cheap chinese extension tube warning

evilonion

evilonion

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Dave Peacock
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well bought a set of tubes from ebay for a few quid as i had a set on my tamron and thought they worked pretty well.
fitted them to my sigma 18-50 2.8 took a few pics, went to take them off... wont budge.
Something has gone wrong and the things are well and truley stuck on there, the clips or something have clicked into place and wont release...

there is no other way to egt it off other than very very carefully cutting down the side with a dremel and then splitting the tubes off the lens.

be warned... dont buy cheap stuff!


on a plus not the raynox 250 is great!
 
I remember my cheapo ones clicked into place, I think the little screw needed to to pushed in a direction (away from the tubes perhaps?). If I remember rightly, you could actually tighten the screw up to the point that it wouldn't move, can you slacken it off a tiny bit?
 
Have you cut it off ?

Im worried about the amount of junk that could be thrown into your lens!

I got mine stuck first time....I just could not work out how the little screw mechanism worked.

It moves parallel to the tube..it doesn't twist or screw confusingly. It slides away from the lens towards the body (if it was still mounted on the body) - for Canon mounts anyway.

It sort of mirrors the action of the lens release button on the body. Push (or slide as in the case with tubes) the button and begin twisting the lens off.

EDIT: when I first used the tubes, I hadnt actually locked the mechanism so they twisted off ok. The subsequent use I did lock the mechanism as you are supposed to, then couldnt budge them. I saw the screw mechanism and assumed it twisted, but it slides.
 
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andy thankyou for the input.
i stopped being angry with it and had another look, the screw was done tight, so i loosened it off a bit and then it popped up releasing the tubes enough to undo them.... phew.

was having a bit of a panic moment then...
 
Glad you got it sorted! Bet you was sweating there, as your heart sank? It's an awful feeling, eh? At least all is ok, now.:thumbs:
 
chris321 said:
can you slacken it off a tiny bit?
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evilonion said:
tbh ive tried everything... screw in, screw out... pushed in all directions.
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evilonion said:
the screw was done tight, so i loosened it off a bit and then it popped up releasing the tubes
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*cough* payment please *cough* ;)

:lol: Glad you got it sorted, and without having to take a power tool to your lens, always a bonus!! :thumbs:

Now, step away........ from ........ the dremel ..... :D
 
yeah glad its sorted... the fear just turned into anger and i was going to start drilling at it with pure rage haha.

chris, was annoying as i took the screw out, put it in, pushed it, pulled it everything. then thought id try again and pushed upwards really hard and it just popped up, then loosened.

not a good design at all, but tbh i should have known that spending £6 wouldnt get me a design of the century piece of equipment.

its also completely useless on a 50 mm lens lol.
 
evilonion said:
andy thankyou for the input.
i stopped being angry with it and had another look, the screw was done tight, so i loosened it off a bit and then it popped up releasing the tubes enough to undo them.... phew.

was having a bit of a panic moment then...
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No problem!!

Ill let you into a secret....when I jammed mine in and had the subsequent panic moment...I put a strap wrench around it just about to give it the biggest twist you ever saw :lol: :cuckoo:
 
I'm pretty sure I went through a similar thing with mine too, I distinctly remember it being stuck, but I guess you get what you pay for :D. I hadn't got as far as getting power tools or a wrench out, but I reckon I was close!

I got mine when someone was offering them for free in the classifieds here, good to get a feel for them, but I got a set of kenko ones, so passed the cheapo ones along to the next person (for free). Might be something worth considering :lol:

Edit: How come you found them useless on a 50mm lens? Was it the tiny distance you have to be from the subject, or issues with depth of field?
 
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chris... just too dark.
i ended up wedging the ap slider open to let more light in... did it about halfway, but found that not matter how i have tried either by using the focus ring or moving in and out the object just stays as a complete blur.

i found on my 18-200 tamron cheap lens it was great at 200mm with the tubes on, yet the 18-50 2.8 sigma at 50mm just doesnt seem to work...

might be me, ill keep trying.

had a go with the raynox 250 though and its bloody lovely is all i can say! :D
 
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