One thing I experimented with before was putting two cheap 2X teleconverters in the mix. It was interesting because depending on which end of the extension tubes you put the teleconverters , you could either increase magnification or increase your working distance. Granted, there would be a noticeable loss in quality since you are putting relatively cheap glass in the mix, not to mention the loss in f/Stops, but it was a fun experiment.
Hi, Fuji has got a 1.4 teleconverter working with its macro fx lens and it has very minimal quality loss -> in such I increase the working distance and it's perfect using stack brackating
You can use the DoF preview button to keep the aperture on the lens. Most DSLRs have a button to preview the depth of field. Pushing that button will move the aperture blades to the value you have set. When you hold this button and remove the lens, the aperture blades will remain in position. I use this method when I want to reverse my lens.
The most useful information I got in this video by far is to NOT use my 135mm f2 lens and instead use my 28mm with extension tubes for 1:1 magnification and beyond. Glad that it’s also still super sharp. I cannot wait to start shooting macro right away.
Thanks a lot for this video, particularly for your tip to use self adhesive velvet in order to eliminate reflexions inside extension tubes. I will try it, I expect it will improve image quality quite a lot.
Hi Micael. Awesome video and a lot of info presented. A few notes from my limited experience with macro tubes. I've used pancake-style 50mm lenses (OM/Nikon vintage) reversed to decrease the focal distance needed for the magnification. In addition, I've used bellows (vintage Nikon, cheap from the second-hand market) to get the distance and avoid the glare inside the tube. And last but not least, in the reversal ring for the 50mm lens, I've put a cardboard visor that only let about 30% of the light in the center of the lens through. This way I was able to reduce the flaring and diffraction significantly, as the bulk of the stray reflected light stayed on the outer rim of the front element. Great job and will continue to watch your content!
If the extension is huge and you are using a lens corrected for infinity you should use a reversing ring so that the distance of the rear element of the lens to the subject is similar to the original lens to sensor distance. You will get better optical performance!
Awesome explanation, thank you. Looking to get some for my stop motion shots, but was lost in the wide variety online and if they were even what I need! This cleared everything up!
5:00 does this logic work out? Magnification is a separate factor from focal length. So a 200mm lens can have a 0.18x magnification and so can an 18mm lens. So you'd have to add the amount of tubes to change that 0.18x to 1 or 2x. Which would be a bit over 5x the original focal length, which on an 18mm is reasonable, but on a 200mm is quite large
Asa de precise si de detaliate explicatii păt tuburile de extensie nu am gasit nicaieri , explicatii simple si clare pe intelesul fiecarui pasionat de fotografia macro , multumesc mult pt aceasta prezentare si daca nu te superi as intreba daca nu se poare folosi o carioca marker in loc de catifea contra reflexiilor ?
As always Micael, excellent video, clearly explained, and easy to watch and learn. Thank you so much as I just bought my first extension tubes and had no idea how they really worked. And now I do!
That was a real good description. Thank you for this video. One question I have: If you increase the magnification, what effect has it on the focus range? Is it possible to make focus stacking? End when, what is your work flow?
I have an oldish Sigma 300 f4 apo macro that gets .33, with a 50mm tube gets to about .5. it also has a tripod collar that makes life a bit easier. Sometimes I'll add a 1.4 converter, almost lifesize.
It's hard to say for sure, but since 60mm is 2x the focal length, in theory you should get a bit more than 2x magnification. The working distance is also hard to guess, but I would guess maybe 4-5 cm as with most lenses at 2x magnification.
I have a sony a7r5 --90mm lens and looking to get a few tubes and was wondering which kit would you recommend can you send me a link on where to buy them also. Thanks brother and bearblessings
Can you explain why my setup gives me a great macro configuration? I use 3 typical extension tubes, then a 100mm f2.8 macro lens and finally a reverse mounted 50mm F1.4
Great video, thanks Micael. I am looking for a workaround for shutter speed limits with Sony a9iii. If manual extension tubes are connected to the camera, it is not possible to select the maximum shutter speed ie 1/80000 sec. The camera wont allow a setting above 1/8000 sec. There is no such problem if automatic tubes are used. Incidentally, there are no such limits with A9ii, A1 etc.
Seems related to mechanical vs. electronic shutter. The max speed of the mechanical shutter is 1/8000. Not sure why you would need more than that though?
@@MicaelWidell a9iii has no mechanical shutter; global shutter only. I have a specific macro use case for 1/80000 sec using the portion of electronic flash that 'fits into' that extremely short fraction of a second. I have got it to all work well with auto extension tubes but if you add any manual tubes into the setup, 1/8000 sec is the shortest shutter speed you can connect. I was wondering if you knew of a way round this?
This is a very complex topic. But in short: yes they do. Watch my diffraction video for a taste of the answer. The full answer would require an even longer video.
Thanks so much for this video. By total chance you clarified a question lingering in my mind for a while. I will grab my gear now and try it in practice :D
Hello dear Michael Thank you for sharing your knowledge and skills in macro photography, I am planning to buy a canon eos rp body and I am very interested in macro photography. Please guide me to buy the best affordable lens with extension tube for this camera. . In addition, this camera has the possibility of bracketing photography, and I have focused on this feature to capture better photos. Thank you.
