Extension Tube Experiment

[Stan]

Have you tried using the 300mm with extension tubes in place of the 1.4x converter?

Following a question posed by Muscat I thought i would conduct a little experiment. I am not a great lover of extension tubes although i do have the Jessops set bought very cheaply off e bay a while ago. Using them with my macro lens, nifty fifty etc i could never really get on with them so they just sit gathering dust. I had never thought of using them with the 300 so I have been out in the garden to take a couple of shots of one of the small flowers (about 1" wide) that the crab spider was on a couple of weeks ago.

The first shot is just with the 300 f4 at its minimum focus distance of 4.9 " ( 1.5 metres)



I then put a 31mm extension tube with the 300 and was able to move the camera around another foot closer and to my surprise af worked very quickly



Both shots are the full frame and it looks like I have managed to get around 1.5x magnification using the tube. However I would normally use a 1.4x converter with the 300 so at the lens minimum focus distance I would anticipate a similar size image in the frame as with the extension tube. Obviously with the converter I lose a stop of light, f5.6 as against f 4 with the extension tube, so in low light conditions the tubes would probably be the way to go

Stan

[djguk47]

Re: Extension Tube Experiment

Keep those tubes out of the cupboard Stan as they have done you proud in that second shot.

David

[Muscat]

Re: Extension Tube Experiment

Stan, they worked well, I had been playing with my 70-300 lens and it was impressive what the difference was so I will probably try them more in the garden

[Stan]

Re: Extension Tube Experiment

Thanks Guys

Keep those tubes out of the cupboard Stan as they have done you proud in that second shot.

yes they have worked well but as i said I think I would have been able to get a similar result with a converter

Stan, they worked well, I had been playing with my 70-300 lens and it was impressive what the difference was so I will probably try them more in the garden

I think my previous problems using then stemmed from the fact that both the macro lens and the nifty fifty are quite close focussing anyway so with the smaller distances involved it is more difficult to achieve focus - I was constantly having to rock back and forth to get them in focus whereas with the 300 and probably your 70-300 the min focus distance is much longer.
Yes I shall probably use them again

Stan

[mikep]

Re: Extension Tube Experiment

Stan

Definitely #2, lovely and sharp!

Interesting, you have started me thinking! Question - can you use extension tubes AND and 1.4 converter? If so, what result would that give? I'm asking as (a) I'm curious, and (b) I recently purchased a Kenko 1.4 Pro300 DGX, and have been considering the Kenko extension tube set.

All the best, Mike.

[Stan]

Re: Extension Tube Experiment

Cheers Dan and Mike

Wouldn't normally think of using extension tubes with a long lens but you've shown there's no reason why not

nor me but it was Muscats suggestion

Interesting, you have started me thinking! Question - can you use extension tubes AND and 1.4 converter?

I dont see why not although it may slow down the focus slightly. I will try it out tomorrow and see

Stan