Extension tubes.

[Athas_orm]

Are they any use? What lens type would work best with them. I've a kit lens and a nifty fifty and a EF 28-90mm 1:4-5.6 are they any good for use with extension tubes? Or would you just wait until I could save for macro?

[AgBeard]

Your NiftyFifty will go well with extension tubes for still life, but if it's bugs your into you will need longer reach.

Here is a link to an earlier post:

Extension Tubes

The newer Kenko tubes will work with EF-S lens.

[inkista]

Yeah, the Plastic Fantastic does just fine:



Canon XT. EF 50mm f/1.8 II. Kenko extension tubes, all three tubes stacked (68mm extension).

You are mashing the front of the lens up against the subject, though, and the combination only focuses at specific subject distances, so you have almost no ability to frame. And agreed: the working distance would be disastrous for shooting bugs.

With extension tubes, you want a set with contacts so you can control aperture, unless you prefer to shoot wide open all the time, and some of them allow EF-S lens mounting and some don't. Primes tend to work better than zooms for this, and wider angle lenses tend to be used more easily for close up work, and give you larger magnification if you reverse them.

And yeah, the Thrifty Fifty's good for reversal, too.


Canon XT. EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM Macro with EF 50mm f/1.8 II reversed on the front with a coupling ring.

[Athas_orm]

Thanks for the links and the samples. So is that how an extension tube works by allowing the lens to focus to objects closer than normal?

I'd imagine the idea focusing distance to be about 1-2 feet because I'd like to be able to keep a little flexibility. So maybe that wouldn't actually work for me too well. (i.e. close but not mashed to the lens).

I saw your pictures of the cents before which is partly why I thought I'd give extension tubes a go. I wasn't sure about a reverse lens solution as I don't see how I could control either focus or aperture on the nifty 50.

A friend of mine uses a Sigma 70-300mmf/4-5.6 Macro APO DG which I believe can do 1/2 macro but he finds that the minimum focusing distance is too far. Would an extension tube be helpful in this regard? (both to get to true macro and also to reduce the minimum focus distance?)

I'm just trying to get a feeling for how it works thats all.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by Athas_orm

Thanks for the links and the samples. So is that how an extension tube works by allowing the lens to focus to objects closer than normal?

Yup. But the flip side is that you lose the ability to focus on anything farther away. Some folks go all DIY and use Pringles cans as extension tubes. You're just holding the lens out in front a bit farther than it normally sits.

I'd imagine the idea focusing distance to be about 1-2 feet because I'd like to be able to keep a little flexibility. So maybe that wouldn't actually work for me too well. (i.e. close but not mashed to the lens).

The 50/1.8 II's minimum focus distance is already 1.5 ft, so you don't need an extension tube for that distance--only if you want to get closer. But also, this is the fun of a tube set--you don't have to stack all three tubes. You could use a smaller tube in the set to get just a little closer. But you are sort of locked to the "steps" the tubes and combinations of tubes can get you.

I wasn't sure about a reverse lens solution as I don't see how I could control either focus or aperture on the nifty 50.

You don't control the 50. You control the lens it's reversed in front of. Lens reversal basically uses the reversed lens like a magnifying glass in front of the camera. This is also what close-up filters are doing. The lens just stays wide open by default. Focusing is again done by varying the distance of the combination to the subject.

A friend of mine uses a Sigma 70-300mmf/4-5.6 Macro APO DG which I believe can do 1/2 macro but he finds that the minimum focusing distance is too far. Would an extension tube be helpful in this regard?...

Yes, but it might be more limited in its helpfulness, depending on how far he's zoomed in. I sometimes use the same extension tubes stacked on my EF 400mm f/5.6L USM, just so I can focus on things that are within my 10' minimum focus distance, but it still doesn't mean I can shoot inches away from my subject, since 68mm extension on a 400mm lens is a mere pittance, vs. 68mm extension on a 50mm lens.

[Athas_orm]

Okay thanks that's been extraordinarly helpful. I'm currently thinking of giving them a miss I could find any decent relatively inexpensive macro lenses.

I feel I understand how they work much better. Thank you.