The way you described to possibly make electrical aperture lenses work on extension tubes without electrical contacts will not work with every brand. On Nikons G lenses the aperture is controlled through a springloaded lever which reverts into it's original position (=smallest aperture) as soon as you remove the lens from the camera.
Hi there~ Merry Christmas! I'm planning on getting a new Sony camera with focus bracketing feature and was wondering if it will work with a 3rd party auto focusing tube (for focus bracketing) as I do not have the budget to get a macro lens. Have you tried something like that?
Hello Micael, thank you for your excellent video’s. I am a fan. I have a Canon EF-100mm f/2.8L macro lens and also I have a set of Kenko 12mm, 36mm and 36mm extension tubes, and I would like to get closer to the subject and get bigger magnification. Will I be able to use these extension tubes with this lens or do I need more or less extension tubes. Do you recommend using those extension tubes with this macro lens? Thank you.
Hi Micael. Please could you recommend a set for a Nikkor 50mm f1.8G AF-S lens and a Nikon D750 camera as I find on ebay a multitude of technical names and manufacturers but no info for D750 except manual tubes. Thankyou
To shoot ant's hair and eyes, how many magnification I need? And what if I reverse a Ultra wide lens like Sony 16-35mm F4 PZ at its 16mm on front of multiple the extension tubes, will I get even more magnification? Is the Sony 70-200mm F4 MACRO OSS G II with 2X tele converter that can produce 1:1 magnification still a good buy? It has autofocus to shoot closer up and long tele videos , but with extension tube and reverse attach an ultrawide on front of the lens will still get high magnification too right, just cumbersome right?
Is it possible to make a 50 cm long objective that doesn't magnify the image ? I take industrial , black and white pictures of furnaces that make glass. These furnaces have thick walls and peep holes access. A regular objective takes great pictures , but because the regular objective is short, and the wall is thick, my pictures have a thick border from the inside of the peephole and less from the inside of the furnace. Is it possibe to build somethig that can fix this issue ?
I have a question. how did you manage to avoid that the focus area doesn't end up inside the lens? That's a problem I keep running into, especially with very wide angle lenses. What I mean is, I can't focus on my subject anymore, because I would have to move it somehow inside the lens itself to focus. Which makes me wonder how you made that work with so many tubes stacked behind your 50mm kit lens. I'm confused. Am I missing something?
It's all about the focal length. A 50mm lens you can add a ton of extension tubes to without a problem. An ultrawide lens you can only add a few mm of extension before the focusing point goes inside the lens. See this video for more discussion about this ruclips.net/video/Esxc8pbrPaI/видео.html
Thanks, Now I understand Why my setup with a 400mm lens ond 2pcs of 2X teleconverters did not work out as I hoped (I did NOT do any reserch at all) 🤣😂😅👍🙏🙏🙏
If using lenses with an old mount which of course can be adapted to any mirrorless, the old extension tubes are generally better and cheap. They will usually be painted to eliminate bouncing light. This is very important. It also includes the adapters. Ones that are not painted to be non reflective perform much worse. You can paint them. blackboard paint is quite good.
Good video, thank you! I took out my old extension tubes again to play around a bit. You said that we don't lose image quality with the extension tubes. But due to the diffraction you have also mentioned, the image quality is worse, of course. And I believe you haven't mentioned that you lose a lot of light. A LOT. And this can cause various problems.
When you add more than 2 or 3 it helps to know schiemflugs theory of light reciprocity. Its a equation that all photographers used to know when Large format was the norm.
8 month old video, but I haven't seen my question covered yet in any video. I have canon glass I use on sony cams, so I use an AF adaptor or a plain manual adaptors from EF to E for some vintage glass and cheaper glass options. That said, how come those just "adapt" but seem just as "extended" as these basic AF Ext tubes in terms of thickness or depth so to sensor extended forward. I mean, seems like they would work the same, but I dont get macro when I use them, I just get the canon lens on the sony cam body. I ordered some AF Ext tubes and also some plain stacked tubes and a reversing ring and I already have some macro screw on filter lens things so I can learn, but my question remains, why werent the lens mount adaptors causing macro-ness like the incredibly similar "tubes"?
EF has a longer flange distance than a mirrorless camera. So when you put an adapter in between it just normalizes the distance to the sensor. Google “flange distance” to understand this better.
@@MicaelWidell I will do that! The stacked tubes from both systems, with canon one end and sony on the other made me feel less like a hack and more like Im guessing my way into things that actually work, by mixing and matching parts I have around and can get cheap online.
Congratulations on the studio update! Looks more professional. You could illuminate the libray furniture on the left, maybe a secret light tube inside the shelfs. Anyway, great video!
Just to add, I've tried this combination, and if it weren't for the fact that I couldn't set a proper aperture on my Nikon Kit Lens, thus forcing me to f/3.5 (and near impossible to nail focus), it could achieve some incredible results. Maybe you can exploit this further!
Den kombinationen är lite svår, eftersom raynox ger bäst resultat på lång brännvidd, medan mellanringar ger bäst resultat på kort brännvidd. Så inte den bästa kombinationen. Men funkar säkert i viss mån och bör ge bra bildkvalitet.
@@MicaelWidell ahh, tack för svar. Har olympus och deras 60mm macro och jag har sett folk använda både mellanring och rynox 250 till just denna men inte som kombo. Vilket skulle vara ditt val för olympus 60mm macro om du vill få så stor förstoringsgrad som möjligt?
