Beginner Extension tubes or Macro lens

[Compuwight]

Hi,

What is the opinion regarding using extension tubes for close-ups or dedicated lens. Prime or Zoom.

Generally I am experimenting with flowers and the odd insect, etc

I am using a Nikon D3200 crop with 55-100 zoom.

 

[john.margetts]

Tubes are by far the cheaper option and have no glass to distort the image. Macro lenses are easier, designed for close focus and will probably produce better images.

For flowers, you can get as close as you like but for insects, if you get too close, they will move so a longer focus macro lens is better. I find that having the lens about two feet from the insect is best.

 

[Karl.t1965]

You would probably be better off with a dedicated Macro lens, loads to choose from, I have always liked the Sigma 105mm. Tubes are handy when you want to reduce the minimum focusing distance of a lens a bit

 

[AZ6]

Macro lenses are designed to eliminate as much distortion as possible, in order to have a 'flat field'. This is very important for copying flat artwork, print details or stamps, for example. Not so important for 3 dimensional objects though, so extension tubes are fine. Macro lenses are also designed to be very sharp, hence their relatively high price given their focal length and maximum apertures; for eg; a Nikon 60mm f2.8 macro lens costs around £500 or more, where a 50mm f1.8 lens, despite having a larger aperture which usually means a higher price, is around £180 or so. There's a lot more going on, optically, with the macro lens though, in order to eliminate that inherent distortion. The lenses will invariably be sharper than standard lenses. So, the ideal choice, but you can get a set of extension tubes for Nikon for less than £50, so, a tad cheaper. You might not get such high magnification though; a macro lens will often give you a 1: 1 ratio, meaning something that is 1cm across, when photographed at the closest distance, will be 1cm across on a full frame sensor. This will be different on a D3200 though, as the image will be cropped, meaning the subject will appear even larger in the final image on screen. A set of extension tubes might only give you 1:2 magnification, meaning a 1cm subject will only appear 0.5cm across on the full frame sensor.

Also; when using extension tubes, your maximum effective aperture is reduced, the closer you focus. So a f2.8 becomes f5.6 by the time you're at minimum focussing distance. This doesn't matter much in terms of focussing, cos your depth of field is extremely shallow anyway, but of course matters in terms of light.

It would be a good idea to read up on the subject, either on forums or other online articles. Extension tubes are a good place to start, and you can still have loads of fun shooting with them. With your D3200, you'll lose automatic control of the aperture, and you'll have no AF, but you can still check exposure in the playback of course. Have fun!

 

[hunnymonster]

Experimenting: tubes on a prime

 

[Gremlin]

I use both, Nikon 105 macro and at least one of 3 extension tubes
Always shoot manual so I can control the aperture and hence depth of field
You need a light source as well, ring flash is great for macro work

 

[Fuji Dave]

Or even try one of the Raynox150 or 250 as you can get great results.

 

[Deleted member 34016]

I use a Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro lens and not forgetting an off camera flash - at a 1:1 ratio you can get close enough I feel

Hoverfly during Lockdown by Les Moxon, on Flickr

Les

 

[Deleted member 49428]

Hi,

What is the opinion regarding using extension tubes for close-ups or dedicated lens. Prime or Zoom.

Generally I am experimenting with flowers and the odd insect, etc

I am using a Nikon D3200 crop with 55-100 zoom.

Do you mean a 55-200 Zoom? Extension tubes on telezooms are great for this kind of photography.

 

[Deleted member 49428]

For this kind of images I prefer a true macro although with the right extension and perhaps a wide angle on a reversing ring you can get there. The last image is @ 2:1.
A 55mm AIS will fit your camera. Youll probably lose metering and info but should be able to get exposure right fairly fast with some training.

 

[Compuwight]

Still experimenting with stock lens with natural light , looking at used Tamron 90mm F/2.8 SP Di Macro to improve, possibly Mk-14ext Ring Flash

 

[Bobsyeruncle]

Use your new 150-600mm.

 

[Deleted member 34016]

Use your new 150-600mm.

agreed, I use my 200-600mm all the time - works well