Flickr

Hope that is of some use :)
 
I'm sticking to manual at the moment anyway, so that suits me fine. Which also means it's a very good point about the lack of aperture ring on my lenses!

That's a damn fine set of pics guys :)
 
Dj_Jestar said:
I'm sticking to manual at the moment anyway, so that suits me fine. Which also means it's a very good point about the lack of aperture ring on my lenses!

That's a damn fine set of pics guys :)
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If you have no aperture control on your lens and you use tubes without electronic connections then you will be stuck shooting at f/22.

Anyway, beyond the lens setup the most critical aspect of macro is a good stable platform. hand holding will lead to all sorts of issues due to the extremely narrow DoF.
 
D.P. said:
If you have no aperture control on your lens and you use tubes without electronic connections then you will be stuck shooting at f/22.

Anyway, beyond the lens setup the most critical aspect of macro is a good stable platform. hand holding will lead to all sorts of issues due to the extremely narrow DoF.
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No you won't be. The cheating way to do it (and I hold no responsibility for any lenses damaged while doing it...) is to hold the aperture preview button down when removing the lens (after setting the aperture of choice) and the aperture stays put at the chosen one. It's a bit of a pain in the **** so I used to just set it to around f/8-11 and be done with it most of the time. There are also some suggestions that it may damage your lens if you do it but I haven;t had a problem with it.
 
Dj_Jestar said:
No DOF preview on my camera (D5100) :)

Will be looking for tubes that have contacts.
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I think that is the best way, the keno are the most recommended. Even if you buy a macro lens you might want to use the extension rings to get greater than 1:1
 
well before we got the first macro prime lens, i bought a "raynox dcr-250" it clip on to the end of your lens to give it macro function. it classed as a close up filter but it very good at what it does. so if you can afford £40 i would strongly recommend getting it. as for extendion tube they are good too but if you buy cheaper unbranded ones you run risk of it breaking easliy and also if they are not cnc machined correctly it will affect the picture quality greatly. another thing to point out is that most cheap extention tubes have not chip on them so to use them on the camera you will have to switch to manual mode on camera and manaul focus on the lens you using.
 
Extension tubes are great! I have a full set (as well as the 100mm macro and mp-e 65) of extension tubes because they are so fun for creativity. Put them on a wide angle, put them on a 400mm put them on anything and experiment! Great fun :)
 
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