Ja med just det objektivet skulle nog mellanringar fungera okej, för det är ganska kort brännvidd. Kör så många mellanringar du kan, och raynox, för maximal förstoring. Man skulle även kunna prova dubbla raynox, men jag vet inte hur bildkvaliteten blir.
Extension tubes **can** negatively affect quality in one way: if the inside of the tubes is not flocked, or has reflective surfaces (I have seen tubes with shiny metal for leading electrical contacts from the front of the tube to the back, for example), then the tubes can cause internal reflections that should instead be controlled. By definition when using tubes, a portion of the image circle hits the inside of the tube. That light will be absorbed in all but the worst extension tubes, but some tubes -- not many, fortunately -- have not been built to control these reflections, leading to flaring. If you have bought very low cost tube sets and not seen this, you might have been lucky. Edit: i see you have covered this at the end of your video.
I enjoy your videos. On this video you used self stick velvet type material from a hardware store to flock the extension tubes. That’s not good cause some of the fuzz can get on the camera sensor. You should use flocking self stick flocking from companies like ScopeStuff which the flocking fuzz won’t shed. It’s made specifically for camera and telescope flocking.
No le se rick, tengo un mc 105 mm y un juego de tubos de extención y la calidad de imagen es significativa. A lo mejor no sería facíl notar la díferencia en fotos que no has tomado tu, pero si es notable si las tomas con tu equipo.
I've got more than 10x magnification by simply revesre mounting a 10mm lens on an apsc camera and it's much smaller, but that thing you've got there looks insane tho lol
I often reverse the lens. Of course you need lens with a manual aperture. At more than 1:1 subject to lens distance get really short and lighting becomes a problem. Camera body flange distance for most DSLR is always quite large because of the clearance needed for the mirror to flip up. Usually in the range of 40-45mm, even with a short focal length like a 20mm, the body flange stays the same. While the front distance is a lot less in macro. Plus de the fact ,that lens are optimized in optical quality for a long distance on the filter side and a short distance on the bayonet side. At more than 1:1, distance on sensor side is large while distance on subject side becomes quite small. Reversing the lens make sense to maintain best optical quality. With my Nikon 20mm reverse and 50mm of extension tube, I can get about 2.5:1 magnification and I have 43mm (Nikon body flange) clearance with my subject. Beware that reversing the lens may reduce it luminosity since these wide angle have a retrofocus optical design.
@@MicaelWidell yes I know you guys like to call apparent size magnification but I'm just saying it's not the same, you couldn't use them to see anything at distance any closer.
Every lens has got a resolution, by Addition of such Long Extension Tube you will have a loss of resolution on a sensor , by adding a magnification Raynox 150 or 250 would be a better choice
Every lens is made for a certain sensor or film size... and a very lens has got ist sharpness resolution. If you using a part of the lens projection you are using a part of its resolution. On the other side the size of the sensor pixel use to play a role. I did. many Test with tilt lenses with 50mp full size chip compared to medium format crop with 1:1 and I do not get the same sharpest with that lens... other test shown the same.... sorry but i worked more that 20 years in Makro photography... Mft, crop fullframe and cop medium and medium... and now large format lenses on medium.... from Schneider to Rodenstock through Nikor magnified lenses
Every lens has its magnification limits because of its resolution, there is physical optical limits, I have a collection of macro lenses from sigma to Hasselblad to phase one and Rodenstock magnification lenses , they have all beautifully made.
I think no need to that much. Reached ~7x with a combined 49mm extension tubes with the Laowa 2.5-5x 25mm f/2.8. There was still more room for like ~25-30mm extensions as the working distance was still nearly ~8-10cm away.
Oh, wow, thanks a lot for confirming that extension tubes work on that lens. It is my favourite macro lens. Are there any limits to focussing? Is that why you "only" git 7x magnification when it could be 15x (according to Micael's math)?
@@joachimb5721 Put in mind it's ~6.96x on a full frame sensor, so in 4K@120fps a 1.1x crop (10%) makes it slightly above 7x. A crop sensor or crop mode would make it 10.5x. Put in mind that the working distance is still pretty enough for even more than 49mm extension tubes, maybe it would max out at around 80-90mm extension tubes before the focus would be inside the lens (useless). I used it to film biting midges that are 1-3mm in size, at f/8-16, and in 4K@120fps with 1/250s shutter. It was an equivalent of around f/80-140 I believe which during overcast midday it was pitch black. Used a small studio 65w light on the camera, pushed ISO from 2000 up to 12,800 in some cases in HLG3 mode. Why 4K@120fps? Even putting the camera on a tripod while you're seated and letting the midges feast on you it's extremely hard to find the focusing area + stable it. So the trick was to push it into 5x slow motions. Tried 4K@60fps with 1/125s shutter and it was ok as well slowed 60% to 24fps. I should breakdown all that in my channel in the near future when I release that documentary film, the setup, etc. Feel free to ask any questions.
@@Bo_Hazem Thanks for the answer! I'm getting excited right now, I need extension tubes instantly. Looking forward to any further dives into that topic on your channel, I subscribed, though I don't understand arabic😌
@@joachimb5721 No worries, it'll be dual-languaged: Full Arabic (with subtitles) and full English (with subtitles), both being pulblished at the same time👌😜. I think there is a gap in some topics that I could fill in English, but I'm 90% into videography/filmmmaking. Thanks for subbing! And never hesitate to ask any time.
