budget Macro - extension tube help needed

Kenko make a 3 tube set that's well made and have all the electrical contacts to keep aperture control (and AF, though it's somewhat useless at 1:1). I think you can get them for just under £100 on ebay.

68mm of extension tubes will get you to roughly 1:1 with good image quality on your 50mm.
 
i just got a set of kenko tubes for my nikon and they seem really good. i think it needs some practise with focusing and you do seem to get quite close with the 50mm on but so far so good.
 
squishy said:
Kenko make a 3 tube set that's well made and have all the electrical contacts to keep aperture control (and AF, though it's somewhat useless at 1:1). I think you can get them for just under £100 on ebay.

68mm of extension tubes will get you to roughly 1:1 with good image quality on your 50mm.
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What magnification does the full set kenko tubes give you when mounted on a canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens?
 
Probably around 2:1

Macro lenses lose a bit of focal length at closest focus distances, so the 100mm is probably quite close to 68mm, letting you get about 2:1
 
ziggy©;3729129 said:
What magnification does the full set kenko tubes give you when mounted on a canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens?
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extension / focal length + original ratio

68 /100 +1 = 1.68:1

But the Canons focal length decreases as you get closer to 1:1 so in practice its closer to 2:1

Must type faster - as above
 
That sounds more like it , any links to the kenko tubes ? want to make sure im buying the right thing ! lol
 
tomkbucks said:
ok i know yes it would be best to get a proper macro lens BUT i just cant afford it... my lenses 18-135 canon and 50m canon , ive seen cheap tubes before but never found one i thought would fit , amazon have these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MACRO-EXTENSION-TUBES-CANON-Camera/dp/B001CWZE6A/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

But they look far to cheap and nasty can any one suggest a better made 'ring' budget up to £100 really,
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Ive literally just received a set of these. I know what to expect and this is really only to dip my toe in the Macro world before splashing out on a proper set of tubes, probably Kenko's.
Ive only got my 70-300IS with me so dont think ill get many shots until i get home and can use a more suitable lens.
Build looks fine though, i would say the big downside is no electrical connection but again, im well aware of whats required to overcome this.
For £10 im pretty happy with them.
 
Id be interested to see the quality , for £70 more id prefer to get a decent set - if the ones ive posted are correct anyone ? if so ill buy them ! :) i will be using my 18-135 or my 50m with them ,
 
dave_bass5 said:
Ive literally just received a set of these. I know what to expect and this is really only to dip my toe in the Macro world before splashing out on a proper set of tubes, probably Kenko's.
Ive only got my 70-300IS with me so don't think ill get many shots until i get home and can use a more suitable lens.
Build looks fine though, i would say the big downside is no electrical connection but again, I'm well aware of whats required to overcome this.
For £10 I'm pretty happy with them.
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I tried a set of these a number of years ago and there a right pain to use as you cant control aperture from the body. Also watch out for the fillings as you screw / unscrew the tubes - don't want them inside your camera


tomkbucks said:
Id be interested to see the quality , for £70 more id prefer to get a decent set - if the ones ive posted are correct anyone ? if so ill buy them ! :) i will be using my 18-135 or my 50m with them ,
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Yes thats the ones :thumbs:
 
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tomkbucks said:
ok i know yes it would be best to get a proper macro lens BUT i just cant afford it... my lenses 18-135 canon and 50m canon , ive seen cheap tubes before but never found one i thought would fit , amazon have these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MACRO-EXTENSION-TUBES-CANON-Camera/dp/B001CWZE6A/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

But they look far to cheap and nasty can any one suggest a better made 'ring' budget up to £100 really,
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I had some of those before I bought a macro lens. They were good value for money! Gave me a cheap intro to macro. Still got them if you want them.
 
mickledore said:
Gave me a cheap intro to macro. .
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This is all im expecting. Macro has never interested me until a day or so ago. If i take to it then ill get something better pretty quickly.

@Dogfish_magnet
Ive seen a few videos on YT pointing out the cons of these tubes so im going to take it all very slowly. Cheapest lens goes on first in case it gets stuck etc.
 
i just cant streach to a full macro lens ! so the tubes seem the best option.. with a 50mm seems people get good results ! now i prob need a decent tripod and slide to...
 
tomkbucks said:
i just cant streach to a full macro lens ! so the tubes seem the best option.. with a 50mm seems people get good results ! now i prob need a decent tripod and slide to...
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Have you considered a manual focus Macro lens. You can get some good cheap macro lenses from fleabay. If you got a Tamron 90mm f/2.5 (which is only a 2:1 macro - not 1:1) cheap enough (mine cost about £80) you could get a cheap adapter to mount it on your camera then buy the manual extension tubes that would bring it to 1:1 or near as damnit.
 
I just had a quick play with my tubes and 70-300IS.
First impressions were good, and although i couldn't separate the thinnest tube from the camera mount its not a big deal as i was trying to use all three anyway.
The lens went on and came off easily enough and everything seemed to be tight and secure on the camera/lens.

I dont have a tripod here so my shots were a bit shaky (and now deleted) but i can see im going to have fun over the weekend. I live in a flat so i think bugs might be harder to find but im sure ill find something worth shooting.
 
very interesting ! id love a proper macro lens but like the idea of tubes just to get started, i dont think i could stretch to a proper macro lens ....
 
dave_bass5 said:
After playing with my tubes over the weekend i must admit they are a pain in the bum to use for anything other than wide open.
I got some nice results (considering) but i cant see me using them much and i do need to get something better ASAP.
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In what way?

I was use some plain tubes (tenner from cowasaki - thanks btw! been using them loads) and manual focus. You need to open aperture to lowest f# get target in focus(ish) wobble slightly forward and backward whilst turning aperture to f8/f11. Using flash take pics
 
ecniv said:
In what way?

I was use some plain tubes (tenner from cowasaki - thanks btw! been using them loads) and manual focus. You need to open aperture to lowest f# get target in focus(ish) wobble slightly forward and backward whilst turning aperture to f8/f11. Using flash take pics
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Its the lack of Aperture control that i found to be a pain. I knew before hand how to get a round this but to be honest i found it a bit too fiddly.
 
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