Macro Extension Tubes - A newbie to macro!

For a while I have been contemplating some macro photography...

I have looked a few lenses and seen some of the prices

I was wondering if it's worth getting some macro extension tubes and have a play with them first? (Not sure on how they work neither as never played with them so tips would also be much appreciated!)

Cheers,
Ian

Thanks Gareth

I'll get some and have a play. I have a Pentax 50mm prime so that should sit on them well!

Good idea to use your 50mm, extension tubes aren't good with zooms. To pick up on something Gareth said, auto extension tubes come in two varieties neither of which have any control over focusing. The simplest have the iris actuating mechanism and the others have that mechanism as well as electrical contacts to convey lens and iris information to the camera body

I have a picture on the Pentax Gallery taken with a 50mm and set of tubes if you want to see how close you can get. HERE

Wow Mike...

I take it depth of field is virtually wiped out?

Hi Spad.

Thats exactly the set up I have. cheap and easy way to try macro photography and as you can see in Mike-P's post you can get excellent results.

The only drawback I can think of is that you have to get quite close to your subject which can scare it off sometimes. Its a little frustrating but it does teach you patience !!

Yes the Depth of Feild (DoF)decreases as magnification increases but if you take multiple shots at different focal points you can get software to stack them and create the illusion of a greater DoF. (I cant remember the name of any though, sorry)

Regards
PaulM

My one and only acceptance to the gallery used 50mm and tubes
link
I'd recommend extension tubes as a starting point in macro

I did an A level project on macro photography and compared alternatives to dedicated macro lenses. Have a look here at the web site I built for the project. The pictures are not pretty but maybe it will help.

I don't want to hijack your post but I have a 2x KAX macro teleplus MC7 for sale. Essentially a teleconverter that also allows the attached lens to focus to 1:1 for macro. It would be ideal with your 50mm prime - making it into a 100mm macro lens. I does mean that you'll loose 2 stops but it will retain your aperture control. PM me if interested
Regards
Richard

Message to self ... read the threads first before buying ...
I see bugger all because my lenses do not have Aperture ring ... daft bugger I am

Actually the 18-55 can focus quite close to 1:2,9 good enough for most flowers at least.

A 50mm lens isn't so expensive though, neither is a 28mm that gives you even more magnification but you need to get closer even I believe.

Then you've 3 ways to get a closer focus.
1. Extension tubes - discuss here
2. reverse ring - it's actually a ring with a lens-mount and a filter mount which enables you to use the lens in a reverse way so with the rear to the front.
3. couple ring/stacking - you need a ring with two filter threads and with that you can reverse mount a lens onto another lens. You could use the DA50-200 for that with a 50mm lens, it would give you 4 times magnification (200mm/50mm) with a 28mm lens that would be (200mm/28mm) 7 times even. The only problem is that not all the combinations work so you must be a bit lucky.

#1 & #2 offer you the best quality.