Bra video, vad kallas "Extension tubes" på svenska och vart köpte du den där klisterarken? :) Köpte sådana en gång till min Nikon kamera (trodde jag) billigt, men jag kollade inte tillräckligt noga och det var inte Nikon F 🤦♂Har de kvar som en påminnelse om att alltid kolla noga vad det är för fäste, då frakten tillbaka skulle varit hälften av vad de kostade 😅 Edit: Fick fram att de heter mellanringar på svenska :)
why are you saying to set the aperture before removing the lens to use extension tubes... you can change aperture and focus on the lens itself... oh and how are you even able to use this much extension tubes? i just have a 10mm and a 16mm extension tube, when i combine them i'm so close to the subject it toutches the lens itself...
Lens reversing adaptors give excellent magnification too although the focus and aperture have to be set manually. I've been using a Sony a6000 with a 16-70 f4 lens with a reverse adaptor, £5 from eBay
If it is a 100mm 1:1 macro lens the result would be 1.5x magnification, since the original magnification is 1x and the extension tubes give 50/100 = 0.5x
Great! Now I need to “sell all” my lenses, so I can buy these many extension tubes for my macro photography to hit my goal of “100x magnifications” from the inside of my house to my backyard…🤣
That's a lot of tubes... I have the same tube (one) and with the furthest extension I can resolve the dust on the surface of the lens and nothing further if I'm less than 50mm on my lenses. Now, the 300mm with the tube... that let's me get macro images (greater than 1:1... less than? I always forget the notation, but the ants were HUGE) even from a few feet away.
At 6:12 you say extenstion tubes do not decrease the image quality. That can be true if you dont use too much extenstion. But your 50 cm construction DOES decrease image quality, due to diffraction, as you also confess at 12:26. In the comments you say diffraction is not the lenses fault. Thats true, because its your own fault, you are using too much extension. It doesnt make any sense.
What I meant is they do not decrease image quality compared to a macro lens. Laws of physics demand a certain diffraction at a certain aperture and magnification - I can’t do anything about that.
I also chuckle at those who are still using imperial units. Throwing away new-but-not-so-good lenses and reminding everyone about environment is my alternative hobby. happy not to be alone in this 👍👍
Thanks for watching! Also find me in these places:
💌 newsletter: micaelwidell.com 🌄 instagram: instagram.com/mwroll
🎖 patreon: patreon.com/micaelwidell 🐦 twitter: twitter.com/micaelwidell
💬 discord: bit.ly/widelldiscord macro lens buying guide: lensguide.micaelwidell.com
I absolutely love the idea behind your thumbnail photo with all those extension-tubes joined together, it's funny.
One thing I experimented with before was putting two cheap 2X teleconverters in the mix. It was interesting because depending on which end of the extension tubes you put the teleconverters , you could either increase magnification or increase your working distance. Granted, there would be a noticeable loss in quality since you are putting relatively cheap glass in the mix, not to mention the loss in f/Stops, but it was a fun experiment.
Hi, Fuji has got a 1.4 teleconverter working with its macro fx lens and it has very minimal quality loss -> in such I increase the working distance and it's perfect using stack brackating
You can use the DoF preview button to keep the aperture on the lens.
Most DSLRs have a button to preview the depth of field. Pushing that button will move the aperture blades to the value you have set. When you hold this button and remove the lens, the aperture blades will remain in position. I use this method when I want to reverse my lens.
The most useful information I got in this video by far is to NOT use my 135mm f2 lens and instead use my 28mm with extension tubes for 1:1 magnification and beyond. Glad that it’s also still super sharp. I cannot wait to start shooting macro right away.
Nice explanation.
The working distance and loss of light because of using these extensions tubes could have been talked about too. Thanks.
Thanks a lot for this video, particularly for your tip to use self adhesive velvet in order to eliminate reflexions inside extension tubes. I will try it, I expect it will improve image quality quite a lot.
Hi Micael. Awesome video and a lot of info presented. A few notes from my limited experience with macro tubes. I've used pancake-style 50mm lenses (OM/Nikon vintage) reversed to decrease the focal distance needed for the magnification. In addition, I've used bellows (vintage Nikon, cheap from the second-hand market) to get the distance and avoid the glare inside the tube. And last but not least, in the reversal ring for the 50mm lens, I've put a cardboard visor that only let about 30% of the light in the center of the lens through. This way I was able to reduce the flaring and diffraction significantly, as the bulk of the stray reflected light stayed on the outer rim of the front element. Great job and will continue to watch your content!
If the extension is huge and you are using a lens corrected for infinity you should use a reversing ring so that the distance of the rear element of the lens to the subject is similar to the original lens to sensor distance. You will get better optical performance!
Awesome explanation, thank you. Looking to get some for my stop motion shots, but was lost in the wide variety online and if they were even what I need!
This cleared everything up!
5:00 does this logic work out? Magnification is a separate factor from focal length. So a 200mm lens can have a 0.18x magnification and so can an 18mm lens. So you'd have to add the amount of tubes to change that 0.18x to 1 or 2x. Which would be a bit over 5x the original focal length, which on an 18mm is reasonable, but on a 200mm is quite large
Yes this is correct, you need a very very long extension tube to use a 200mm lens for macro photography
Thank you for this excellent and informative video! 📸
Glad it was helpful!
