Kenko Extension Tubes

[MattT]

I was looking for a cheap(ish) way of getting into more macro photography stuff and found these as a good alternative to a full on macro lens.
They allow auto-focus on the d40 too, although certainly from my experience so far, AF in macro photography is really hard to get decent results. I found that switching to manual was easier.
Most use the 50mm prime with these tubes, I used the 35mm which means you have to get very close to the object - when you use all 3 tubes in combination, the focus point is literally on the surface of the glass!

Anywho - thought I'd post up some of the results:

You can see them all on my flickr here.

I'm aware that the whole macro shots of flowers etc has been done to death, but it made a good starting point / learning exercise.

C&C welcome!

 

[Andy.]

Ultra thin DOF! Were they cheap?

 

[MattT]

^^ Yup, ultra thin!
They weren't cheap - they have the best reviews of all I could source on the net. Think I paid about £120? You can pick up knock-offs (without the AF) for cheap on ebay etc. I mean essentially it's a tube that holds the lens further from the camera.

 

[Andy.]

Might have a look into it once my bank account recovers a bit. Looks like fun.

Is AF really needed do you think or is manual easier?

 

[MattT]

Well it might be useful in some situations and with some practice, but I found as the DOF was so thin the AF was constantly searching.
Probably with a bit more practice the number of sharp 'keepers' would go up.
I think the more hardcore Macro photographers would only ever use manual though!

They have a bizarre effect on some lenses - for example, adding the tubes to my 70-300mm brings the max focus distance to approx 1m. Anything beyond that and it won't focus. I haven't looked at the science behind why, but didn't think that'd happen!

 

[McBunny]

£120 i paid about £50 for mine on my 350d

 

[MattT]

For a full set of Kenko AF ones?
High five!

 

[McBunny]

yeah was a few years ago now and they were from HK but they worked

 

[ScarySquirrel]

My Kenko tubes cost about £85 brand new at the end of last year.

Use it with a Canon 50mm 1.8, you need a flash if you want a decent DOF so that you can shoot at about F11 with a decent shutter speed.