Are macro extension tubes any good?

[fishiboii]

Aloha! I'm new to postin here so appologies if I do something wrong. I've been interested in doing macro shots lately, After borrowing my mate's really nice macro lens. I'd love one myself, but at the moment money is low. However I've been looking into these macro extension tubes and they seem to make sense, I guess they just extend the distance from the lens thus producing a magnified image, right? Well has anyone had any experience with them that they could share, or any alternatives to this? Here's what I'm thinking of getting:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...582825382.9554.100001701231188&type=3&theaterhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/MACRO-EXTENSION-TUBES-CANON-Camera/dp/B001CWZE6A/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Cheers peoples

 

[cgipson1]

you would be better off with a set of Kenkos or similar (they will still allow metering) but they do cost more. Or pick up a Raynox DCR 250, and use it on a 35mm or 50mm prime... they rock

 

[Edsport]

Do a search on Ebay for extension tubes. You'll find AF ones half the price of kenko...

 

[tirediron]

I would definitely NOT buy that set of tubes. It looks like it only has one mount and you insert the extensions between the mounts rather than each tube having a mount. This means that it's going to be flimsier. As well, cheap tubes often don't have the best quality control - I know of one person who saved $200 by buying a similar set as opposed to Kenko tubes, and then had to spend $250 for the camera shop to CUT the tube off of his D80 after it jammed on.

Kenko tubes are pricey, but you get what you pay for!

 

[unpopular]

I prefer bellows myself. More flexible, permits the use of lenses in barrel - such as enlarging lenses.

 

[tirediron]

I prefer bellows myself. More flexible, permits the use of lenses in barrel - such as enlarging lenses.

Moi aussi, however they're not readily available anymore (I'm not even sure if anyone's still making them) and the one's that are, don't usually permit auto-focusing/exposure which some see as a negative.

 

[Overread]

Ebay has lot of shops selling new bellows units, so they are still around; however since they lack the contacts for lens control and since modern lenses don't have all the controls on the lens it really is limiting to use with modern gear. Novoflex do sell an adaptor which lets you have two connection points linked with a cable, so you can put something (bellows) between them and retain lens control but like all things Novoflex its well built and expensive.


As for extension tubes I echo the advice above - get a proper set with the metal contacts; remember also that they retain use even well after you've bought a proper macro lens (getting close up shots with regular lenses as well as playing with them on the macro lens itself.

 

[fishiboii]

Thanks very much everyone, some food for thought. I forgot to consider a possible problem of getting the mounts stuck. I guess I shall have to just dig deep into my wallet and pay for a more expensive one. Here's a question though, if I was to pay for an expensive extension tube, would I get my money's worth as appose to just buying an actual macro lens?

 

[Overread]

Used correctly extension tubes can give very good results with regard to macro work; however a dedicated macro lens will always have the edge. Furthermore a proper macro lens will also retain infinity focus (ie with tubes attached you can't focus on anything very far off) and will also, typically, have a longer distance between subject and the camera.

Note that there are some lenses out there with macro in their name, but are not proper macro lenses; these would be typically zoom lenses (eg 70-300mm macro) options along with one or two select prime lenses (Eg canon 50mm macro). Otherwise all the true macro lenses are prime lenses (ie single focal length).

 

[BlairWright]

For best results use extension tubes with a macro lens... I use the Kenko DG tubes with my Nikon 105 macro and get very nice results. Of course the tubes with a 50mm hanging off them is also quite acceptable.

Yes, you will have focus issues, you can pretty much forget about AF, macro is pretty much all manual focus anyways; at least in my experience.

Good luck, B