Hi Micael, I am a convert. Started with the foldable diffuser and now ordered AK. You are a big inspirator, keep it up!
Asa de precise si de detaliate explicatii păt tuburile de extensie nu am gasit nicaieri , explicatii simple si clare pe intelesul fiecarui pasionat de fotografia macro , multumesc mult pt aceasta prezentare si daca nu te superi as intreba daca nu se poare folosi o carioca marker in loc de catifea contra reflexiilor ?
As always Micael, excellent video, clearly explained, and easy to watch and learn. Thank you so much as I just bought my first extension tubes and had no idea how they really worked. And now I do!
That was a real good description. Thank you for this video.
One question I have: If you increase the magnification, what effect has it on the focus range? Is it possible to make focus stacking? End when, what is your work flow?
Thank you for this fun and interesting video. Thank you for the tip about the mat sticky velvet.
Thanks for putting out great videos. I’m confused in my book 1 times say 50 is still 50. 50x1=50
Nobody explained this as well as you did. Thanks!
Many thanks, excellent and informative.
I use EOS R with my RF 50 mm along with extentions tubes 52mm. Images are sharp and more 1:1 captures. Love it!!!
Were you getting vignetting on the full-sized sensor?
I have an oldish Sigma 300 f4 apo macro that gets .33, with a 50mm tube gets to about .5. it also has a tripod collar that makes life a bit easier. Sometimes I'll add a 1.4 converter, almost lifesize.
Great video. Thank you for the velvet tip, that is a great idea.
Is it possible to get 2x magnification with sigma 30mm 1.4 + 60mm extension tube? Then how much working distance can i get with this setup?
It's hard to say for sure, but since 60mm is 2x the focal length, in theory you should get a bit more than 2x magnification. The working distance is also hard to guess, but I would guess maybe 4-5 cm as with most lenses at 2x magnification.
I have a sony a7r5 --90mm lens and looking to get a few tubes and was wondering which kit would you recommend can you send me a link on where to buy them also. Thanks brother and bearblessings
My first time on your channel, amazing work! I’m really blow away by your editing and this lens! truly insane!
Welcome aboard!
Hultafors ruler? Epic!
Can you explain why my setup gives me a great macro configuration? I use 3 typical extension tubes, then a 100mm f2.8 macro lens and finally a reverse mounted 50mm F1.4
Micael speaks like Finnish, the video is good!
Yeah I’m Swedish, so almost the same thing 😁
Great video, thanks Micael. I am looking for a workaround for shutter speed limits with Sony a9iii. If manual extension tubes are connected to the camera, it is not possible to select the maximum shutter speed ie 1/80000 sec. The camera wont allow a setting above 1/8000 sec. There is no such problem if automatic tubes are used.
Incidentally, there are no such limits with A9ii, A1 etc.
Seems related to mechanical vs. electronic shutter. The max speed of the mechanical shutter is 1/8000. Not sure why you would need more than that though?
@@MicaelWidell a9iii has no mechanical shutter; global shutter only. I have a specific macro use case for 1/80000 sec using the portion of electronic flash that 'fits into' that extremely short fraction of a second.
I have got it to all work well with auto extension tubes but if you add any manual tubes into the setup, 1/8000 sec is the shortest shutter speed you can connect.
I was wondering if you knew of a way round this?
Would using fine sand paper achieve the same thing as applying the black velvet? Seems a lot simpler
I doubt it would work as well, and also I would be scared of getting sand dust in my camera sensor.
how many extension tubes i can add for my RF 100mm macro..also which brand to use to for RF mount
thanks for explain reflection issue
I would have liked to know whether and how extension tubes affect the focal length and aperture.
This is a very complex topic. But in short: yes they do. Watch my diffraction video for a taste of the answer. The full answer would require an even longer video.
Does this technique effect focusing on something not macro?
Thanks so much for this video. By total chance you clarified a question lingering in my mind for a while. I will grab my gear now and try it in practice :D
Hello dear Michael
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and skills in macro photography, I am planning to buy a canon eos rp body and I am very interested in macro photography. Please guide me to buy the best affordable lens with extension tube for this camera. . In addition, this camera has the possibility of bracketing photography, and I have focused on this feature to capture better photos. Thank you.
what about reversing the lens attached to the extension tubes? Is there any benefit to that?
The way you described to possibly make electrical aperture lenses work on extension tubes without electrical contacts will not work with every brand. On Nikons G lenses the aperture is controlled through a springloaded lever which reverts into it's original position (=smallest aperture) as soon as you remove the lens from the camera.
Hi there~ Merry Christmas!
I'm planning on getting a new Sony camera with focus bracketing feature and was wondering if it will work with a 3rd party auto focusing tube (for focus bracketing) as I do not have the budget to get a macro lens. Have you tried something like that?
Hello Micael, thank you for your excellent video’s. I am a fan. I have a Canon EF-100mm f/2.8L macro lens and also I have a set of Kenko 12mm, 36mm and 36mm extension tubes, and I would like to get closer to the subject and get bigger magnification. Will I be able to use these extension tubes with this lens or do I need more or less extension tubes. Do you recommend using those extension tubes with this macro lens? Thank you.
Yes you will get slightly closer. Just try it and you will see!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful video. I learned new knowledge from your video. Big LIKE!!
