Kenko extension on D100 - again

Volker H. · Sep 8, 2002

Hi folks,

First let me tell you how much I enjoy this forum. Its great to see that much of experience at one place.

I'm new in the DSLR world and got my D100 3 weeks ago. My only lens at the moment is a Tamron 28-300/ 3.5-6.3 (please don't beat me, I saw the articles about the lens here to late... beginner-fault ).

Now I'm looking for a cheap way to step into the macro world.
A Tamron 90mm/2.8 or similiar is at the moment not affordable for me.

Cause I want to buy a Nikon 50mm/1.8 , I'm also looking at the Kenko extension Tubes (the expensive ones for Nikon AF).

I know that AF is not recommended for macro shots, but I also heard that these ext. tubes support metering for the D100.

Is this true, does these Ext. tubes allow automatic metering with the D100 or do I have to guess/shoot/review/reshoot ?

Thanks for your help.

Volker

Digichrome · Sep 8, 2002

I'm not entirely certain but if it can AF I would assume it could meter.

I'd really like to know as well since I'm interested in picking up a set of these.
Digichrome

Volker H. said:
Hi folks,

First let me tell you how much I enjoy this forum. Its great to see
that much of experience at one place.
I'm new in the DSLR world and got my D100 3 weeks ago. My only lens
at the moment is a Tamron 28-300/ 3.5-6.3 (please don't beat me, I
saw the articles about the lens here to late... beginner-fault ).

Now I'm looking for a cheap way to step into the macro world.
A Tamron 90mm/2.8 or similiar is at the moment not affordable for me.

Cause I want to buy a Nikon 50mm/1.8 , I'm also looking at the
Kenko extension Tubes (the expensive ones for Nikon AF).
I know that AF is not recommended for macro shots, but I also heard
that these ext. tubes support metering for the D100.

Is this true, does these Ext. tubes allow automatic metering with
the D100 or do I have to guess/shoot/review/reshoot ?

Thanks for your help.

Volker

--
Once Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Fujichrome and Cibachrome.
Now.....Digichrome!
---
My photography page with a link to my gallery:
http://www.sinknet.net/photography-frame.htm
My Photosig page:
http://www.photosig.com/viewuser.php?id=21173

Joe, K9JST · Sep 8, 2002

Hi Volker,

I recently got the AF Kenko extension Tubes, and have used them with my Nikkor 85mm F1.8D AF with excellent results with full matrix metering & AF on my D1x. Haven't tried them with the 50mm F1.8 yet, but they should work just fine with reduced working distance.

The Kenko's are costly, and if you plan to do considerable amount of closeup macro work, you may want to get the Nikkor 60mm f2.8 AF macro, as there is a rebate available now.

Joe

Volker H. said:
Hi folks,

First let me tell you how much I enjoy this forum. Its great to see
that much of experience at one place.
I'm new in the DSLR world and got my D100 3 weeks ago. My only lens
at the moment is a Tamron 28-300/ 3.5-6.3 (please don't beat me, I
saw the articles about the lens here to late... beginner-fault ).

Now I'm looking for a cheap way to step into the macro world.
A Tamron 90mm/2.8 or similiar is at the moment not affordable for me.

Cause I want to buy a Nikon 50mm/1.8 , I'm also looking at the
Kenko extension Tubes (the expensive ones for Nikon AF).
I know that AF is not recommended for macro shots, but I also heard
that these ext. tubes support metering for the D100.

Is this true, does these Ext. tubes allow automatic metering with
the D100 or do I have to guess/shoot/review/reshoot ?

Thanks for your help.

Volker

--
Joe

K9JST

Joseph S Wisniewski · Sep 8, 2002

Joe said:
Hi Volker,

I recently got the AF Kenko extension Tubes, and have used them
with my Nikkor 85mm F1.8D AF with excellent results with full
matrix metering & AF on my D1x. Haven't tried them with the 50mm
F1.8 yet, but they should work just fine with reduced working
distance.

They work very well on that lens.

Member said:
The Kenko's are costly, and if you plan to do considerable amount
of closeup macro work, you may want to get the Nikkor 60mm f2.8 AF
macro, as there is a rebate available now.

True, the kenkos are costly, but they do a couple of things for me that are indespinsible.

1) They let the 300mm f2.8 in a little closer when I'm in a bird blind.

1a) a friend swears by a 300mm 2.8 on an extension tube as a portrait lens. I think he's out of his bloody mind.

2) With some cheap (but tricky, unless you're into electronics) modifications, they can perform remarkable tricks, like letting you plug a "dead" lens's chip into the converter, so you have full metering with a macro lens on a bellows, or a D100 on a microscope. Or letting my 20mm f2,8, 45mm "P" nikkor, or 60mm micro nikkor operate reversed on extension tubes. This is a rugged way of going beyond 1:1 macro in the field, to get up to about 6x magnification, with a package much more rugged than a bellows.

Ciao!

Joe

Bob Lang · Sep 8, 2002

I have the Kenko tube set (12, 20, & 36 mm) for Nikon AF-S lenses:

http://www01.bhphotovideo.com/default.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist_html___97286___KEAETSN___REG___CatID=276___SID=F0618FB0D90

Since they have all the CPU contacts, they support all metering modes and AF.

