Extension tubes

mikebeecham

mikebeecham

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Hi guys,

I was thinking abut doing a spot of macro photography, and heard that extension tubes are a cheap way to get in closer to the subject. Has anyone any experience using these? Are they any good? Are they worth the cost, and is there a particular make I should look at?

Thanks
 
Some people seem to have it sorted and create some good picture, myself I've given up I find them too difficult to focus, have to get too close and quality is poor. But that's just me and my skills with a 50mm prime and tubes.
 
Hey gr8shot...thanks for the reply. To be honest I saw a video by a photographer who was explaining the different ways of getting macro at different costs, and mentioned the tubes. I thought they might be a good idea. That said though, if they're going to be difficult to focus with then perhaps I won't bother... I'll just save my pennies for a decent macro lens.

Cheers mate.
 
Tubes are excellent as they have no glass in them to affect IQ , you just lose some light, use with a prime lens & flash- start off with a single tube and work youreself up to all three and maximum magnification. Get auto tubes so you retain aperture control from the body but use manual focus and move the camera to focus. Use f11-f16 to maximise DOF and enjoy.
 
I've just ordered a 50mm f1.4, which should be with me next week, so maybe look at it then and seer whether it might be better to just save for a proper macro lens or not.
 
mikebeecham said:
I've just ordered a 50mm f1.4, which should be with me next week, so maybe look at it then and seer whether it might be better to just save for a proper macro lens or not.
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Pm me your address if you've got a f mount Nikon I'll send you my tubes you can have em, then let me know what you think, I paid £50 a month ago used with the 50mm f1.8 G in manual mode and I just could not get a shot,.
 
Gr8Shot said:
Pm me your address if you've got a f mount Nikon I'll send you my tubes you can have em, then let me know what you think, I paid £50 a month ago used with the 50mm f1.8 G in manual mode and I just could not get a shot,.
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That's just poor technique - there nothing in a tube to affect IQ
 
I've got a set of non-auto tubes that I paid about £6 for when I was starting out. Due to the lack of contacts, I can only use my 50mm f1.8 AF-D with them (manual aperture control, you see?), but I've done alright with them.

As others have said, getting in close means light (and your own shadow) can be a ballache, but there's plenty of tutorials on the internet for DIY macro lights, or you can look for things that benefit from backlighting or strong sidelighting.
 
Dogfish_magnet said:
That's just poor technique - there nothing in a tube to affect IQ
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I'm not saying there is I'm just saying personally I think its difficult so I'm swapping to a 105mm macro lens,
Maybe if I knew how to get a good focus, it might help
 
Gr8Shot said:
I'm not saying there is I'm just saying personally I think its difficult so I'm swapping to a 105mm macro lens,
Maybe if I knew how to get a good focus, it might help
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The 105mm macro will suffer with all the same problems as tubes , but you will probably have more working distance due to the longer focal length, not a lot as the MWD is only 122mm. The problem with macro is you only have a very narrow band of image in focus when at 1:1, approx 0.002m @ f11 so you need to get this band in the right place which is usually the eyes if your subject has them. You really want to be in full manual with the lens set to closest focusing which will give maximum magnification, f11-f16 to get maximum DOF, 1/200 with iso / flash set to get enough light. To focus just rock the camera forward and backwards to get the focus band in the correct place.

Practice on a ruler , start with a single tube then add more as you get comfortable with the technique .
 
mikebeecham said:
I've just ordered a 50mm f1.4, which should be with me next week, so maybe look at it then and seer whether it might be better to just save for a proper macro lens or not.
Click to expand...

I use my extension tubes with a macro lens. :bonk:

They do make it more difficult to focus than with a macro lens on its own, the distance between subject and lens can be very small and the amount of light is significantly reduced as well. The results can be very good though, but it does take practice - using a tripod would certainly make a difference if you can get one setup (although all mine have been handheld).
 
Gr8Shot said:
Pm me your address if you've got a f mount Nikon I'll send you my tubes you can have em, then let me know what you think, I paid £50 a month ago used with the 50mm f1.8 G in manual mode and I just could not get a shot,.
Click to expand...

That's very kind of you mate, but I'm running the beast, which is my Canon 600D

:)
 
You could reverse mount your new 50mm lens directly on to the camera, or reverse mount it on to one of you other lenses. Both options will give you very good results for very little cost, plus you don't lose so much light as with tubes.
 
Some good info here, maybe I'll give tubes 1 more go.
How do people macro insects with a dog of .002m?

Is there a good macro extension tube tutorial about anywhere on the net?

Would using my sigma 70-300 work better with tubes?
 
:Love the second one, how hard is it to focus reverse mounting, what was your working distance for both
How many tubes did you have on?
 
Gr8Shot said:
:Love the second one, how hard is it to focus reverse mounting, what was your working distance for both
How many tubes did you have on?
Click to expand...

I should have said that these were taken with a 450D, which I no longer have.

For this type of closeup/macro shot, I always use a tripod. I also use live view and a cable shutter release. Once I have the camera in place I find it easier to move the subject so that its more or less in the position I want and then to focus I make any focus adjustments using the winder on the center column of my tripod, thus moving the camera up or down, this movement will be fractional.

Can't exactly remember the working distance, but at those magnifications it would only have been a few centimeters, probably no more than 10 and for the tube shot I used a full set of 3. My tubes are fully manual for use with my M42 fit manual lenses. I bought them used of eBay for £7.

I should also add that this method of working is fine for inanimate objects, such as this pen, but bugs and plants are a different kettle of fish, pardon the pun. :)

If you want to have a go at reversed lens macro, do a Google search for "Reversed Lens Adapters", there are loads for sale, all depending on the filter size of the lens you want to use.

It is a cheap way of getting into closeup/macro photography.


Good luck and any question, ask away.
 
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