Kenko Tubes: whattya think?

I've got a Canon 70-200mm 2.8, and I've read about extension tubes. They seem like a good idea on paper to get closer/macro images, but does anyone use them? Do they actually work? Or is it better to just get the Canon 100mm Macro?

Thanks in advance. BTW, I use a 5D body.
-Paul

I have the Kenko set and they work well with my 70-200 F4 L. I expect they would work even better with your 2.8 lens. I have intermittent problems with auto focus in low light, but I'm sure that's due to the slow lens. If there's plenty of light, I have no problems focusing.

pros:
There are no additional optics involved, so although you lose light, you don't lose image quality.
You can focus REALLY close.

cons:
Loss of light, quite significant loss when you stack all three tubes. But it's rare that you need to use all three at once.
Attaching and detaching the tubes can be a bit of a hassle.

If you've used them successfully then I think it's a go. I'd be on a tripod anyway (regarding low light) and can manually focus where necessary. I like this option because I'll get closer focusing and utilize the optical quality of the lens...

Great description, thanks Curtis!

Tubes are a lot less expensive, a lot lighter, and a lot more flexible than a macro lens. I pretty much keep mine in my bag all the time (except when I'm using them ). Their main drawbacks are that they make the camera a bit more wobbly and you need to take them off to focus to further away. I pretty much always focus manually when I'm doing macro work, so any impact on AF hasn't been anything I've noticed. I sometimes use tubes on longer telephoto lenses when I run up against their relatively long minimum focusing distance, but I wouldn't call that macro work.

I also own (and love) several macro lenses. If I know for sure I'm going to do macro work, I'll generally put one of these on and forget about the tubes. (Until I want a different focal length or I want to focus closer than the macro lens will let me... which almost never happens.)

My advice is to buy the tubes first. If you really get into macro work, you're liable to want a macro lens later, but you'll still be glad you have the tubes.

Sean

To add to this question - does anyone use or have any ideas on a good focusing rail setup? I used to have a bellows setup for my old Minolta - but have often thought something like this would be cool for extreme close-up micro-focusing... thanks.

Hi Paul, I use mine quite a bit with my macro, but with stacking all tubes I lose a lot of light. Digital has helped because I can change my ISO to compensate for loss of light on a small flower in a breeze.

David M. Cobb

My advice is to buy the tubes first. If you really get into macro work, you're liable to want a macro lens later, but you'll still be glad you have the tubes.

Glad to see people have used them and they work. Sean's advice sums it up, but thank you all.

I use the Really Right Stuff macro rail package and they work pretty good for precision macro work but are a little on the expensive side. If you do much macro at all you will definitely want some rails.

Hi Paul,
We just bought a set to use with my new 85mm. My few experiments turned out awesome results. A couple old timers to this forum found great success using the tubes a few years ago. With their descriptions from a few years ago, I am confident you will find good use for them. Nancy

I use mine all the time and with a variety of lenses (including my macro lens), since I don't always carry all lenses all at once. The tube set is always in my bag. I love what they do!

I have the set of Kenko tubes and for the price and weight, they can't be beat. I use them on my 50mm prime with great results. I have mounted them with the 70-200/2.8 and with my 400/5.6. They offer some neat opportunities and thus, I recommend them.