cheap chinese extension macro tubes from ebay- $6

rocketman122

Senior Member
I have the 105VR but its use in weddings is very small. sniping guests and for makeup/prep shots of the bride. I dont use it often and it sits in my bag a lot. I have a PK11A macro tube but its not enough magnification.

I had the kenko extension tubes but have no idea where the heck I placed them. but not wanting to fork over $150 for the set again. I wanted something inexpensive that will let me do just a few specific pics I need in weddings. Im not a macro guy but I used to shoot years back. it doesnt really interest me today.

http://nikonites.com/macro/29564-macro-budget.html

this thread @Elliot87 posted caused me to find cheap options without losing IQ. the closeup filters degrade IQ and they are fragile. they are out. so I found a cheap set. $6 or so. shipped. 1month delivery.

got it today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uslo2JjnGWg lower the volume.

any of the first few will do
nikon macro extension set | eBay

I did do some shots but damn my sensor is dirty as crap and Im going out so I will post some pics. ill shoot some familiar things so you can sense the magnification of it.

you dont lose IQ but looking in the VF it will get dark because the aperture ring sits at the close aperture youve set. you can keep it open for focus then close it to the aperture you wanted to shoot at just before the click.
its said you will lose light but I have no idea how much. with digital you can simply shoot and then adjust exposure on the fly.

cheers.
 

SkvLTD

Senior Member
Still tempted to try some of these out, or to play w/ reversing ring, or coupler ring I got, but MFD would be almost abysmal with any combo and that presents a greater problem than anything.
 

Elliot87

Senior Member
I think they're pretty good and work well in conjunction with my 55mm 2.8 and home made diffuser for the onboard flash.

Here's one shot using that set up on my D3200, I don't remember how many tubes I had stacked unfortunately.
Untitled-1.jpg

The main difficulty I've found with them is the loss of light makes focusing through the VF a challenge, especially combined with the shallow depth of field. I'm sure if I was shooting off a tripod, with my D7100 and I learnt how to post process better the results could be excellent.
 

Vixen

Senior Member
I can't see the point in buying extension rings with AF because with such a small DOF the camera will be constantly hunting for a focus and you'll be pushing it to get the shutter button down before the camera goes hunting again. That's why everyone (that I know at least) uses manual focus with macro.

I bought a cheap set of extension tubes and hardly ever used them.
 

rocketman122

Senior Member
NKT_9506 copy.jpg
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NKT_9508 copy.jpg

no adjustments, just resized in PS. was at a concert yesterday and tired as hell so have no energy to go out to shoot flowers and such.
besides I wanted to shoot familiar things so you can sense size.
this is not excessive manification but dof is short (shot at f/8) and very hard to get focus accurate. handheld for all.
 

rocketman122

Senior Member
Iso 2000/2500
shutter 1/200 or so
aperture was on f/8
D3s- 85 1.8 D lens

u can get the full files here as a zip if you want to pixel peep. not a word about my sensor cleaning! ;) damn it was dirty.

New folder (4)
 
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