Macro with TTartisans 40mm F2.8 and Extension tubes- has anyone tried before?

MacM545 wrote:

Eggplantt wrote:

Maybe consider combining the extension tubes with a quality close up lens?

Seeing as how you've reversed some non-macro lenses, I don't think a perfectly flat field is what you need (but my experience with close up lenses can reveal very good performance across 2/3rds of the frame at f5.6 on 50mm lenses).

And a close up lens will allow to work at a higher effective aperture, which is important.

That's a great idea. but in practice, I've not found it practical from what I remember. I've tried extension with a close up lens by Nisi for about $75 on a 320mm lens. It was surprising to me, because any existent loss of image quality wasn't noticeable to me with the close-up lens. also, the extension tubes together didn't seem to cause, for me, a noticeable lack of image quality. It was the Fuji 50-230mm 2nd version.

The extension tubes definitely worked on the 23mm Viltrox, but by the time the focus was about 1mm away from the lens, the magnification despite the close focus was only 0.4X. For the close-up lens to work to achieve 2X, it would require a focal length of ~400mm or more. The close-up is in a way the opposite of extension tubes. An extension tube works more effectively for a wider angle lens, but a close-up lens is more effective for a longer focal length.

That being said, it might work differently with an SLR.

You must have done something wrong. A 10mm tube with a 23mm lens should be 0.43x at "infinity". Then add the lens magnification at minimum focus.

To reach 2x at infinity, tubes need to be about twice the focal length of the lens, so you know from the start what's feasible.