Hi Micael. Please could you recommend a set for a Nikkor 50mm f1.8G AF-S lens and a Nikon D750 camera as I find on ebay a multitude of technical names and manufacturers but no info for D750 except manual tubes. Thankyou
To shoot ant's hair and eyes, how many magnification I need?
And what if I reverse a Ultra wide lens like Sony 16-35mm F4 PZ at its 16mm on front of multiple the extension tubes, will I get even more magnification?
Is the Sony 70-200mm F4 MACRO OSS G II with 2X tele converter that can produce 1:1 magnification still a good buy? It has autofocus to shoot closer up and long tele videos , but with extension tube and reverse attach an ultrawide on front of the lens will still get high magnification too right, just cumbersome right?
Is it possible to make a 50 cm long objective that doesn't magnify the image ? I take industrial , black and white pictures of furnaces that make glass. These furnaces have thick walls and peep holes access. A regular objective takes great pictures , but because the regular objective is short, and the wall is thick, my pictures have a thick border from the inside of the peephole and less from the inside of the furnace. Is it possibe to build somethig that can fix this issue ?
Great video, thank you!
I have a question. how did you manage to avoid that the focus area doesn't end up inside the lens? That's a problem I keep running into, especially with very wide angle lenses. What I mean is, I can't focus on my subject anymore, because I would have to move it somehow inside the lens itself to focus.
Which makes me wonder how you made that work with so many tubes stacked behind your 50mm kit lens.
I'm confused. Am I missing something?
It's all about the focal length. A 50mm lens you can add a ton of extension tubes to without a problem. An ultrawide lens you can only add a few mm of extension before the focusing point goes inside the lens. See this video for more discussion about this ruclips.net/video/Esxc8pbrPaI/видео.html
@@MicaelWidell I see. thank you c:
Thanks, Now I understand Why my setup with a 400mm lens ond 2pcs of 2X teleconverters did not work out as I hoped (I did NOT do any reserch at all) 🤣😂😅👍🙏🙏🙏
If using lenses with an old mount which of course can be adapted to any mirrorless, the old extension tubes are generally better and cheap. They will usually be painted to eliminate bouncing light. This is very important. It also includes the adapters. Ones that are not painted to be non reflective perform much worse. You can paint them. blackboard paint is quite good.
Interesting information thanks
Good video, thank you!
I took out my old extension tubes again to play around a bit.
You said that we don't lose image quality with the extension tubes. But due to the diffraction you have also mentioned, the image quality is worse, of course.
And I believe you haven't mentioned that you lose a lot of light. A LOT. And this can cause various problems.
Diffraction and loss of light will happen no matter what lens you use, it is all dependent on the magnification. So it is not the lenses fault.
Pretty wild to look at those shots.
When you add more than 2 or 3 it helps to know schiemflugs theory of light reciprocity. Its a equation that all photographers used to know when Large format was the norm.
Another very informative video from You. Thanks!
8 month old video, but I haven't seen my question covered yet in any video. I have canon glass I use on sony cams, so I use an AF adaptor or a plain manual adaptors from EF to E for some vintage glass and cheaper glass options. That said, how come those just "adapt" but seem just as "extended" as these basic AF Ext tubes in terms of thickness or depth so to sensor extended forward.
I mean, seems like they would work the same, but I dont get macro when I use them, I just get the canon lens on the sony cam body. I ordered some AF Ext tubes and also some plain stacked tubes and a reversing ring and I already have some macro screw on filter lens things so I can learn, but my question remains, why werent the lens mount adaptors causing macro-ness like the incredibly similar "tubes"?
edit: I think you answered it with the how many/length math. I think? Thanks.
and you also did it with canon on sony :) LEGENDARY!
EF has a longer flange distance than a mirrorless camera. So when you put an adapter in between it just normalizes the distance to the sensor. Google “flange distance” to understand this better.
@@MicaelWidell I will do that! The stacked tubes from both systems, with canon one end and sony on the other made me feel less like a hack and more like Im guessing my way into things that actually work, by mixing and matching parts I have around and can get cheap online.
Do I add all 3 on my canon 40mm 2.8 stm? if not which number tubes? I’m terrible at Math thank you 😊
You will have to try for yourself. Begin with one tube. Check how close you can focus. If it is not close enough for your needs, add more tubes :)
Congratulations on the studio update! Looks more professional. You could illuminate the libray furniture on the left, maybe a secret light tube inside the shelfs. Anyway, great video!
Actually haven’t even tried to make it look nice yet :) kinda messy at the moment. Will work on the lighting
I would have liked to see an example using say a kit lens, what happens when using the extender in a non macro environment.
excellent video. very informative.
What if you put an inverter ring on the extension tube, place an inverted wide angle lens and use that combination?
Just to add, I've tried this combination, and if it weren't for the fact that I couldn't set a proper aperture on my Nikon Kit Lens, thus forcing me to f/3.5 (and near impossible to nail focus), it could achieve some incredible results.
Maybe you can exploit this further!
Har du testat att kombinera mellanring med raynox 250 macroconverter, om så, är det något att rekommendera?
Den kombinationen är lite svår, eftersom raynox ger bäst resultat på lång brännvidd, medan mellanringar ger bäst resultat på kort brännvidd. Så inte den bästa kombinationen. Men funkar säkert i viss mån och bör ge bra bildkvalitet.
@@MicaelWidell ahh, tack för svar. Har olympus och deras 60mm macro och jag har sett folk använda både mellanring och rynox 250 till just denna men inte som kombo. Vilket skulle vara ditt val för olympus 60mm macro om du vill få så stor förstoringsgrad som möjligt?
