Do any of your extension tubes mate with the Oly teleconverters?

WileEC_ID wrote:

Peter 1745 wrote:

WileEC_ID wrote:

I confirmed all of the above and compared the extension tube I have next to the O 40-150mm f/2.8 and without compromising the design of the tube, I won't be able to create that cutout. See image below:

The Oly 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro has a decided cutout for the tab on the MC-14 and MC-20

So - it will be a different brand to make this work. Sigh - at least we are clearly documenting what is critical to making this work. Narrow enough area in the central part of the extension tubes AND room for the special tab on the teleconverters to go. It looks like this lens also has two contact points. Examining the two teleconverters - each has a single contact point, but one is further from the tab than the other. I'm guessing that which contact point is touched tells the lens and camera which TC is attached. I see no corresponding contacts on the two extension tube sets I have. Am curious if any of the other sets have these? Or perhaps I am completely wrong about the purpose for this single contact element.

The Olympus teleconverters are only official compatible with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 40‑150mm F2.8 PRO and M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm F4 PRO.

I don't own either of these lenses and none of the lenses I have feature the 2 extra contact points. In fact I wasn't even aware of their existence until you pointed them out.

Your surmise that the contacts tell the lens if a MC14 or MC20 is attached seems reasonable to me.

I am not aware of any extension rings that feature pass through electronics for them. I would be very surprised if they will ever appear as the use of teleconverters combined with extension rings is a very niche activity, and most of those who do combine them use the Oly 60mm macro lens (which doesn't have the extra contacts anyway).

I own both of the lenses the TC are officially sanctioned for, and the 300mm looks exactly like the 40-150mm in the picture.

Wouldn't have expected Oy to assume people would even try to use the TCs with a macro lens - but one should never underestimate the genius of people that have a will to make something work. When I shot some macro stuff with my FF setup a few months back, I discovered the ability to use a TC with that macro lens and while the minimum aperture for the lens was 1/32, with what I had connected - I was getting 1/64 and saw 1/81 once. Most would run to cry DIFFRACTION - but I didn't see it and unfortunately sometimes people limit themselves by stat and spec sheets rather than just try stuff - I mean honestly - the worst thing that can happen is you get a bad click - but you get the chance to learn something - why turn that down.

Curiosity and human ingenuity are a very powerful combination.

Diffraction is real but less important to an image than lighting and composition, and often given way too much attention than it deserves.

stokey wrote:

Peter 1745 wrote:

Pixco extension tubes are similar to Fotga ones in their sizing and materials. The 10mm is wide but not long enough and the 16mm is long but not wide enough (in it's unmodified form) but the 16mm is easy to modify. Both brands offer pass through electronics so AF and aperture lens control works normally.

I have just tried a set of Fotga tubes and although they autofocus and pass through the aperture when connected directly to the camera they do not do so when attached to my MC20. I wondered if the fact that the two extra contacts on the MC20 are "open" could affect the transmission of the standard pins. How can my set-up differ from yours ? Maybe there is a difference between MC20 and MC14.

Bob

I have the fotodiox tubes and they work on both the 1.4x and 2x TCs. You might want to check the MC20 pins.

stokey wrote:

Peter 1745 wrote:

Pixco extension tubes are similar to Fotga ones in their sizing and materials. The 10mm is wide but not long enough and the 16mm is long but not wide enough (in it's unmodified form) but the 16mm is easy to modify. Both brands offer pass through electronics so AF and aperture lens control works normally.

I have just tried a set of Fotga tubes and although they autofocus and pass through the aperture when connected directly to the camera they do not do so when attached to my MC20. I wondered if the fact that the two extra contacts on the MC20 are "open" could affect the transmission of the standard pins. How can my set-up differ from yours ? Maybe there is a difference between MC20 and MC14.

Bob

I don't have an MC20 so check on my tubes but I know other people have successfully used Fotga tubes with the MC20. My MC14 works with both contacts "open" and I don't think the MC20 would work differently.

Failure of extension tubes to connect electronically is often due to the hole on the metal part of the mount, which accepts the mounts contact pin, being slightly too small.

Previous post on the subject

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/63582773

It may be the pin on the MC20 is slightly larger than the pin on the camera. The hole on the tube may be big enough for the pin on the camera but not for the pin on the tube, preventing the pin from fully extending, which in turn stops the switch on the base of the pin being activated and the camera recognising the device is connected.

A simple solution is to make the hole on the tube slightly larger.

In the pictures below the Fotga tube is on the left and the MC14 is on the right.

The contact pin and the corresponding hole are at the 12 o'clock position. Note than the hole on my Fotga tube is bigger and less precisely cut,  (I haven't modified it myself).

Contact pin/switch at 12 o'clock on the metal part of the mounts.

Contact pin/switch receiving hole at 12 o'clock on the metal part of the mounts.

WileEC_ID wrote:

So - apparently I have different results than others. Bottom line, no gain from getting either of the Oly TCs to join up with the 60mm macro.

That’s puzzling. Your result with just extension tubes matches mine. I got better with an MC-14, with an image height of 6mm. The bigger gain was an increase in working distance and focusing range. For me that was worth the modest cost of the Fotga tubes.

The biggest win was combining MC-14 or MC-20 with a Raynox DCR-250. That is much more effective than just the DCR-250 alone, or than extension tube + DCR-250 (which had no focus range).

I agree that the Fotga tubes are poor for any other purpose. You need to deepen the hole for the pin, as Peter 1745 described, for them to work on some cameras.

Perhaps they changed .. I just bought the Pixco and the 10mm very clearly does NOT fit on the MC20.

Morgan in Austin wrote:

Perhaps they changed .. I just bought the Pixco and the 10mm very clearly does NOT fit on the MC20.

Thanks for the information. Several forum members have attached the Pixco 10mm tube to the MC20 in the past, without modification, but the 16mm tube is also required as the 10mm length isn't long enough on its own.

The fact that your Pixco tube doesn't fit suggest Pixco may have updated their design and the new design has a smaller central hole.

For what it's worth, my 3 year old 10mm Fotga tube fits without modification and the 16mm Fotga tube can be modified to fit ,using a small file, in less than 5 minutes.

Morgan in Austin wrote:

Perhaps they changed .. I just bought the Pixco and the 10mm very clearly does NOT fit on the MC20.

All these tubes are probably made by a handful of companies and relabeled, and there is most likely only one or maybe two that will fit. I have the fotodiox pro from amazon and they fit.

This modification enabled the (new) Pixco 10mm extender to attach to the MC-20

Notice the position of the red dot. I used a small drill to make a bunch of holes, then gouged a bit to make a trench.

tammons wrote:

WileEC_ID wrote:

tammons wrote:

No shaving anything involved. At least with the ones I got.

They fit out of the box.

Also, the 16mm tube wont fit directly on the TC.

It has to be stacked MC-14 > 10mm tube > 16mm tube (or a second 10mm tube) > lens.

Oh - fine - make me jealous. Good to know - the Fotodiox extension tubes work with the teleconverters with no shaving and clearly allow for the tab that is on the teleconverters that makes them not fit with some others - even if they are shaved.

I really appreciate the follow-up. Thanks - helps us all to learn.

No problem. I was in the middle of looking for something else that fit beside the Fotga tubes since they did not work and just happened to get the Fotodiox tubes today. It only took me 5 brands to find one that fit - LOL.

I am also testing 3 different Raynox front mount magnifiers if you want to know how that goes.

Does the Fotodiox pro 16mm extension tube fit the Teleconverter or just 10mm and than add the 16mm?

Thanks,

Leo