Final question on macro photography

[cgipson1]

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

Agreed... The Raynox is FAR superior. I was a add on lens hater.. and this lens changed my mind!

 

[cgipson1]

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

The 560 is a MANUAL only flash.. no TTL capability... if you want manual, it will do fine. It does have the advantage of having two slave modes.. one normal slave (fires on any flash) and a CLS TTL compatible mode, where it ignores the pre-flash.. and fires on the actual actuation flash.

Still better off with a OEM flash.. but I do understand they are cost-prohibitive....

 

[reissigree]

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?

I have the 55-300mm Nikon 4.5-5.6 lens. I was thinking about bugs, or anything closeup really.

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-55-300mm-4-5-5-6G-ED-VR/dp/B003ZSHNCC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325869644&sr=8-1
Weird, went up a hundred bucks since I got it.

 

[reissigree]

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:
Amazon.com: kenko dg auto extension tube set for the nikon af mount
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).

I'm just going to go with a flash eventually. Can I use my on-camera flash for now with some kind of snoot to get the light past the end of my lens? Thanks for all your advice! I probably will go with the Zeikos on my 18-55mm. Wouldn't the single kenko work well on my 55-300mm though? Like Derrel said.

 

[Overread]

If you can build a snoot a popup flash can deliver quite a good amount of light for macro/closeup work.
If you get the Zeikos set you shouldn't need the additional kenko extension tube, since you'd already have teh set from the Zeikos to use on either lens.

 

[Bend The Light]

I built a quite impressive devide to direct the light from the pop-up flash to the end of the lens...lined with shiny stuff, and a toilet paper diffuser on the end...worked lovely, but was just a little bulky. But got me through quite a bit of macro to start off with.
My next thing was an old old flash, on a bracket, triggered with a cheap radio trigger someone gave me for free. I diffused that with the plastic milk bottle ... that was even better for a while.

 

[reissigree]

If you can build a snoot a popup flash can deliver quite a good amount of light for macro/closeup work. If you get the Zeikos set you shouldn't need the additional kenko extension tube, since you'd already have teh set from the Zeikos to use on either lens.

So I should get the Zeikos for different nagnification levels?

 

[reissigree]

The reviews on most of the extension tubes say that they damage the lens. I'm looking at just getting the DCR-250.

 

[Overread]

kenko brand extension tubes shouldn't cause any damage to lenses; though cheaper brands might or might not cause problems (I have read some problems with some other brand ones, but I'm not sure of specific make/models to list).

The Raynox is a good option, though getting the most magnification from it you'll likely have to use it on the 70-300mm.

 

[cgipson1]

kenko brand extension tubes shouldn't cause any damage to lenses; though cheaper brands might or might not cause problems (I have read some problems with some other brand ones, but I'm not sure of specific make/models to list).

The Raynox is a good option, though getting the most magnification from it you'll likely have to use it on the 70-300mm.

^^^^This! Kenkos are good... and still cheap. Worth the money, other less expensive copies may not work as well. and Yes.. the Raynox is a good bet!

 

[reissigree]

okay so willI get better magnification with kenko 25mm 100$ extension tube or with the raynox? I guess that is the question I need answered. Thanks

 

[cgipson1]

okay so willI get better magnification with kenko 25mm 100$ extension tube or with the raynox? I guess that is the question I need answered. Thanks

at what zoom? I have the ability to test this.. I have the Kenkos.. and I have the Raynox.. and I have a 28-300 zoom that I would test your ranges on. But I won't test them all.. get specific!

 

[reissigree]

well I'm not too familiar with macro photography.. but could you do 200mm? or just whatever you would typically use. which do you prefer using?

 

[cgipson1]

well I'm not too familiar with macro photography.. but could you do 200mm? or just whatever you would typically use. which do you prefer using?

I will do a couple of shots.. different ranges.. and will post them. Give me a couple of hours.

 

[reissigree]

well I'm not too familiar with macro photography.. but could you do 200mm? or just whatever you would typically use. which do you prefer using?

I will do a couple of shots.. different ranges.. and will post them. Give me a couple of hours.

Thank you so much for your time.. You're saving my life! I'm in college and don't have a huge budget and it kills me when I make a bad purchase lol.