Ja med just det objektivet skulle nog mellanringar fungera okej, för det är ganska kort brännvidd. Kör så många mellanringar du kan, och raynox, för maximal förstoring. Man skulle även kunna prova dubbla raynox, men jag vet inte hur bildkvaliteten blir.
Ser ut som hasselblad med alla extensions
Extension tubes **can** negatively affect quality in one way: if the inside of the tubes is not flocked, or has reflective surfaces (I have seen tubes with shiny metal for leading electrical contacts from the front of the tube to the back, for example), then the tubes can cause internal reflections that should instead be controlled. By definition when using tubes, a portion of the image circle hits the inside of the tube. That light will be absorbed in all but the worst extension tubes, but some tubes -- not many, fortunately -- have not been built to control these reflections, leading to flaring. If you have bought very low cost tube sets and not seen this, you might have been lucky.
Edit: i see you have covered this at the end of your video.
bellows for dslr will give variable range.
日本語で失礼、グーグル翻訳に期待です。
自分は普段、AFニッコール105mmF2.8D、60mmF2.8D
ミノルタα100mmF2.8、50mmF2.8
キヤノンEF100mmF2.8、50mmF2.8
を適時使い分けていますが
更に拡大する時は中間リング、
更に拡大が必要ならニコンのベローズ＋マイクロニッコール55mmF2.8、55mmF3.5を使います、場合によってはリバースリング（マウント）も使用します。
カメラはD800とソニーα7Ⅱが主力です。
So a macro lens is basically a normal lens with built in extension tube. But with very sharp optics for macro magnification. Right?
Yeah pretty much. Also the extension tube can be shortened or lengthened by adjusting the focus ring.
So I can’t turn my 50mm into zoomed in lens for sports? It only focuses close?
No this only works for focusing closely
Tamron 17-70 2.8 , sony a6400 + extention tubs ?
sure why not
I enjoy your videos. On this video you used self stick velvet type material from a hardware store to flock the extension tubes. That’s not good cause some of the fuzz can get on the camera sensor. You should use flocking self stick flocking from companies like ScopeStuff which the flocking fuzz won’t shed. It’s made specifically for camera and telescope flocking.
Ok good to know. I never had any issues with shedding though. But one should test this before applying the material.
You are a Master
Micael, what is that pretty white thing in the cabinet behind you?
You mean the Sony 200-600 lens?
@@MicaelWidell yep, that's it :) txs
Thanks
Thank you
No le se rick, tengo un mc 105 mm y un juego de tubos de extención y la calidad de imagen es significativa. A lo mejor no sería facíl notar la díferencia en fotos que no has tomado tu, pero si es notable si las tomas con tu equipo.
If I had telecentric lens - for sure those tubes wouldn't work. And if there were a negative telecentricity, they would do the opposite?
Magnificent!
I've got more than 10x magnification by simply revesre mounting a 10mm lens on an apsc camera and it's much smaller, but that thing you've got there looks insane tho lol
thanks for sharing
try it with a Sigma 150mm-600mm with an 2x Teleconverter and do it with the max focal length
I often reverse the lens. Of course you need lens with a manual aperture. At more than 1:1 subject to lens distance get really short and lighting becomes a problem. Camera body flange distance for most DSLR is always quite large because of the clearance needed for the mirror to flip up. Usually in the range of 40-45mm, even with a short focal length like a 20mm, the body flange stays the same. While the front distance is a lot less in macro. Plus de the fact ,that lens are optimized in optical quality for a long distance on the filter side and a short distance on the bayonet side. At more than 1:1, distance on sensor side is large while distance on subject side becomes quite small. Reversing the lens make sense to maintain best optical quality. With my Nikon 20mm reverse and 50mm of extension tube, I can get about 2.5:1 magnification and I have 43mm (Nikon body flange) clearance with my subject. Beware that reversing the lens may reduce it luminosity since these wide angle have a retrofocus optical design.
2:04 it's more like it just lets you focus to a shorter distance, there is no actual magnification involved.
Look up the definition of magnification in macro photography
@@MicaelWidell yes I know you guys like to call apparent size magnification but I'm just saying it's not the same, you couldn't use them to see anything at distance any closer.
For that you would need a telescope lol
Every lens has got a resolution, by Addition of such Long Extension Tube you will have a loss of resolution on a sensor , by adding a magnification Raynox 150 or 250 would be a better choice
That is simply not true
Every lens is made for a certain sensor or film size... and a very lens has got ist sharpness resolution. If you using a part of the lens projection you are using a part of its resolution. On the other side the size of the sensor pixel use to play a role. I did. many Test with tilt lenses with 50mp full size chip compared to medium format crop with 1:1 and I do not get the same sharpest with that lens... other test shown the same.... sorry but i worked more that 20 years in Makro photography... Mft, crop fullframe and cop medium and medium... and now large format lenses on medium.... from Schneider to Rodenstock through Nikor magnified lenses
Every lens has its magnification limits because of its resolution, there is physical optical limits, I have a collection of macro lenses from sigma to Hasselblad to phase one and Rodenstock magnification lenses , they have all beautifully made.
I think no need to that much. Reached ~7x with a combined 49mm extension tubes with the Laowa 2.5-5x 25mm f/2.8. There was still more room for like ~25-30mm extensions as the working distance was still nearly ~8-10cm away.
