Extension Tubes

[Michael_2010]

What is the general opinion of these things?

I'm not committed to macro photography, but I would like to have the capability when the opportunity presents itself. Would the combo of my 50mm f/1.8 and the Canon EF 25mm Extension Tube II make a good combo?

Would I be happy with the end result, or would it just frustrate me and turn into a needless expense?

Or, would a Canon Close-up lens be a better option for me?

[BCampbell]

25mm of extension on a 50mm adds roughly .5x to the magnification. IIRC, the 50/1.8 is around .15x, so you're going to be somewhere around .65x; still under 1:1. The reach is going to end up being something like the 50mm f/2.5 macro, a little closer actually. You might want to look at examples from that lens to see if that's close enough for you.

You may also be able to stack multiple extension tubes. The Kenko set includes 12, 20, and 36mm tubes, giving you anywhere between ~.40x to ~1.5x total magnification. There's a possibility that you can lose electrical control when stacking too many tubes, but I have a friend with that set who uses them stacked on the 50/1.4 no problem.

I find tubes a pretty easy solution for macro work without buying a dedicated macro lens. I don't use quite the same setup -- I have an adapted k-mount lens with plain tubes -- but I like the results:


That's roughly .9x, I haven't done real testing to find the actual magnification.

Note that tubes can be useful outside of macro shooting... a lot of people underestimate the usefulness of tubes with telephoto lenses, especially for shooting wildlife when you want to be able to focus just a bit closer and don't care about infinity focus -- move and you'll scare away that woodchuck or unicorn or whatever.

[ryankarr]

Not to butt in on this topic, but what extension tubes would be compatible with my d5000?

[inkista]

A dedicated macro lens is going to give you more freedom to frame as you want, but is going to cost more.

I'm also of the mind that you'd be better off spending money on a Kenko (or similar) extension tube set (~$170), rather than blow roughly the same amount of money ($140) on a single Canon tube. Extension tubes are just hollow tubes so you can mount the lens farther away from the camera. The good ones (read: costy) have electrical contacts that can maintain body/lens communication, so you'll have aperture control. Otherwise, you'll be shooting wide open.

A set is more useful than a single tube, because you can stack and combine them in a number of ways, which basically gives you a stepped way to control magnification and focus distance. It's not as nice as being able to frame however you want, but it's better than being locked into only one focus distance.


Canon XT. 50mm f/1.8 II. Kenko set, all three tubes stacked for 68mm total extension.

Kenko makes sets for both Canon and Nikon mounts. If you're really cheap, Adorama sells ProOptic sets for $50 (plastic mount) for Canon and $85 (metal mount) for Canon and Nikon.

[Michael_2010]

Thanks for all the input. Gives me a lot to think about.