Extension Tube Sets

Happy New Year to All!!!

I recently purchased a new Nikon D5200 ( Bronze ) for the Mrs. Along with it came the usual 18-55mm and I purchased the 55-200mm for her as well. She started playing around, getting some usage tips from me ( not that I'm any good at it ) ..

She has mostly been using the 18-55mm at 55mm for close up shots of her pets .. fish, dogs, and birds. Then came the macro question. She can get somewhat close, and pretty good pictures, at 55mm.

I checked the settings for both the 18-55mm and the 55-200mm. Minimum focal distance for the 18-55mm is 0.9 feet and the 55-200mm is 3.6 feet.

Then she was reading 'Tropical Fish Magazine' and came across a great shot. The picture also stated the camera, lens and settings used for the shot .. 105mm macro lens. That lens lists for approx $1K USD. Since she has been shooting at 55mm, I suggested the 85mm macro lens; which list for approx $530 USD.

On her fish forum, a member suggested getting an "Extension Tube Set", listing for approx $200 USD.

Kenko Auto Extension Tube Set DG for Nikon Lens A-EXTUBEDG-N B&H

I have never heard of these and they come highly recommended from her fish forum. From B&H's reviews, users have come back with 4-1/2 starts. I am putting this out there .. pros and cons of these? She wants to used these with her D5200 and the 18-55mm lens. Will she have to switch everything over to manual settings?

Would the "Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E III" be a better option?

I have suggested she start shooting in 'Aperture' mode; which she has been using and loves the outcome of her shots with an 'adjustable' dept-of-field. If she'd have to go manual at this point in her DSLR usage, I'm not sure how that would go over.

Any helpful comments would be greatly appreciated.

Michael

Nikon's teleconverters will not work with your kit lenses. They also will not allow you to focus any closer, they merely reduce the field of view.

Go with the Kenkos.

IQ will definitely be reduced if you use a TC
Get the Kenko's.
They are quite awesome... no glass so no loss of any quality.
the kenko's come with contacts that allow you to autofocus as well..

I just had a thought here; so the Kenko set comes with 3 different sizes in the kit. OK, got that. Now...I wonder what would happen if two sets were used at the same time. In other words, 6 sizes all together. Just curious.

fotojack said:

I just had a thought here; so the Kenko set comes with 3 different sizes in the kit. OK, got that. Now...I wonder what would happen if two sets were used at the same time. In other words, 6 sizes all together. Just curious.

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You'd probably start to see some bending of the entire stack. If you want that much extension, a bellow is a far better solution.

I have a set I use a little and find the more you put on the harder it is to make them focus...Mine are old though...

Yeah, OK. I was just wondering what the effect would be. I donèt have any and never used them, so I don.t know.

Extension tubes are stackable, so that you can get any length you want. Beware that extension tubes require exposure compensation and there are plenty of sites which have them.

That said, as you increase the distance (by using longer extension) your image will increase in size, but due to light fall off you will need either slower speed or more aperture.

I picked this up a few weeks ago: Amazon.com: Xit XTETN Auto Focus Macro Extension Tube Set for Nikon SLR Cameras (Black): XIT: Camera & Photo Works great with my 85mm.

Thanks All for your expertise and input!!!

Been doing some more research on these tubes .. and now the question is .. will these extension tubes allow me to use the auto-focus feature that comes with the D5200s?

The D5200s use lenses that have AF-S motors built into the lenses .. and not the camera body. Some places I have read state that .. 'NO! I will not be able to auto-focus using these extension tubes.', while others say yes.

Which is it?

Michael

MPSanSouci said:

Thanks All for your expertise and input!!!

Been doing some more research on these tubes .. and now the question is .. will these extension tubes allow me to use the auto-focus feature that comes with the D5200s?

The D5200s use lenses that have AF-S motors built into the lenses .. and not the camera body. Some places I have read state that .. 'NO! I will not be able to auto-focus using these extension tubes.', while others say yes.

Which is it?

Michael

Click to expand...

Depends on the maximum aperture of the lens you use. Slower kit lenses just won't AF. If you start with a fast lens, like f/2.8, it should AF.

Well, the cheap tubes I picked up in my previous post allow for auto focus. It won't be blindingly fast, but it does work. Just look through the description of whichever tubes you are interested in for mention of AF. If there is no mention of AF ability, then it won't have it.

I broke! These are on the way (due today): Polaroid Auto Focus DG Macro Extension Tube Set For: Amazon.co.uk: Camera & Photo

Feeling a tad disappointed today. :disturbed:

Just as an update for anyone else interested in purchasing the Kenko Extension Tube set for their D5200 ..

Before I went any further, I Emailed customer support at Kenko USA regarding their extension tube set ..

I have the Nikon D5200 DSLR, and the lenses I have are;

• AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
• AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED
• AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED
​

Since these lenses are all AF-S and the 'auto-focus' motor is built into each of our lenses, will these extension tubes work

Click to expand...

Kenko came back stating:

The extension tubes will retain the AF function of your lenses and the D5200.

Click to expand...

