Extension tubes

I went through this recently. I looked at the cheap plastic ones, but wondered about their temperature stability. I might be totally off the mark with this though. I'm sure others will correct me!

I ended up buying a used set of Kenko tubes which give you all the lens control connections. The build quality seems excellent. Cost me £80 though :eek:
 
I bought a set without contacts 12 months ago just to play with. There is a work around for aperture where you set it without the tubes and press the DoF button and then remove the lens and put the tubes in place. It works, but I'm always quite wary of doing it.

The lack of AF means you can only shoot very stationary objects, don't even consider insects.
 
Kieranbennett said:
The lack of AF means you can only shoot very stationary objects, don't even consider insects.
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I doubt that many macro shooters use AF whether it's available or not. The only real issue to using the tubes in this way is that the viewfinder will be quite dark if the lens is permanently stopped down.

Bob
 
I bought these a while ago for my 50mm 1.8. Not cheap though but considerabely cheaper than a dedicated macro lens for 1st time macro photography to see if you have any interest in it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kenko-Tele...D9JY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1320493428&sr=8-2

And they produced the following two shots which I am quite happy with:

_DSC3451Small.jpg


_DSC3460Small.jpg
 
Kenko come well reported as good tubes, though looking around you can get getter for less.

I have just bought 25mm and 12mm NEW and boxed Canon ones (newer Mk2) ex stock from LCE for £100, that is a saving of £70.

If you are wanting to do close up I also suggest a good focus rail, and ringlite, ckeck Meike ringlite on amazon. Todays tech beats older ringflash with its flexibility.
 
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I dont mean to turn this is to a "look at my photo " thread , but these where taken with a d90 , a 50mm 1.8 and a £5 set of extension tubes from amazon . no metering , no A/F . They took a little getting to use to but there a lot of fun. I found that the viewfinder becomes obsolete and liveview is your friend , that and controlling the diffusion of the flash .
helloyou1of1.jpg

camerashywasp1of1.jpg
 
Yes, this appears one section of photography where the "my camera is better than your camera" brigade can be ignored.

I have seen remarkable photos with basic equipment, we didn't have the latest must haves 40 years ago.

However, it is an area where you can take your time and get it right, unlike sports.

I don't think here that a £5 set od tubes is any less worthwhile than a £100 set, after all it is manual accurate forcus, lighting and ap that counts, all of which I will be doing manually, and lets face it a tube is a tube is a tube.

What is that one on the top, I have seen it for years and it is so nice.
 
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I bought some from eBay for £4.99, for the money I thought they were excellent for the price. Obviously nothing serious photography wise but using the tubes along with my 50mm 1.8 I got this


Macro Pound by bensambrook, on Flickr
 
Another 1 for the kenko set. I got mine at onestop digital for about £85 and have used them on my 7D with my 50mm 1.8 and my 100mm 2.8L macro. With the full set on the 50 I just about fill the frame with a ladybird and the detail is amazing.
Not sure how much I'll be using them after christmas though, cause the wife has got me an MP-E65.
 
Kenko all the way :) I love mine and they do a good job. The af means nothing, most including me shoot macro in manual focus :)
 
stokes said:
Kenko all the way :) I love mine and they do a good job. The af means nothing, most including me shoot macro in manual focus :)
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Was thinking about getting a macro lens, but i could get the Kenko and use with my 50 f1.8
 
Bullysrus said:
Was thinking about getting a macro lens, but i could get the Kenko and use with my 50 f1.8
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The Kenko tubes are a good starting point, they are around the £100 (give or take) mark which is considerably cheaper than a dedicated lens. Obviously a dedicated good macro lens will be better than say a 50 1.8 with extension tubes but they are a good starting point in my opinion.

Even if you eventually do decide to then buy a dedicated macro lens you can still use your extension tubes with it so they will still be useful.

Clarke
 
Am I right in believing extension tubes are not great with zooms? I don't currently own a prime, so I guess I'll find out once I start using them! Might be a good excuse to spend some more hard earned cash. Would a 50mm be best, or maybe an 85mm? There are plenty of Nikon 50's on eBay for not a lot of money. Not the case with the 85's though!
 
v8moneypit said:
Am I right in believing extension tubes are not great with zooms?
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Good question, I only have a 35mm prime so could use that but would be interested to hear why they seem to be used more with primes? Is it just for sharpness reasons?

What advantage would a set of kenko tubes give me over the af ebay ones listed? As they are just hollow tubes with no glass I don't really see what difference they make apart from £60 larger dent in my pocket and a better feel to build quality.

I'm not too worried about having AF on the tubes as I'd probably shoot MF anyway but I think that the Aperture control would come in handy as I expect using my f/1.8 or f/2.8 lenses would give an incredibly short DOF.
 
Mark G said:
What advantage would a set of kenko tubes give me over the af ebay ones listed? As they are just hollow tubes with no glass I don't really see what difference they make apart from £60 larger dent in my pocket and a better feel to build quality. QUOTE]

Well for a start Kenko and Canon are metal not plastic like the cheap ones on ebay, and secondly the Canon (I don't have kenko) are baffled internally and solid inside unlike the cheap ebay ones where you can see the steel pins and this causes internal reflections.

There is also the build quality.

I have also used my Canon tubes with my Sigma 120-400 and Canon 28-135 at 100-135.
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