Dont be fooled....

Tintin124

Tintin124

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Bryn
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Well I thought I'd purchase another set of tubes cause I'm mad, but this time thought I'd go cheap. So I bought a set that looked identical to my first set but was quarter of the price. So thought what the hay give it a go if they are rubbish just use them for 50mm small lens.

So when they arrived I noticed instantly how flimsy they were and not tight fitting at all compare to my first set.

View attachment 9579
Look nearly identical.

On left original ones £89 from SRB Photographic and weigh in at 264g.

On the right £26 from amazon and weigh a tiny 143g.

The only difference in outside looks is cheap ones have less bumps and more spread apart.

The plan was to put both sets on my 90mm Tamron but not going to risk it with how unsturdy the cheap ones are. So will have to wait for my Kenko's from Digital Rev.

The cheap ones will be fine for small lenses for sure.
 
Ok, I tried 2 full sets of tubes and got lens error 2 cant connect to lens.

But I'm not remotely surprised as the are so flimsy. They are going straight back tomorrow.
 
Yeah I got a set for a similar price and I get a fair few "error connecting to lens" errors when they are all stacked. Good to know the more expensive models don't seem to suffer the same issue so gonna have to start saving again... tsk.
 
Bryn again thanks for the update & I'm just wondering how mad you can get with multi sets of tubes - just how close you will be able to get :thinking:
 
DayDreamer said:
Bryn again thanks for the update & I'm just wondering how mad you can get with multi sets of tubes - just how close you will be able to get :thinking:
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Well with my 90mm I will get far too close so hence why I have a 1.4x convertor on the way to allow me a little more distance between lens and subject. Though when I'm rich enough I will get a 180mm lens. Unless you would like to buy me one :wideyed:
 
Tintin124 said:
Well with my 90mm I will get far too close so hence why I have a 1.4x convertor on the way to allow me a little more distance between lens and subject. Though when I'm rich enough I will get a 180mm lens. Unless you would like to buy me one :wideyed:
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If I win the lottery - bear in mind I'm a bloody pensioner :p
 
There are some real tacky cheapo tubes around, the worst I have seen are the ones without metal couplings and I suggest you stay away from them at all cost especially if hanging expensive lenses from them.
 
Interesting topic since Im looking at getting a set, ready for the summer. So my question is, if you are going to get relatively cheap ones, what make would you go for??
 
oldandintheway said:
Interesting topic since Im looking at getting a set, ready for the summer. So my question is, if you are going to get relatively cheap ones, what make would you go for??
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Certainly not those from amazon. Meike and jessops look ok to me and not too badly priced. Definitely go for SRB photographic or kenko ones from digitalrev. Buy cheap buy twice!

As for these cheapo ones it appears they have done something to lens or camera mount as occasionally getting lens error. Without those tubes attached. So stay away at all costs imho.
 
ive used extension tubes, 2x tele, 2 raynox and a reversed 28mm, with a old 90mm tamron
think i could focus into inside of the reversed lens :D
 
pingu666 said:
ive used extension tubes, 2x tele, 2 raynox and a reversed 28mm, with a old 90mm tamron
think i could focus into inside of the reversed lens :D
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Your as crazy as me. Ive now got 2 sets of tubes, 1.4x tele, 90mm tammy, raynox 202. Just with tele and raynox on tammy I was getting super close ruined some webs on the way! Doh.
 
I bought a single 20mm Meike tube in Nikon fitting and it's unusable. The lens-side fitting is too tight and the throat is so narrow I can't see how a full set of three can avoid vignetting, especially with an FX body. Bryn's SRB set look like Meike but at twice the price of other eBay vendors! I now wouldn't buy anything but Kenko tubes.
 
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Snapsh0t said:
I bought a single 20mm Meike tube in Nikon fitting and it's unusable. The lens-side fitting is too tight and the throat is so narrow I can't see how a full set of three can avoid vignetting, especially with an FX body. Bryn's SRB set look like Meike but at twice the price of other eBay vendors! I now wouldn't buy anything but Kenko tubes.
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The SRB ones are very good so without physically seeing Meike ones can't comment if they are the same but weight appears to be the same.
 
Barso said:
Been using these for a month or so now:

http://www.play.com/stores/CoolGadget/listing/908711363

Cheap......yes, a good tight fit.....yes and they work ok with the 18-55, 55-250 and 50 1.8 with no errors. Some cheapo's work others that fail give the cheap it's cheap name.
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They appear to be the same ones as my amazon ones... I can tell by the exposed pins on the inside, attached to my 90mm it gave lens err 01. I found them to be very flimsy and not a tight fit at all though this could just be a bad one. I just lost my confidence in buying cheap. Could you weigh yours and see if it is around the 140g mark?
 
minnnt said:
Why will you still need tubes on a macro lens?
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Because when you are on the journey of Macro you will want to get closer and closer... for instance it has to be large spider to get the eye shots you see around with just a 1:1 lens.


IMG_2028 by bthomas124, on Flickr

This beetle is around 4-5mm big and you just don't get close enough or detailed enough with 1:1, that above image has been cropped too to get the beetle larger.

With my full tubes I get 2.5:1 magnification.
 
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I don't have any scales apart from the bathroom ones to weigh them, but I did order a set from Amazon for a few quid more, they came in the same packaging but consisted of 2x21mm and a 31mm. These were a very loose fit on the camera so were promptly sent back for a refund. I looked around and saw the same set from play as I posted before, when they arrived I thought here we go again ! But the difference was night and day, as I said a good tight fit on all connections and no problems so far. It's just the luck of the draw when buying cheap I think.
 
Amazon do sell some good tubes, you just have to filter out the crappy ones! Usually the Amazon direct ones are pretty good, they go for between £50 and £100, just avoid the cheaper ones from the third party sellers, though again the third party sellers do also sell good ones, its just a matter of shifting through the chaff to get to the wheat!

I'm looking to order some, though looking at my bank account now my tax payments have exploded, I might wait a month, lol!
 
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