Macro on a budget?

I am wanting to have a bash at macro photography but cannot afford too much.

I recently bought the manual focus 50mm f2.8 Macro lens and I really like it but it isn't true macro, it's only 1:2. I bought a Vivtar teleconverter but the resulting photos don't seem as sharp as they could be.

What are my options for getting sharp, true 1:1 macro but on a budget? Is it possible? I really like the pin sharp photos of dragonflys etc and would like to have a go.

Tubes and an old 50mm is pretty much the cheapest option you will get. However dragonflies tend to be a bit more difficult to get close to so popping an old manual 300mm on a 31mm tube will give you a higher magnification. Your best weapon is stealth though.
There's a whack of good gear here if you want to get into macro.

Tubes? What's that then? Basically a tube? Does it harm IQ?

I don't mind using an manual focus lens as I am used to it.

Would a tube on my 50mm lens give better results than the teleconverter I have been using?

Because the tube has no additional glass to interfere with the image that arrives at the sensor it will be sharper, and because it holds the lens further from the sensor it magnifies the subject hugely.

Example with a Pentax A 50mm f1.7, however you have to get very close. To successfully shoot damsells and dragons you will need to be further from your subject for two reasons. 1. they are twitchy and 2 they tend to be quite large and so to get them all in the picture you need to be some distance away.

OK. So why do people use teleconverters instead of tubes sometimes? It seems a tube is better if it doesn't degrade IQ?

So if I wanted to shoot a large insect using tubes - would I do that using a longer lens then?

Lenses I own - 10-24mm, 50mm, 50-135mm, 17-50mm

I use tubes with a 50mm A F1.7, 70-210mm A f4 and a mint 100mm M F4 Macro - depending on the subject- all combinations give great results. The Raynox DCR snap-on macro is also worth trying- I have had some very nice pics using this lens on the 50mm 1.7 A.

Bloody hell Gary - I have just looked at your Flickr portfolio and WOW! Some absolutely stunning pics there mate - love your still life stuff too - they look amazing - are you using light painting on some of them as they look so unusual?

Thank you very much Jason. I sometimes use a small Maglite to 'paint' in areas that need a lift, especially with candlelight.

I am looking at these Raynox things on eBay.

So if I get a Raynox DCR-250 and stick it on my Pentax 50-135mm f2.8 lens I'll be getting reasonable results do you think?

You should at the long end, you may experience problems with vignetting at the wider end if your lens is not 'full frame' ie. older M and A.

Most of these macro shots were taken with a 50mm and tubes but the big emerging dragon was taken with a 180mm on tubes.