So I went out and bought a set. The tubes arrived yesterday and so the playing began .. BUT .. the 'auto-focus' feature does not work. Off went a reply to Kenko Customer Service regarding my disappointment.

Since these tubes were mainly for the Mrs., she's loving them using manual focus. Since my eyes are so bad for 'close-up' work, I depend on the 'auto-focus' feature. Looks like the tubes will be staying in her bag!!!

I'm not really into macro photography as the Mrs. is. I'll be saving my dollars for the AF-S DX NIKKOR18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. I've been eye'ing this lens since it was first released.

http://nikonites.com/general-lenses/18822-35mm-70-210mm-lens.html#axzz2qBPJWWi5

I do alot of macro and use MF 90% of the time. I just zoom with my body by moving forwards or backwards.

Scott Murray said:

I do alot of macro and use MF 90% of the time. I just zoom with my body by moving forwards or backwards.

Click to expand...

But, to be fair, the steadiness of Scott's hands is legendary, and only surpassed by the steadiness of mine (he does focus bracketing manually, for heavens sake!).

(I taught him all he knows...)

MPSanSouci said:

Feeling a tad disappointed today. :disturbed:

The tubes arrived yesterday and so the playing began .. BUT .. the 'auto-focus' feature does not work. Off went a reply to Kenko Customer Service regarding my disappointment.

Click to expand...

I don't own these but did an online search--and came up with conflicting answers (bold font is my emphasis). Adorama states AF won't work with Nikon's AF-s lenses:

From Adorama: Kenko AEXTUBEDGN DG Auto Extension Tube Set Nikon AEXTUBEDGN

Kenko's Auto Focus extension tubes are designed with all the circuitry and mechanical coupling to maintain auto focus and TTL auto exposure with most Nikon lenses given there is enough light to activate the cameras AF system properly.

Please Note;
1. When using extension tubes the lens will not focus to infinity. The focus range will be greatly limited to a very close focusing distance.
2. There is light fall off when using any extension tube, sometimes the equivalent of 3 f-stops of light is lost when using multiple extension tubes together. This light lost can affect the camera's ability to auto focus. Manual focusing is recommended should the lens begin to "hunt" (not lock onto the subject).
3. Nikon "D" information is not transmitted because the lens is focusing closer than its programmed to focus.
4. Kenko Auto Extension Tubes are not auto focus compatible with Nikon AF-s (Silent Wave) lenses, manual focusing is required with these lenses.


From B&H: Kenko Auto Extension Tube Set DG for Nikon Lens A-EXTUBEDG-N B&H

The Kenko Auto Extension Tube Set DG is compatible with Nikon DSLR cameras and F mount lenses and is optimized to work with Autofocus lenses.Kenko's Auto Focus extension tubes are designed with all the circuitry and mechanical coupling to maintain auto focus and TTL auto exposure with most Nikon lenses given there is enough light (at f/5.6 or brighter) to activate the cameras AF system properly.

For what it's worth, I have a set of Polaroid AF tubes (arrived yesterday). Singly they work with my 40 and 85 but struggle if I daisy-chain them.

@MPSanSouci, I forgot to ask if you tried switching to Live View and zooming in while using the extension tubes? The problem with macro photography is that due to being sooo close, the DOF is extremely shallow--even if using f/16. If you were to rely solely on AF, I'm afraid you would be unhappy with the sharpness of your photos. Is there any way for you to get a pair of inexpensive reading glasses? Dollar stores, Target, Walmart, pharmacies, etc. carry them at a very reasonable cost. If you use the Live View feature and possibly reading glasses, it *might* allow you to see the detail much better. Just note that using Live View will eat battery power. Opting to use Live View isn't just for those who have difficulty seeing up close!

I tried AF with a macro lens (not even adding extension tubes), and the photos weren't all that sharp. Just a tiny bit of moving the focus ring can make or break a photo--the DOF is that shallow!

Hark,

I have not tried [Live View] .. I've always used the view finder unless I'm doing 'tripod' work. I do have a few pair of reading glasses as my reading vision is not all that great ( work related ). Distance is a tad better than perfect, but reading .. :crushed:. I do have to make an appt with my optometrist .. been a few years since my last and the eyes have gotten worse.

Anyway .. I've received conflicting 'stories' as well regarding the Kenko tubes. As you found out, some sites say "Yes" while others say "No". The store I actually purchased them from, the sales rep told me "No", but since a rep directly from Kenko said "Yes", I had @ssumed that they know their product better than anyone .:distrust:. guess not!

Using the 18-55mm, the Mrs. gets some activity from the auto-focus motor, but no actual results. She is fine with manual focusing and uses the [Live View] most of the time doing her macro work/shots. I tried the 20mm tube with my 70-300mm and nothing .. some activity, but nothing comes in focus at all. I cannot even manually focus on anything. Then the Mrs. said the tubes will not work with anything over 55mm .. then what about an 85mm macro lens . I thought that the tubes worked with just about any lens.

Still waiting to hear back from the Kenko rep regarding my Email .. I'll post another update once I've heard back.

Thank you all for your advise .. comments .. and suggestions. I am always greatly appreciative of all your input and knowledge!!!!

Michael