My only complaint is that they vignette severely with my AF-S 500 mm f/4, as well as their shoddy build quality.

When you stack all 3 tubes they flex considerably and the CPU contacts between the 3 tubes become intermittent.

Joe, K9JST · Sep 8, 2002

I agree Joe, they are worth it to me. As I just got mine about a week ago and I haven't had much time to "play" with them yet, but do look forward to seeing what they do on my 300mm f4 (f2.8 outa my budget).

Joe

Joseph S. Wisniewski said:
Joe said:

Hi Volker,

I recently got the AF Kenko extension Tubes, and have used them
with my Nikkor 85mm F1.8D AF with excellent results with full
matrix metering & AF on my D1x. Haven't tried them with the 50mm
F1.8 yet, but they should work just fine with reduced working
distance.

Click to expand...

They work very well on that lens.

Joseph S Wisniewski said:

The Kenko's are costly, and if you plan to do considerable amount
of closeup macro work, you may want to get the Nikkor 60mm f2.8 AF
macro, as there is a rebate available now.

Click to expand...

True, the kenkos are costly, but they do a couple of things for me
that are indespinsible.

1) They let the 300mm f2.8 in a little closer when I'm in a bird
blind.

1a) a friend swears by a 300mm 2.8 on an extension tube as a
portrait lens. I think he's out of his bloody mind.

2) With some cheap (but tricky, unless you're into electronics)
modifications, they can perform remarkable tricks, like letting you
plug a "dead" lens's chip into the converter, so you have full
metering with a macro lens on a bellows, or a D100 on a microscope.
Or letting my 20mm f2,8, 45mm "P" nikkor, or 60mm micro nikkor
operate reversed on extension tubes. This is a rugged way of going
beyond 1:1 macro in the field, to get up to about 6x magnification,
with a package much more rugged than a bellows.

Ciao!

Joseph S Wisniewski · Sep 9, 2002

Bob Lang said:
My only complaint is that they vignette severely with my AF-S 500
mm f/4, as well as their shoddy build quality.

When you stack all 3 tubes they flex considerably and the CPU
contacts between the 3 tubes become intermittent.

Do you have the vignetting problems just on film, or do you have it on digital, too. The Kenko tubes have much narrower throats than the Nikon tubes, (they're built like Kenko teleconverters, without the optical package).

I agree on the flex. When I attempt to stack those critters (or even stack a bunch of the better quality Nikon tubes) I usually use a homebrew support, like something out of the old Lefkowitz "Manual of Close-Up Photography".

Ciao!

Joe

Bob Lang · Sep 9, 2002

Joseph S. Wisniewski said:
Do you have the vignetting problems just on film, or do you have it
on digital, too. The Kenko tubes have much narrower throats than
the Nikon tubes, (they're built like Kenko teleconverters, without
the optical package).

The vignetting problems are on film. Haven't tried the Kenko tubes on digital yet.

Volker H. · Sep 9, 2002

Thanks a lot to all for your input and help. I will give it a try with these tubes.

Volker H. said:
Hi folks,

First let me tell you how much I enjoy this forum. Its great to see
that much of experience at one place.
I'm new in the DSLR world and got my D100 3 weeks ago. My only lens
at the moment is a Tamron 28-300/ 3.5-6.3 (please don't beat me, I
saw the articles about the lens here to late... beginner-fault ).

Now I'm looking for a cheap way to step into the macro world.
A Tamron 90mm/2.8 or similiar is at the moment not affordable for me.

Cause I want to buy a Nikon 50mm/1.8 , I'm also looking at the
Kenko extension Tubes (the expensive ones for Nikon AF).
I know that AF is not recommended for macro shots, but I also heard
that these ext. tubes support metering for the D100.

Is this true, does these Ext. tubes allow automatic metering with
the D100 or do I have to guess/shoot/review/reshoot ?

Thanks for your help.

Volker

Joseph S Wisniewski · Sep 9, 2002

Bob Lang said:
The vignetting problems are on film. Haven't tried the Kenko tubes
on digital yet.

You'll be pleasntly surprised. The Kenko tubes have 32mm inside diameters. The Nikon sensors have about a 28mm diagonal. So you simply can't have vignetting problems with long telephoto lenses.

I'm surprised you get substantial vignetting on a 500mm. How deeply recessed is the rear element of the 500mm? For this to happen, it would have to be very deep, over 120mm (based on a quick calculation with a 32mm aperture, a 43mm film diagonal, and 45mm paerture to film).

Ciao!

Joe

Bob Lang · Sep 9, 2002

Joe,

Your calculations are in the ballpark. The filter drawer of the 500 f/4 is about 9 cm from the lens mount, and the rear element is in front of that.

I also have the Nikon PK-13 tube (27.5 cm). It has a throat diameter of about 15 mm, whereas the Kenko throat diameter is only 11 mm, which explains why the Nikon tube doesn't vignette.

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Kenko extension on D100 - again

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