Posted by Richard Hahn on January 8, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Good morning to all, or afternoon / evening,
I have a question about extension tubes. I have a Cannon XTi & would like to know what your thought on the use of the tubes are & what type are good?
Most of my clicks are of nature & I would what the tubes for distance. I would use them on my Sigma Zoom 28 - 300 3.5 - 6.3 DG Macro lens and Cannon 300 4.0 IS lens.
Also would they work in conjuction with a 1.4 converter?
If you're really talking extension tubes (hollow with no glass in them), you don't want them for distance. They're intended to help you focus at closer distances, but at the same time costing you the ability to focus at distances. Telextenders on the other hand have glass "auxilliary lenses" in them and essentially stretch lenses for shooting at distance.
Do you mean telextenders rather than hollow extension tubes?
Posted by Bill Fach on January 8, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Rich: Like Hank said extension tubes only allow you to focus closer. They merely move the lens away from the body which essentially shifts your focus range from infinity to a shorter distance. The longer the tube the closer you can focus. That said, if you want closer focusing I prefer close-up filters or diopters that screw on the front of the lens when using a zoom. Focusing a zoom with tubes on board is a monumental pain in the butt IMO. Tubes work great for primes and would be a good choice for your 300. As for the converter, it too would work best with your 300. A 1.4x converter takes a full stop of light so it will make your rig a 420mm f5.6. On the zoom a converter will slow down an already slow lens and will not allow it to autofocus. Kenko makes good tubes and converters. >=))>
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on January 8, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Extension tubes + teleconverters work fine together.
The 500mm + 1.4x + tubes makes for a great macro lens (on a tripod, of course).
Regarding brands, I have the Canon tubes, but others are quite happy with the much cheaper non-Canon options.
Posted by Richard Hahn on January 8, 2008 at 4:24 PM
Thank you,
Hank I was refering to extension tubes (no glass) and then I questioned if they would work with a teleconverter.
Some reason I was under the impression that you could use the tubes to bring subject in a distance closer up like a longer lens would. Thanks again.
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on January 8, 2008 at 8:35 PM
Richard, the tubes do not "bring subjects in the distance closer", they allow you to move closer to the subject with any given lens and still maintain focus.
So, with the proper combination of extension tubes and teleconvertor I can fill the frame with a dragonfly, while using a 500mm lens. Without the tubes, my closest focusing distance with that lens would be 14.8 ft., and the dragonfly would cover a much smaller area of the image.
I find a set of tubes are very useful to have in a nature photographer's kit.
And, relative to other accesories, they are inexpensive.
The advice on the use of tubes and Extenders as presented above is correct. As to brand I use a set of Kenko tubes on my Canon gear and find they work well. Since there are no real "optics" and only the electronics that have to transmit the lens info to the body the third party brand works great and no need to spend the extra $$
Discussion
6 repliesI have a question about extension tubes. I have a Cannon XTi & would like to know what your thought on the use of the tubes are & what type are good?
Most of my clicks are of nature & I would what the tubes for distance. I would use them on my Sigma Zoom 28 - 300 3.5 - 6.3 DG Macro lens and Cannon 300 4.0 IS lens.
Also would they work in conjuction with a 1.4 converter?
Thank you,
Rich
Do you mean telextenders rather than hollow extension tubes?
The 500mm + 1.4x + tubes makes for a great macro lens (on a tripod, of course).
Regarding brands, I have the Canon tubes, but others are quite happy with the much cheaper non-Canon options.
Hank I was refering to extension tubes (no glass) and then I questioned if they would work with a teleconverter.
Some reason I was under the impression that you could use the tubes to bring subject in a distance closer up like a longer lens would. Thanks again.
So, with the proper combination of extension tubes and teleconvertor I can fill the frame with a dragonfly, while using a 500mm lens. Without the tubes, my closest focusing distance with that lens would be 14.8 ft., and the dragonfly would cover a much smaller area of the image.
I find a set of tubes are very useful to have in a nature photographer's kit.
And, relative to other accesories, they are inexpensive.