Final question on macro photography

[reissigree]

Okay guys, I'm ready to buy. I'm deciding between extension tubes or this snap on lens. Here's my equipment. Nikon D3100 with a 35mm 1.8, 18-55mm, 55-300mm.

With that in mind, what do you recommend that I buy? I've been told that the 300mm lens will work very well with a set of extension tubes, but I don't know if this set Kenko 25mm Uniplus Tube DG Autofocus Extension Tube for Nikon AF is compatible with my lenses! The other thing I was thinking about was this Raynox DCR-250 http://www.amazon.com/DCR-250-Super-Macro-Snap-On-Lens/dp/B000A1SZ2Y

Gahhh I'm so frustrated and confused.

 

[reissigree]

What about these?
http://www.amazon.com/Zeikos-ZE-CVAFN-Focus-Macro-Extension/dp/B003IVZVDO/ref=pd_sim_sbs_p_2
With this??
http://www.amazon.com/Macro-Flash-LED-Light-lenses/dp/B0031AQ302/ref=pd_bxgy_p_text_b

 

[tirediron]

Yes, that set of tubes will be compatible with your lenses. I would strongly recommend against buying the snap-on "macro" lens. The optical quality will not be terribly good, especially toward the perimeter, whereas the extension tubes have no optics, so the image quality will be exactly as it is with whichever lens you're using.

 

[reissigree]

How do you know they are? I trust you, I'm just curious for the future. And do you think that flash will be okay? Usually they aren't that cheap. If so, is it compatible with my tubes?

 

[rexbobcat]

I don't really trust cheap, off-brand flashes very often. I shoot Canon, but I own a book on flash photography that talks about third-party flashes, and because they're backwards engineered much of the time, there's not guarentee that it will take advantage of the advanced features of today's DSLRs such as ETTL-II or Nikon's equivilant system.

There are a few exceptions though. I've heard some pretty good things on here from Yongnuo flashes.

 

[reissigree]

http://www.amazon.com/Yongnuo-YN-560-Speedlight-Flash-Canon/product-reviews/B004GZLFHM/ref=dp_db_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

How about this one?

 

[Bend The Light]

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Yongnuo YN-560 Speedlight Flash for Canon and Nikonow about this one?

I know a lot of togs use these...they have several with triggers bacause you can buy several with triggers for less than one Nikon or Canon flash. They are obviously not the same quality, but they ARE pretty good by all accounts...I plan a couple of the Yongnuos in the next month or so.

 

[Overread]

I've not read of many who have used the LED ringflashes, though I got the feeling that they were not quite as powerful as many would hope when compared to regular flash units. (its just an impression though, I've never had the chance to use one to really know).

As for which items would work best, if you can get a set of 3 extension tubes which retain electronic contacts within the setup so that you can maintain control over the aperture would be ideal. I've read some decent reviews of the cheaper Zeikos ones that you link to, though there are also some who have experienced problems with them sticking to lenses. Kenko are the most popular brand name for extension tubes, though a full set is going to cost you more:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...+set+for+the+nikon+af+mount&sprefix=kenko+dg+
Ebay might have some shops selling cheaper than Amazon, plus you might find some selling them second hand at cheaper still if your budget is very limiting.


As for the close up lens adaptor these are broken into two kinds, lowgrade single element options which work, but give degraded performance overall; and the higher grade multi element options which deliver a very high grade of results. The Raynox series are very well regarded and certainly worth considering as a high quality attachment.

As for which is best, I'd say the Extension tubes for your setup. The close up lens attachments work their best on longer lenses (ie give the most magnification gain) whilst the extension tubes are the opposite, giving more magnificaiton on shorter lenses. Your 18-55mm with tubes would probably prove to be your best setup; the 35mm is a bit short, which whilst offering good magnification with the tubes, will also have a very tiny working distance (distance between subject and the front of the lens).

 

[Derrel]

Considering the prices, I would say get the 25mm Kenko extension tube. It will work well. It should be very handy on the 55-300mm zoom lens.

 

[EchoingWhisper]

Don't use diopters/filters, the chromatic aberration is awesome.

 

[Dao]

Don't use diopters/filters, the chromatic aberration is awesome.

But I believe the Canon 500D and those from Raynox are quite good optically (From the results I saw online)

 

[timputtick]

sacrificing image quality and f/ stops for the price not so good of an idea, which 70-300 lens do you have and which macro photography do you have in mind?

 

[Overread]

Don't use diopters/filters, the chromatic aberration is awesome.

Cheap ones are indeed poor options; the chromastic aberration is a common problem that you get with the single element options; the Raynox and mentioned Canon option are far superior. You do hear a fair bit of bad news about these adaptors, but mostly because most people enconter the very cheap options; often the ones sold in multipacks

 

[pgriz]

Off-topic. @ Overread: can I use you as the authority for my scrabble reference? I like "chomastic". Has a certain je-ne-sais-quoi about it.

 

[Overread]

Sure - though I expect full royalties from any wins