Oh, wow, thanks a lot for confirming that extension tubes work on that lens. It is my favourite macro lens. Are there any limits to focussing? Is that why you "only" git 7x magnification when it could be 15x (according to Micael's math)?
@@joachimb5721 Put in mind it's ~6.96x on a full frame sensor, so in 4K@120fps a 1.1x crop (10%) makes it slightly above 7x. A crop sensor or crop mode would make it 10.5x. Put in mind that the working distance is still pretty enough for even more than 49mm extension tubes, maybe it would max out at around 80-90mm extension tubes before the focus would be inside the lens (useless). I used it to film biting midges that are 1-3mm in size, at f/8-16, and in 4K@120fps with 1/250s shutter. It was an equivalent of around f/80-140 I believe which during overcast midday it was pitch black. Used a small studio 65w light on the camera, pushed ISO from 2000 up to 12,800 in some cases in HLG3 mode.
Why 4K@120fps? Even putting the camera on a tripod while you're seated and letting the midges feast on you it's extremely hard to find the focusing area + stable it. So the trick was to push it into 5x slow motions. Tried 4K@60fps with 1/125s shutter and it was ok as well slowed 60% to 24fps. I should breakdown all that in my channel in the near future when I release that documentary film, the setup, etc. Feel free to ask any questions.
@@Bo_Hazem Thanks for the answer! I'm getting excited right now, I need extension tubes instantly. Looking forward to any further dives into that topic on your channel, I subscribed, though I don't understand arabic😌
@@joachimb5721 No worries, it'll be dual-languaged: Full Arabic (with subtitles) and full English (with subtitles), both being pulblished at the same time👌😜. I think there is a gap in some topics that I could fill in English, but I'm 90% into videography/filmmmaking. Thanks for subbing! And never hesitate to ask any time.
Trying to take a lens off a camera to maintain the aperture sounds like a good time to use a manual camera.
WOW!!!😱
Try putting the lens on reversed with the macro tubes.
Bra video, vad kallas "Extension tubes" på svenska och vart köpte du den där klisterarken? :) Köpte sådana en gång till min Nikon kamera (trodde jag) billigt, men jag kollade inte tillräckligt noga och det var inte Nikon F 🤦♂Har de kvar som en påminnelse om att alltid kolla noga vad det är för fäste, då frakten tillbaka skulle varit hälften av vad de kostade 😅
Edit: Fick fram att de heter mellanringar på svenska :)
Köpte klisterarken på en järnaffär. Tror det var Wirströms på Södermalm i Stockholm.
why are you saying to set the aperture before removing the lens to use extension tubes... you can change aperture and focus on the lens itself...
oh and how are you even able to use this much extension tubes? i just have a 10mm and a 16mm extension tube, when i combine them i'm so close to the subject it toutches the lens itself...
You can use more extension tubes on a longer focal length lens. On a wideangle lens I would not be able to do this.
@@MicaelWidell what focal lens is used here
Lens reversing adaptors give excellent magnification too although the focus and aperture have to be set manually. I've been using a Sony a6000 with a 16-70 f4 lens with a reverse adaptor, £5 from eBay
Ho that’s a great one but you should make it 3 meters long, great job indeed haha. ❤️ it.
What would the results be if you put 50 cm of extension tubes on a macro lens?
If it is a 100mm 1:1 macro lens the result would be 1.5x magnification, since the original magnification is 1x and the extension tubes give 50/100 = 0.5x
Great! Now I need to “sell all” my lenses, so I can buy these many extension tubes for my macro photography to hit my goal of “100x magnifications” from the inside of my house to my backyard…🤣
Can you add extension tubes to the probe lens ? 😂
Brilliant idea!
and also try it on the Laowa 100mm macrolens...
@Mathieu stern Big fan.. 😍
I recently watched this video by DemolitionRanch where he put a bunch of suppressors on a gun. This feels like the photography-version of that :D
What will happen if I use extension tubes on a macro lens.
Same thing as on a regular lens - you get even more magnification
@@MicaelWidell which will be a better option. To use extension tube or raynoz 250 with my macro lens. I have Afs 40mm f/2.8 1:1 macro lens.
That's a lot of tubes... I have the same tube (one) and with the furthest extension I can resolve the dust on the surface of the lens and nothing further if I'm less than 50mm on my lenses. Now, the 300mm with the tube... that let's me get macro images (greater than 1:1... less than? I always forget the notation, but the ants were HUGE) even from a few feet away.
What is the maximum focus on that lens with all those tubes? I can't go past
you came here for 11:21
Videos with longer lenses get more views, so here we go. Longest macro lens ever!! Informative though
At 6:12 you say extenstion tubes do not decrease the image quality. That can be true if you dont use too much extenstion. But your 50 cm construction DOES decrease image quality, due to diffraction, as you also confess at 12:26. In the comments you say diffraction is not the lenses fault. Thats true, because its your own fault, you are using too much extension. It doesnt make any sense.
What I meant is they do not decrease image quality compared to a macro lens. Laws of physics demand a certain diffraction at a certain aperture and magnification - I can’t do anything about that.
I also chuckle at those who are still using imperial units. Throwing away new-but-not-so-good lenses and reminding everyone about environment is my alternative hobby. happy not to be alone in this 👍👍