Close-up lens vs. Extension Tubes

[bboehm]

I'm just getting my feet wet with some macro shooting and have purchased a Canon 500d close-up lens for my Canon 70-300 DO IS lens. It works great. Are there any advantages to using Extension Tubes instead of a close-up lens?

I am curious as to the advantages and disadvantages of one vs. the other.

Can they both be used together?

Thanks!!

Bill

[Elmo]

Any Diopter will lessen IQ, but Canon's is one of the best. Using Extension tubes will give you better image quality (only slightly from the use of the diopter) at the expense of loosing light.

Extension tubes with your lens it will likely mean no autofocus, but generally macros are done using manual focus, so not a biggie.

The short and long of it is use what you have unless you find some reason it is not working for you.

If you must spend something get a flash, bracket, diffuser and remote sync cable to better your macro/closeups.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by bboehm

... Are there any advantages to using Extension Tubes instead of a close-up lens?

I am curious as to the advantages and disadvantages of one vs. the other.

Can they both be used together?

The main advantage with extension tubes is that if you get a set, with three different length tubes, the ability to stack the tubes in any combination gives you a selection of magnifications to choose from. And what Elmo said about the tubes not reporting depends on how much you're willing to spend. The $20 eBay tubes don't report, but the Pro Optic and Kenko tube sets do report--autofocus isn't necessarily that big a deal, but auto-aperture and EXIF information are also a good thing.

The other advantage is the image quality issue; but tubes can also rob the lens of about half a stop and may cause vignetting, depending on the lens you put on them.

And yes, you can use them together.

There is one other technique, lens reversal (i.e., mounting a lens backwards), which is very much like using a diopter filter/close-up lens, only you're using something like your EF 50mm f/1.8, which is even higher quality than the close-up lens.

You may want to take a peep at the Flickr Poor Man's Macro group.