mahidoes
Veteran Member
can you recommend me a extension tube to get in to macro. I want a tube which maintain contact with camera so i can change aperture. Should I go with canon one? Any other cheaper stable recommendation?
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Extension tube for EF 50mm f/1.4?
- Thread starter mahidoes
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M Stewart
Leading Member
Canon do two extension tubes, the EF12 and the EF25. Mine are both in mint condition. The EF12 is close to 12mm, and the EF25 is something like 27mm thick. Both transmit the electrical settings to and from the lens.
I tried my EF 50mm F/1.4 USM on the EF12 on my Eos 5D MkII, and it gave me a working distance of around 15cm / 6in. (the AF worked.) At a guess the field covered was around 10cm wide, so a magnification factor of approx 1/3x.
Mounting the EF 50 F/1.4 on the EF25 tube gave me a width of object of about 5cm / 2in so your macro ratio is now about 0.7x, and with very little working distance in front of the lens, about 3-4cm, ~1.5in. Stacking both tubes together makes a little difference. All the above was done hand-held.
I also have the EF 50 F/2.5 Compact Macro (and dedicated life-size tube) and used this combination in preference to the EF 100 F/2.8 Macro USM. Very high sharpness for buildings and general shots, and the facility for 1:2 macros built-in, without its special tube.
(I note that my EF12 has a note with it, in my hand writing, warning about causing a short circuit when used with an M42 adaptor. I can't now remember what I was trying to do, but it must have been more than 15 years ago.)
If you're tempted to buy a 3rd. party macro lens, do check that it's possible to optimise the AF-MA settings - both in normal use, and in the macro region. (Expensive lesson learnt - and it's been back to the UK importers who improved it a bit....)
If you get serious, do get yourself a macro-slide. BPM off eBay works well.
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M. Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
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Steve Balcombe
Veteran Member
There is very little reason to pay the high price of the Canon tubes, especially the 25 mm which is much more expensive than the 12 mm for a virtually identical piece of equipment.
A recommended alternative is the Kenko set of 12, 20 and 36 mm. See https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Kenko-Extension-Tube-Set-Review.aspx
mahidoes
Veteran Member
If I understood correctly more the mm closer the focus and less light reaching the sensor. I don't need all 3. I think 25mm would be enough.
Steve Balcombe
Veteran Member
Correct - for a shorter lens you need a shorter tube to get the same effect. Depending what you're doing, the 12 mm might be enough. But the whole set costs the same as one Canon tube, and the longer tubes may be useful in the future.
mahidoes
Veteran Member
GreatWhiteWing
Veteran Member
Another option to consider is a reversing mount like the link below. Maintains comm to camera
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www.bhphotovideo.com
mahidoes
Veteran Member
This is also 90$. I find extension tube to be simpler. What advantage this will have over extension tube?
I compiled a number of different ways (extension tube, close-up lens, inverted lens) to get close up here, have a look:
https://photonius.jimdo.com/macro/
For tubes, I still would recommend a set, like the kenko ones, because you will have very little room to focus, and change magnification. The magnification is mainly dictated by the extension tube length. So, to get different framings you need different extension tube lengths. A set like the Kenko allows you to make different combinations.
Don't worry about the light loss. The camera will take care of that. It just means slower shutter speeds or higher ISO the more magnification you have - but that's a universal problem for macro.
Regarding the inverted lens, that's usually a very restricted option with only one particular magnification, it's a decent option if you want to achieve high magnifications. But ton control this properly, you also would want to have a bellows, or extensions tubes to adjust your inverse mounted lens.
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*** Life is short, time to zoom in *** ©
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Steve Balcombe
Veteran Member
In theory, image quality can be higher but only for magnifications above 1:1.
The MP-E65 is in effect a lens which comes already reversed, as you can see from the block diagram:
MP-E65 at 1x
- notice that the back elements (on the right) are larger than the front. Here's a normal lens for comparison:
EF 85/1.8
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GreatWhiteWing
Veteran Member
Seems you already got a few decent replies.
Way back in the day I did that with FD lenses on a film camera and got interesting results and it was free to me back then. Just a technique I was always kind of fascinated by, reversing a lens seems odd. I like odd
mahidoes
Veteran Member
I also feel the same.
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